The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 20
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even more revolutions in the middle of the century. In 1959 in the Aston publication, Trevor-
Roper describes the situation as a conflict between a
puritanically minded opposition and a parasitic bureaucracy created by the Renaissance
state during the boom of the 16th century, but which became unendurable during the
period of decline and the lengthy wars of the 17th century. (Parker and Smith 1978)
The city of Venice appears to be the only one that was able to keep its industry alive
despite the grueling problems. Deindustrialization was forcing the upper classes in most other
places to fall back on landholding as their primary source of income. The wars that were
ravaging Europe, coupled with the plagues of 1630 and 1656 exacerbated this situation. This
return to landholding caused a renewal in the custom of feudalization. Many peasants were not
certain where to turn for relief, and many turned to the Church, not necessarily out of religious
piety, but out of necessity to simply survive. The new social structure caused quite a rise in the
number of monks and nuns. The period between 1580 and 1650 seemed to yield the greatest
number of this new strand of holy men and women. All over Italy monks especially became
more prevalent. In the smaller Central Italian towns like Siena, Pistoia, and Prato they
comprised up to 11% of the total population. Places such as Florence and Catania contained
approximately 5%. Rome contained over 3,000 monks by the year 1670, and Naples itself
boasted 4,000. Church life provided a security and safety for the lower class quite unlike many
other professions and lifestyles, not just for the individual, but for the entire family. Since the
general welfare of the family far outweighed the good of the individual child in this century, a
child's future was decided based upon what the family needed (Rosselli 1992).
However, it was not just the poor who decided that the simpler life of a monk or nun
would be best suited. It was less expensive to place a son or daughter into a monastic career than
other options of the time. For a son in a wealthy family, an official career was an expensive task20
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Sowle, Jennifer. The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified?, thesis, August 2006; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5343/m1/23/: accessed May 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .