Between 500 and 1500, the economy of Europe changed considerably. The papal court saw an equally radical change in the nature of their income, their expenditure, their administration, and their financial expectations. The papal court became the jurisdictional apex of the medieval Church and a major power in European secular politics. Consequently, the income of the Roman Curia increased radically, as did their expenditure. The papacy was a religious power first and foremost. Therefore, the accounting, income, and expenditure of the popes had to correspond to a model medieval Christianity thought good; the pope should look after his flock and spend appropriately on their welfare. There were times, however, when it was not clear to the Christian world that the pope was acting in an acceptable manner, as regards finance and wealth. Bitter satires followed, and the papacy gained a reputation for extravagance. It has never fully thrown off that reputation.

This chapter looks at the upper echelon of power in the church of St Omer, examining the system of patronage that controlled and regulated it and the ways in which that control affected the careers of musicians. It does this by means of a close examination of the careers of three well-placed individuals in the church’s governing chapter. Its primary focus is on Nicolas Rembert, canon and later dean, and a former singer in St Peter’s, Rome. Rembert was a consummate church politician who exercised his legal and political skill in Rome to provide canonries for prominent singers and support music by means of income from a St Omer canonry suppressed through his influence. His period as dean also saw the bringing-in of important musical figures including the copyist and celebrated composer Jean Mouton. The other two central figures in the chapter, both members of the Burgundian court chapel, show the close relationship with the ruling regional dynasty and the contrasting effects it could have on church personnel and politics.