The Birthplace of Printing

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Nuremberg, Germany in the 1500's was well-know for its art. Famous painter Albrecht Dürer was from this notorious city. Prior to this, Nuremberg had become the place where movable type was first used successfully, as it was also the birthplace of the Gutenberg Press in the 1450’s, which was the brainchild of Johannes Gutenberg.  The invention of the Gutenberg Press marked the beginning of the Incunabula Period-- where it resulted in many books being printed because of the rising competition between printers. Within a 20 year time frame, the printing press had already traveled to other countries within Europe: France (1470), Spain (1473), England (1476), and Venice, Italy (1469). At the earliest stages of printing, however, it was primarily used by the church to make Indulgences, a piece of paper that was believed to pay for the sins of the buyer. Catholic priest Martin Luther considered this a heinous crime, and used the Gutenberg press to produce his 95 theses on a church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This appeal to the practice soon led to the Reformation.

Sources

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  1. ^ a b Smith, Jeffrey Chipps (1983). Nuremberg, a Renaissance City, 1500-1618. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292755277.
  2. ^ a b c Meggs, Philip B. (2016). Meggs history of Graphic Design. Wiley. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-118-77205-8
  3. ^ a b c Burke, James. 14 Nov. 2011, www.dailymotion.com/video/xmbm6k. Accessed 25 Jan. 2018.