Sources of hymns, Medieval

Our earliest sources of information about medieval hymns are the 6th-century monastic rules of St Benedict*, Caesarius of Arles, and Aurelian of Arles. These mention, in more or less detail, hymns sung within the Divine Office. Indirect references to hymns continue to be an important source of information throughout the middle ages. Examples include the Ordines romani (descriptions of Roman liturgical practice), and grammatical treatises, from Augustine*’s De musica through Bede*’s De arte metrica to Alberic of Montecassino’s De rithmis and beyond. Hymn texts were being copied by the end of the 7th century; by the 9th century, they were being collected together in hymnals*. The earliest...