Florence was one of the five major city states that rose as a result of the “Dark Age” and black plague. After this, the guild system was rarely used and wealthy, powerful families began to rule (which in Florence was the Medici family). Florence played a major role in the Renaissance because it encouraged and promoted art and culture; it became the center for literature and art and supported those writers and artists affluently. Patrons were the largest supporters for scholars, writers, and artists in Florence, and if you were an artist scholar or writer who had useful or talented works and ideas, you were almost guaranteed a decent pay, which is why it was an artistic, cultural, and banking center. Florence was also a center of banking because
