ABSTRACT
After having ruled a huge area of Europe, the Middle East and much of northern Africa, the downfall of the Roman Empire signaled the beginning of the Middle Ages. It was a time of withdrawal from the secular world by the areas of Europe that had been parts of the Roman Empire, and it is indicative of the slowdown of progress that Boethius’s work, which summarized the musical practices of the past, became the accepted music text for centuries to follow. During this long period, Christianity continued to spread and to gain strength. This was also the time when civil and religious authority were amalgamated, as exemplified by the excerpts from Charlemagne’s edict. His pronouncement indicates the influence of Christianity on him and on his empire, as well as the importance of music in Christian education.
