Editing Christendom (section)

===Medieval conditions===
{{Main|Medieval science|Medieval technology|List of Christian thinkers in science}}

The [[Byzantine Empire]], which was the most sophisticated culture during antiquity, suffered under [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] limiting its scientific prowess during the [[Medieval period]]. Christian [[Western Europe]] had suffered a catastrophic loss of knowledge following the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. But thanks to the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] scholars such as [[Aquinas]] and [[Buridan]], the West carried on at least the spirit of scientific inquiry which would later lead to Europe's taking the lead in science during the [[Scientific Revolution]] using [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translations of medieval works]].

[[Medieval technology]] refers to the [[technology]] used in [[medieval Europe]] under Christian rule. After the [[Renaissance of the 12th century]], medieval Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth.<ref>Alfred Crosby described some of this technological revolution in his ''The Measure of Reality : Quantification in Western Europe, 1250–1600'' and other major historians of technology have also noted it.</ref> The period saw major [[technology|technological]] advances, including the adoption of [[gunpowder]] and the [[astrolabe]], the invention of [[spectacles]], and greatly improved [[water mill]]s, [[building]] techniques, [[agriculture]] in general, [[clock]]s, and [[ship]]s. The latter advances made possible the dawn of the [[Age of Exploration]]. The development of water mills was impressive, and extended from agriculture to [[sawmill]]s both for timber and stone, probably derived from [[Roman technology]]. By the time of the [[Domesday Book]], most large villages in [[Great Britain|Britain]] had mills. They also were widely used in [[mining]], as described by [[Georg Agricola]] in [[De Re Metallica]] for raising ore from shafts, crushing ore, and even powering [[bellows]].

Significant in this respect were advances within the fields of [[navigation]]. The [[compass]] and [[astrolabe]] along with advances in shipbuilding, enabled the navigation of the [[Ocean|World Oceans]] and thus domination of the worlds economic trade. [[Johann Gutenberg|Gutenberg]]'s [[printing press]] made possible a dissemination of knowledge to a wider population, that would not only lead to a gradually more [[egalitarian society]], but one more able to dominate other cultures, drawing from a vast reserve of knowledge and experience.