Editing Medieval music (section)

===Early chant traditions===
{{main|Plainsong}}
{{See also|Gregorian chant}}
[[File:Hildegard von Bingen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|[[Hildegard of Bingen]], one of the best-known composers of sacred [[monophony]]]]
[[Gregorian chant|Chant]] (or [[plainsong]]) is a [[texture (music)|monophonic]] sacred (single, unaccompanied melody) form which represents the earliest known music of the Christian church. Chant developed separately in several European centres. Although the most important were [[Rome]], [[Hispania]], [[Gaul]], Milan, and Ireland, there were others as well. These styles were all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating the Mass there. Each area developed its own chant and rules for celebration. In Spain and [[Portugal]], [[Mozarabic chant]] was used and shows the influence of [[Music of North Africa|North African music]]. The Mozarabic liturgy even survived through [[Muslim]] rule, though this was an isolated strand and this music was later suppressed in an attempt to enforce conformity on the entire liturgy. In Milan, [[Ambrosian chant]], named after [[St. Ambrose]], was the standard, while [[Beneventan chant]] developed around [[Benevento]], another Italian liturgical center. [[Gallican chant]] was used in Gaul, and [[Celtic chant]] in Ireland and Great Britain.

The reigning Carolingian dynasty wanted to standardize the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] and chant across its [[Francia|Frankish Empire]]. At this time, Rome was the religious centre of western Europe, and northern [[Gaul]] and Rhineland (most notably the city of [[Aachen]]) was the political centre. The standardization effort consisted mainly of combining the two – [[Roman Rite|Roman]] and [[Gallican rite|Gallican]] – regional liturgies. [[Charlemagne]] (742–814) sent trained singers throughout the Empire to teach this new form of chant.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Music in the Middle Ages|last=Lorde|first=Suzanne|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2008|location=London}}</ref> This body of chant became known as [[Gregorian chant|Gregorian Chant]], named after [[Pope Gregory I]]. Gregorian chant was said to be collected and codified during his papacy or even composed by himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. However, that is only a popular legend that was spread by the Carolingians who wanted to legitimize their liturgy unification efforts. Gregorian chant certainly didn't exist at that time. It is possible, nevertheless, that Gregory's papacy really may have contributed to collecting and codifying the Roman chant of the time which then, in the 9th and 10th centuries, formed  – alongside the Gallican chant – one of the two roots of the Gregorian chant.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Medievalists.net |date=2021-07-18 |title=Medieval Music: Introduction to Gregorian Chant |url=https://www.medievalists.net/2021/07/introduction-gregorian-chant/ |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=Medievalists.net |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Gregory |title=Gregorian Chant According to the Manuscripts |publisher=L. J. Cary & Co. Ltd. |year=1963 |location=London |language=English}}</ref> By the 12th and 13th centuries, Gregorian chant had superseded all the other Western chant traditions, with the exception of the Ambrosian chant in Milan and the Mozarabic chant in a few specially designated Spanish chapels. [[Hildegard von Bingen]] (1098–1179) was one of the earliest known female composers. She wrote many monophonic works for the Catholic Church, almost all of them for female voices.