Final answer:
The knowledge of the Greco-Roman civilization endured in Europe during the Middle Ages through the preservation and transmission efforts by Byzantine and Arab scholars, the Roman Church's support of scholarship, and Italian trade routes facilitating the exchange of rediscovered works.
Step-by-step explanation:
The knowledge of the Greco-Roman civilization was preserved during the Middle Ages through various means. Byzantine scholars fleeing westward to Europe after the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire brought significant ancient Greek and Roman texts. This Eastern transmission, largely centered in Constantinople, provided crucial knowledge to medieval Europe. The intellectual culture of the Byzantine Empire and Arab scholars played key roles in preserving and transmitting this classical knowledge. During and following the Italian Renaissance, the influx of Byzantine scholars, as well as the recovery of Greek texts from Arab sources, sparked a revival of classical learning through linguistic studies and ancient manuscript discoveries.
Meanwhile, the Roman Church, one of the few stable institutions post-fall of Rome, continued to support scholarship to some extent. Although a suspicion of secular learning that did not directly apply to religious instruction or practical skills led to a decline in scholarship, the Church's role in maintaining literacy and basic education was instrumental in ensuring that some aspects of Roman culture and learning survived into the medieval period and beyond. The Italian trade routes were also important for the cultural and knowledge exchange, as they facilitated the spread of rediscovered Greek and Latin works from the East into Western Europe, thereby laying the groundwork for the intellectual movements of the Renaissance.