 He was a contemporary of Josquin des Prez, and a significant composer of masses, motets, and secular music.His reputation was considerable, as shown by music printer Ottaviano Petrucci's decision to print a complete book of his masses immediately after his similar publication of masses by Josquin – only the second such publication in music history.Little is known about his early life, but it can be inferred that he was from the south Netherlands, from archival mentions of him as being "da Piccardia" and "fiamengo".