Originally Posted by Shtona

On Phil's comment regarding monastery's, I disagree. Think of it in modern terms:
A decree from the government is now in effect that says schoolchildren may only copy from this document (insert singular idea here) and nothing else. Would you consider that to be a preservation of writing and reading? Would it be decent of the government to do? The monk's were, for the most part, restricted to making copies of the Bible and other holy texts. Free thought was stifled by religious intervention until the beginning of the Renaissance.