im writing a paper about gutenberg and the printing press, and how it affects Europe during the renaissance, and im stuck.so how did the printing press affect Europe during the renaissancesomeone help me please and thankyou=]
One large effect which you should include in your paper is the ability of the printing press to distribute the ideas of European church reformer Martin Luther after 1517. This was the Protestant Reformation fueled by printed writings of Luther and others. Luther translated the bible into German so people (who could read German but not Latin) could read it for the first time. Of course many could not read their own language in the 1500's, but there was always someone in the community who would read printed materials to groups of people. Books had been rare and unobtainable by all but the very rich until the advent of the printing press. The press allowed the spread of many ideas - religious and political being chief among them. Print was the first mass media. News sheets, opinion pamphlets, and books became possible for the first time. I should add that the established Roman Catholic Church of the late 1400's and early 1500's would murder those who tried to distribute the bible in the languages of the people - - and the Church would murder them as painfully as possible to discourage the others. A case in point is William Tyndale who translated the bible into English, was arrested, tried for heresy, and burnt at the stake in 1536. The Church feared allowing people to read the bible for themselves because that threatened the well paid and privileged position of the clergy.
