The collections of solo song set to poetry created by the troubadours were developed further during the late medieval and Renaissance periods into French polyphonic chansons and the Italian madrigal. The styles and flavours of these songs filtered into England, where the dance madrigal or ballett and the ayre ( one voice accompanied by lute or viols ) were very popular. The courtly ballad Greensleeves, by an unknown author, is fairly typical of this Elizabethan period, and is probably its best known song.
In terms of the history of popular music these developments represent something of a cul-de-sac, their innovations having more importance within the classical tradition. On the other hand John Gay did use the melody to Greensleeves in his BEGGAR'S OPERA of 1728, a production which marks the beginning of ballad opera, a tradition of popular theatre which feeds directly into later developments in both Britain and North America.

Another highly significant change took place with the Reformation, which began in Germany under Martin Luther in 1517 and spread into England, where it culminated in the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII.
One outcome of this was that the traditions of plainsong, which monks had performed in latin for centuries, were quickly superceded by forms of worship more accessible to the common man, within a newly established Anglican church. One of these forms was the metrical psalm, in which religious texts were adapted into rhyming verses to enable them to be sung. These were in turn superceded by the vernacular hymn, the first great exponent of which was Isaac Watts, whose texts really began to both express and excite the religious fervour of the congregation. His most famous compositions include Joy To The World and O God Our Help In Ages Past. Watts was followed by John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist tradition of worship, one part of which is the use of both words and music in hymns to uplift and unite the churchgoers.
The significance of all this for the development of the popular song lies in the role these styles of hymn singing played in the creation of the negro spiritual, the seedcorn of gospel music, which became a major influence on many later styles in the 20th century.

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