The Printing Press and the Spread of Ideas
Life before the printing press Education Books had to be hand copied, so they were very hard to come by Extremely expensive Only the wealthy and those in the clergy could afford them
Life before the printing press Religion Catholic Church dominated Europe Average person didn’t have access to the Bible They relied on clergy experts
Life before the printing press Literacy Most people couldn’t read Everything was read out loud Poems were praised over novels
What was it?
Gutenberg Son of a wealthy merchant Growing up learning metal making Professional goldsmith Researched previous presses Revolutionized the modern press
Gutenberg’s contributions He didn’t invent the press, just revolutionized it New type of alloy Strong and versatile Printing matrix Made better stamps Oil ink Lasted longer
Influx of books
Life after the printing press Education Price of books fell and became more available Literacy rates went up Influx of science and technology because it was easier to write down their findings and spread their ideas
Life after the printing press Religion Paved way to Protestant Reformation Bible became the center of religion, not the church Church couldn’t stop it from happening
Life after the printing press Literacy With the higher literacy rate, came different views on reading Increase of novels and larger readings People could discuss the ideas they read about at home
Spread of ideas Between classes, groups, cultures Brought about the scientific revolution Authorship became important Invention of text aids Decline of Latin
Church’s reaction Positive Negative Spread their religious views and ideas Communicate easier between churches and monasteries Negative Increase of non-religious works People could read the Bible on their own Led to the decline of the Church