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<em>1648</em> covers the period between the beginning of 1399Neptune-Pluto1892 to its half-point in other ways by speaking of it in terms of the 1398-1571 and 1572-1648 quarters. Nonetheless, looking each half as a unit helps expand our perspective.
<h2>Connecting the dots</h2> 
Outer planet positions at 1571, the half-point of the this first half reveals much. Here we The Netherlands battling for its independence from Spain; Spain at war with France by its support in the French Religious Wars; in the German regions growing Calvinism was undermining the 1555 Peace of Augustus; in the British Isles, its most popular queen struggled to unite the country behind its state religion. The Church, formerly undisputed uniter, unknowingly laid a path to a diminished status by refusing reform of the Council of Trent.
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Economically, Spain's flood of American bullion created an inflation that would undermine its empire and push Europe toward greater mercantile stance. And despite the enmity across the region, Europeans managed to defeat Turks at the battle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto_%281571%29">The Battle of Lepanto</a>, a sign of a shift to full Christian control of the Mediterranean. Altogether, Europe had turned a corner, but did not realize it had. 
<strong>Religious Hopes, Economic Realities >>>>></strong>
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<h2>Religious Hopes, Economic Realities</h2>
The activities of the 1570s were couched in religiosity, but the bottom-line should not be ignored. The Hapsburghs used Spanish wealth to control religious worship, but all knew where the economic fault-lines lay. The Dutch, who championed Calvinism, cared more about controlling its growing mercantile empire. While the French conflict centered around Hugenism, one should not neglect that a struggle between two powerful families, as well as one for the throne, underlay their religious wars. The English cursed the Spanish for their allegiance to devil Pope, but their envy of Spanish overseas territory should not be discounted. Taken altogether, we can see that the ostensibly religious issue proved to cover more than about how people worshiped. 
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How Europeans in this medieval period conducted their lives has much to do with the intermingling of religion with almost everything else. The Church could be found at every level in all aspects of life . In every way, all, from peasant to king, had to meet approval of ecclesiastic authorities. Though Henry VIII's conflict with Rome seemed to revolve around divorce, but true motivation should be seen in the throne's ongoing seizure of Church property. Jurisdictions of all kinds often had the duty of collection of tithes for local churches. Thus, monarchs not only saw sums under their oversight pay for Church property, they had to collect the fees, along with taxes for their interests.  Separation from the Church could have benefits. This realization goes back to the beginning of 1399Neptune-0-Pluto1892 and its root in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism">Great Western Schism.</a>
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<strong>Great Western Schism: Foundations of the Reformation >>>>>></strong>
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<h2>Great Western Schism: Foundations of the Reformation</h2>
Choosing the wrong Pope often had dramatic consequences during the Great Western Schism. Conducting affairs across or within borders often required Church sanction. Doing business with the wrong side could lead to excommunication, tantamount to losing ones license to do business. With English parties in an ongoing war with French ones, one can see who would oppose the Avignon designee. Remember as well that Italian city states constantly switched alliances, providing a dizzying array of who backed which pontiff at which time. Combine this matrix with the growing trade around Europe and one can easily the imagine the confusion among those contacting trade or politics at the time. 
<br />In addition to these factors comes the mindset of the Church early XIVth century. The head of the Church had turned into a political office that had God on its side. Keep in mind that a Medici became Pope during the XVth after securing its role as banker to the Pope's political machine. Getting a family member named as pontiff produced endless benefits. A monarch with a Pope in his pocket could award positions of great influence and wealth. This could be seen in Spain's and Portugal's rewards in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas">Treaty of Tordesillas.</a> This condition persisted throughout the first half of 1399Neptune-Pluto1892, leading to Luther and his <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_95_Theses">95 Theses</a></em> culminating in the  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_years_war">Thirty Years War.</a> By the Church concentrating on secular affairs, it blurred the line of authority and gave cause for all segments of the population to find their own path to God.
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<strong>The Printing Press Effect >>>></strong>
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<h2>The Printing Press Effect</h2>
When Gutenberg printed his Bible, he did so to meet growing demand. The desire for literature grew through XVth century. Works written in the vernacular began to appear.  Handwritten work took years to complete. Ironically, the printing of the Bible led to an important end to a Church monopoly: distribution of the written word. Luther's work would have meant little without the ability to mass produce his work. Not only could work reach a wider audience, but it could do so in the vernacular. Here we see two losses: language and content. Translations from Greek and Latin began to appear over time. With increased access came growing literacy. People wanted more than religious text, leading more down the road to secularism. The perfection of movable type technology constitutes one of the pillars of the modern and postmodern worlds. Its foundation during this half of this Neptune-Pluto wave span represents one the great leaps forward in human development, ranking with the development of writing itself.
<h3>Infrastructure</h3>
The printing press requires a good deal of capital to operate, but one often worth the risk. That Gutenberg found himself in debt to German bankers tells much. A press requires many supplies:
paper, ink, metal; skill: engineering, maintenance. proficiency; marketing: one must have a demand to meet; location: space and access to market. But it also provides advantages: the ability to distribute information, uniformly and quickly; education of the populace; the ability to control information; the ability to reach across all types of markets. As we have seen already, the Reformation finds its roots in the printing press. Without, printing the Bible in local languages would have proved moot.
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The Scientific Revolution also owed much to Gutenberg. Copernicus knew the implications of releasing his seminal work in book form, waiting until near his death (1543) to release it. Aristotle, Plato and Descartes appeared in various languages inspiring the spread of ideas across the region. With a wider audience, the more weight ideas held.
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Commerce also owes much to the press. The riches offered by ocean ventures reached interested audiences with increasing accuracy.