4 ms·

Ottomans came much later. I am talking about the Islamic golden age. The Islamic world introduced paper to Europe and the book translations that served as the

• testrun 5y ago
  A bit more complicated than that: >> It wasn’t until the 11th century that paper arrived in Europe, with the Arab conquest of Sicily and Spain. However, paper was quickly considered an inferior-quality material compared to parchment, so much so that, in 1221, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II prohibited its use for public documents. Rice starch, in fact, was an attractive food source for insects, which meant sheets of paper did not last long. The history of paper owes much to the paper makers of Fabriano, a small town in the Marche region of Italy, who started producing paper using linen and hemp in the 12th century. << https://www.afandpa.org/news/2021/history-paper https://www.afandpa.org/news/2021/history-paper
  • 29athrowaway 5y ago
    True but you cannot have a literate populace with parchments alone. The introduction of paper was necessary.
• nanis 5y ago
  It is not an either/or: First, there was knowledge preservation. But, without the incentive to apply that knowledge to solve problems created by the fact that major European powers could not freely travel East without circumnavigating Africa, a lot of that knowledge would have remained in the books.