Difference Between The Protestant Reformation And The Age Of Exploration

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Megan Lui
Mr. Millers
GATE World History: Period 6
14 May 2015
The Protestant Reformation versus The Age of Exploration
Before the invention of the printing press, any writing done, whether it was a book, or drawing, or copies of the Bible had to be completed painstakingly by the hand. Every letter, every word, every sentence, had to be written down by hand. It took almost over an entire year to write a single book. In addition to the large amount of time spent, people often made mistakes delaying the publishing of the book. The effects of these scarce, handwritten copies were that education and learning was very limited. Desperate for fame and money, German Johannes Gutenberg changed all of that. In 1450, Gutenberg created the first ever printing press, built and improved existing printing methods. Soon, by the 1500’s printing shops were located everywhere in the major cities of Europe. People had a better way of spreading ideas and findings of new lands during the Age of Exploration, the period of time when Europeans began exploring the world by sea in search of new discoveries, trade routes, and goods found in other countries. The Age of Exploration was affected by the printing press more than the Protestant Reformation was, because it helped publicize recent findings, inspiring and …show more content…

After hearing the letter written about Columbus and his findings of the islands off of the Americas, people became more interested and intrigued, opening the way for European Exploration. The printing press helped spread his letters and many others’, all over Europe, promoting a wider range of knowledge to morepeople. Overall, the printing press affected the Age of Exploration more than the Protestant Reformation through inspiration of other’s findings and

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