Apt was at one time the chief town of the Vulgientes, a Gallic tribe; it was destroyed by the Romans about 125 BC and restored by Julius Caesar, who conferred upon it the title Apta Julia; it was much injured by the Lombards and the Saracens, but its fortifications were rebuilt by the counts of Provence.

Nine out of fourteen Motets by Philippe de Vitry are recorded in the Ivrea Codex, a compilation of eighty-one compositions dating to 1360.

It is purported to have been derived from the repertoire used in the Papal Palace at Avignon, since it is so close and offers a sampling of music from the Ars Nova movement.

[11] Columbia University Library owns a twelve documents collection of notarial written money lending transactions between Jews and Christians in Apt.

[11] The Jewish quarter was situated by the nowadays Place du Postel, and the community itself was mentioned in the writings of the poet Isaac Gorni.

The council of Apt was held on 14 May 1365 in the cathedral of that city by the archbishops and bishops of the provinces of Arles, Embrun and Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France.

[13] The chief object of interest is the church of Sainte-Anne (once the cathedral), the building of which was begun about the year 1056 on the site of a much older edifice, but not completed until the latter half of the 17th century.