We know very little about Byrd’s early life. Most books say that he was born in 1543, but a document that was found recently makes us think he was probably born late in 1539 or in 1540. He may have come from Lincoln which is where his first job was, but he probably had some of his education in London. This is likely because we know he was a pupil of Thomas Tallis who worked in London. Tallis was in charge of the music of the Chapel Royal which was the best choir in England, and it is likely that Byrd sang in the choir when he was a boy. Queen Mary was on the throne at the time. She was Catholic and she liked church music to be quite long and complicated, with Latin words. This gave composers lots to do, and the young Byrd started composing church music at this time.