Citation needed - this is actually an ahistorical myth. The Printing Press was welcomed as a "divine art," and Papal bull 1515 declared printing "uniquely adva

Citation needed - this is actually an ahistorical myth. The Printing Press was welcomed as a "divine art," and Papal bull 1515 declared printing "uniquely advantageous to extending the glory of God, to the increase of the faith, and the diffusion of the arts and sciences." Most early universities were also established in the 11th and 12th centuries; with Pope Alexander III in 1179 "forbidding masters of the church schools to take fees for granting the license to teach (licentia docendi), and obliging them to give license to properly qualified teachers." This historical ignorance often comes from historical misrepresentation. For example, the "chained books" which many historians now admit was due to the rarity and cost of the books, so that more people could read them by preventing theft - the very opposite of the suppression tool they are often portrayed to be. (The Reformers would also, ironically, chain their books for over 300 years Post-Reformation for the same reason.)