Early medieval music that was written down was almost exclusively tied to the Church. The majority of songs and music from the Middle Ages that survive to the present day are, for the most part, religious hymns and chants in Latin that were patiently copied by those in religious orders. Non-religious songs also existed but because most popular songs were widely known, there was little reason to write down songs that everybody already knew so well. From what few sources remain, however, it is evident that there was a strong tradition of popular music beyond the Church, even if many of the songs have been lost or altered by later generations. In fact, as early as the seventh century the music of the common people was popular enough to provoke criticism form Church leaders. As early as the reign of Charlemagne (768-814), there developed a body of lyrical Latin literature that included sacred as well as some secular and semi-secular music, indicating that, even if earlier popular melodies or lyrics were not written down, popular music played a significant part of medieval people's lives in spite of Church disapproval.

Popular music was influenced by the growth in the importance and use of vernacular languages, those languages native to a particular country or region, in Europe beginning in the twelfth century. Increasingly, these languages, such as English, French, and German, were used for literary expression, and the earliest surviving song to be written in the vernacular has been dated to the beginning of the eleventh century, a time in which secular music witnessed its most dramatic expansion. The story of Beowulf, for example, was first written down about 1000 CE, but the song had likely been transmitted orally for centuries before being recorded. As secular songs in the vernacular increased, there was a marked decline in secular music written in Latin, a language that came to be identified solely with the Church. These early secular songs (until the end of the thirteenth century) were almost exclusively monophonic, meaning that there was a single melodic line, whereas sacred music consisted of music that was polyphonic. This simple form would have made secular songs easy to memorise and to embellish according to the skill and desire of the performer. There was, nevertheless, overlap between Church and secular music, and sacred melodies often found their way into secular songs, and vice versa.

more information about Beowulf

Until the end of the eleventh century, two groups dominated the field of secular music. Educated students, known as goliards, wandered Europe seeking instruction from the best teachers. These individuals also composed and sang songs ranging in subject matter from springtime to drinking, from often obscene love songs to satires that often poked fun at the Church. One such song parodies and embellishes lines from the Apostle's Creed. One line, which originally read "I believe in the Holy Ghost, and the Holy [Catholic] Church", was altered to read:

"I believe in wine that's fair to see,
And in the tavern of my host
More than in the Holy Ghost
The tavern will my sweetheart be,
And the Holy Church is not for me."

These types of songs, because often aimed at religious figures and practises, earned the goliards the condemnation of the Church, and they were eventually denied ecclesiastical privileges or protection. However, the mobile nature of the goliards' existence ensured that their songs would be spread across Europe, presumably much to the Church's chagrin. The phenomenon of the goliards had ended by the thirteenth century, largely because the establishment of universities in large urban centres meant that students no longer had to travel great distances in search of teachers.

The second group of people that was vital in the dissemination of popular music were those uneducated individuals who relied on their talents as performers for survival. Known as 'jongleurs' in France, 'gauklers' in Germany, and 'scops' or 'gleemen' in England, these travelling minstrels (as they became known after about 1066 in England) were a distinctive, if motley, group. Whether travelling alone, or with a group of similarly-minded individuals, these minstrels were much more than mere musicians, although most would have been able to play three or four instruments. These individuals could often dance, sing, juggle, perform acrobatics or magic tricks, and even use trained animals such as bears, horses, and dogs in their performances. Many aspects of medieval entertainment of this type, from the outlandish and patchwork costumes, to the performances of jugglers, rope-walkers, fire-eaters, tumblers and musicians, were directly descended from similar entertainment that had been popular in ancient Rome and even ancient Greece. Such similarities suggest a long and relatively unbroken line of popular musicians and entertainers. Although the majority of minstrels were men, there were a significant number of performing women as well, and one contemporary manuscript depicts female tumblers balanced precariously on the tips of swords while being accompanied by music. Unlike the goliards, who would compose their own lyrics and melodies, these travelling minstrels would usually sing what others had composed, carrying on the process of oral transmission of familiar tunes. That this oral dissemination was highly effective is evident in the fact that the minstrels' songs show influences from music from as far away as Scandinavia and Egypt.

It would be a mistake to think of medieval minstrels aimlessly wandering Europe in search of venues at which to perform. Rather, the goal of many minstrels was to achieve the relative financial security to be found with the patronage of a wealthy lord or noble house. Music played an important part of aristocratic life from ancient times and the early Middle Ages was no different. Providing music and other entertainment to the court during meals, during hunting parties, or at feasts, dances, or other special occasions was the job of court minstrels. A large part of their musical repertoire was the recounting of noble deeds, the chansons de geste, which would delight the assembled with tales of knights' bravery and courage in often gory battles. The chansons de geste were also popular with the general public, and street musicians would perform them to large crowds.

more about the chansons de geste

Minstrels who were privileged with a patron had a duty to their employers beyond entertainment at banquets or other occasions. In exchange for their financial and material security, court minstrels were expected to sing far and wide about the generosity and wealth of their patrons. At a time when fame was felt to be the natural and glorious result of noble and generous acts, how generous patrons were in their gifts to minstrels was an unwritten indication of how far they expected their fame to be broadcast. This expectation of fame was very important to the aristocracy of the Middle Ages, and the best way to publicise their rank and position, and, presumably, to consolidate their own power, was to employ minstrels to do it for them. For their part, the minstrels themselves viewed it as a point of honour to spread the name of their patron. One of the earliest recorded songs of this type is by a minstrel named Widsith who, after being given a golden ring by the lady Ealhhild, describes his song:

"...when the name was asked of the noblest girl,
gold-hung queen, gift-dealer,
beneath the sky's shifting - the most shining lady -
I sang Ealhhild; in every land
I spoke her name, spread her fame..."

Although these minstrels moved from place to place a great deal in the course of their careers, they were almost always associated with a particular place, court, or patron, and indeed, such individuals usually had a planned destination and itinerary when they left the courts of their patrons. One of the original meanings of the word "minstrel" is that of a "little servant" or "minister" to the king, and minstrels often found themselves in roles not specifically relating to mere entertainment. They often accompanied their masters into battle, where they would provide musical respite and where trumpeters were frequently used as signallers. More frequently minstrels would be used as messsengers, which allowed important communication between areas and also allowed the minstrel the freedom to play for other audiences. Part of the darker side of medieval life, minstrels could also be sent to rival courts on missions of espionage and reconnaissance.

The advantages enjoyed by those minstrels who had a patron were often enough to tempt those who had no such employer to pretend to be a liveried entertainer. In 1324, for example, six people were taken to trial for "asserting themselves to be of the king's household and following it at a distance, [where they] committed divers larcenies and felonies at Winchester and elsewhere...". Those minstrels who were not fortunate enough to enjoy the regular employment of a wealthy patron (and not criminal enough to try to deceive audiences) had to rely on other means by which to support themselves. Rather than wandering the countryside hoping to come across a crowd to entertain, such individuals, who usually travelled in bands or family groups, often moved from one fair to another, quite possibly having a well-known yearly or seasonal schedule. In these venues, performing in front of a large audience would be much easier to accomplish and one would assume the financial rewards would have been that much greater. Seeking out the travelling retinues of nobles or royalty was another way of making money, and there are many recorded instances where members of royalty would stop to listen to musicians and grant them small rewards for their services. When, for example, Edward I of England travelled between Durie and Sandford in 1303-04 he was met at five separate occasions by Scottish harpers, who were probably aware of the king's route and were lying in wait for him, and who were paid one shilling each for their performances. Harps were one of the oldest musical instruments, and were commonly used in intimate settings where their music could best be heard. Instruments such as the fiddle and trumpet were favoured by the aristocracy, and are often featured in images of royal feasts or other special occasions. At the other end of the scale, the use of the bagpipes were very popular with the lower classes, whereas one performer playing both a pipe and a small drum was probably a widely used combination to be found at all levels of society.

more information on medieval instruments

Another way in which a musician could earn a living without the benefit of a patron was by obtaining an appointment in a town or city acting as a 'wait', or musical watch. Use of musicians as watchmen for castles was an ancient custom, and one that was adapted to include the regular patrolling of the walls and streets of urban centres. Usually from three to five in number, these individuals were often provided with liveries and escutcheons (shields or badges on chains worn around the neck) and were charged, as one contemporary described, to "goe about the Towne every night, beginning about 2 of the Clock in the morning, and shall be at the Bayliffs order at other times...". Their status being slightly higher than unliveried minstrels, such individuals could expect that their payment as waits would be augmented by their constant employment to play at such special occasions as "weddings, funerals, dinners, civic processions, receptions and ceremonies of all kinds" for which there was always a great demand for talented performers. Like their compatriots employed in aristocratic houses, town minstrels often toured the surrounding countryside, their status as liveried musicians granting them access to other towns or monasteries where they could establish their reputations as musicians and, in so doing, increase the prestige of the town from whence they came. As the Middle Ages progressed there was increasingly less likelihood of a sudden attack on the castles and walled towns in which the waits were employed, and although their job as a security patrol was replaced by the appointment of an official Watch, their nocturnal duties nevertheless continued to a surprisingly late date.

The status of medieval minstrels was somewhat ambiguous and often depended upon each individual's associations with an aristocratic or civic patron, or lack thereof. The difficulty lay within the fact that unlike the peasantry or the nobility, minstrels as a group were perceived as wanderers, having no place and, therefore, no status. In a way, they were worse off than the meanest peasant, for whereas the peasant occupied the lowest place in the social hierarchy in medieval times, the minstrel occupied no place at all. The fact that minstrels commonly dressed above their station in a ragtag assortment of items handed down from patrons illustrates the degree to which these individuals were free to flaunt social hierarchy to a degree that others could not even imagine. Although this social ambiguity granted minstrels a certain degree of freedom, it also subjected them to a certain degree of danger, as they sometimes became the victims of the law when a scapegoat was needed. Minstrels attached to a house or patron usually had the protection of that house when it came to all but the most serious of crimes, however, minstrels who did not have the advantage of that kind of arrangement often had nowhere to turn for mercy if accused of a crime.

The Church was especially wary of minstrels, particularly in the early Middle Ages. Many Church leaders, recognising in the contemporary performances of minstrels the continuance of such practices from pre-Christian times, associated the shows with the elements of paganism that they had fought so hard to uproot. This was not entirely unfounded in light of many of the early practices of medieval musicians and other performers. Figures such as the Green Man or Wild Man, pagan figures from English folklore, were commonly portrayed by performers at village fairs and street processions in England, and one cleric described with disdain the practice of some minstrels who "transform and transfigure their bodies with indecent dance and gesture, now indecently unclothing themselves, now putting on horrible masks". One popular practice that was especially censured by the Church as early as the eighth century (but which must have continued, nevertheless, as it was still common in the twelfth century) was the players' dressing in the robes of monks, nuns, and other clerical costumes. This was a practice for which an individual could "undergo corporal punishment and be condemned to exile". The fact that many equated minstrels with criminals is brought to light in a medieval stone carving depicting a fiddler with only one ear, as the removal of an ear was a common punishment at the time for breaking the law. One contemporary even went so far as to assert that a minstrel could not be among the saved for the simple reason that "minstrels are ministers of Satan. They laugh now, but God shall laugh at them on the last day". Although members of the Church lamented the obscenity and blasphemy in many of the medieval performances, they noted that they were so popular that "even those whose exposures are so indecent that they make a cynic blush are not barred from distinguished houses". By the thirteenth century, however, the attitudes of many religious figures to minstrels had mellowed somewhat, although they still remained opposed to dances, especially by women. One Dominican theologian, Rainerus of Pisa, even went so far as to say in his 1333 treatise that: "Some office may legitimately be established for all those things which are useful to human dealings, and therefore even the office of minstrels, established to bring some solace to men, is not illicit in itself". By this time it was not so much the presence of minstrels themselves to which the Church objected, but rather to those instances when simple relaxation and enjoyment turned into improper excess and sin. A fourteenth century drawing of minstrels entering a town shows that these elements of excess were still to be found in popular entertainment even in this time period, as figures are depicted beating drums, wearing masks, or dressed as religious figures and wildmen, and one of the performers is revealing his bare behind to the viewer with a wide grin on his face.

Until the end of the eleventh century secular music had been the sole possession of either the goliards or the uneducated. From approximately 1080 to the 1300s the songs of the minstrels were greatly influenced by the rise of the troubadours in the south of France and their compatriots, the trouveres, in the north. These individuals must be differentiated from the minstrels we have been discussing because, although their influence on medieval music was vast, the majority of these individuals were aristocratic, and did not have to make a livelihood based solely on their skill as performers. The word troubadour comes from the occitan 'trobar' which meant to invent or compose, and there was a distinct social line between the composer of a song and those who performed it, the jongleurs or minstrels. The troubadours' songs of courtly love and noble sentiment paralleled the rise in the popularity of the Virgin Mary, and many of their secular songs were derived from religious chants. The ballade, virelai, and rondeau forms of music were developed by the troubadours, and were to become the three chief forms of secular music in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) effectively destroyed the troubadour tradition, although musical innovation was continued in the north of France by the trouveres, whose songs contained more religious content than did their southern counterparts, and the influence of the troubadours had already spread to Germany, Italy, Spain, and England.

More on the troubadors and their influence

The decline of minstrels in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was due to a number of factors. It is important to recognise that minstrels did not simply disappear, but their various talents were subsumed into the offices and occupations of other groups. Minstrels gradually lost their role as poets and storytellers as the status of the harper declined, especially in noble households. The versatility of the minstrel's role as musician and entertainer was compromised with the introduction of court musicians, who were employed strictly for their musical abilities, and the development of the court fool or jester, whose purpose was to entertain largely without music. As well, the rise in the popularity of dramatic players, such as those that would have performed the plays of Shakespeare, performed many of the entertainments that had previously been the sole domain of the minstrel. These players specialised in the enactment of a dramatic story, however this was often enhanced with singing, dancing, juggling, and tumbling, carrying on the minstrels' tradition in action, if not in name. With the gradual increase in the specialisation of what had previously been the varied talents of a single individual, the essential identity of the medieval minstrel became relegated to the annals of popular history and legend.