Year 1500 context: 50 years earlier Gutenberg had developed his printing press, eight years earlier Columbus had crossed the Atlantic, Michelangelo had just finished his Pietà, Luther was in school, and Copernicus was in university. Fewer than 10% of Europeans were literate.
Source: Robert C. Allen, Global Economic History, Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 26.
By 1800, the Enlightenment was in vigorous development.
