While good ideas can emerge anywhere, it takes a community to develop and disseminate them.
In premodern Europe (1084-1793), there were approximately 200 universities and 150 academies of sciences,
which were home to thousands of scholars and created an extensive network of intellectual exchange.
By reconstructing interpersonal connections that were made via institutional affiliations,
we model the spread of ideas on the European academic landscape.
We find that the implied exposure patterns align with observed urban developments:
examples include botanic gardens, astronomical observatories, and Protestantism.
Scholars’ mobility and multiple affiliations sustain the diffusion,
and counterfactual simulations underscore the bridging role played by scientific academies.
We also show that the spread of ideas through the affiliation network was locally fragile but globally robust,
pointing towards academia as being a key ingredient of early European development.