Why did wealth lead to the Renaissance in northern Italy?

- Wealth, coupled with the increase in trade, gave rise to several prominent merchant centres in Northern Italy

- These became city state such as, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Lucca, Padua, Pisa, Rome , and Florence

Rise of Merchant class:

_As trade expanded through out Mediterranean and Beyond

the wealth of individual merchants grew. It enabled the middlemen to patronize culture pursuits.

Humanistic Values:-

- This new class of patrons were open to innovative cultural ideals inspired by humanistic and classical values as opposed to theological values propagated by the Church.