Philip van Wilder was a South Netherlandish lutenist andcomposer, active in England. Like Peter van Wilder, who also worked in the Tudor court and was presumably related to him, Philip was probably born in Millam, near Wormhout, or in the nearby village of Wylder ("Wilder" in Dutch). A note in Italian in the Jacobean scorebook anthology GB-Lbl Egerton 3665 describes him as "Master Philip ofFlanders, musician to King Henry VIII, who lived in England around the year 1520". He was certainly in London by 1522, living in the parish of St Olave's Hart Street (close to the Tower of London) and having £60 "in goodes" and £48 "in fees". The court account books for the year 1525-26 describe him as "mynstrell"; he was later designated "lewter". Van Wilder steadily advanced his position at the Tudor court. By 1529 he was a member of the Privy chamber, the select group of musicians who played to the king in private. He was also active as a merchant, being given a licence to import Toulouse woad andGascon wine, and in purchasing instruments for the court.