Saint Martial school

The Saint Martial School was a medieval school of composition centered in the Abbey of Saint Martial, Limoges, France. It is known for the composition of tropes, sequences, and early organum. In this respect, it was an important precursor to the Notre Dame School.

Most of the manuscripts that are from the abbey are now at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It is unknown to what extent these manuscripts reflect the products of Saint Martial in particular, or were collections of works from various places in Southern France. No composers of the school are known by name. The only Old Occitan song with surviving musical notation for all stanzas is a product of Saint Martial: O Maria, Deu maire.