Angels, saints, and dancing masters: The vernacularization of the rebec in fifteenth century Italy

Fifteenth-century Italy was an era of transitions: from Medieval to Renaissance, rural to urban, and old nobility to signorie. The ensuing court culture resulted in the elements that would cause the rise of the dancing master with his pochette, and the coinciding vernacularization of the rebec. In the 1400s, the rebec was in use both as a sacred and secular instrument although its form and function were undergoing fluctuation. By the end early 1600s, the pochette would be fully developed and in the hands of the dancing master while the rebec would be used by very few musicians. This study attempts to answer the questions regarding how this transition occurred and the societal changes that precipitated it. It is a study in how an instrument moved from broad use to limited usage among professionals and street musicians. I will argue that contrary to the dominate narrative in musicological scholarship, the rebec did not die out prior to the Renaissance but instead became limited to vernacular and folk contexts.