The printing press No means of spreading Renaissance ideas was more important than the printing press. A form of printing with movable type had been used in China since the late tenth century, but the first European printing press was developed in Germany between 1440 and 1452 by Johannes Gutenberg (1398–1468), a goldsmith. Before Gutenberg’s press, books had to be copied by hand or printed from wooden blocks on which each letter had to be hand-carved. This process was very time consuming and therefore very expensive. Gutenberg’s press used movable metal type. This enabled books and pamphlets to be mass-produced so that ideas could circulate widely. Books were generally printed in Latin because it was the international language of scholars. They were also printed in the various languages used by the peoples of Europe. The first book produced on Gutenberg’s press was the Gutenberg Bible, which was completed in 1456. Did you know? A Renaissance printing press could produce 3600 pages in a day. It has been estimated that more than 20 million copies of books had been produced on printing presses by 1500. By the late sixteenth century, ten times as many books had been printed. 5.9 SkillBuilder activity HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND INTERPRETATIONS — COMMUNICATING Evaluate the claim that the most important reason for the spread of Renaissance culture was the invention of the printing press. To determine the impact of one historical factor, historians ask questions about the nature and scale of the consequence. 1. Ask and answer questions about the impact of the printing press on the spread of the culture of the Renaissance. a. Identify the short-term effects of the printing press. b. Describe the nature of the effects (consider social, cultural and economic effects). c. Determine the scale of the impacts. State how many people or areas of life were impacted. 2. Evaluate the claim: consider whether any other factor had a similar or greater impact on the spread of the Renaissance. 3. Communicate your findings: present your ideas in a logically written paragraph.
5.9
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 2, 3, 4
LEVEL2
LEVEL3 7, 9, 10, 11
5, 6, 8
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. Determine how books were printed before using the printing press. A. They were photocopied. B. Images were taken of the text and then added together. C. There were no books before the printing press. D. They were made by hand.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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