ABSTRACT
The 16th and 17th centuries bore witness to the invigorated attention of scholars to the empirical sources of knowledge. Notable factors gradually coincided to engender a stricter adherence to the evidence of the senses: the diffusion of practical information and reports through the printing press enabled scholars to systematically identify erroneous information with greater ease. Geographic explorations and discoveries dramatically disclosed discrepancies between genuine evidence and entrenched opinion. Travel within Europe and abroad became easier and more frequent, and scholars could more effectively check reports and stories that came by. The development of pedagogical instruments of literacy by humanist scholars upgraded the status of primary sources. The emphasis on literate piety in the Reformation and Counter-reformation movements highlighted the methodical attention to revealed sources of faith.1
