The pig organ

Louis XI ruled France from 1461-83. He was ugly, stingy, unscrupulous and underhanded. He is known as the Spider King because of shrewdly spinning a spider’s web of conspiracy and plotting to gain and maintain control.

The musical instrument that was especially made for Louis XI suited his character: the pig organ. The pig organ, the piganino or Porke Forte, was devised by the Abbot of Baigne for the king. Pigs were housed in a partitioned box, with their tails sticking out through a row of holes. It was operated by pinching the tails of the pigs.



Variation of King Louis XI’s pig organ