The Renaissance Essay Example

The Renaissance Essay

The age of the Renaissance marked the transition from the civilization of the Middle Ages

to the modern world. Therefore, the Renaissance is the beginning

of the modern world politically, socially and economically. These coming of ages

changed the world and it affected who and where we are today.

Economically, cities and towns were centres of wealth production and of

creativity. Urban society in the Renaissance period was thoroughly commercialized;

everything had a price. Italy was the centre of it all, where development was booming

and cities like Venice, Genoa, Pisa, and Florence were the most successful in this period.

New jobs like bookkeeping were invented and ports kept trading international product.

Product like luxury goods and books were traded away, and international trade

commodities like silk, spices, silver and fine armour. This was the first sign of this kind

of trading, and it was booming. Bankers made massive profits off of loans given to

commercial travelers in the New World. Merchants found trade so important because of

profits, that they eventually broke off of major cities, and formed new city states. These

city states play a big role in the political aspect of the Renaissance.

Dramatic political changes occurred in Europe during the Renaissance. For almost

a thousand years, the only strong unifying force in Europe was the Roman Catholic

Church. However, the growth in commerce increasingly unified Europe economically.

Invasions from the outside declined, and rulers in the various countries gradually

combined their power. This trend developed in different ways in Italy than it did in other

parts of Europe. As towns grew in Italy, they demanded self-rule and often developed

into strong, independent city-states. In the northern areas of Europe, national monarchs

established their power over the noble class. During the Renaissance,