Not all festivities were positive and nor were the day-to-day lives of the town’s citizens. Quite apart from the ongoing wars being fought, which disrupted life, public spaces were also used for demonstrations against negative official phenomena. For example, the Inquisition acted against those who it deemed heretical and apostates: first they were humiliated and walked through the city in procession; next a mass would be said where the sermon preached the morality of the ceremony. Finally, these hapless victims to the Inquisition were punished publicly in the city-square.

An element of the ascension of the bourgeoisie can be seen in the rising wealth of artistic practitioners, who now were able to represent their social status through opulent residences. One of the best examples of this is seen in the ensemble of Asamkirche in Munich, which is the former urban residence of a sculptor.