Slow your roll. This was not always the case.
"The entirety of Europe" was NOT always filled with such things. In fact, there was a time when the Romans and even Arab cultures considered Western Europeans to be "backwards," especially Britons.
Once the technology and know-how migrated to these parts of Europe through conquest and trade-routes, they made the most out of what they just learned. And they are to be commended for that. But don't get crazy. I know history, too.
My M.A. thesis was on this very topic.