According to a tradition reported by AUGUSTINE, CONFESSIONES IX.vi, Ambrose composed hymns to comfort and fortify his congregation while they were resisting the Arian siege of the basilicas of Milan. Although he was not the first to compose hymns for liturgical use (see Fontaine 1985; HILARY OF POITIERS), Ambrose is traditionally regarded as the "father of Christian hymnody." ST BENEDICT in his REGULA used the term ambrosianum to mean "hymn," and the distinctive "Ambrosian" quantitative meter (iambic dimeter) was widely imitated, so that many hymns passed for Ambrosian in the Middle Ages. Already in the ninth century, Walahfrid Strabo doubted that Ambrose could have written all the hymns traditionally assigned to him:

Nevertheless, it must be understood that many hymns are thought composed by Ambrose which have by no means been produced by that man. For it seems incredible that he composed some [hymns] such as are found in substantial numbers, that is, [those] which, having no sequence of thought, show a rusticity in their vocabulary which is not customary in Ambrose. (trans. Harting-Corrêa 1992 p 85, from MGH Legum Sectio III, Capitularia Regum Francorum 2.506)

A lost Canterbury manuscript described by Thomas of Elmham in the fifteenth century represents the contents of the "Old Hymnal" in Anglo-Saxon England (see Gneuss 1974 pp 417-18; 1968 pp 16-17); its hymns included Aeterne rerum conditor, Splendor paternae gloriae, Iam surgit hora tertia, Deus creator omnium, Intende qui regis Israel, Hic est dies verus dei, Apostolorum passio, Amore Christi nobilis, and Aeterna Christi munera (see Gneuss 1968 pp 24-25). The only surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscript witness to the Old Hymnal, contained in the Vespasian Psalter (London, BL Cotton Vespasian A. i), contains Splendor paternae gloriae and Deus creator omnium added by a hand contemporary with that of the main scribe, with continuous interlinear Old English glosses dating from the ninth century (ed. Kuhn 1965 pp 158-59). BEDE, DE ARTE METRICA I.xxi.7-23 (CCSL 123A), refers to Deus creator omnium, Iam surgit hora tertia, Splendor paternae gloriae, Aeterne rerum conditor, Intende qui regis Israel, and Aeterna Christi munera. Bede also refers more generally to "Ambrosian" hymns (De arte metrica I.xi.22); for non-genuine hymns attributed by Bede to Ambrose, see the generic entries HYMNALS and PSEUDO-AMBROSE (headnote).

The "New Hymnal," witnessed by six Anglo-Saxon manuscript hymnals and by ÆLFRIC's Letter to the monks at Eynsham and ÆTHELWOLD OF WINCHESTER's REGULARIS CONCORDIA and by the Latin prose paraphrases of the Expositio Hymnorum, generally included the five Ambrosian hymns Aeterne rerum conditor, Splendor paternae gloriae, Deus creator omnium, Veni redemptor gentium (i. e., the hymn Intende qui regis Israel but beginning with the second stanza) and Aeterna Christi munera (see Gneuss 1968 pp 60-68, and the generic entry HYMNALS). These hymns represent two sub-types known as the "Winchester Group" and "Canterbury Group."

All five hymns are included in the "Winchester Group" hymnal contained in the "Portiforium of St. Wulfstan" (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 391; see Dewick and Frere 1914-21 2.605-6); cues for Aeterne rerum conditor and Splendor paternae gloriae also occur within the manuscript's Collectar (ed. A. Hughes 1958-60 2.92). The Expositio hymnorum in London, BL Cotton Julius A.vi and Cotton Vespasian D.xii (see Milfull 1996 pp 49-55) with Latin prose paraphrases of the Winchester type hymnal and continuous interlinear glosses to these paraphrases (HyGl 3, C18.3; ed. Gneuss 1968 pp 265-413; for the glossed Latin paraphrases of Aeterne rerum conditor, Deus creator omnium, Splendor paternae gloriae, Veni redemptor gentium, and Aeterna Christi munera, see Gneuss 1968 pp 271-72, 267-68, 281-82, 311-12, and 392-93). In Vespasian D.xii, the prose paraphrase of Aeterni Christi munera has been altered to reflect the later version for apostles (see Gneuss 1968 p 392 note; Milfull 1996 p 390) transmitted in the same manuscript's Canterbury-type New Hymnal (where the first three lines of Aeterne rerum conditor are glossed in Old English, see Milfull 1996 p 122). The reference to Ambrose's authorship of hymns in the introductino to the Expositio (only in Vespasian D.xii) is taken from ISIDORE's De ecclesiasticis officiis I.vi (see Gneuss 1968 p 265). Ælfric's letter to the monks of Eynsham does not mention Splendor paternae gloriae, and substitutes another hymn for Veni redemptor gentium, saying that it and the hymn Audi redemptor gentium (ICL 1331) "non videntur sapientibus honeste esse compositos" (ed. Nocent 1984 p 159). The Regularis concordia (ed. Symons and Spath 1984 pp 95 and 137) and Ælfric's letter to the monks of Eynsham (ed. Nocent 1984 pp 158 and 176) both prescribe Aeterne rerum conditor and Deus creator omnium for specific periods (see Milfull 1996 pp 24-25).

The "Canterbury Group" hymnals contained in London, BL Cotton Vespasian D. xii and in Durham, Cathedral Library B. III. 32 (ed. Milfull 1996) have the same five Ambrosian hymns, except that Vespasian D. xii has a later version of Aeterna Christi munera adapted for apostles in place of the original version for martyrs (the Durham hymnal has both versions). In the Durham hymnal the hymns are accompanied by continuous interlinear Old English glosses in the main hand (HyGl 2, C18.2; ed. Milfull 1996, see pp 27-41 on the manuscript). Deus creator omnium occurs twice, a rejected singleton having been recopied by a second hand; both copies have OE glosses, but the second also has Latin glosses and a marginal Latin prose paraphrase, added by yet another hand (Gneuss 1986 p 86; Milfull 1996 pp 29-33, 114). In both these hymnals Aeterne rerum conditor is glossed in Latin and Old English, and the Durham hymnal adds a Latin prose paraphrase of stanza IV (all glosses are ed. Milfull 1996 pp 120-23). The third hymnal of the Canterbury group (ed. Wieland 1982), contained in the Bosworth Psalter, has the original version of Aeterna Christi munera for martyrs but places it among hymns for apostles (see Milfull 1996 p 390), and lacks Veni redemptor gentium.

The post-Conquest hymnal in Rouen, Bibliothèque Municipale 231 includes the usual five hymns as well as the later version of Aeterna Christi munera for apostles (see Jullien 1988 pp 139-40), as does the hymnal for secular clerics contained in the "Leofric Collectar" (London, BL Harley 2961, ed. Dewick and Frere 1914-21 1.358-422); cues for all six are also within the collectar proper, which also has an abbreviated version (stanzas VI-VIII) of Aeterna Christi munera adapted for evangelists and confessors (see Milfull 1996 p 372).

Fontaine points out that the Anglo-Saxon and French manuscripts of the hymns are closely related textually, and reflect the cultural contacts between southern England (both manuscripts are from Canterbury) and northern France. One reading corresponding to the Milanese textual tradition occurs in the Bosworth Psalter, which may reflect cultural contacts between England and Milan (see Fontaine et al. 1992 p 113).

For citations of non-genuine "Ambrosian" hymns by Bede and other Anglo-Latin authors, see Ogilvy, BKE pp 59-60, and the generic entries HYMNALS and PSEUDO-AMBROSE (headnote). Jullien 1989 surveys the hymns found in compilations associated with ALCUIN. These include the florilegium De laude Dei, which has a section "De hymnis" incorporating strophes 2, 5, and 6 of Veni redemptor gentium and strophes 1, 7, and 8 of Aeterna Christi munera (see Jullien 1989 p 173); the same two hymns are found in the Tours prayerbook in Paris, BN lat. 13388 (ed. Wilmart 1940 pp 121 and 110; see Jullien 1989 p 178). Jullien suggests (p 175) that Alcuin may have encountered them through his contacts with Milan.