French Renaissance composer Antoine Busnois was viewed in his time and shortly thereafter as the equal of his contemporary Johannes Ockeghem. Busnois' output of sacred music, however, is comparatively small, although he was nonetheless the most prolific composer of secular French chansons in his century. Busnois, a priest, was a stormy and temperamental character, once excommunicated for beating up a fellow priest and for serving mass while his case was under review; he was later pardoned by Pope Pius II. From 1466 until 1477, he served in the court of French King Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.