Printing Press

The printing press was made by the Chinese in the 13th century, but due to the amount of characters in the Chinese language it wasn't very efficient there. The printing press was then discovered by Europeans through trade routes between china. Then in the 14th century Johannes Gutenberg invented the European model of the press and printed the first book the bible. After this many printing presses were made across Europe and influenced a lot of the culture. The printing press affected the renaissance, protestant reformation, and the French revolution by aiding in the spread of ideas during each time period.

The printing press is one of the main things that fueled the renaissance due to the fact that the renaissance was the spread of knowledge, art, and architecture. Due to the printing press a lot more people became educated because it lowered the cost of producing books since they had to be copied by hand before and took a lot longer to produce. It allowed more people to get their hands on books due to the price and the number of books now available.

The printing press lead to the spread of Martin Luther's 95 thesis getting spread a lot faster and more accurate than it would have with word of mouth. The protest of Martin Luther is what leads to the Protestant Reformation, and the question of the practices of the Catholic Church; which then leads to the rise of new religions such as Protestant and Lutheran. Because of the printing press religious ideas spread quickly and they were not manipulated by word of mouth and were more reliable. This forced a confrontation with the Pope and eventually Martin Luther breaking with the Pope.

Just how the printing press let ideas spread fast among one nation it also let the spread between nations which is how the French Revolution started; the enlightenment help start the French Revolution. The French heard of The United States gaining their independence from a monarchy they thought they could do it too. Also the teachings of philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Rousseau spread during the enlightenment which gave the foundation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in France.

The printing press was an important part of European culture in the 14th to the 19th century. It brought up the literacy rate and rapidly spread ideas and beliefs throughout countries and from one nation to another. The world would be a different place as we know if the printing press wasn't around; especially during the renaissance which lead to the scientific revolution which lead to the enlightenment.