Early 12th century Provence saw the flowering of what could very tenuously be described as the first popular songs, when troubadours began setting to music poetic verse which expressed the romantic notions of chivalry and courtly love. These songs were different from what had gone before - the so-called chansons de geste ( songs of great deeds ) - in that they were sung in the language of the people of that region - occitaine or langue d'oc - whereas the former, which had been hawked around the feudal courts of Europe by goliards and gleemen, were written largely in Latin, and bore a closer resemblance to epic poems than to songs.

The troubadours, and later north European trouveres, could lay claim to the title of Europe's first songwriters, in that their works were performed by jongleurs, minnesingers and minstrels, the very tenuous equivalent to today's pop stars. The musical forms they created were the named after the poetic forms of the day, such as the ballade, rondeau and virelai. Another very popular genre was the aubade, a poem or song about lovers parting at dawn. Along with the motet, a short piece of typically polyphonic and unaccompanied sacred choral music, these styles underly the structure of vocal music of later centuries.

By the 14th century these early songs had fused with polyphony (normally three-part) to produce the French chanson and its Italian equivalent the madrigal, a style which spread across Europe, in particular to England, where the the dance-madrigal or 'ballett' was favoured.

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