# List of medieval composers

Lists of classical composers by era and century :
| Medieval | (500–1400) |
| Renaissance | (1400–1600) |
| Baroque | (1600–1760) |
| Classical | (1730–1820) |
| Romantic | (1815–1910) |
| Modernist | (1890–1950) |
| Postmodernist | (since 1930) |
| 20th century | (1901–1999) |
| 21st century | (since 2000) |
| | vte |
Medieval music generally refers the music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. The first and longest major era of Western classical music, medieval music includes composers of a variety of styles, often centered around a particular nationality or composition school. The lives of most medieval composers are generally little known, and some are so obscure that the only information available is what can be inferred from the contents and circumstances of their surviving music.
Composers of the Early Middle Ages (500–1000) almost exclusively concerned themselves with sacred music, writing in forms such as antiphons, hymns, masses, offices, sequences and tropes. Most composers were anonymous and the few whose names are known were monks or clergy. Of the known composers, the most significant are those from the Abbey of Saint Gall school, particularly Notker the Stammerer (Notker Balbulus); the Saint Martial school and its most prominent member, Adémar de Chabannes; and Wipo of Burgundy, to whom the well-known sequence "Victimae paschali laudes" is usually attributed.
In the High Middle Ages (1000–1250) sequences reached their peak with Adam of Saint Victor. By the late 11th century, the poet-composer troubadours of southern France became the first proponents of secular music to use musical notation; equivalent movements arose in the mid-12th century, with the Minnesang in Germany, trovadorismo in Galicia and Portugal, and the trouvères in northern France. Principal exponents of these traditions include troubadours Arnaut Daniel, Bertran de Born, Bernart de Ventadorn, William IX, Duke of Aquitaine; Minnesänger Gottfried von Strassburg, Hartmann von Aue, Reinmar von Hagenau and Walther von der Vogelweide; and trouvère Adam de la Halle, Blondel de Nesle and Chrétien de Troyes. Simultaneous with the spur of secular activity, Léonin and Pérotin of the religious Notre-Dame school (part of the broader Ars antiqua) developed polyphony in forms such as the clausula, conductus and organum. The nun Hildegard of Bingen was also a prolific sacred composer of this time.
During the Late Middle Ages (1250–1500) the age of secular national schools gradually faded away, in part due to the Albigensian Crusade. In France, the troubadours, trouvère and ars antiqua music was succeeded by the ars nova led by Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut. The music of the Trecento in Italy led by Francesco Landini is sometimes considered part of the ars nova style, but by the mid-14th century the movements had become too independent to warrant such a grouping. Part of this divergence was from the death of Machaut, where—after a brief continuance of the Ars nova style through the post-Machaut generation of F. Andrieu, Grimace, Jehan Vaillant and P. des Molins—there was a new rhythmically-complex style now known as ars subtilior. The major figures of ars subtilior included both composers from France and Italy; particularly Johannes Ciconia and Solage.

## Medieval composers

Medieval composers :
| Name | Lifetime | Nationality | Musical school | Surviving works | Ref(s) |
| The Western Roman Empire falls in 476, ushering in the Middle Ages ||||||
| (5th century) Early Middle Ages | (5th century) Early Middle Ages | (5th century) Early Middle Ages | (5th century) Early Middle Ages | (5th century) Early Middle Ages | High ↓ |
| Notker the Stammerer (Notker Balbulus) | c. 840 – 912 | Frankish? | Abbey of Saint Gall | Three liturgical sequences, attribution not firm | |
| Tuotilo | c. 850 – 915 | Frankish | Abbey of Saint Gall | Five works | |
| Stephen of Liège | c. 850 – 920 | Belgian | – | Three works | |
| Hucbald | c. 850 – 930 | Frankish | – | Five works, none survive | |
| Odo of Cluny | c. 878 – 942 | French | – | 15 works 3 hymns and 12 antiphons (?) | |
| Heriger of Lobbes (Herigerus) | c. 925 – 1007 | Belgian | – | Four works, none survive | |
| Odo of Arezzo (Abbot Oddo) | 10th century – 11th century | Italian | – | 4 works antiphons from a tonary | |
| Fulbert of Chartres | c. 960 – 1028 | French | – | Three chants | |
| William of Volpiano (William of Dijon, William of Saint Benignus) | 962 – 1031 | Italian | – | One work? Office of St Benignus | |
| Notker Physicus (Notker II) | d. 975 | Frankish | Abbey of Saint Gall | Three works | |
| Adémar de Chabannes | c. 988/9 – 1034 | French | Saint Martial school | Two works (?) One office and mass | |
| Wulfstan the Cantor (Wulfstan of Winchester) | fl. 992–6 | English | – | Seven works; All uncertain attributions | |
| Wipo of Burgundy | c. 995 – c. 1050 | Frankish? (Arles/ Burgundy) | – | Victimae paschali laudes, attribution uncertain | |
| (1000) High Middle Ages | (1000) High Middle Ages | (1000) High Middle Ages | (1000) High Middle Ages | Early ↑ | Late ↓ |
| Arnold of Saint Emmeram | c. 1000 – 1050 | Benedictine | Saint Emmeram's Abbey | 60 works; over 40 antiphons and 20 responsories | |
| Otloh of Sankt Emmeram | c. 1010–1070 | Benedictine | Saint Emmeram's Abbey | Exultemus in ista fratres, Kyrie O pater immense and chants | |
| Hermann of Reichenau Hermannus Contractus | 1013–1054 | German | – | Two works | |
| Berno of Reichenau | before 1014 – 1048 | German? | – | Two works, attribution uncertain | |
| The East–West Schism in 1054 separates the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ||||||
| Godric | c. 1069 – 1170 | English | – | Three songs | |
| Adam of Saint Victor | c. 1068 – 1146 | French | – | Four works | |
| William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (Guilhem de Peitieus; Guillaume d'Aquitaine) | 1071–1126 | Occitan | Troubadour | One work; 11 poems total | |
| Peter Abelard | 1079–1142 | French | – | Various chants, a hymn, three sequences and seven laments | |
| Udalscalcus of Maisach | died in 1149 or 1151 | German | – | Offices for St Ulrich and for St Conrad | |
| Hildegard of Bingen | 1098–1179 | German | – | 72 works | |
| Jerusalem falls in 1099, during the First Crusade ||||||
| Jaufre Rudel | fl. 1120–47 | Occitan | Troubadour | Four works; six poems total | |
| Marcabru | fl. c. 1129–c1150 | Occitan | Troubadour | Four works; 42 poems total | |
| Archpoet (Archipoeta) | c. 1130 – c. 1165 | Western European probably French or German | Goliard | 10 medieval Latin poems | |
| Bernart de Ventadorn | c. 1130–1140 – c. 1190–1200 | Occitan | Troubadour | 19 (1 fragmentary) works; 45 poems total | |
| Giraut de Bornelh | c. 1140 – c. 1200 | Occitan | Troubadour | Four works; 77 poems total | |
| Heinrich von Veldeke | 1140–1150 – c. 1190 | German | Minnesänger | No surviving works; 61 poems total | |
| "Vidame de Chartres" (probably Guillaume de Ferrières) | c. 1145–1155 – 1204 | French | Trouvère | Six (nine?) works | |
| Albertus Parisiensis | fl. 1146–1177 | French | – | Congaudeant catholici | |
| Peire d'Alvernha | fl. 1149–70 | Occitan | Troubadour | Two works; 24 poems total | |
| Dietmar von Aist | fl. 2nd half of the 12th century | German | Minnesänger | No surviving music | |
| Friedrich von Hûsen (Friedrich von Hausen) | c. 1150 – 1190 | German | Minnesänger | No music survives; 53 strophes | |
| Rudolf von Neuenburg [de] | c. 1150 – 30 August 1196 | Swiss | Minnesänger | | |
| Léonin | fl. 1150s – c. 1201 | French | Notre-Dame school (Ars antiqua) | | |
| Bertran de Born | 1150 – before 1215 | Occitan | Troubadour | 1 work; 40 poems total | |
| Gaucelm Faidit | c. 1150 – c. 1220 | Occitan | Troubadour | 14 works; 68 poems total | |
| Arnaut Daniel | c. 1150–60 – c. 1200 | Occitan | Troubadour | Two works; 18 poems total | |
| Raimbaut de Vaqueiras | c. 1150–60 – 1207 | Occitan | Troubadour | Seven works; 35 poems total | |
| Folquet de Marselha (Folquet de Marseille) | c. 1150–60 – 1231 | Occitan | Troubadour | 13 works; 29 poems total | |
| Chrétien de Troyes | fl. c. 1160 – 1191 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Conon de Béthune | c. 1160 – 1219 /20 | French | Trouvère | Seven works; eight poems total | |
| Der von Kürenberg | fl. 1160 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Hartmann von Aue | c. 1160–1165 – after 1210 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Gace Brule | c. 1160 – after 1213 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Peirol | c. 1160 – after 1221 | Occitan | Troubadour | 17 works; 34 poems total | |
| Philippe le Chancelier | c. 1160 – 1236 | French | Notre-Dame school (Ars antiqua) | | |
| Raimbaut d'Aurenga | fl. 1162–73 | Occitan | Troubadour | | |
| Chastelain de Couci | c. 1165 – 1203 | French | Trouvère | – | |
| Gautier de Dargies | c. 1165 – after 1236 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Arnaut de Mareuil | fl. c. 1170–1200 | Occitan | Troubadour | | |
| Walther von der Vogelweide | c. 1170 – c. 1230 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan | c. 1175 – c. 1230 | Occitan | Troubadour | Six works; 50 poems total | |
| Gautier de Coincy | 1177/8 – 1236 | French | Trouvère | Eight surviving poems with music | |
| Blondel de Nesle | fl. 1180–1200 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Peire Cardenal | 1180–1278 | Occitan | Troubadour | Three works; 90 poems total | |
| Peire Vidal | fl. c. 1183 – c. 1205 | Occitan | Troubadour | 12 works; 50 poems total | |
| Raimon de Miraval | fl. 1185–1229 | Occitan | Troubadour | 22 works; 48 poems total | |
| Reinmar von Hagenau (Reinmar der Alte) | fl. 1185–1205 – c. 1205 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Audefroi le Bastart | fl. 1190–1230 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Comtessa de Dia (Beatriz de Dia) | fl. late 12th/early 13th century | Occitan | Trobairitz | | |
| Neidhart von Reuental | c. 1190 – after 1236 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Guillaume le Vinier | c. 1190 – 1245 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Pérotin (Perotinus) | fl. c. 1200 | French | Notre-Dame school (Ars antiqua) | | |
| Albrecht von Johansdorf | c. 1180 – c. 1209 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Colin Muset | fl. 1200–50 | French | Trouvère | 12 works; seven with surviving music | |
| Jehan Erart | 1200–10 – 1258/9 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Reinmar von Zweter | c. 1200 – c. 1260 | German | Minnesänger | – | |
| Wincenty of Kielcza | c. 1200 – after 1262 | Polish | – | | |
| Castelloza | fl. early 13th century | Occitan | Trobairitz | No surviving music; three poems | |
| Jehan Bretel | c. 1210 – 1272 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Raoul de Soissons | 1210–1215 – 1270 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Moniot d'Arras | fl. 1213–39 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Guiot de Dijon | fl. 1215–25 | French | Trouvère | Four works; 17 poems total | |
| Gontier de Soignies | fl. before 1220 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Heinrich von Morungen | d. 1222 | German | Minnesänger | 33 Minnelieder survive, only one with melody. | |
| Sordello | c. 1200 — before 1269 | Italian | Troubadour | | |
| Gautier d'Épinal | before 1220 – before 1272 | French | Trouvère | | |
| Konrad von Würzburg | c. 1230 – 1287 | German | Minnesänger | 23 songs | |
| Guiraut Riquier | c. 1230 – c. 1300 | Occitan | Troubadour | 48 works; 49 poems total | |
| Martin Codax | fl. c. 1240–70 | Spanish (Galician) | Galician-Portuguese lyric | Six songs; one know to be lost | |
| Adam de la Halle | 1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306 | French | Trouvère | 78 works | |
| (1250) Late Middle Ages | (1250) Late Middle Ages | (1250) Late Middle Ages | (1250) Late Middle Ages | (1250) Late Middle Ages | High ↑ |
| Tannhäuser | fl. mid 13th-century | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Cerverí de Girona | fl. 1259–1285 | Catalan | Troubadour | No music survives; 114 lyric poems | |
| Heinrich Frauenlob | c. 1260 – 29 November 1318 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Der wilde Alexander (Meister Alexander) | fl. mid to late 13th-century | German | Minnesänger | 27 works; 24 Spruch strophes, two Minnelieder and one Leich | |
| Petrus de Cruce | fl. c. 1290 | French | Ars antiqua | | |
| W. de Wycombe | fl. late 13th century | English | – | | |
| Philippe de Vitry | 1291–1361 | French | Ars nova | 13 works at least | |
| Casella | died before 1300 | Italian | – | No surviving works | |
| Jehan de Lescurel | fl. early 14th century | French | Ars nova | 34 works; all monophonic except one | |
| Guillaume de Machaut | c. 1300 – 1377 | French | Ars nova | 143 works | |
| Marchetto da Padova | fl. 1305–19 | Italian | Trecento | – | |
| Gherardello da Firenze | c. 1320–1325 – 1362/1363 | Italian | Trecento | 18 works | |
| Francesco Landini | c. 1325 – 1397 | Italian | Trecento | | |
| Lorenzo da Firenze | c. 1325 – 1372/1373 | Italian | Trecento | 21 works | |
| The Hundred Years' War conflict between England and France begins in 1337 ||||||
| Johannes Alanus | fl. late 14th century or early 15th | English | English ars nova | Sub Arturo plebs, and maybe four others | |
| Maestro Piero | fl. 1340–1350 | Italian | Trecento | Eight works | |
| Giovanni da Cascia | fl. 1340–1350 | Italian | Trecento | 19 works | |
| Jacopo da Bologna | fl. 1340–1386 | Italian | Trecento | 34 works | |
| Vincenzo da Rimini | fl. 1350 fl. mid-14th century | Italian | Trecento | Four madrigals and two Cacce | |
| Bartolino da Padova | fl. c. 1365 – after 1405 | Italian | Trecento | | |
| Matheus de Sancto Johanne (Mayshuet de Joan) | died 1391 | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Donato da Cascia | fl. 2nd half of the fourteenth century | Italian | Trecento | | |
| Magister Franciscus | fl. 1370–80 | French | Ars nova? | Two works; both three part ballades | |
| Philippus de Caserta | fl. c. 1370 | Italian? | Ars subtilior | 6 ballades | |
| Mönch von Salzburg (Monk of Salzburg) | fl. Late 14th century | German | – | | |
| F. Andrieu | fl. c. 1377 – c. 1400 | French | Ars nova | One work; a ballade for Machaut's death | |
| Johannes Symonis Hasprois | fl. 1378–1428 | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Petrus de Goscalch | fl. c. 1385–1395 | French? | Ars subtilior | | |
| P. des Molins | fl. mid 14th century | French | Ars nova | Two works; among the most popular pieces of their time | |
| Niccolò da Perugia | 2nd half of the 14th century | Italian | Trecento | | |
| Jehan Suzay | fl. c. 1380 | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Trebor | fl. c. 1380 – c. 1400 | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Jan of Jenštejn | 1348 – 1400 | Bohemian | – | 40 works | |
| Antonio Zacara da Teramo | c. 1350–1360 — after 1413 | Italian | Trecento | Very prolific in a variety of genres | |
| Andrea da Firenze | fl. c. 1375 – c. 1415 | Italian | Trecento | – | |
| Paolo da Firenze | c. 1355 – 1436 | Italian | Trecento | Possibly up to 61 works | |
| Hugo von Montfort | 1357 – 1423 | German | Minnesänger | | |
| Grazioso da Padova | fl. 2nd half of the 14th century | Italian | Trecento | Mass movements, ballata | |
| Jehan Vaillant | fl. 1360–1390 | French | Ars nova | Five (six?) works | |
| Giovanni Mazzuoli | c. 1360 – 1426 | Italian | Trecento | Ballata | |
| Solage | fl. late 14th century | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Jacob Senleches | fl. 1382–1383 | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Borlet | fl. c. 1397? – after 1409 | French | Ars subtilior | One work; a four-voice virelai | |
| Johannes Ciconia | c. 1370 – 1412 | Franco-Flemish | Trecento Ars subtilior | | |
| Leonel Power | c. 1370–1385 – 1445 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements and other Latin settings | |
| Johannes Tapissier | c. 1370 – before 1410 | French | Burgundian School | Mass movements, motet | |
| Johannes Cuvelier | fl. c. 1372 – after 1387 | French | Ars subtilior | Four works | |
| Guido | fl. c. 1372 – 1374 | French | Ars subtilior | Three works in the Chantilly Codex | |
| Grimace | fl. mid-to-late 14th century | French | Ars nova | Five (Seven?) Works | |
| Antonello da Caserta | fl. Late 14th century | Italian | Trecento | Ballades, Rondeaux, Virelai, Ballatas | |
| Nicolas Grenon | c. 1375 – 1456 | French | Burgundian School | | |
| Oswald von Wolkenstein | c. 1376 – 1445 | German | | Lieder | |
| Pierre Fontaine | c. 1380–1450 | French | | Ballades, Rondeaux | |
| John Dunstaple (John Dunstable) | c. 1390 – 1453 | English | Contenance angloise | Mass movements and isorhythmic motets | |
| Martinus Fabri | died in 1400 | North Netherlandish | | | |
| Aleyn | fl. c. 1400 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements | |
| Egardus | fl. 1400 | Flemish | Ars subtilior | 3 works | |
| Queldryk | fl. c. 1400 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements | |
| Andrea Stefani | fl. c. 1400 | Italian | Trecento | Ballate | |
| Thomas Fabri | fl. 1400–1415 | Franco-Flemish | | | |
| Matteo da Perugia | fl. 1400–1416 | Italian | Trecento | | |
| Baude Cordier | fl. early 15th century | French | Ars subtilior | | |
| Nicolaus Ricci de Nucella Campli | fl. 1401–1436 | Italian | Trecento | Ballata | |
| Bartolomeo da Bologna | fl. c. 1405–1427 | Italian | Trecento | Mass movements, ballate | |
| Jacobus Vide | fl. 1405–1433? | Franco-Flemish | | | |
| Johannes Cesaris | fl. 1406–1417 | French | | Motet, ballades, rondeaux | |
| Conradus de Pistoria | fl. Early 15th century | Italian | Ars subtilior | Ballades | |
| Roy Henry | fl. c. 1410 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements | |
| Pycard | fl. 1410 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements | |
| Byttering | fl. c. 1410–1420 | English | Old Hall Manuscript | Mass movements | |
| Antonio da Cividale | fl. 1410–1421 | Italian | Trecento | Mass movements, motets, ballades, rondeaux, virelais | |
| Richard Loqueville | died 1418 | French | | Mass movements, ballades, rondeaux | |
| Estienne Grossin | fl. 1418–1421 | French | | Numerous mass movements | |
| Hugo de Lantins | fl. 1420–1430 | Flemish | | Mass movements, motets, rondeaux | |
| Arnold de Lantins | died before 1432 | Flemish | | Mass movements, ballades, rondeaux | |
| Jefimija | 1349 – 1405 | Serbian | | Composed tuzhbalice (laments) | |
| For later composers see the List of Renaissance composers ||||||