By the beginning of the fifteenth century agriculture was only one of several industries to occupy a place in the rural environments of Western Europe. Depending on the resources and economic strategy of a region, industrial activity became common throughout Europe from the 1400s onward. The earliest and most successful industrial activities in Europe centered on the manufacture of woolen goods. The Flemish and the Italians both developed cloth-manufacturing centers, with the Italians gaining a virtual monopoly by controlling the dye trade. As purchasers of raw wool, the Italians stimulated sheep raising in less developed areas of Europe with ample land for animal husbandry.