Lyon

Lyon, the greatest money market and commercial hub of France during the Renaissance, was a major center of printing and of literary and intellectual activity. The city's prosperity came mainly from its location at the intersection of key land and water routes. Also important were Lyon's annual trade fairs, which attracted merchants from throughout Europe. By the early 1500s, dozens of Italy's most influential merchant and banking families, including the house of MEDICI of FLORENCE, had representatives in the city.

The richest part of Lyon's commerce involved the import of fine cloth from Italy. The city's trade fairs, started between 1420 and 1463, were occasions not only for exchanging cloth and other goods but also for financial dealings. French kings came to rely on Lyon's merchant-bankers to finance military operations, particular for wars with Italy.

French king FRANCIS I encouraged the establishment of a silk industry in Lyon in 1536. Taking root rapidly, the industry employed thousands by the mid-1500s. Lyon's first printing press began operating in 1473, and enterprising printers soon made the city a leading center of European book production. However, the rapid growth of industry in Lyon resulted in considerable social unrest. Tensions were particularly high in the printing industry, where workers went on strike in 1539.

The government of Lyon was composed of 12 officials, elected by representatives of the city's crafts and a group of wealthy citizens. Major decisions were made by town assemblies made up of all those with voting privileges. In 1527 the city established an important secondary school, the College of the Trinity, which adopted a humanist* course of study. A number of leading humanists lived in Lyon, and the city's literary circles were enriched by several great French poets, including François RABELAIS. In 1534 the city created the General Charity, which became a model in France for the reform of assistance to the poor.

Lyon became a center of Protestant reform, based on the ideas of John CALVIN. The Protestant Reformed Church, established in the 1550s, grew rapidly. Protestants seized control of Lyon in 1562, but Catholics regained control the following year. A massacre of Protestants in August 1572 claimed hundreds of lives and led many Protestants to leave the city or return to the Catholic faith.

In the late 1500s, the WARS OF RELIGION caused great economic hardship in Lyon. As warfare paralyzed trade, many leading Italian banking families fled. Moreover, between 1592 and 1594, the city fairs ceased as well. After peace returned to Lyon, some commercial activity came back. However, most of those engaged in finance preferred to live in Paris, which replaced Lyon as the banking and financial capital of France.