In addition to the works attributed to the lutenists active at the Royal Polish court in the late sixteenth century, there is a substantial repertoire of compositions identified as ‘Polish dances’ or ‘Polish songs’ which have been preserved in numerous sources of late Renaissance lute music. Characterised by an irresistible melodic charm and a straightforward harmonic and rhythmic texture, such musical polonica spread throughout Europe, achieving what might have been the widest distribution of musical ‘Polishness’ before Chopin.