Why did the Renaissance start in Italy and not in Northern Europe and how were they different?

The Renaissance started in Italy first and not in Northern Europe because of many factors that came into play in favor of Italy and against the progression of the classical arts in Northern European countries.

What is the Renaissance?

The Renaissance was started when the Crusades brought back classical arts the soldier had seen when they were fighting in the east. This fueled by passion for the classical arts again that ancient Rome and Greece had lead before the "Dark Ages".

Some determining factors in Italy:

•  Italy was ideal grounds for the growth of the Renaissance because it had many urban cities for the spread of ideas
• Italy had a Greek and Roman background which were big players of the classical arts
• Italy had a wealthy merchant class who could sponser new ideas and art. This was called partonage where the rich citizens would give money to artists who were talented to make them classical art pieces.

Why the Renaissance started later in Northern Europe:

•  Northern Europe lagged because England and France were locked in the 100 years war
• They mostly consisted of rural areas where there wasn't fast communication with a large amount of people.
•  Northern Renaissance started in the mid-late 1400s because the bubonic plague ended
•  There was a war going on between France and Italy so many Italian artists and writers fled to the North for a safer place to stay. They brought their classical ideas with them which had helped spur the movement towards the Northern Renaissance.

 How the Northern Renaissance and Italian Renaissance differed:

              The Northern Renaissance differed from Italy's Renaissance in that it had more of a religious stand point. Art would include Jesus, but the foundamentals where completly changed. Instead art would be more realistic and would show expressions