Think about how fast we can get information now with the Internet. A simple Google search and you can end up here, reading this great article about Johannes Gutenberg. But let's think back to the early 15th century when even books were hard to come by and look at how one man's invention changed the course of European history. Want to know more about Johannes Gutenberg and his remarkable invention of the printing press and its impact to this day? You're in the right place!
Johannes Gutenberg Biography
Johannes Gutenberg did not live the most typical life. He spent over a decade in exile, where he perfected an invention that would change the world. And despite his invention's success, he never saw the immense wealth other European publishers earnt with it.
Fig. 1 - sketch of Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg: Early Life
Johannes Gutenberg was born around the turn of the 15th century to parents Freile zum Gensfleisch and Else Wirick zum Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany. His father, Freile, was an upper-class merchant and goldsmith, and when Johannes was old enough, he followed in his father's footsteps and apprenticed as a goldsmith himself. Unfortunately, in 1428, their lives were turned upside down when a craftsman revolt against nobles forced the family to flee.
Johannes Gutenberg Biography: Developing the Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg's family settled in Strasbourg, France, where he began experimenting with moveable type, a form of printing where moveable components, molded with characters, are placed into a matrix so that the printer can add ink. Then, all you have to do is press the matrix to paper. Although we don't know the exact date, Johannes Gutenberg seemed to have perfected his pinnacle invention, the printing press, sometime in the mid-1440s. It was a machine that made the entire printing process more efficient.
Fig. 2 - reproduction of the printing press
Johannes Gutenberg Biography: Opening a Printing Shop
In the late 1440s, Johannes Gutenberg returned to Mainz, and in 1450, he opened his printing shop. However, he needed capital to buy materials and get things going. London financier John Fust was interested in Gutenberg's invention and offered him a loan. Unfortunately, by 1452, Gutenberg was in debt. Gutenberg and Fust came to a new agreement in which Fust became a business partner.
Johannes Gutenberg Biography: Financial Struggles
By 1455, John Fust was no longer interested in waiting and sued Johannes Gutenberg for the money he owed. Fust won the suit and took over Gutenberg's business, including the publication of the "Forty-Two-Line" Bible, known today by its more popular name, the Gutenberg Bible.
Fig. 3 - pages of a Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first mass-produced Bible and one of the first mass-produced books in general. Previously, the clergy wrote the Bible by hand in a process that could take over a year, and only the church and the elite had copies. With the innovation of the printing press, the Bible found its place in the homes of regular people.
Johannes Gutenberg: Later Life and Death
When Archbishop Adolph II sacked the city of Mainz in 1462, he destroyed printing shops across the city. As a result, many publishers fled to other parts of Europe. Johannes Gutenberg remained in Mainz and, in 1465, earned the title of Hoffman, the term for a gentleman of the court. He lived off what money his title gave him until he died in 1468.
Did you know?
The publishers who left the city helped spread their knowledge of the moveable type and the printing press across Europe.
Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press was a mechanized moveable type, making printing more efficient. Gutenberg also made improvements outside of this mechanization. For example, he used a new metal alloy for the character molds and a new oil-based ink better for metal.
Did you know?
Johannes Gutenberg was not the first to use the moveable type. China had been using it for centuries. It just hadn't spread to Europe yet.
Johannes Gutenberg's new printing press allowed for the production of books on a mass scale as it was a faster and cheaper form of printing than woodblock printing. This newfound efficiency led to the proliferation of printing shops across Europe. These new publishers offered books in the vernacular (instead of Latin) to satiate and profit off an increasingly literate lay population.
Woodblock printing:
A form of printing that required carved blocks of wood for each page of text.
Johannes Gutenberg and the Renaissance
When the Renaissance began, it spread beyond Italy for various reasons. Word of mouth was essential as books were not commonplace when the Renaissance first started. Not only were they expensive to produce, but the books that were published were often in Latin, meaning they were inaccessible to the general literal public.
The Renaissance:
The period in Europe is defined by a renewed interest in classical culture, framed around the 14th to the 17th centuries.
With Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, the printed word took over as one of, if not the most, essential factors in the spread of the Renaissance. There was no longer a monopoly on books, as the general public could now afford to buy them–and in their own language! This meant that Renaissance ideals and values found an audience in the homes of everyday people across Europe.
The integral role of the printing press in spreading new ideas did not end with the Renaissance. When the Protestant Reformation began in the 16th century, the printed word helped Martin Luther attract followers. Later European cultural movements and revolutions also took advantage of the printing press to spread their ideology.
In 1501, seemingly foreshadowing the Catholic Church's subsequent battles with the Protestant Reformation, Pope Alexander VI threatened to excommunicate anyone who printed nonapproved publications.
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