The Printing Press

Two 1568 woodcuts by Jost Amman.

An item of crucial importance to the Protestant Reformation was the printing press. The Reformation was a popular movement, which meant that people had to know about it and be taught what the reformers stood for. Bringing this information to the public would be impossible without the printing press. Invented in the mid-15^th century, the printing press allowed texts to be produced much more quickly and cheaply. This made it much easier to distribute materials that people could read and disseminate ideas throughout Europe. Without the printing press, Luther would not have been able to spread his ideas to the corners of Europe anywhere near as quickly, nor would he have had the capability to produce his translation of the Bible in later years. Colonization of the Americas would not have jolted into motion so suddenly—Matthew Restall argues in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest that a large part of the conquistadors’ popularity and glorified image was due to their ability to publish and spread their boastful letters sent back to the king (12). Many men still would have flocked to travel to the new world, but perhaps not as quickly without a shining image of Cortés to inspire them. One easy way to transfer information quickly was the woodcut. This allowed many copies of a work of art to be printed and distributed across Europe. These woodcuts illustrate the process of creating such an object. One figure is cutting the woodcut itself, and the other is stamping an inked woodcut onto paper. The woodcut allowed the printing press to easily convey not just words, but art, a powerful motivator. The ability to spread knowledge throughout the world is incredibly important for educating the general public, and is why I have chosen to exhibit these woodcuts.