Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (c. 1393–1406 – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press.

Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg invented the printing press, which later spread across the world.

His work led to an information revolution and the unprecedented mass-spread of literature throughout Europe.

It had a profound impact on the development of the Renaissance, Reformation, and humanist movements.

His many contributions to printing include the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type; the use of oil-based ink for printing books; adjustable molds; mechanical movable type; and the invention of a wooden printing press similar to the agricultural screw presses of the period.

Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mould for casting type.

The alloy was a mixture of lead, tin, and antimony that melted at a relatively low temperature for faster and more economical casting, cast well, and created a durable type.

His major work, the Gutenberg Bible, was the first printed version of the Bible and has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality.

Gutenberg is often cited as among the most influential figures in human history and has been commemorated around the world.

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of his birth in 1900, the Gutenberg Museum was founded in his hometown of Mainz.

In 1997, Time Life magazine picked Gutenberg's invention as the most important of the second millennium.

Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz (in modern-day Germany), a wealthy city along the Rhine, between the 14th and 15th centuries.

His exact year of birth is unknown; on the basis of a later document indicating that he came of age by 1420, scholarly estimates have ranged from 1393 to 1406.

The year 1400 is commonly assigned to Gutenberg, "for the sake of convenience".

Tradition also holds his birthdate to be on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, 24 June, since children of the time were often named after their birthday's patron saint.

There is no verification for this assumption, since the name "Johannes"—and variants such as "Johann", "Henne", "Hengin" and "Henchen"—was widely popular at the time.

In full, Johannes Gutenberg's name was 'Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg', with "Laden" and "Gutenberg" being adopted from the family's residences in Mainz.

The latter refers to the Hof zum Gutenberg, a large and now destroyed Gothic-style residence inherited by Gutenberg's father.

Gutenberg probably spent his earliest years at the manor, which existed beside St. Christoph's.

His father Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden was a patrician and merchant, likely in the cloth trade.

Friele later served among the "master of the accounts" for the city and was a Münzerhausgenossenschaft, a part of the mint's companionship.

In 1386 Friele married his second wife, Else Wyrich, the daughter of a shopkeeper; Johannes was probably the youngest of the couple's three children, after his brother Friele (b. c. 1387) and sister Else (b. c. 1390–1397).

Scholars commonly assume that the marriage of Friele to Else, who was not of patrician lineage, complicated Gutenberg's future.

Because of his mother's commoner status, Gutenberg would never be able to succeed his father at the mint; according to the historian Ferdinand Geldner this disconnect may have disillusioned him from high society and encouraged his unusual career as an inventor.

The patrician (Patrizier) class of Mainz—the Gutenbergs included—held a privileged socioeconomic status, and their efforts to preserve this put them into frequent conflict with the younger generations of guild (Zünfte) craftsmen.

A particularly violent conflict arose in February 1411 amid an election dispute, and at least 117 patricians fled the conflict in August.

Friele left, presumably with the Gutenberg family, and probably stayed in the nearby Eltville since Else had inhered a house on the town walls there.

The archbishop mediated a peace between the rival parties, allowing the family to return to Mainz later that Autumn.

The situation remained unstable and the rise of hunger riots forced the Gutenberg family to leave in January 1413 for Eltville.

No documents survive concerning Gutenberg's childhood or youth.

The biographer Albert Kapr remarked that "most books on Gutenberg pass over this period with the remark that not a single fact is known".

As the son of a patrician, education in reading and arithmetic would have been expected.

A knowledge of Latin—a prerequisite for universities—is also probable, though it is unknown whether he attended a Mainz parish school, was educated in Eltville or had a private tutor.

Gutenberg may have initially pursued a religious career, as was common with the youngest sons of patricians, since the proximity of many churches and monasteries made it a safe prospect.

It has been speculated that he attended the Stift St. Viktor vor Mainz south of Mainz (near Mainz-Weisenau), as he would later join their brotherhood.

It was the site of a well-regarded school and his family had connections there, though his actual attendance remains speculative.

He is assumed to have studied at the University of Erfurt, where there is a record of the enrollment of a student called Johannes de Altavilla in 1418—Altavilla is the Latin form of Eltville am Rhein.

Nothing is now known of Gutenberg's life for the next fifteen years, but in March 1434, a letter by him indicates that he was living in Strasbourg, where he had some relatives on his mother's side.

He also appears to have been a goldsmith member enrolled in the Strasbourg militia.

In 1437, there is evidence that he was instructing a wealthy tradesman on polishing gems, but where he had acquired this knowledge is unknown.