Born in 1543 in London, England, Byrd was a gifted pupil of Thomas Tallis, and showed great talent playing the organ.  Together, these two were tasked by Elizabeth I with importing, printing, publishing, and selling music.  They put these together in a collection called Cantioned sacrae, in which Tallis contributed 16 and Byrd 18.  Byrd continued to write compositions, both church-related and secular.  One of his greatest collections was named Gradualia in which he attempted to comprise music for both the daily routine of mass and the special occasions.  One note about this is that he often composed church music in both English and Latin, which was abnormal for the time. In addition, Byrd played a huge role in pioneering the development of fantasia, another form of music composition that would explode in popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries.  He died on July 4, 1623. Image Source: Wikipedia