What songs did medieval children grow up with? From soothing lullabies sung by mothers to the first lessons at cathedral song schools, music was an essential part of childhood in the Middle Ages.
By Sonja Maurer-Dass
While musicologists and historians have stated that music was often performed for entertainment among men and women in medieval households, what were the songs and musical activities associated with those in the earliest stages of life? What songs did mothers sing to soothe their babies, and what songs did children sing as they learned and played? To answer these questions, we will explore music associated with the youngest members of medieval families from infancy onward – notably, lullabies and children’s songs, as well as the specifics of musical education during the latter years of childhood.
When reading the words “medieval music,” what thoughts initially come to mind? Perhaps thoughts may wander to images of monasteries where monks sing Gregorian chant, or the mind may turn to royal celebrations. Music was certainly prominent both in the medieval church and at court, and these are typically the images that are inextricably linked with the performance of medieval music; however, like today, musical activities were not restricted to public entertainment. Worship, singing, and music-making also occurred in the daily life of the medieval home.
Although musical practices and styles have changed significantly since the Middle Ages, the act of singing to infants for the purpose of soothing has remained consistent among parents and caregivers to the present day. To calm their babies, medieval mothers commonly sang lullabies; however, our present knowledge of the precise songs that mothers sang to their children remains rather speculative, since – as musicologist John Haines has noted – there are no extant manuscripts that contain commonly sung lullabies. Despite the lack of actual documented medieval lullabies, there are a number of sources that provide insight into the kinds of words and melodies that mothers may have sung to their children.
Children are handed over to a monastery as pupils. Fourteenth-century illustration in a manuscript of the Decretum Gratiani. UB Leipzig, Rep. II 9b (CCXLIII), fol. 200v. Wikimedia Commons
In his book Medieval Song in Romance Languages, John Haines notes that select fifteenth-century carols may contain clues regarding the content and sound of medieval lullabies. Haines states that the texts of many late medieval carols were written from the perspective of the Virgin Mary who sings to comfort the infant Christ. For example, the carol Lullay, My Child contains both a melody and text that resemble what we would currently associate with a lullaby’s content. As Haines observes, the melody of Lullay, My Child is very simple, but it has a lulling rhythmic pulse, which is associated with the lullabies of later periods. Even more telling is the carol’s text, which clearly portrays a mother comforting her crying child: “Lullay, my child and weep no more; sleep and be now still…”.
Other examples of lullabies written to imitate those sung by the Virgin to Christ come to us from fourteenth-century English poets. In these texts, we see similarities to the comforting lyrics of the aforementioned carol, suggesting that these works may have been attempts to imitate actual, practiced lullabies. Historian Nicholas Orme provides a number of these texts in his book Medieval Children. According to Orme, there are approximately 22 extant lyrics that portray the Virgin Mary singing words that would be typical of lullabies, including the following text:
While the texts of the aforementioned lullabies are clearly written with children as their intended audiences, a sermon written by a fourteenth-century preacher (from BL MS Cotton Faustina A.V) indicates that women may have also sung songs to their children that dealt with more mature subject matter. An excerpt of the sermon is as follows:
Dearest friends, you know well that these women, when they have put their children in the cradle, they lull the child with their foot and sing an old song, saying: “watch well, Annot, thy maiden bower, and get thee from Walterot, for he is lecher.”
In Medieval Children, Nicholas Orme comments on the text of the sermon’s lullaby and notes that the song’s two characters, Annot and Walterot, are not characters that one would expect to find in typical lullabies, since it seems that Walterot (who is described as lecherous) intends to seduce Annot. Thus, it is likely that these lyrics belonged to a song intended for adults.
Choir boys in this 14th-century image – Tacuinum sanitatis – Casanatense 4182
As children grew older, singing was a form of entertainment, just as it is for children today. Certainly, children would have been exposed to and learned songs that were popular with adults, but they also would have participated in creating songs and games amongst themselves. Additionally, Nicholas Orme notes that, as evinced in songs from fifteenth-century English school notebooks, medieval children expressed some similar interests and feelings to those that are common among today’s children. A number of these songs contain texts that exhibit an affinity for animals, and some even express anger at having to wake up early to attend lessons.
While a medieval child’s earliest experiences of music would have come from within their family through their mother’s lullabies and childhood songs, a formal music education was provided to older children who attended elementary schools known as “song schools.” Song schools were attached to cathedrals and provided musical instruction that involved the study of hymns and learning to sing within the cathedral’s choir.
Often, boys began attending song school at the age of seven, where they continued to learn until approximately twelve years of age. Students’ first musical lessons involved learning and memorizing the psalms, from which they would simultaneously expand their vocabulary and learn grammar. Some children attended monastic schools that provided instruction in reading musical notation and choral singing, as well as the organ.
Medieval music scholarship often focuses on genres that were fundamental to the development of western art music. As a result, ephemeral songs such as those sung to infants or during childhood have received very limited attention in musicological discourse. However, this lack of musicological attention does not negate the value that these songs must have held within the lives of young medieval children as a source of both comfort and entertainment.
Sonja Maurer-Dass is a Canadian musicologist and harpsichordist. She is a PhD candidate in Musicology at The University of Western, researching 18th-century French musical exoticism in the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. She holds a master’s degree in Musicology specializing in late medieval English choral music from York University (Toronto, Canada) and has written for The Medieval Magazine and Ancient History Magazine.
What songs did medieval children grow up with? From soothing lullabies sung by mothers to the first lessons at cathedral song schools, music was an essential part of childhood in the Middle Ages.
By Sonja Maurer-Dass
While musicologists and historians have stated that music was often performed for entertainment among men and women in medieval households, what were the songs and musical activities associated with those in the earliest stages of life? What songs did mothers sing to soothe their babies, and what songs did children sing as they learned and played? To answer these questions, we will explore music associated with the youngest members of medieval families from infancy onward – notably, lullabies and children’s songs, as well as the specifics of musical education during the latter years of childhood.
When reading the words “medieval music,” what thoughts initially come to mind? Perhaps thoughts may wander to images of monasteries where monks sing Gregorian chant, or the mind may turn to royal celebrations. Music was certainly prominent both in the medieval church and at court, and these are typically the images that are inextricably linked with the performance of medieval music; however, like today, musical activities were not restricted to public entertainment. Worship, singing, and music-making also occurred in the daily life of the medieval home.
Although musical practices and styles have changed significantly since the Middle Ages, the act of singing to infants for the purpose of soothing has remained consistent among parents and caregivers to the present day. To calm their babies, medieval mothers commonly sang lullabies; however, our present knowledge of the precise songs that mothers sang to their children remains rather speculative, since – as musicologist John Haines has noted – there are no extant manuscripts that contain commonly sung lullabies. Despite the lack of actual documented medieval lullabies, there are a number of sources that provide insight into the kinds of words and melodies that mothers may have sung to their children.
In his book Medieval Song in Romance Languages, John Haines notes that select fifteenth-century carols may contain clues regarding the content and sound of medieval lullabies. Haines states that the texts of many late medieval carols were written from the perspective of the Virgin Mary who sings to comfort the infant Christ. For example, the carol Lullay, My Child contains both a melody and text that resemble what we would currently associate with a lullaby’s content. As Haines observes, the melody of Lullay, My Child is very simple, but it has a lulling rhythmic pulse, which is associated with the lullabies of later periods. Even more telling is the carol’s text, which clearly portrays a mother comforting her crying child: “Lullay, my child and weep no more; sleep and be now still…”.
Other examples of lullabies written to imitate those sung by the Virgin to Christ come to us from fourteenth-century English poets. In these texts, we see similarities to the comforting lyrics of the aforementioned carol, suggesting that these works may have been attempts to imitate actual, practiced lullabies. Historian Nicholas Orme provides a number of these texts in his book Medieval Children. According to Orme, there are approximately 22 extant lyrics that portray the Virgin Mary singing words that would be typical of lullabies, including the following text:
Lullay, lullow, lully, lullay, dewy, bewy,
lully, lully, bewy, lully, lullow, lully, lullay,
baw, baw, my bairn, sleep softly now.
While the texts of the aforementioned lullabies are clearly written with children as their intended audiences, a sermon written by a fourteenth-century preacher (from BL MS Cotton Faustina A.V) indicates that women may have also sung songs to their children that dealt with more mature subject matter. An excerpt of the sermon is as follows:
Dearest friends, you know well that these women, when they have put their children in the cradle, they lull the child with their foot and sing an old song, saying: “watch well, Annot, thy maiden bower, and get thee from Walterot, for he is lecher.”
In Medieval Children, Nicholas Orme comments on the text of the sermon’s lullaby and notes that the song’s two characters, Annot and Walterot, are not characters that one would expect to find in typical lullabies, since it seems that Walterot (who is described as lecherous) intends to seduce Annot. Thus, it is likely that these lyrics belonged to a song intended for adults.
As children grew older, singing was a form of entertainment, just as it is for children today. Certainly, children would have been exposed to and learned songs that were popular with adults, but they also would have participated in creating songs and games amongst themselves. Additionally, Nicholas Orme notes that, as evinced in songs from fifteenth-century English school notebooks, medieval children expressed some similar interests and feelings to those that are common among today’s children. A number of these songs contain texts that exhibit an affinity for animals, and some even express anger at having to wake up early to attend lessons.
While a medieval child’s earliest experiences of music would have come from within their family through their mother’s lullabies and childhood songs, a formal music education was provided to older children who attended elementary schools known as “song schools.” Song schools were attached to cathedrals and provided musical instruction that involved the study of hymns and learning to sing within the cathedral’s choir.
Often, boys began attending song school at the age of seven, where they continued to learn until approximately twelve years of age. Students’ first musical lessons involved learning and memorizing the psalms, from which they would simultaneously expand their vocabulary and learn grammar. Some children attended monastic schools that provided instruction in reading musical notation and choral singing, as well as the organ.
Medieval music scholarship often focuses on genres that were fundamental to the development of western art music. As a result, ephemeral songs such as those sung to infants or during childhood have received very limited attention in musicological discourse. However, this lack of musicological attention does not negate the value that these songs must have held within the lives of young medieval children as a source of both comfort and entertainment.
Sonja Maurer-Dass is a Canadian musicologist and harpsichordist. She is a PhD candidate in Musicology at The University of Western, researching 18th-century French musical exoticism in the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. She holds a master’s degree in Musicology specializing in late medieval English choral music from York University (Toronto, Canada) and has written for The Medieval Magazine and Ancient History Magazine.
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Further Readings:
Fassler, Margot. Music in the Medieval West: Western Music in Context. W.W. Norton and Company, 2014.
Haines, John. Medieval Song in Romance Languages. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Orme, Nicholas. Medieval Children. Yale University Press, 2001.
Shahar, Shulamith. Childhood in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 1990.
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