Based on previously unpublished documents, Frank D'Accone sets the background for the musical efflorescence that occurred in Florence in the later 15th century and the emergence in the early 16th century of a new Florentine school of composers. Tracing the origins and development of musical chapels at the Cathedral and Baptistery, and the growth of musical establishments at several other churches such as the Santissima Annunziata, Santa Trinita and San Lorenzo, D'Accone examines the effect of Medici patronage, on the one hand, and the impact of Savonarola, on the other, and at the careers of individual composers such as Heinrich Isaac.