The Importance of the Printing Press to the Development of the Reformation

The printing press, created by Johann Gutenberg in 1450 altered the course of history and spread of ideas and culture. Politically, the printing press allowed laws to travel and be distributed faster, and government ideas and cultural to spread to other areas. Intellectually, it allowed the sharing of ideas and opinions about the same topic between many different people, and the creation of secular books that influenced many intellectuals. Religiously, the printing press allowed the spread of different religious ideas and vernaculars Bible to everyone. Thus, the development of the printing press altered the political, intellectual, and religious ideas in Europe.

The printing press is one of the most effective technologies that was highly impactful on today’s history. It revolutionized the way in which we share ideas with each other and helped enhance this communication. Invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg in the Holy Roman Empire, people all over the world were able to read works of others who were across the world. The printing press was one of the most important inventions that changed the history of mankind. Even though the printing press affected the Reformation, it had an even larger impact on Exploration by inspiring others to explore and to create more maps.

Martin Luther was a Catholic priest posted criticisms on the door of a church. Document B states that he wrote “Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teacher,” (Document B). This quote shows that the printing press press affected Reformation because all 95 of Luther’s Theses were printed and spread. They were distributed through Germany in weeks and Europe in only a month. Without the printing press Luther’s statements, and therefore his whole movement, would not have popularized. If the printing press never made the spreading of the Theses possible the Protestant Reformation movement never would have taken off.

If it weren’t for the printing press, people wouldn't have heard about the thought provoking accusations that Luther was making. Secondly, the printing press also printed the Gutenberg Bible. This encouraged people to learn how to read, and when they did, they started reading the Bible, the thing their lives were based upon. However, when people read the Bible, they started to question what they had believed for so long, thus starting the Protestant Reformation. According to document B, Germany at the time (between 1518 and 1525) was making about a million books a year , and a third of them were by Luther. This means that it was much easier for Luther to share his ideas, compared to when Paul was trying to spread Catholicism. Because of the printing press, the Protestant Reformation was able to spread much further and much

The Printing press was a big part of why the protestant reformation happened by helping Martin Luther spread his saying faster. In document II the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press it made is easier to spread the words of people this made it harder for the Catholic religion to spread the religion because it would spread information quicker and the Catholic Church couldn't do anything even if they tried and people started believing what the Printing press would say and started disbelieving in the church.

To recap, the printing press was a phenomenal and a unique apparatus. It was constructed by a goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg. The printing press made the lives of everyone simple, it was used for printing things. It was a big advancement during this time period. It was auspicious and many famous people used it such as Martin Luther. Martin Luther used it because he was disappointed with his church because they were selling indulgences. The printing press made it possible for Luther to copy 95 theses and nail them in the front door. The 95 these were known all through out, this would be impossible without the printing press to make the 95 Theses known “throughout Germany in two weeks and throughout Europe in a month.”. Although one of the consequences of the printing press was exploration, reformation was the most important because the printing press made people more literate and created new believes. They had a better understanding of the Bible and were able to tell if the pope was lying to them or not. This is why the most important consequence of the printing press was

In the 1450’s books were only accessible for rich people, as their scarcity and the complicity of creating, making most of the people illiterate. Thanks to the facility the printing press brought for books, they became more accessible and people started to learn how to read and write, to later on read the Bible and realise the Catholic Church was not pure at all. And to support this statement document C that tells us that people started to unfollow the church and streets follow Martin Luther in the new religion of reformation. Clearly showing that for the 1560 Europe was divided, and instead of being mostly catholic they passed to be half Protestant. And because of the points said above, and the evidence of the documents the printing press had more important effects in reformation era, instead of

After the Reformation, a significant amount of social changes came to light. Nevertheless, this time in history, as shown in Document 3, wouldn’t have reached the success that it did without the printing press. This was a machine that Johannes Gutenberg invented in order to spread information quickly and accurately. Martin Luther’s message was able to be easily spread throughout Europe now. And, with people having the ability to access the Bible on their own, not only was the population of Europe able to study Scripture without a priest, but also, the literacy rate in Europe dramatically increased.

There are many specific examples of the printing press impacting the Reformation during the 15th, 16th, and 17th century. One of these is when John Calvin “set up a theocracy, or government run by church leaders,” (Textbook). Calvin created his own division of Christianity, which still exists today.

Martin luther had created the reformation by writing his 95 thesis to the church in the light of indulgences,which was giving false impression of salvation to paying to erase sins and get accepted to heaven in the afterlife.After a while the thesis finally reached to the pope by someone mass producing the words of martin luther statements in which got martin luther excommunicated from the church which he devoted his life towards,and this leaded to hatred in the eyes of luther to where he will always hate the pope.Then to fast forward in time, after of many of years past he created a new religion in 1560 that is call lutheranism.So the press actually impacted and affected the life Luther and the

The Protestant Reformation made a huge impact on the church in the 1520’s. However, it may not have been possible without the printing press. The printing press was a revolutionary invention that allowed someone to make multiple identical copies of something quickly and with ease. This allowed information to be spread very quickly, and it also led to a changed individual.

Exploration or Reformation, Which was a bigger consequence? Some people believed the printing press was “the greatest weapon in the armoury”. Around the year 1440 a man named Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. In 1471 there were 15 printing presses in Europe, and by 1500 there were almost 200 printing presses. The Reformation and Columbus’ Explorations of the West were both great consequences of the printing press.

The printing press allowed for information to move around at a faster rater and in larger quantities. Also, countries could spread information with its people easier, which led to the spread of anti-protestant propaganda by the HRE. The printing press was utilised by the catholic church in order to spread propaganda against heretics, allowing for a media controlled by the catholic church telling the people what is right and wrong, and who are the enemies of the church. However, even though the printing press aided in the suppression of heretics it was also utilised by philosophers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther to spread their ideas, which were deemed heresy by the catholic church. This shows how the printing press aided both causes in spreading their ideas.

Luther is credited for starting Protestantism, while he wasn’t the first to attempt to, his actions carried the most success. With the printing press now available, information

With the help of the printing press, Martin Luther was able to get his ideas out more quickly. “Much of central Europe and Scandinavia had broken with the Catholic church I a movement that came to be known as the protestant reformation” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 439). Critics of the church had focused their attacks on immortality, ignorance, and absenteeism of the clergy in the early 16th century. Luther had studied St. Paul’s letters in the New Testament when he realized that “salvation and justification came through faith, and that faith is a giddy from God, not the result of Hickman effort” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 440). Luther was troubled that people didn’t have to repent after they would buy these indulgences. “Christianity rid itself of certain corrupt