The Renaissance: the Invention of the Printing Press and Its Effects

Johannes Gutenberg was a goldsmith, publisher, and printer who introduced movable type and the printing press to Europeans. He invented his press around 1440 in the Holy Roman Empire. The introduction of the printing press marked the start of the Printing Revolution and allowed for increased diffusion of ideas throughout Europe. The printing press provided for the development of various intellectual movements throughout Europe after its invention. It also allowed for cheaper books and increased literacy among lower class Europeans.

helloThrought 1450 when johannes gutenberg created the printing press to , 1500 when the printing press nearly quadrupled across europe (referred to Doc A). The question asked is, Reformation or Exploration which had a bigger impact,

Just after 30 years, the amount of printing presses in western Europe, especially the location of the Reformation, was increased by quite a lot. According to document A, there were only fifteen printing presses in western Europe in 1471. Then in the second map, you can see a huge increase in the amount of printing presses. They were mostly concentrated in Germany, where both the printing

The printing press was an interesting and world changing machine that was used for the mass production of written works for distribution. Such a revolutionary process actually worked through an easy process that included only a few steps. First, every letter had to have been carved into a steel object known as a punch. These punches were eventually hammered into a piece of copper otherwise known as a blank. The blank was used as a mold for a mixture of molten alloys created by Gutenberg who was once a stonecutter and a goldsmith; the mixture consisted of lead, antimony and bismuth. This mixture of metals created an alloy that was easily cooled and handled, but strong enough not to wear down over repeated use. In their creation, the base sizes for the letters had to be determined and marked out ahead of time. Wider letters had wider basis, such as the difference between a capital z and a lower case l. The blocks

Author, J. Baldius firm in William of Ockham, created an advertisement expressing the way scribes, people who make copies of documents, hand wrote before the Printing Press was created.(Doc 1) Prior to the Printing Press, people hand wrote books and drew illustrations that took many years to complete.When the creation of the moveable type took place, it allowed for people to create books at a much faster rate and it enabled for more jobs to be available. Moreover, the development of this invention spread all across Europe between the years of 1471 and 1500. In maps displaying the spread of the Printing Press from 1471 and 1500, the location from where they started were mainly in Germany, Netherlands, and Italy.(Doc 2) In 1500, there were nine times more printing press’ then there were in 1471 and in that year there was one printing press in every major city. The popularity of the printing press spreads knowledge throughout Europe and makes people realize that this invention was not only a necessity, but it was not even counted as a luxury. The development of the printing press was the most important of all the consequences because although it was the beginning, it sparked a new and easier way for people to spread their knowledge and ideas quickly but

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses’ were posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. “Because of the printing press, the 95 theses were known throughout Germany in two weeks and throughout Europe in a month.” (Document B). In harmony the printing press allowed many religious differences to spread causing the religious mix of Catholic and Protestant. “Luther’s protest triggered a movement called the Protestant Reformation and led to the Lutheran religion” (Document B). Between 1500 and 1560 England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, most of Scotland and many small German states became mainly Protestant. The printing press made it possible for many religious beliefs to spread allowing for people to become more educated and form better opinions on

    The printing press had such an impact partly because it helped spread religion. In the textbook “World History” on page 364 at the bottom of that page it states “The new printing presses spread Luther’s writings throughout Germany and Scandinavia, prompting him to declare that “printing was God’s highest act of grace.” This reveals that even people back then admitted that the printing press made a huge change in society between the 1300’s and 1700’s. Then in document E it shows an image of people making books and

The exploration of the printing press originally came from the Chinese. The Chinese were the ones to first invent the woodblock printing process and even tried to experiment with movable wood types. According to the (Background Essay) it claims “with 50,000 characters, carving each character was impossible.” The English language only had 26 letters, but that still did not make the written communication easy. A small book would take months to complete and a book the size of the Bible took years. In 1455 Gutenberg was

Before the printing press was established, persons known as “copyists” made a living of drawing or writing different types of manuscript books.

The Printing Press is known as one of the most influential event of the Renaissance. The printing press is an apparatus that applies pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), which then transfers the ink to the paper. This machine was generally used for texts(words and writing). The development of the Renaissance by the Printing press had a significant impact in that it allowed to easily keep records, develop better education, and efficiently mass produce things.

As a result of this need, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1436, along with Johannes Fust and Peter Schöffer, however Gutenberg is better known for the invention of the printing press, or the Gutenberg Press. Gutenberg’s first printing press had replaceable moveable wooden letters, which was later replaced by metal letters. The first printing press, was completed in 1440, four years after it was first invented. By 1482, there were a total of 100 printing presses in Western Europe: fifty in Italy, thirty in Germany, nine in France, eight in Spain and Holland, and four in England. The Gutenberg Press remained the standard method for printing until the 20th century. The Gutenberg Press is known for creating a revolution in the production of books, and for also for initiating rapid development in science, art and religion through the communication of text.

In 1350 the renaissance had begun, it was the time to bring back and restore many things from the past. Many people from the renaissance time tried to make a living on their own by painting and writing books. Although it seemed very hard to spread their ideas around the world but until 1444 their worries began to shrink. A man from Germany named Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which made possible for people to have copies of books and letters in much lesser time than they were used to. The invention of the printing press was one of most notable inventions from the last millennium because it brought very important changes and accomplishments in the whole world that we can still

The advancement of technology has made a dramatic impact on society. This can be referred back to the invention of the printing press during the mid-1400’s. The printing press helped the Protestant Reformation be successful because it allowed people to become aware of what was occurring in their society. What the Protestant Reformation did was expose the Christian church from its false ideal of how to get into heaven. With the help of the printing press, the Protestant Reformation was successfully noticed. Technology today still exposes society to events happening throughout the world. For example, we are able to keep up with politics, our government, and things occurring all around the world thanks to the use of computers

The earliest form of printing known is the application of signet stones. This was used in ancient times in Babylonia. Before The Gutenberg Bible, books were traditionally rendered by hand on scrolls. This technique was a feature of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations (“Printing”). Around the Middle Ages, monks rendered books with quill pens

The Church had faced heresy before and had generally contained it slowly but surely, but now it seemed defenseless. The printing press gave it no time. We can see the effect the printing press had on the rate of literacy, in the 60 years since printing had been invented, literacy had grown 20 percent in towns.