Answer: Why were merchants unhappy with nobles ruling city-states? Owners of small farms resented the nobles' power. Many of the farm owners had borrowed money from the nobles to shop for land. When the farmers couldn't repay the loans, the nobles often took their land.
The nobles would take their land because the farmers would borrow money from the nobles to buy land. But when the farmers could not repay the loans, the nobles often took their land.
