Driving Forces of the Renaissance

1514 Quentin Metsy; The Money Exchanger and His Wife

I believe that trade and banking was the most driving force of the Renaissance, due to the fact that trade and banking was the area where city states made the most money. Without money, city states would not have been able to build fascinating buildings during the constant rivalry, developed new technology, paid armies to work for them in war, etc. With the money to explore, discovery began to take place, which led to new architectural aspects being used on the Churches, and further advanced Italy.