Very few songs survive from medieval England, because song lyrics were not widely recorded until the 16th century. However, one pretty remarkable set of lyrics survive from the 13th century, Judas.

This song is a ballad, or a narrative poem set to music, the earliest example of a celebrated English musical and literary style. While English ballads most typically recount stories of murder, supernatural intervention, or ill-fated love in the English or Scottish countryside, this ballad recounts the infamous Biblical betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot. The lyrics dive into Judas' own motivation for the betrayal, conjuring up a completely new apocryphal character in the form of Judas' disbelieving sister, who steals money given to Judas by Christ and causing him to turn to Pilate for money instead.