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Anonymus refers not to a single individual, but to the countless unknown composers of the Medieval period whose works survive without attribution.Anonymus represents the vast body of sacred and secular music composed between approximately the 9th and 14th centuries CE across Europe where the creator's identity was either not recorded, lost to history, or deemed unimportant compared to the religious function of the music. Their works form the foundational repertoire of Western classical music, preserved in manuscripts like the Codex Calixtinus and the Montpellier Codex.

• The anonymity was often deliberate, reflecting the medieval view that music served God's glory, not individual fame; composers were seen as vessels.
• Scholars painstakingly reconstruct biographies and styles of specific anonymous composers based on manuscript evidence, paleography (handwriting study), and stylistic analysis, sometimes assigning modern names like 'Leonin' or 'Perotin' tentatively.
• Many crucial musical innovations, such as early polyphony (organum) and the development of rhythmic modes, are credited to these anonymous figures.
• The term 'Anonymus' is also used generically for any composer of unknown identity from later periods, though its primary association remains medieval.