Page "Nicolas Gombert" Paragraph 3

In 1540 during the height of his career, he vanished from chapel records.

According to contemporary physician and mathematician Jerome Cardan, writing in Theonoston ( 1560 ), in 1540 Gombert was convicted of sexual contact with a boy in his care and was sentenced to hard labor in the galleys.

The exact duration of his service in the galleys is not known, but he was able to continue composing for at least part of the time.

Most likely he was pardoned sometime in or before 1547, the date he sent a letter along with a motet from Tournai to Charles ' gran capitano Ferrante I Gonzaga.

The Magnificat settings preserved uniquely in manuscript in Madrid are often held to have been the " swansongs " that according to Cardan won his pardon ; according to this story, Charles was so moved by these Magnificat settings that he let Gombert go early.

An alternative hypothesis ( Lewis 1994 ) is that Cardan was referring to the highly penitential First Book of four-part motets ; however, in neither case is it clear how Gombert was able to compose while rowing in the galleys as a prisoner.