Is that based on the average level of maths at the time? I would argue that there are far more mathematicians now who understand the results from that period now than there were then because our mathematical literacy, especially in higher education and in the developing world has increased significantly.

The fact that those results are easier to understand is because of our increased literacy. Trigonometry was the cutting edge of maths at one point and math literacy was even less then. Now it’s material for tweens.