Music of Vatican City a result, reformers like Palestrina revised the rules behind Gregorian chanting, which were printed by the Medici Press in Rome; these reforms continued to be followed to the present day. A traditional musical instrument was the pipe organ. After the end of the Papal States the Popes' ability to sponsor composers and musicians waned. However it did not end entirely nor did interest in the subject. Pope Pius X and Pope Pius XII both wrote on the subject. In modern times John Harbison and Gilbert Levine have composed or conducted for the Vatican. Although not of the Vatican a Christmas
War of the Eight Saints War of the Eight Saints The War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378) was a war between Pope Gregory XI and a coalition of Italian city-states led by Florence, which contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy. The causes of the war were rooted in interrelated issues, Florentine opposition to the expansion of the Papal States in central Italy (which the Avignon Popes had set as a condition for their return), and antipathy toward the "Parte Guelfa" in Florence. Specifically, Florence feared in the autumn of 1372 that Gregory XI intended to reoccupy a strip of territory near Lunigiana, which