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Too hard a question. "Flourish" is a relative word. Arab and Byzantine scholars did little but collect ideas from others, but originated very little. A little bit of algebra, but the medicine was merely curlicues on Galen. The unfolding of the Renaissance, the entry into Europe through Spain, the rebirth of Roman law, of academic medicine and science depends on many individual efforts, rather than any general collective effort led by institutions like the Church. Prince Henriques sponsored explorations were critical, along with the maritime inventions that were necessary. The Turkish invasions turned commerce to the west. And yes, a group of individual geniuses working on their own (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Kopernick, Tycho, Cardano, Vesalius, Columbus) looked out in space, and into man, and created the modern world. |
