"The problem was that the Church punished with death anyone who translated scripture into the common tongue, and at various points also punished with death any laymen who owned a copy of scripture in any tongue."
Not in the East, my Protestant friend. Scripture was readily available and widely read, even by the common people.
Ah, yes, but then again, in the East, the people were more literate and cultured than us Franks in the West -- at least until the Turks conquered Constantinople.