Polyphonic Litanies survive in numerous pre-Reformation sources, some by way of jottings into the margins and flyleaves of Processionals (chant books that, as the name suggests, were used during ritual processions).
Thomas Tallis's Litany broke the mold. In his reconstructed edition, Andrew Johnstone presents this setting in its probable original state, as composed in 1544 to serve Thomas Cranmer's new vernacular Litany. This is the first and only piece of polyphonic music to be officially mandated for use within what would become Prayer Book worship.
Another Litany, this time in Latin rather than English, was copied into survives in two copies of the 1545 edition of the Sarum Processional around 10 years after Tallis's setting had been composed. This anonymous setting is so similiar to Tallis's as to suggest emulation of one by another: Jason Smart discusses their relationship in his ingenious reconstructed edition. This Latin Litany was sung during Mary Tudor's pregnancy.
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