Academic pursuits was really only something for the wealthy, land-owning class back then. Books were expensive. Public libraries were not common. Public schooling wasn't even widespread and certainly wasn't a path to higher learning. People of academic or political fame from history were usually either people of the clergy (who had nothing better to do during the day) or the wealthy who didn't really have to work. Your average tradesman or farmer had neither the time nor resources to do any research or learning outside of what was required for their job. It's amazing how many resources are available to even the poorest of the poor nowadays. Access to the Internet at a library opens so many opportunities for learning that simply was not available to most years ago. College is still out of reach for many but there are still programs meant to help the people afford college. It's not college was expensive back then but simply being accepted required you to be part of the upper class. Joining the clergy offered better opportunities to the middle class to pursue learning. Being poor meant your descendants were probably going to be poor for a long time.