The number of manuscripts doubled every 10 years. From 1200 to 1300 is 100 years, or 10 periods of 10 years.

Sat, 02 May 2026 16:46:19 +0000

**The number of manuscripts doubled every 10 years. From 1200 to 1300 is 100 years, or 10 periods of 10 years—what this trend reveals about knowledge, culture, and digital evolution** A quiet but profound transformation reshaped the flow of written knowledge over a millennium: the number of manuscripts roughly doubled every decade between the years 1200 and 1300. Spanning 100 years, this steady doubling unfolded across centuries of European history, mirroring complex shifts in education, trade, and cultural preservation. Though this pattern may seem abstract at first, its implications are tangible in how knowledge spread, influenced societies, and evolved into the information-rich world we engage with today. American audiences increasingly notice how information expands at accelerating rates—yet this phenomenon is not new. Studying the medieval manuscript boom reveals how economic growth, rising literacy, and institutional support fueled an unbroken expansion of written material. Even without modern printing, doubling every ten years was not a random skew but a consistent pattern driven by real-world forces: demand for texts, efficiency in copying, resource availability, and institutional investment in writing and preservation. Why is this happening again today? Digital technologies and global connectivity have created conditions eerily similar to the medieval rise in manuscript volumes. The exponential growth of knowledge, once measured by hand-copied volumes, now accelerates through digital platforms, cloud storage, and open-access resources. For US readers navigating rapid technological change, this natural escalation underscores a profound truth: information isn’t just multiplying—it’s becoming more accessible, interconnected, and influential at an unprecedented pace.