Warm Up

• Using the yellow sheet and the people in your group – number the renaissance inventions in order of their importance from 1 (being the most important) to 12 (being the least important). Be prepared to share why you find your #1 to be most important.

Renaissance Inventor

Johannes GutenbergAnd his Printing Press

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/history_knowledge/printpress.htmlhttp://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/dba458f97c302c775deb634cafbf7f15_1M.png

Essential Question

• How did the invention of the printing press and other renaissance inventions both positively and negatively affect society?

Background Information

• Born in 1398 in Mainz, Germany

• Invented the printing press in 1439

• The Gutenberg Bible was published in 1455

• He was never financially successful

• Credited with the invention of typography in 1504.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gutenberg.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Imperial_Circles_(1560)-NL.svg

http://anotherdamnblog.com/index.php/spread-of-the-printing-press-in-europe/

Effects: Religion

• Helped spread Catholicism• Spread great opposition to the Church and

spurred new ideas about religion.– Printing of dissenting viewpoints, such as Martin

Luther– Printing of the Gutenberg Bible

• Once people could now own their own Bible they felt that they could develop their own relationship with God

Gutenberg Bibles

http://burton.byu.edu/Bible%20Site/Gutenberg.htm

Effects: Science

• Allowed for the spreading of new scientific information– Helped to spread The

Scientific Revolution– Cumulative advance of

knowledge

http://galileo.rice.edu/images/things/hevelius_telescope.gif

Effects: Intellectual Thought

• Means of permanently recording information and transmitting it to others

• Aided in the growth of science Information not as easily lost as in the pastIncreased access to scientific thoughtAllowed new ideas to be spread more easily and

rapidly

http://www.retrogarde.net/post/21366425493/copernicus-and-the-renaissance

Effects: Language

• Standardized language– As print becomes more common the dialect and

spelling conventions that made their way into print become the standard.

• First books written in classical languages (Greek and Latin), but soon books written in vernacular languages (English, French, German, etc.)

http://www.accentedanm.com/images/Text/tfc_renaissance.gif

Effects: Social Classes

• Before the printing press there is only an upper class and a lower class.

• Upper class (nobility)– Buy expensive hand-

written books– Pay for tutors– Send their sons to

schools

http://www.mrdowling.com/704-social.html

Effects: Social Classes

• When books become less expensive and more affordable from mass production on printing presses, the lower class– Began to gain access to

knowledge

http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/articles/18th-century-articles/a-quilted-wool-petticote.html

Effects: Social Classes

• The printing press contributed to the growth of a middle class.– As books were published, people wanted to learn

to read. Reading led to thinking, to further publication, and communication with others. The first “World Wide Web” had arrived.

– With knowledge, education, and money, the middle-class gained the tools they needed to win more rights from the upper class.

The Middle Class: Merchants and Tradesmen

http://fa-english8.wikispaces.com/jdfa14-+Everyday+for+the+People+of+the+Renaissance

http://www.historyofpainters.com/metsys_painting.htm

Let’s Think About…

• What invention of the 20th – 21st century has had as great an impact as the printing press of the Renaissance?