Expanded trade promotes expanded manufacturing and world wide merchandizing. Merchants demand more from education. Their sons need a more vigorous, and technically excellent education. Wealthy merchants finance the founding of more and more Universities, which are out of the control of the church. In response, the Church reinvigorates its Universities.
Merchants expand libraries making access to knowledge a possibility for more and more people.
Role of Expanded trade pours taxes into Government treasuries. Monarchs, particularly in Protestant Europe, tend more and more to support Education, Research, and the free exchange of information. With books now within financial reach of more people, literacy is growing fast. The demand for teachers is growing with it. There are more Universities, and old and new alike, are expanding.