Plus, Italy really spawned the Renaissance. But was it about Italy that lent itself to Renaissance-ing? Was it the wine, the olives, the pasta, the plumbers, the relative permissiveness when it comes to the moral lassitude of their leaders? Well, let's go to the Thought Bubble. Italy was primed for Renaissance for exactly one reason. Money. A society has to be super rich to support artists and elaborate building projects and to feed scholars who translate and comment on thousand-year-old documents.