From the 12th and 13th centuries on, France was at the center (and often originator) of a vibrant cultural production that extended across much of western Europe, including the transition from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture (originating in 12th-century France) and Gothic art; the foundation of medieval universities (such as the universities of Paris (recognized in 1150), Montpellier (1220), Toulouse (1229), and Orleans (1235)) and the so-called "Renaissance of the 12th century"; a growing body of secular vernacular literature (including the "chanson de geste", chivalric romance, troubadour and trouvère poetry, etc.) and medieval music (such as the flowering of the Notre Dame school of polyphony from around 1150 to 1250 which represents the beginning of what is conventionally known as "Ars antiqua").