Merchant Republic (Civ6)

Merchant Republic
Tier 2 Government of the Medieval Era
Introduced in Civilization VI
Required civic	Exploration
Envoys	Grants 2 Envoys at 150 Influence points.
Influence points	5 per turn
Diplomatic favor	2 per turn
Cards
Military
Economic
Diplomatic
Wildcard
Effects
+2 Trade Routes. +10% Gold in all cities with an established Governor. +15% Production toward Districts.
Legacy bonus
Discount on Gold purchases (15%, plus 1% for every 15 turns on Standard speed). +10% Gold in all cities with an established Governor.

Back to Governments

Merchant Republic is a form of Tier 2 government in Civilization VI. It is unlocked by the Exploration civic.

In Rise and Fall, this government's legacy bonus is conferred by Mercantile Legacy, a Wildcard policy unlocked by changing governments after adopting Merchant Republic and constructing a Tier 2 government building (Foreign Ministry, Grand Master's Chapel, Intelligence Agency, or Queen's Bibliotheque).

Strategy

Merchant Republic heavily favors an economic playstyle. Its two Economic card slots and extra Trade Routes are quite useful, though the latter are available only under the vanilla ruleset. In the expansions, its focus shifts toward city development by providing a Gold bonus to each city with an established Governor and a Production bonus when constructing districts. Building districts more quickly can make increasing the Population of your cities and obtaining Great People considerably easier, and subsequently spur you toward your favored victory condition.

Civilopedia entry

In the early Renaissance, a number of small, wealthy, trade-based nations embraced republican ideals, notably across Italy and the Baltic. In these “mercantile republics,” the leaders – usually a council of merchants headed by a doge or mayor – were elected by the citizenry with the primary duty of increasing the city-state's collective wealth. Thus, while military affairs were of importance, these were usually focused on opening or guarding trade routes. And diplomacy was centered on such matters as tariffs, customs duties and financial matters. In short, merchant republics had capital lead the way, and gave a pragmatic approach to governing, although occasionally they were not immune to misguided visions of glory, as when the aged Doge Dandolo joined the Fourth Crusade and helped sack Constantinople.

In general, these mercantile republics arose in regions of Europe where feudal control by an absolutist monarchy was minimal or absent completely. In the Holy Roman Empire, 51 “free imperial cities,” many later composing the Hanseatic League, established chartered mercantile republics. To the east, two Russian cities – Novgorod and Pskov – pursued republicanism into the 15th Century until Muscovy put an end to any pretensions of independence. But it was in Italy that mercantile republican aspirations reached their culmination, with powerful city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence and others dominating the landscape until the Napoleonic Wars subsumed their greed.

Trivia

• The artwork of Merchant Republic depicts the statue of Doge Leonardo Loredan in Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. The background is likely based on the Lion of Venice.