A Brief Time Line

711 - The Arabic lute (Ud) was introduced into Spain by the Moors.

1000 - The Crusades may have helped spread the Lute to Europe.

1200 - Paintings and Sculpture depict Christians playing the Lute.

1300 - A stable tuning and design appear.

1400 - A fifth course is added to the lute.

1500 - Improvements in string making technique allowed the addition of a sixth course. The golden age of the lute with many fine composers, performers and a tremendous amount of published music.

1600 - The peak of the lute's popularity. From this time more strings were added and the tunings changed which led to the eventual decline and disappearance of the lute.

1800 - The lute is no longer played. It has been replaced by the guitar.