Johannes Gutenberg's Influence On The Renaissance

Gutenberg’s Press Today, in the age of the Internet, it's hard to even imagine a day without floods of information, new events, and new ideas. For the gift of literacy and the abundance of information, we can partially thank a man named Johannes Gutenberg. Johannes Gutenberg lived in the 15th century during the Renaissance, a time of social and political change from the 15th to the 18th centuries in Europe. The Renaissance period in Europe produced many of the great works of art, literature, and invention that have become the epitome of human creation and development. Gutenberg was a goldsmith, craftsman, and inventor who, most importantly, pioneered the Gutenberg press and the process of letterpress printing (Encyclopædia Britannica). Before

Religion had large influence on the Middle Ages and Renaissance so any effect on religion, directly influenced people. In fact, some of the first printed books were religious. For example, the 42 line bible. It was one of the first books printed by Gutenberg, also known as the Gutenberg Bible. The 95 Theses was another example of a religious based text that had a profound effect (Religion in Print). Written by Martin Luther, it was one of the most influential printed works in the Renaissance. It was printed widely and distributed probably as a result of the new ability to manufacture large quantities of books and paper quickly. It also came during a period of people questioning the bible because, before due to the limited availability, only clergy were to interpret it.

However some say the printing press had already existed. People in China had been printing things for centuries by the time Gutenberg’s press had been conceived. Well, though that's true Gutenberg’s press was the first instance of letterpress printing in the west rather than block printing (Kreis). The difference is that a block was used for an entire page and then thrown away after obsolescence, compared to a letter by letter casting that could be rearranged with comparatively little effort. His invention combined oil-based ink with a letter casting system for an efficient