Historians generally agree about the significance of the following:
The support and publication of scholarly research was a characteristic
feature of early modern European history and gave rise to the scientific
and technical achievements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Less certain is why princes and private parties made such investments
in scholarly research, but if we can judge from their behavior,
they clearly believed that the university, with its focus on theology
and connection with the church, was an inadequate vehicle for scientific
discovery.
Moreover, the support of science served to legitimize princely
authority before a broader, more prosperous, and an increasingly
well-educated upper and middle class.