The word Renaissance signifies the rebirth of interest in new ideas and was used to refer to the historical age in Europe, mainly Italy, spanning from 1400-1600, which followed the Reformation. In this time period, there were many new developments in science, culture, and music that forever changed the history of Europe. The Protestant Reformation during this era had the largest influence upon religious music. The Huguenot and English Reformations greatly impacted the style in musical expressions, which resulted in the psalm settings in the vernacular in France and England. The inclusion of music from Luther was a very important part of the religious liturgy, because it contributed to the congregational music singing which impacted the musical renaissance in areas that spoke German. The Roman Catholic Church was the leading patron of musical production. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) was determined to improve the system of secularization, however, this resulted in the banning of all polyphonic settings of liturgical music and the traditional plainsong returned. Before ...... Word Count: 1241 Page Count: 4.9 (250 words a page / double spaced)