.

The printing press, which helped in spreading information much more easily, was
a communication revolution that introduced a torrent of new words and ways of
recording work in the English language. As a parallel process in which language
and knowledge experienced growth, this development also served as a turning
point in education, and is, possibly, the moment at the value of data and
knowledge became a currency in the world of information.
The printing press was one of the most significant inventions of the Middle Ages.
It was invented in the mid-15th century (during the Renaissance period) by a
German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg. As it enabled the fast flow of
information and encouraged the spread of new ideas, it was also a huge driving
force behind the spread of Protestantism across Europe. Only half a century after
the first Christian Bible was published in 1452, the printing press acted as a
catalyst for the decline of the Catholic Church in north-western Europe.During
ancient times, and for most of the Middle Ages, books were hand-written by
scribes or monks and many people did not learn how to read. Most books were
written in Latin, a language which only the most educated people could
understand. This was before the printing press revolutionised the world of
literature.
Johannes Gutenberg was the German goldsmith who invented the printing press
in the mid-15th century. As he was not famous during his lifetime, Gutenberg's
exact date of birth is not known; it is thought to be around 1400. It is also
believed that he first commenced work on his printing press in the late 1430s
and had finished it by 1440.
The printing press is considered one of the most significant inventions of the
Middle Ages because, like nothing before, it enabled the fast flow of information
and lead to the spread of new ideas. Once it became possible to reproduce text
very quickly, books could be read by many more people. This meant that people
who were previously illiterate now had motivation to learn how to read, which
lead to a more educated and inquisitive population.
Now that books were being translated from Latin into different languages, people
began to question why Mass was still being delivered in Latin. People such as
Martin Luther started asking why Church services were not conducted in a
language that all members of society, regardless of their level of wealth and
education, could actually understand.
The first book to be printed in several volumes and multiple copies was the Bible.
It was published by Gutenberg and his associate, Johann Fust in 1452. This was
some 65 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle
Church in Wittenberg, Germany (refer to Topic three, Chapter two). If it had not
been for Gutenberg's invention, news of Luther's revolutionary ideas would not
have been able to spread as quickly as they did.

Within weeks of Luther writing his 95 theses in 1517, pamphlets were copied,
printed and distributed across Germany. Between 1518 and 1520, copies of these
pamphlets reached people in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Italy, France and
England.
After Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, literacy levels increased
and people started to challenge their beliefs about the world. Until Martin Luther
translated the New Testament into German in the 1520s, Latin was the only
language in which the Bible could be readWhen Gutenberg invented the printing
press in 1445, he forever changed the lives of people in Europe and, eventually,
all over the world. Previously, bookmaking entailed copying all the words and
illustrations by hand. Often the copying had been done onto parchment, animal
skin that had been scraped until it was clean, smooth, and thin. The labor that
went into creating them made each book very expensive. Because Gutenberg's
press could produce books quickly and with relatively little effort, bookmaking
became much less expensive, allowing more people to buy reading material.
In the Middle Ages, books had been costly and education rare; only the clergy
had been regular readers and owners of books. Most books had been written in
Latin, considered the language of scholarship. In the Renaissance, the educated
middle classes, who could now afford books, demanded works in their own
languages. Furthermore, readers wanted a greater variety of books. Almanacs,
travel books, chivalry romances, and poetry were all published at this time.
Simultaneously, a means of printing music was also invented, making music
available at a reasonable cost. As the demand for books grew, the book trade
began to flourish throughout Europe, and industries related to it, such as
papermaking, thrived as well. The result of all of this was a more literate
populace and a stronger economy.
Books also helped to spread awareness of a new philosophy that emerged when
Renaissance scholars known as humanists returned to the works of ancient
writers. Previously, during the Middle Ages, scholars had been guided by the
teachings of the church, and people had concerned themselves with actions
leading to heavenly rewards. The writings of ancient, pagan Greece and Rome,
called the "classics," had been greatly ignored. To study the classics, humanists
learned to read Greek and ancient Latin, and they sought out manuscripts that
had lain undisturbed for nearly 2,000 years. The humanists rediscovered writings
on scientific matters, government, rhetoric, philosophy, and art. They were
influenced by the knowledge of these ancient civilizations and by the emphasis
placed on man, his intellect, and his life on Earth.
William Caxton had an eventful life as a merchant and diplomat, learned the art
of printing in the European continent, and then, introduced the press in England
around the year 1476. For the history of written English, Caxtons initiative to
reproduce the English language in massive quantities generated different
paradigms in the existence of the English language; elevated its standards and
gave way to a more rapid evolution of the language.

The introduction of the printing press had different effects on the language
because of the communication revolution it brought into society. English received
influences from other languages. Such effect brought in new words, hence
expanding the language lexicon. With every new publication, although later in
the future, different words were penned or different senses and meanings were
attributed to them, which, in other words, caused the nature of the language to
become enhanced and revitalized. This is possible how people developed more
complex concepts for actual happenings.
The introduction of the printing press caused the English to develop in ways
never before conceived. However, while the language was fully utilized in a
spoken form, not everyone was able to understand the written form of English in
its massive availability. In other words, the presence of the printing press caused
illiteracy to become evident, hence opening the door to a new social dilemma.
As a standardized meaning needed to be conveyed for everyone to understand
the language, the English language underwent a homogenization process that
had a fulminant effect on spelling, vocabulary, grammar and regional varieties of
the language. This same process would eventually unify understandings of the
language that resulted in the acceptance and recognition of different dialects.
English could not escape from the influence of Literature. This revival of learning
produced a new breed of scholar-writers who wanted to create a new writing
style, providing English with new words. As a result of this movement, the
language had to accommodate these changes because new concepts needed
new descriptions, hence justifying the creation of new words or combination of
words. In fact, borrowings from languages such as Latin, Greek, French and
Spanish added both complexity and richness to the English language, providing it
with different dimensions to address ideas and designate new meanings.
As English spread, the need to learn to read and write became a must. This new
necessity provoked acceleration in the education of the rising middle class.
People were then acquiring knowledge that enabled them to find out about new
conceptions of the world as well as different ideas and notions on what is
possible for one to learn. Similarly, this realization caused people to start
questioning change; to consider different ways of expressing their thoughts; to
contemplate what to do with the knowledge they were acquiring; and to
document the new understandings they were formulating