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Music and Religious Change in the Renaissance by Michael Smith The period arguably dating from around 1430 until the seventeenth century, named ‘Renaissance’ by Michelet, heralded one of the largest cultural transformations in the recent history of Europe. Conflicting social and religious factors caused an upheaval of the medieval attitudes toward music’s role in people’s lives. The reformation caused great change for music, but what were they, and how did they represent the ideals of the two faiths and their leaders. The challenges made to the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe form one of the important chains of events in C16th history. This affected the way services were carried out and in turn the music which is part of the service. The new Protestant churches, were eager to strip their worship of the extravagant ritual and ceremony, which played an integral role in the Catholic service. Music, at the forefront of this ceremony, was dramatically restricted in the role it cold now play, almost being banned by some puritans, a remnant of Catholic ways, which just distracted from worship. John Calvin, a severe protestant reformer, was of this view. He condemned all Catholic liturgy and ceremony. All non bi