Abstract

A Hurdy-Gurdy is a wheel based instrument which has roots as old as the great Egyptian pyramid builders. The Hurdy-Gurdy has evolved as our cultures have flourished and creative methods were improved, making each Hurdy-Gurdy having it's own uniqueness. With a framed look at just the last millennia of history of the Hurdy-Gurdy, we see that it is an instrument that has transcended the societal class barrier unlike all other instruments. Over the last millennia, this wheel instrument goes from a popular church instrument, to that of a beggars tool, and to being an instrument empowering female nobles in France.