1. Business and Politics By: Liam, Brandi, Mike D., Odera

2. Milan Francesco Sforza Conquered Milan and became the new duke He became leader of a band of mercenaries Visconti and Sforza built a strong centralized state by creating an efficient tax system

3. Doge Small group of merchants- aristocrats Became wealthy through trading Ran the government on behalf of their own interests Venice

4. Florence Cosimo de' Medici Took control of Florence Florence was the banking center of Italy Controlled the government using their wealth and personal influence Lorenzo de' Medici Dominated Florence when it was a cultural center of Italy

5. Economy Florence experienced an economic decline during the late 1400s Its economy was experienced on the manufacturing of cloth The increasing competition from English and Flemish cloth makers brought down the profits

6. Banks Florence started to become a wealthy city in spite of its inland location away from trade routes Family fortunes were made in Florence in banking and industry In the 14th century, Florence became the banking center of Italy The Medici bank began opening branches in major cities of Europe during the 15th century The banks loaned money, operated mines, mills, and other commercial activities The Medici bank gained huge profits and used those profits to finance cultural and political activities The Medici family grew rich from banking Banks

7. Trade As cities grew and prospered during the Renaissance, the rulers learned to tax the people Trade started to increase between other states and countries The trade in goods started to increase as well as the trade in ideas The easiest way to trade goods was by using rivers

8. Taxes As a result of outside invasions declining after the collapse of the Roman Empire, rulers started to consolidate their power and concentrate on self preservation That made it easier to accumulate wealth, and industry continued to grow The cities started to grow rapidly as the majority of people started to shift from agricultural life to city life because the jobs were more plentiful Because of the increase in the number of people, the taxes started to increase which meant there was more wealth to fund the expansion coming ahead

9. Religion R eligion started to be removed from politics because people saw the progress in culture as a natural event that did not relate to religion itself Machiavelli said how the government and the process of running the government should be based on science and not religion The debate on whether or not government and other factors should be based on religion started to occur during the Renaissance