Editing Polyphony (section)

===Western Europe and Roman Catholicism===
European polyphony rose prior to, and during the period of the [[Western Schism]]. [[Avignon]], the seat of [[pope]]s and then [[antipope]]s, was a vigorous center of secular music-making, much of which influenced sacred polyphony.<ref>[[Hugo Riemann|Riemann, Hugo]]. History of music theory, books I and II: polyphonic theory to the sixteenth century, Book 2. Da Capo Press. June 1974.</ref>

The notion of secular and sacred music merging in the papal court also offended some medieval ears.  It gave church music more of a jocular performance quality supplanting the solemnity of worship they were accustomed to. The use of and attitude toward polyphony varied widely in the Avignon court from the beginning to the end of its religious importance in the fourteenth century.

Harmony was considered frivolous, impious, lascivious, and an obstruction to the audibility of the words. Instruments, as well as certain modes, were actually forbidden in the church because of their association with secular music and pagan rites. After banishing polyphony from the Liturgy in 1322, [[Pope John XXII]] warned against the unbecoming elements of this musical innovation in his 1324 [[papal bull|bull]] ''[[Docta Sanctorum Patrum]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cengage.com/music/book_content/049557273X_wrightSimms/assets/ITOW/7273X_10b_ITOW_John_XXII.pdf |title= Translated from the original Latin of the bull ''Docta sanctorum patrum'' as given in ''Corpus iuris canonici, ed. a. 1582'' |year=1879 |author=Pope John XXII |author-link=Pope John XXII |volume=I |pages=1256–57}}</ref> In contrast [[Pope Clement VI]] indulged in it.

The oldest extant polyphonic setting of the [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] attributable to one composer is [[Guillaume de Machaut]]'s [[Messe de Nostre Dame]], dated to 1364, during the pontificate of [[Pope Urban V]]. The [[Second Vatican Council]] said Gregorian chant should be the focus of liturgical services, without excluding other forms of sacred music, including polyphony.<ref>Vatican II, Constitution on the Liturgy, 112–18</ref>

====Notable works and artists====
*[[Tomás Luis de Victoria]]
*[[William Byrd]], ''[[Mass for Five Voices]]''
*[[Thomas Tallis]], ''[[Spem in alium]]''
*[[Orlandus Lassus]], Missa super Bella'Amfitrit'altera
*[[Guillaume de Machaut]], ''[[Messe de Nostre Dame]]''
*[[Geoffrey Chaucer]]<ref>See [[Jonathan Fruoco]]'s work on [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s polyphony: ''[https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501514364/html Chaucer's Polyphony]'' and ''[https://www.routledge.com/Polyphony-and-the-Modern/Fruoco/p/book/9780367655150 Polyphony and the Modern]''.</ref>
*[[Jacob Obrecht]]
*[[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]], ''[[Missa Papae Marcelli]]''
*[[Josquin des Prez]], ''[[Missa Pange Lingua]]''
*[[Gregorio Allegri]], ''[[Miserere (Allegri)|Miserere]]''