The
viol is any one of a family of
bowed,
fretted and
stringed instruments that first appeared in
Spain in the mid to late 15th century and was most popular in the
Renaissance and
Baroque periods. Early ancestors include the Arabic
rebab and the medieval European
Vielle, but later, more direct possible ancestors include the Venetian
viole and the 15th- and 16th-century Spanish
vihuela, a 6-course plucked instrument tuned like a
lute (and also like a present-day viol) that looked like but was quite distinct from the (at that time) 4-course
guitar (an earlier chordophone).
