Complex sentence: The focus on tradition, however, belied the role that other social forces had already begun to play in the early seventeenth century; in particular, increasing commerce, and the social changes it wrought, created new impetus for grammar writing.
Split into simpler sentences: The focus on tradition, however, belied the role that other social forces had already begun to play in the early seventeenth century. In particular, increasing commerce, and the social changes it wrought, created new impetus for grammar writing.