3 ms·
> The printing press democratized knowledge. Not for centuries. Due to the expense of the technology and the requirement in some locations for a royal patent t
by OfSanguineFire 3y ago
> The printing press democratized knowledge.
Not for centuries. Due to the expense of the technology and the requirement in some locations for a royal patent to print books, the printing press just opened up knowledge a bit more from the Church and aristocracy to the bourgeoisie, but it did little for the masses until as late as the 1800s.
- ls612 3y agoA big part of this is that literacy didn’t come to the masses until the 1800s. But in England and the Netherlands you had (somewhat) free press by the late 1600s and early 1700s.