The development of cities in the 16th century turned these places into centers where new relations, new classes, new demands, new expectations, new political struggles, and new nerves of energy were connected and redistributed.

Especially the bourgeoisie using the money from the trade made the cities the main places of the conflict between old and new the social classes. On the other hand, the bourgeoisie and the emerging urban middle class would be one of the main supporting forces behind the Renaissance and the Reformation. Those who politicized the reformation movement on another level would be the peasants.