Hans Judenkünig was a German lutenist, lute maker, and composer of the Renaissance, born in Schwäbisch Gmünd sometime between 1445 and 1450 into a family originally from Württemberg. By 1518 he was recorded as a lutenist active around St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, working in the orbit of the University of Vienna. He is remembered chiefly for two didactic lute books aimed at self-taught amateur players: the Utilis et compendiaria introductio (Vienna, c. 1515/1519) and Ain schone kunstliche Underweisung (Vienna, 1523), the latter progressing from basic left-hand fingering instruction to full intabulations of vocal polyphony. He died in Vienna in March 1526.

As the foremost Viennese lutenist-composer of his generation, Hans Judenkünig helped establish the pedagogical lute-tutor tradition in German-speaking lands, producing some of the earliest printed method books teaching tablature reading and fingering directly to amateurs rather than court professionals. His graded, accessible approach—paired with dances and hymn settings like Christ ist erstanden—shaped how Renaissance lute technique was transmitted in print, influencing subsequent German tutors such as those of Hans Neusidler.

Sources:

• https://sites.google.com/view/another-lute-website/j/hans-judenkonig
• https://imslp.org/wiki/Rossina,_ain_welscher_dantz_(Judenk%C3%BCnig,_Hans)