The century and a half from 1400 to the Dissolution of the Monasteries is one of the most interesting in the history of monastic libraries. The period also witnessed the full impact of the universities, and the dissemination of a great deal of religious literature in English. Between the middle of the fourteenth and the early sixteenth century, the number of readers among the non-clerical population of England increased dramatically. This literacy was primarily vernacular literacy. In the fifteenth century, the universities had an immense impact on the monasteries. Monks who had studied at university naturally had an effect on the libraries of their mother-houses. The fifteenth century was also a period of intellectual stagnation in most men's houses. But the period also witnessed the building of new libraries and a renewal of activity on the part of librarians. Monasteries, friaries, cathedrals and colleges were interested in the construction of new book-rooms and new facilities.