Question

04.02 The Birth of New Ideas - The Italian City-States

Imagine you are a merchant with commerce experience in the five major Italian city-states. It would benefit your business to attract more people to trade with in these places. In addition, many merchants look to you for advice on where to conduct their trade. Your task is to summarize the reasons each of these city-states are important and worthy of their business.

Renaissance city-states:
Venice
Florence
Milan
Naples
Rome



Write a brief summary of two to three sentences to explain what makes each city-state a good place for business. You will have five summaries total. Consider which features or benefits of the city-state are most notable before writing each summary. Features to consider include:

Geographic location
Natural resources
Wealth
Existing businesses
Labor skills available
Population
Languages spoken
Cultural points of interest

Answer 1

Venice
Venice's location was the absolute best position to trade with the East. Not only that, but as early as 1000 CE, Venice already had a strong economy from carrying goods by ship between Europe and the Byzantine Empire. It's population was a mix, from European Christians to those who practiced Islam. All their ideas and influence helped to kick start the Renaissance.
Florence
Florence was centered around finance and the trade of woolen cloth. It's tradition was to be ruled by a democracy. The city was ruled by a series of strong families, the most famous being the DE Medici family, who founded the bank and were known for wealth and power and the support of the arts.
Milan
Milan was formed into one of the most powerful and wealthy city-states from being ruled by the Visconti and Sforza family. The city of Milan conquered most of northern Italy from being so strong. One of the rulers in 1480 CE, Lodovico il Moro, supported Leonardo DA Vinci and the arts for almost 20 years. Not only that, but he created ambitious plans for canals and irrigation which encouraged farmers to grow new and different crops.
Rome
Naples
Rome was the central city of the Papal States. The territory was mostly controlled by the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. It was the center for artists and scholars, and because of that there wasn't much trade or major industries, so they had to rely on religious and church business for financial gains.
Naples was mostly focused on agriculture. The man who conquered Naples, Alfonso, supported building, the arts, and education. Not only that, but he also founded a university for Greek Studies.