Supplanted in most of Europe by the new Renaissance forms, the medieval fiddle did not die out entirely but is still to be found in some remoter areas. These constitute veritable fiddle enclaves,
retaining not only the elsewhere outdated instrument but also a playing technique descended from, if not even identical with, pre-Renaissance practice. Perhaps the best known of these enclaves is Jihlava (Iglau) in Moravia—it is also a linguistic enclave. Here a whole family of medieval
fiddles have been...
