Printing Press Dbq Essay

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Pages: 3

The very first printing press made in Europe was developed by Johannes Gutenberg in ca. 1440 AD. It was a great boon to society and it left many marks on the culture of Europe. The most important effect the printing Press had was the spread of new religion and ideas throughout the different countries, much to the chagrin of some. A combination of the works of Martin Luther, the vastly different method of producing texts, and the rate at which the texts and books could spread made up the overall biggest effect of the printing press.
Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses got some people thinking which resulted in the Protestant beliefs spreading like wildfire. According to to Document 3, “Luther fired off more salvos with the help of the press. His sermons, tracts, and polemics, all in German...streamed from presses by the hundreds of thousands.” The printing press allowed his ideas to radiate much farther than the confines of the city where he resided. The spread of the works of Martin helps to show the most important consequence of the printing press because it was his work that forever changed Europe and some of the people's religion. Without his help and the help of the printing press, Europe would
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Before 1440, the only way books and manuscripts were made was by hand. There were monks and scribes that dedicated their whole lives to copying records. In Document 1, there are two images that portray the remarkable difference between the method of writing by hand from the dictation of a scholar and the use of a printing press. In the time before the printing press, having a book was a very rare thing to be in possession of. However, after the implementation of the printing press in Europe, books became much cheaper, more common, and less of a novelty. With books and documents being more accessible, new ideas, many religion based, were able to spread far and wide very