Final answer:
The merchant class rose to great importance during the 1500s, bolstered by global trade expansion and the creation of new markets that shifted economic power centers and fostered wealth among the middle class.
Step-by-step explanation:
- The merchant class became fundamentally important throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe during the 1500s due to the expansion of global trade networks and the establishment of new markets.
- Cities like Antwerp and Amsterdam emerged as wealthy centers during the Dutch Golden Age because of trade in exotic goods and spices. The access to wealth no longer remained confined to the ruling elites but extended to a burgeoning middle class equipped with the capital generated from commerce.
- During the High Middle Ages, the rise of the urban communes in Northern Italy marked the initial ascendancy of the merchant class, who efficiently managed financial institutions and cultivated prosperity independent of feudal aristocratic control. This class adapted financial acumen to monopolize trade and establish a mercantile governing class.
- The profitable interactions with Eastern empires fostered by explorations and trading companies further augmented the status of European states, leading to the acquisition of tremendous resources that funded royal sovereignty ambitions and underpinned the proto-industrial economic structure that preluded the modern age.