Revolution The Renaissance and the Reformation were accompanied by fundamental economic changes. The series of economic changes, making the transition from the semi-static, localised, non-profit economy of the late Middle Ages to the dynamic, world-wide, capitalistic regime of the fourteenth and succeeding centuries is known as the Commercial Revolution. This Revolution was gradual. The causes of beginning of the Revolution were (a) the capture of Mediterranean trade by the Italian cities; (b) the development of a flourishing trade between Italian cities and the merchants of Hanseatic League (a merchant guild) in northern Europe; (c) introduction of coins such as the duca of Venice and the florin of Florence; (d) the accumulation of surplus earned out of trading, shipping and mining enterprises; (e) the demand for war materials and the encouragement given by the new monarchs to the development of commerce in order to create more taxable wealth.
The combination of these factors along with the stimulus given by the voyages resulting in Spanish and Portuguese merchants to discover a new route to the Orient, independent of Italian control, paved the way for Commercial Revolution. Catastrophic Impact of Spanish Arms: Although the Aztecs had superior numbers, with firearms and steel blades at his disposal, just one Spaniard could annihilate dozens or even hundreds of opponents: “On a sudden, they speared and thrust people into shreds,” wrote one indigenous chronicler, a witness to the terrifying impact of European arms. “Others were beheaded in one swipe... Others tried to run in vain from the butchery, their innards falling from them and entangling their very feet.” A smallpox epidemic outbreak weakened the Aztec while giving Cortes time to regroup, resume fighting and finally emerge victorious.
Modern World: The Age of Reason Important Results of Commercial Revolution An important element of the Commercial Revolution was the growth of banking. Because of the strong religious disapproval of usury, banking was not a respectable business in the Middle Ages. But by the fourteenth century lending money for profit became an established business practice. The real founders