Of course, secular music thrived during this period, and instrumental and dance music was performed in abundance, if not always written down. These polyphonic traditions reached their culmination in the unsurpassed works of Giovanni da Palestrina. One of the early masters of the Flemish style was Josquin des Prez. With the rise of humanism, sacred music began for the first time to break free of the confines of the Church, and a school of composers trained in the Netherlands mastered the art of polyphony in their settings of sacred music. Generally considered to be from ca.1420 to 1600, the Renaissance (which literally means 'rebirth') was a time of great cultural awakening and a flowering of the arts, letters, and sciences throughout Europe. And it was during these 'Middle Ages' that Western culture saw the appearance of the first great name in music, Guillaume de Machaut. Secular music was performed throughout Europe by the troubadours and trouvères of France. Much later, the University at Notre Dame in Paris saw the creation of a new kind of music called organum. It was during this time that Pope Gregory I is generally believed to have collected and codified the music known as Gregorian Chant, which was the approved music of the Church. Over the next next nine centuries, the newly emerging Christian Church came to dominate Europe, administering justice, instigating 'Holy' Crusades against the East, establishing Universities, and generally dictating the destiny of music, art, and literature. These years were marked by constant warfare, the absence of a Holy Roman Emperor, and the virtual disappearance of urban life. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Western Europe entered a time known as 'The Dark Ages' - a period when invading hordes of Vandals, Huns, and Visigoths overran Europe.

Verdi opera set during 5th century