During the Medieval Period music architecture, poetry and learning was cultivated by the church (The Roman Catholic church). All composers were churchmen and all musicians got their training as church choirboys. The exception were the popular musicians called troubadours who held the reputation as vagabonds. The political system of Europe during the Middle Ages is called feudalism. Rulers granted land to certain people under their authority. These land holders were are called vassals. In return for the land the vassals promised to support their rulers in time of war. The remaining people who lived and worked on the land were called serfs. Those who owned the land were called nobles. In addition a knight or soldier of the noble class was trained as a horseman and pledged loyalty to a particular nobleman and in return was granted land. 

Amongst these conditions the church created a mood of peace and contemplation. The church was all that stood against these harsh conditions and the threat of diseases and different religious invasions from the North and from the East.

The role of music in the medieval church was to embellish or accompany prayer. It was intended to create a mood of peace, contemplation and spirituality. The earliest composed and notated music was called Gregorian chant. Characteristics of Gregorian chant and many of the other genres of the middle ages are listed above.