Printing Press Essential to the success of the Reformation
The Printing Press proved to be essential to the Reformation for the following reasons. The demand for books became huge as Europe was coming out of the medieval era into the Renaissance. This hunger for knowledge allowed once the Printing Press was invented Knowledge and ideas that were not usually assessable easily obtainable. This allowed people to become more literate and rethink about their faith. The Printing Press meant that people like Martin Luther were able to spread their word quickly and easily resulting in the Reformation.To discuss the Printing Press before and after its invention helps to provide a perspective in answering the question of its impact on the Reformation. The books before the Reformation were mostly costly hand made scrolls and folios in Latin and had limited circulation. These Manuscripts took weeks to produce with very low productivity. Johann Gutenberg's invention of moveable type in 1450 took the Printing Press into a new revolution. By the year 1480, twenty-three northern European towns, thirty-one Italian towns, seven French towns, six Spanish and Portuguese towns, and one English town had presses. Its impact was immediate among the literate classes but since the majority of citizens in Eu
The church in its centralized hierarchy continued to exercise considerable control over the ideas of the church. Indulgences were the idea that if you gave the church some money, once you died your soul would spend less time in purgatory and go faster to heaven. Luther was very against this idea and posted up 95 theses at Wittenberg Castle in which he denounced the selling of indulgences. In conclusion the invention of the Printing Press fueled the knowledge of the people of the 15th century allowing them to interpret new ideas. In the 15 Century the decline in the level of education of the clergy had meant the level of education of the average urban and rural citizen had not improved over this period. Luther's messages were written in Latin and were directed at only a few but were taken up by masses of people. Luther managed to spark a successful Reformation of the church some thing that could only have be obtained from a source that had unlimited circulation of ideas to the masses, the Printing Press. The Church began a misuse of power, authority and privilege repressing new Knowledge that would contradict its law. Luther complained, not of the business itself, but of the reckless character of many reprints of his books, which were so full of mistakes that he could hardly recognize them. If it weren't for the Printing Press the 95 theses would not have been printed all over Germany and Europe. The church was reluctant to encourage literacy for everyone, out of genuine concern for the development of extreme views on scripture. This made the printing press an essential part of the Reformation. As there was no copyright law at the time, reprints in Nuernberg, Augsburg, Strassburg, and Basel multiplied the works of the Reformers.
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