The man known as Petrus Alamire was not a composer but one of the foremost music calligraphers in the Low Countries. Together with his studio of copyists, illuminators and miniaturists, he successfully spread a knowledge of Flemish polyphony throughout western Europe, publishing over 850 works by composers such as Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin Desprez, Pierre de la Rue and Adrian Willaert. Besides dealing in manuscripts he also found time to deal in paintings, instruct Christian II Denmark in the business of mining and work as a spy for the court of Henry VIII of England.