Numerous inventions throughout the course of history have had profound impacts on the outcome of history itself. There is one invention in particular though, that affected not only European, but world history with so great an impact that nobody could ever have imagined. Such a colossal invention is none other than the printing press, invented in 1453 in Mainz, Germany. The man responsible for introducing the printing press to this world is Johannes Gutenberg. The use of wooden blocks to mold objects originally came into practice by the Japanese and Chinese. Throughout the following six centuries, the art of printing evolved until Gutenberg eventually invented the printing press. The printing press was originally developed from the wine press of the Rhine Valley. When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, he had no idea of the immense role it was going to play in the spread of ideas throughout European history.
One of the first works created by Gutenberg with the use of the printing press was the ‘Gutenberg Bible’. Because the bible could now be mass produced, many more people were inspired by what it had to offer. About 180 copies of the bible were made by Gutenberg in 1454. The printing press was far superior to scribes, because the concept of mass production was thus introduced, making literary works significantly cheaper. Not only was the bible printed, but classic plays, poems, and books were also produced in mass. Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet are all Shakespearean plays produced in the late 1500s that were instantaneously popular among the public. Because these plays were so popular, the demand for copies of them increased dramatically, thus spreading literature and making the printing press ever so popular.
With the arrival of the printing press, soon came thousands of books. Several of these books focused on humanists and humanistic concepts. The Humanist view of thinking originated in Italy, but through the utilization of the printing press, those ideas soon spread much farther than Italy. Humanists were people that specialized in the humanities. “Humanists became convinced that a person had to become actively involved in practical affairs such as patronage of the arts” (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, World History: People & Nations, 46). In 1528, Baldassare Castiglione published The Book of the Courtier. This was perhaps one of the most influential books published, relating to the Renaissance. The invention that made the production of this, and many other books about the revival of art and literature possible, was, of course, the printing press. “Printing doesn’t produce the Renaissance but becomes the chief means of spreading its thinking and philosophy” (http://www.mchschool.org/~malbert/printing. htm). Without Johannes Gutenberg inventing the printing press, numerous humanistic ideas would not have reached outside of Italy. Thus, the Renaissance would not have had such a profound effect as it did on European history.
An abundance of events throughout history have been closely linked to Gutenberg’s invention. Because of the surge of books being produced, and the people’s desire to read them, in 1475 Pope Sixtus IV opened the Vatican Library, in Vatican City. Over the following 25 years, thousands for copies of novels were produced so that there were over 10 million copies of 25,000 different books. As a result, a book trade flourished and related industries, such as papermaking and ink making, thrive. Learning and literacy escalate dramatically, because a plentiful supply of books is a powerful stimulus for great numbers of people to learn to read. In the 1700s, mass fabricated newspapers began to emerge in many major cities throughout Europe. The spread of humanistic ideas through tomes and novels eventually led to the Enlightenment, and American and French revolutions in the late 1700s. These uprisings led to the current use of democracy, and the conception of nationalism. The extension of such concepts as humanism and the Enlightenment, to all of Europe, could only have been made possible by one person, and one thing: Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press.
Johannes Gutenberg was unaware that the printing press was going to have such a profound effect on European History when he invented it. The demand for movable type and printed books became overwhelming around 1500, and the number of books being published skyrocketed, as well. The printing of the Bible helped to spread Christianity throughout Europe, and the printed works of humanists spread ideas which later spurred the Renaissance. Numerous accounts of European history have undoubtedly been altered by the invention of the printing press. The printing press forever changed not only European History, but world history as well. If Johannes Gutenberg hadn’t invented the printing press, how much longer would it have taken for someone else to have invented it?
Works Cited
Keep, Christopher; McLaughlin, Tim; and Parmar, Robin. Johannes Gutenberg and the Printed Book. 1993. 2000. <>
Maney, Kevin. The Net Effect: Evolution or Revolution? Aug. 9, 1999.
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