 Although he was a Roman Catholic all of his life, his music shows evidence of sympathy for the Protestant Reformation, and three of his motets—including a famous setting of "In te domine speravi"—were probably inspired by the prison writings of the martyred reformer Girolamo Savonarola.Hellinck was probably born in Axel.Little else is known about him until he appears as a choirboy in Bruges at St. Donatian on 24 March 1506.