which emphasize time are those which are durable in character 
such as parchment, clay and stone. . . . Media which emphasize 
space are apt to be less durable and light in character such as 
papyrus and paper.”

     With the availability of quantities of manufactured paper, 
especially after the twelfth century, the growth of bureaucratic 
and centralist organization of distant areas got under way 
again. Pirenne writes (p. 211):

          One of the most striking phenomena of the 
     fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is the rapid growth of 
     great commercial companies, each with its affiliations, 
     correspondents and factors in different parts of the 
     Continent. The example of the powerful Italian companies 
     in the thirteenth century had now found followers north