Jacques Gaultier

Jacques Gaultier (or Gauterius, Gouterus, Goutier, Gautier, Gautier d'Angleterre) (born c. 1600, fl. 1617–1652) was a French Baroque lutenist. He was not relative to the composers and lutenists Denis Gaultier and Ennemond Gaultier. Not much is known about his early life. In 1617, he had to leave France due to a duel and he escaped to England. He enjoyed the patronage of George Villiers, the favourite of James I of England. In 1622, Gaultier met Dutch poet and composer Constantijn Huygens, with whom he engaged in an exchange of letters. From 1625, he was a musician at the English royal court under Charles I of England. He had to remain there at least until 1640 as he appears as an employee in the court records for that year. In 1627, he was convicted and imprisoned because of English royal family defamation. In 1630, he travelled to Netherlands. From there he went to Madrid to play at the Spanish court. In early 1630s, Gaultier returned back to England. Around 1632, he was portrayed by Anthony van Dyck. Then he was employed again as a court musician, among others, at the performances of masques The Triumph of Peace (1634) by James Shirley and William Davenant's Britannia triumphans (1637). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.