Pope John XXII bans polyphony in Docta Sanctorum

1322

From Avignon the pope issued a decree condemning the new Ars Nova music that was creeping into churches, its hocketed voices and syncopated rhythms distracting the faithful from proper devotion. Composers ignored him magnificently. Within a generation, Guillaume de Machaut would make polyphony the glory of French cathedrals and the defining sound of late medieval sacred art.