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Medieval French composer and poet, the most significant figure of the Ars Nova musical movement.Guillaume de Machaut was a pivotal French composer and poet of the 14th century. He served as a secretary and chaplain to John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, traveling extensively throughout Europe. Later, he held ecclesiastical positions, notably as a canon at Reims Cathedral. Machaut is renowned for his polyphonic compositions, including secular songs (like chansons, lais, virelais, rondeaux, and ballades) and sacred music. His Messe de Nostre Dame is a landmark work as the earliest known complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass by a single composer. He was also a highly influential poet, often setting his own texts to music. Machaut consciously compiled his own works, ensuring their preservation.

• Machaut served John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, accompanying him on military campaigns and diplomatic missions across Europe until the king's death at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
• Despite his clerical position requiring celibacy, Machaut developed a deep, likely platonic, relationship with the young noblewoman Péronne d'Armentières, inspiring his narrative poem 'Le Voir Dit' (The True Poem), which includes letters and musical compositions.
• His Messe de Nostre Dame, composed for Reims Cathedral, is historically significant not only as the first complete polyphonic Mass Ordinary by one composer but also because it was likely intended for performance after his death, reflecting his desire for commemoration.
• Machaut suffered from gout in his later years and eventually went blind, though he continued composing by dictation until his death in April 1377. He was buried in Reims Cathedral.
• He meticulously supervised the compilation and illustration of manuscripts containing his complete works, an unusual act of self-preservation for the time, ensuring his legacy survived.