ed. By the sixteenth century, political power and material wealth had corrupted the Roman Catholic Church. Musicians flocked to Rome because money abounded to commission great works for Masses that were used as excuses for fine entertainment. The religious traditions of the Church, as well as the individual leaders, were the subject of increasing contempt throughout Europe. The Protestant Reformation was soon to follow.
Though the roots of the Catholic Reformation were starting to grow, they had not yet manifested themselves in Rome, with one exception. Monks in religious orders were attempting to return the structure of the Mass to pre-medieval styles. This lead t
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