Why the invention of the printing press changed the world forever

The story of the printing press starts with a man named Johannes Gutenberg. 

He was a German blacksmith and printer who developed the first mechanical movable-type printing press around 1440.

His innovative machine suddenly allowed for the mass production of books, which previously, were painstakingly copied by hand.

The traditional way of making books made them rare and expensive. As a result, most common people rarely owned more than one book in their lifetime.

With the new printing press, texts could now be reproduced quickly and in large quantities.

As a result, the printing press 'democratized' knowledge, which meant that it made it accessible to a wider audience.

Ultimately, Gutenberg's creation fostered the spread of revolutionary new ideas across Europe.

It would, therefore, play a crucial role in the development of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution.

So, the printing press became an essential tool for scholars, scientists, and thinkers.

They could now share their latest discoveries and theories with a significantly wider audience.

And, as literacy rates increased, the demand for more printed materials grew, leading to the establishment of a thriving print industry. 

Gutenberg's first major project was the printing of what came to be known as the Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s.

This was created with the intention of showing off the capabilities of the new technology.

He wanted to show Europe that, with the printing press, texts could be reproduced quickly, and in large quantities.

By sheer chance, when he successfully achieved this, it coincided with one of the largest religious upheavals in Europe's history.

The printing press was positioned by be a major player in this event.

In 1517, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

It was a direct challenge the Catholic Church's practices. Suddenly, the printing press allowed Luther to disseminate his thoughts widely.

Soon, his writings, sermons, pamphlets, and translations of the Bible, reached an audience far beyond Wittenberg.

In fact, Luther's translation of the New Testament into German in 1522 made the scriptures accessible to ordinary people for the first time.

As a consequent, it promoted literacy and religious reform to an incredibly broad audience.

Luther's ability to communicate directly with the masses effectively undermined the Catholic Church's traditional control over religious knowledge.

Even more so, his use of vernacular language in his religious texts fostered a sense of national identity and cultural pride as the people could read and understand them in their local dialects.

The Church was initially slow to recognize the potential of the new technology for disseminating alternative religious texts.

However, when it did, it quickly feared the spread of heretical ideas in way they couldn't counteract.

The printing press's rapid production of books posed an existential challenge to the Church's authority.

So, in response, the Church implemented a series of measures that they hoped would control the 'dangerous' content of the printed materials.

One of the most notorious measures they took was the establishment of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum: a list of 'prohibited books'.

The Index aimed to prevent the spread of heretical and subversive ideas; it included works by Protestant reformers, scientists, and philosophers.

However, the Church's efforts to regulate print in this way were not very successful.

Ultimately, the sheer volume of printed material made it almost impossible to enforce censorship effectively.

In an unexpected way, the printing press ultimately contributed to the fragmentation of Christianity.

Over the next few hundred years, the Reformation led to the establishment of various Protestant denominations.

Each individual group could then print and distribute its own theological writings, which contributed to the development of distinct religious identities in different parts of the world.

The Catholic Church was forced to adapt to this new religious landscape.

The Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563, was a significant part of the Counter-Reformation, as it attempted to address the issues of doctrine and reform within the Church.

By this stage, the printing press was leveraged by the Catholic Church to spread their own form of religious and devotional material.

So, rather than being a cause for concern, the press became another tool for the Church used for both dissemination and control.