Interesting concept about paper and literacy. Bear in mind that the Spanish/Visigoths did their best to supress an earlier Renaissance in Spain by pushing the Muslims and, ultimately, the Jews out as a threat to their way of thinking and performing religion.

Both societies emphasized learning, especially literacy and numeracy. In almost all of Western Europe, the only "Jewish" jobs allowed which allowed interaction with the populace were goldsmithing, jewelry and handling commerce and money. The local minions of Holy Mother Church, in conjunction with the civil authorities, did their best to squeeze the Jews and make their lives intolerable, possibly to encourage conversion as well as supporting the regimes.