| Culture free - Books - CONCLUSION |
Page 3 of 3 CONCLUSION Printing was the greatest achievement of the epoch of the Renaissance, this invention virtually turned over the whole European life in the 16th century. The beginning of the mass spread of the book may be considered the period of the Reformation. On the other hand, Luther himself said that it was printing that helped him to spread his views. The book favoured the spread of the Reformation, which, in its own turn, led to the division of Europe into two fighting camps and to religious wars of the 16th-17th centuries. Books served as a weapon for fighting between the Catholic and the Reformist churches. The institute of censorship appeared and took its final shape in Europe. This censorship somewhere remained up to now. Together with the publication of works of literary authors the official print also appeared and became a weapon in the hands of state apparatus. But probably the most important thing is that printing led to lowering prices on books and, therefore, the increase of their availability for the population. This, in its own turn, led to the increase of education and enlightenment among people. There are bourgeois revolutions in Europe, a new class of population is being formed. Scientific and creative thought is being stimulated, new sciences appear. Printing creates an additional possibility for the spread of scientific knowledge. Literary languages of European peoples’ are formed, which, in their turn, leads to the growth of national self-consciousness. Fist significant treatises on political philosophy since the times of Antiquity appear. A most important principle of the division of powers appears; the first political parties appear. Europe approaches the epoch of the Enlightenment. |