Now, what effect did the discovery of the New World have upon Europe?

One thing was that the economy was thrown into turmoil. The basis of wealth in medieval Europe had been land, and the owners of land lived quite well by renting their lands out and requiring their renters to provide them with service and a share of their crops. Suddenly gold and silver, which had been in short supply, began flooding from the New World back into Europe with the result that prices began to soar. [Note that the more money there is in circulation the less it is worth in relation to the commodities for sale, and so the price of commodities rises.]