Essay On Northern Renaissance Economy

Northern Renaissance Economy After the countless struggles and deaths of the Middles Ages a rebirth in Europe occurred causing economic prosperity. This period of rebirth, entitled the Renaissance, lead to a thriving wool trade in Flanders causing the Northern Renaissance to be economically sound and even stronger than the Southern Renaissance economy. Furthermore, even the economic leader in the Northern Renaissance, Jakob Fugger, had more power and, therefore, influence than that of the Southern Renaissance, the Medici family. To start off, Flanders, which is located in modern day Belgium, was an extremely wealthy area. This can be depicted through the artwork of the Northern Renaissance. Art is a status symbol and many wealthy merchants, nobles, and monarchs were patrons of the arts in order to display their wealth (Knee). Flanders is also a very heavily populated place. This is because Flanders was a very successful center of trade and many people lived, worked, or visited there in order to produce goods, or to pick up imports or exports. Goods such as wool, wine, salt, iron corn, and fur were exported or imported everyday (Guido). Because these necessities and needs came into Flanders on a daily basis, Flanders profited greatly from it, feeding their economy. Not only did imports come into Flanders, but several exports were shipped all over Europe and into the Middle East from Flanders

Having the same family rule for over 60 years does not allow any kind of economic change or reform, whereas in Flanders many different monarchs in different families ruled causing the success of the wool industry. For example, King Edward I was the first monarch to apply the tax on the wool exports causing economic prosperity (Johnson). Therefore the restriction of the rulers just being the Medici family prohibits new ideas and policies to come about to create a stronger economy