Guten Tag, Gutenberg

Transcript

WEBVTT

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Oh hey.

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Except for you got to stop with the drinking.

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While we're recording, you're saying I got a problem.

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I don't have a drinking problem, I have a stopping problem.

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I see what you did there.

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I see what I did there.

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It's funny because it's true.

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Oh, hey there, welcome to History of a Fools.

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I'm Kate and I'm Bradley.

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And we are sharing a beverage.

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We are.

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How are you today, Kate?

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I'm good I'm having a Modelo.

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It's almost empty and I should have prepared for that.

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Oh dear, yeah, that's alright, you're halfway there.

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Yeah, I'll be talking mostly anyway.

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God damn it.

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I should have brought my earplugs folks, and he is having a mint julep.

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I am For no reason other than just having a mint julep.

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Tell the listeners how you make it.

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So there are a few different ways to make mint juleps.

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The way I like to make mine.

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I found this recipe years ago.

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It is basically all you do is add powdered sugar and mint and then you add a little bit of water to make like a syrupy minty.

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Simple syrup is technically what it's called.

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Pack it with ice, I'd say three quarters or more of bourbon, splash of white soda and, uh, you're supposed to drink at least the way I always learned it you drink the, the booze, a little bit of soda.

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It is really raining now.

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Look at that.

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They finally got what we promised, we're promised.

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And then you drink the booze through the simple syrup, so you get that sweet, the mint and then, of course, the bourbon on the end.

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I think I want to save some of that mint for gin and tonics.

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Oh, you totally should.

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Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of it there, yeah.

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That sounds really good, but this is delicious folks, any of it there?

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so yeah, that sounds really good, but this is delicious folks.

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Oh yeah, oh lord, oh lord, says the person who does a lot of things that I should say oh lord too, but okay like what like that, what like oh, hey there, oh hey, there it is.

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I can't help it.

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I.

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I can't help it, I just can't help myself.

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Well, you know, it's all right.

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Anyway, welcome to the second episode of History Buffoons.

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Is this the second?

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episode.

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This is only the second episode.

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I feel like I've been doing this for three years already.

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Nope, we've done two episodes in three years.

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I make jokes a lot.

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My son doesn't like that I joke a lot.

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He's actually told you that, stop joking he actually has told me that it's actually quite funny, to be honest, but either way, um well before we begin, why don't you go ahead and, uh, follow us on apple podcasts or wherever you listen, and give us a rate and a review by the end of this?

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it helps us a lot you can also visit us on instagram, facebook x and reddit and reddit uh all under uh history buffoons podcast.

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Pretty much can find us there.

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Yep, um, we'll have links available in the show notes, right, yes, or you can contact us at uh history buffoons podcast at gmailcom.

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We would like some interaction with you, with your peeps yeah, like we'll respond to you and everything.

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Yeah, like no joke.

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It'll literally be Kater Bradley who says oh, hey there.

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Oh, hey there.

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Don't you know?

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Well, I suppose Wait that's not the end, my bad.

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I did that on purpose.

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Stop doing that Stop it.

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Stop it.

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Okay, so Bradley picked this topic.

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I did because I thought it was rather pivotal in our history because it expanded a lot of things for a lot of people.

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Yeah, so we are going to be talking about Johannes Gutenberg, the supposed.

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Supposed is correct because Inventor.

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I mean shit, Didn't even know when he was born.

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I know they made up a birthday.

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There's no information on this dude, but also to not take away from that.

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I mean, history is very much documented, more so later in our history than before.

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They didn't know because they didn't write shit down.

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A lot of people couldn't even write or read, or so I mean yeah and that this guy supposedly uh kind of revolutionize, revolutionize that for a lot of people, especially in this day so so let's let's talk about the printing press and johannes gutenberg yes, let's do it.

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so, while the exact origins of the printing press remain unknown, china does boast the world's oldest known printed text, dating back to the tang dynasty, and that is between 618 and 907 AD.

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That's a long time ago, sure is.

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Right before I was born.

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This text, the Diamond Sutra, is a Buddhist scripture that was discovered in Donghua, China.

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It was created around 868 AD and it is an example of block printing.

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Yeah, so what they did was they had hand-carved wooden blocks to transfer ink onto paper, similar to like a modern day rubber stamp, basically.

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Yeah.

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I have a quick question though.

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Yeah.

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Is the Diamond Sutra the follow-up to the Kama Sutra?

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Sorry, continue Prequel Prequel.

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Denghua has also provided other printed finds from this era, including a calendar from 877 AD, educational materials and various guides on topics like mathematics, etiquette and ceremony.

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Kate doesn't have much etiquette and ceremony Kate doesn't have much etiquette Shh.

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Significantly, this period witnessed a shift from traditional scrolls to book formats, marking a major advancement in how information was preserved and distributed.

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Furthermore, woodblock printing spread to neighboring countries like Japan and Korea.

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The printing world underwent a significant change.

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The churches, yeah yeah.

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With donations and alms for the poor, anyways.

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The printing world underwent a significant change thanks to Bi Shen of 970-1051 AD from Yingshan Hubei, china.

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He developed movable type, a system that replaced the clumsy carved blocks with individual reusable characters.

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So is it Bisheng Shen?

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Bisheng.

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Uh yeah, his method involved crafting characters from clay, baking them hard and arranging them in an iron frame.

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This frame then was pressed against an iron plate to transfer the ink, so it made it much.

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Uh, oh damn, what's the word I'm looking for?

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Efficient?

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Yeah, that's, that's what I'm thinking of yeah.

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The first documented mention of this intervention appears in the 1086 book dream pool essays by scientist shen kuo.

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Shen kuo also sheds light on Bishen's material choice.

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Wood, with its inconsistent texture and tendency to absorb moisture in ink, was unsuitable.

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Baked clay, on the other hand, offered a cleaner and more reusable option.

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The Southern Song Dynasty, 1127-1279 AD.

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D 11 27 to 12 79 ad, witnessed a surge in book production thanks to movable type.

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The widespread availability of printed materials fostered the growth of a scholarly class yeah, and because of that, you know, literacy was previously a privilege of a few people.

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It opened doors to government positions, which is kind of wild for a wider range of citizens because they just they weren't very learned people, which makes sense because they had no access to stuff like that.

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But they, owning extensive collections of printed books, became a mark of prestige for the wealthy, because they were very expensive, because they were expensive to produce even at that time.

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I mean you've seen Beast Library beating the Beast?

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I mean it's massive, the library is amazing.

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I wish it was real.

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Well, Bishen's movable type was a groundbreaking invention.

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Woodblock printing saw a resurgence in 1297, thanks to Wang Chen, a magistrate from Qingti.

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Wang.

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Chen recognized the limitations of traditional woodblock methods and devised a way to make the wood more durable and precise.

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This improvement allowed for cleaner, high-quality prints.

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He also introduced a revolutionary revolving table to organize the characters, significantly increasing the speed of typesetting.

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Wang Chen's ingenuity started in the creation of the Nong Shu, an essay on agriculture widely considered the world's first mass-produced book.

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This landmark publication not only spread knowledge about farming practices, but also found its way to Europe.

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Wang Chen's innovative woodblocking method remained the preferred printing method in China for centuries, a testament to its effectiveness.

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China for centuries a testament to its effectiveness.

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While the exact year of Johannes Gutenberg's birth remains a mystery, historians estimate it to be between 1394 and 1404, from the German city of Mainz.

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Yeah, it's funny because he got an official.

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The symbolic official birthday was given June 24th 1400, which was chosen much later for a 500-year celebratory event of Johannes Gutenberg.

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So it's wild that they had no idea when his actual birth was.

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Yeah Saying, oh, we forgot.

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We forgot to write that date down, but at least they gave him a birthday.

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Yeah.

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I meanune 24th.

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That's a good day.

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You know why?

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That's when my kitty, sway, was born oh, your kitty sway he was my favorite cat ever.

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He passed away a few years ago.

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He was a good boy anyways so.

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Born into a prominent merchant family, gutenberg was the second of three children, although others say he's the youngest of three, so they don't know what the hell, I guess people didn't write shit down back in 1400, or what was it between 1394?

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and 1404 yeah ah, this decade's off limits, just figure it out his father freely gen Freely Jen Slicer Laden.

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Say that three times fast, holy crap.

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Freely Jen Slicer Laden.

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Wow, I even have it somewhat phonetically spelled out.

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Freely Jen Slicer.

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Laden.

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That is a hell of a name.

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That's his father.

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Yes, he was a respected, noble merchant.

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Some accounts suggest he even held a prestigious position as a goldsmith for the main bishop.

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Johannes' mother, elise Weyrich, came from a family with noble lineage, though they weren't considered nobility at the time of his birth.

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Details about Gutenberg's life and education are scarce.

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A common practice of the era involved adopting the house or property name as a surname.

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This means legal documents might reflect changes in his surname as he moved throughout his life.

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However, we do know he resided in the Gutenberg house within Mainz during his childhood and later years.

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Unrest rocked mains in 1411 as craftsmen rose against the aristocracy.

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Caught in the turmoil, the gutenberg family, along with other over a hundred others, were forced to flee.

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It's believed they relocated to eldville and rhein, germany, where johannes might have enjoyed a more peaceful existence on his mother's inherited estate.

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Why was his name Gutenberg?

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But his dad was the really weird name.

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It has to do with where they were living, I guess.

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Oh really, yeah, well, that's what I just said.

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Yeah, okay, sorry, yeah, okay sorry, I don't know, but if he was in the Gutenberg house then his name was Gutenberg Yep Yep.

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Historian Heinrich Wallow suggests Gutenberg may have pursued studies in goldsmithing at the University of Erfurt.

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Enrollment records from 1418 list a student named Johannes de Altavia.

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Additionally, evidence points to Johannes working alongside his father in the Mainz Mint potentially as a goldsmith's apprentice.

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Yeah, gutenberg's life between 1411 and 1434 really remains a mystery, because his father died in 1419 and he received an inheritance, but nothing is known between his life between 1419 and 1434.

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So it's again poor record keeping.

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Finally, a letter surfaces in March 1434 placing him in Strasbourg, living with relatives of his mother.

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Here he might have found work as a goldsmith for the city's militia.

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While marriage and children never appear to be part of gutenberg's story, court records from 1436 and 1437 hint at a broken engagement to a strasbourg woman named enelin.

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The details surrounding this relationship remain lost to history as well.

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As well.

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A lot of things were lost to history back then by 1439, legal documents show Gutenberg planning a project to create mirrors for pilgrims.

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These mirrors were intended for a specific pilgrimage in 1440, but a partner's death led to a lawsuit when the festival was postponed due to floods.

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The venture became ill-fated because the mirrors couldn't be sold as planned yeah, the lawsuit likely involved the investor's family wanting their money back.

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Uh gutenberg had presumably spent the invested funds on materials and labor for the mirror uh production so.

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But spend the money on the product.

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Can't sell the product, yep and so they were like well, where's our money back?

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And they're like I want that and he's like I don't got it he's all like have a mirror, yeah why don't you reflect sorry?

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with the festival delay, there was no way to recoup these costs and repay the investors.

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Gutenberg might have mismanaged the finances by promising to tell them a secret to potentially make up for the lost investment.

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This implies that venture was already struggling financially before festival delay.

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Returning to Mainz, between 1444 and 1448, gutenberg established his famous printing press.

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Financial records show that he borrowed money from multiple sources, including a significant sum from Johannes Fest in 1450.

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So he was given 800 guilders, which is Netherlands currency before the euro, which is approximately $390, on two separate occasions to basically invest.

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He was invested in, I should say, by 1452, Gutenberg entered into a business partnership with Fest to continue funding his printing experiments.

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Unfortunately, the specifics of Gutenberg's original printing method remain a mystery.

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The rapid spread of printing presses prevented documentation of his initial design.

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Discussions of his press rely on later models.

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However, historians believe Gutenberg leveraged his metalworking knowledge.

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And because of his metalworking knowledge, he likely created a metal punch with a carved letter and used it to strike a copper bar, forming a mold matrix.

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This matrix was then used to cast individual pieces of type from molten metal has to be really hot, unlike wood blocks.

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These reusable metal typefaces revolutionized printing because obviously the, the wood would break down or absorb blah, blah, blah, blah moisture and print and stuff, or ink I should say after crafting on the necessary characters they would.

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They would be arranged in a rack for easy access.

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The printing press itself had two key elements a lower wooden plate and an upper plate.

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The type positioned face up would be placed on the lower plate plate platen ink was then applied Plate Platon Stuffed with wool.

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What did I say?

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Wood.

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Oh cool, Stuffed with wool and attached to wooden handles.

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There's the wood Damp paper, ideal for holding ink and creating a sharper impression, was laid on the inked type.

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Finally, the operator would lower the upper plate and crank the press, creating the printed page.

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Once printed, the page was removed to dry and the process began again.

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I feel like I've used a lot of p-p-p-plate plate printed page Lots of Ps.

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Knowing the church could be a high-paying client.

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Gutenberg's early printing efforts included indulgences, which were certificates sold to lessen the time spent in purgatory, previously handwritten.

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The printing press allowed for mass production of indulgences with blank spaces for buyers and sellers.

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This increased sales for both the church and Gutenberg.

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I think it's quite funny.

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It's like oh, you don't want to spend time in purgatory, Buy one of these.

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Yeah, I don't understand it either.

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I don't understand it because it's like you know what?

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Don't want to spend time in purgatory.

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Buy one of these.

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Yeah, I don't understand it either.

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I don't understand it, because it's like you know what would be really good for you.

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Maybe there's a prayer on there, or something.

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But like you have to purchase it and then you actually you can put your buyer and seller name on it.

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I know you're going to get to that, but it's like.

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You're going to take it with you to the afterlife, after life, hey if you don't want to spend more time in purgatory, buy one of these.

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It's a ticket.

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Yeah, pretty much it's a ticket out of purgatory, ticket out of purgatory.

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Gutenberg continued to refine his printing press and by 1455 had printed several copies of the Bible Consisting of three volumes in text and Latin.

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The Gutenberg Bible featured 42 lines of type per page with color illustrations.

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Unfortunately, gutenberg didn't get to enjoy his innovation for very long.

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In 1456, his financial backer and partner, johann Fust, accused Gutenberg of misusing the money he had loaned him in 1450 and demanded repayment.

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Gutenberg claimed the second loan from Fust was a joint investment in their work of books, likely referring to printing.

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While the repayment amount remains unclear, the document suggests gutenberg used the funds for daily operations and potentially for the printing press itself financed by faust's initial loan.

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this implies a partnership yeah, because gutenberg, he, he managed the workshop where fast was basically just the investor yeah but he wanted his money back he was like the silent partner yeah, and, and that's obviously come very common these days, but yeah, maybe not back then.

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He's like bitch, pay me my.

00:20:41.550 --> 00:20:45.618
Modern scholars argue against Fast ruining Gutenberg financially.

00:20:45.618 --> 00:20:55.160
Records show Gutenberg owned property in Mainz, repaid other loans and even witnessed property sales actions unlikely for someone who's bankrupt.

00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.615
There's no evidence the legal battle left him destitute.

00:20:58.615 --> 00:21:00.510
Their partnership ended, though.

00:21:00.510 --> 00:21:06.071
Fast took over the workshop replacing Gutenberg with Peter Schofer, a skilled calligrapher.

00:21:06.505 --> 00:21:11.402
I believe he was also a son-in-law to Faust Of Gutenberg, of Faust, oh, of Faust, okay.

00:21:12.125 --> 00:21:15.855
Faust and Schofer then operated a joint printing press.

00:21:15.855 --> 00:21:21.096
After Faust's death, Schofer inherited the business and continued printing.

00:21:21.096 --> 00:21:33.453
Schofer made use of Gutenberg's press as soon as it was acquired, and he is considered to be a technically better printer and typographer than Gutenberg.

00:21:34.355 --> 00:21:45.230
Within two years of seizing Gutenberg's press, he produced an acclaimed version of the Book of Psalms that featured a three-color title page and varying types within the book.

00:21:45.230 --> 00:21:57.813
One notable detail about this edition is the inclusion of a colophon Colophon right, I believe that's how you say it A colophon For the very first time in history.

00:21:57.932 --> 00:21:59.016
Do you know what a colophon is?

00:21:59.085 --> 00:21:59.534
I really don't.

00:21:59.534 --> 00:22:00.328
I don't even know how to pronounce it.

00:22:00.328 --> 00:22:01.463
I'm a buffoon first time in history.

00:22:01.463 --> 00:22:02.065
Do you know what a colophon?

00:22:02.085 --> 00:22:02.125
is.

00:22:02.125 --> 00:22:02.486
I really don't.

00:22:02.486 --> 00:22:03.469
I don't even know how to pronounce it.

00:22:03.469 --> 00:22:03.750
I'm a buffoon.

00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:04.029
Well, so am I.

00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:09.492
I think it's pronounced colophon, but it's a section ofa book that details publication information.

00:22:09.492 --> 00:22:17.130
So, like in a modern day book, one of the first few pages has the copyright copyright first edition.

00:22:17.130 --> 00:22:18.832
You know printing blah, blah, blah, blah blah.

00:22:18.832 --> 00:22:21.957
It's got all that information of who basically produced it.

00:22:21.997 --> 00:22:32.642
So that's like the, the origin story for for that mainly yeah, 10 copies of this edition of the book of psalms are still known to exist could you imagine having one of those?

00:22:33.183 --> 00:22:34.166
that would be insane.

00:22:34.166 --> 00:22:35.673
That's got to be expensive.

00:22:35.673 --> 00:23:02.115
If there's 10 in the world to still exist, yeah, how cool would that be probably all in university libraries or museums or the like yeah, I mean library congress something, yeah big, probably has those, because if there's 10 and that's one of the earliest forms of printing that would just be insane to have there's also several copies of the bible, several that that are full Gutenberg Bibles.

00:23:02.234 --> 00:23:04.137
Yeah, what did I say you just said of the Bible.

00:23:04.157 --> 00:23:04.858
I'm just making sure.

00:23:04.898 --> 00:23:05.901
Yeah, gutenberg Bibles.

00:23:05.901 --> 00:23:17.545
There are several full copies out there, but then there are several like Remakes or copies no, they're truly Gutenberg Bibles, but there's only sections of them available.

00:23:17.545 --> 00:23:19.952
Oh, so it's not the full thing, correct?

00:23:20.094 --> 00:23:20.394
Yeah.

00:23:23.545 --> 00:23:24.267
So I know of them available.

00:23:24.267 --> 00:23:25.088
Oh, so it's not the full thing correct?

00:23:25.088 --> 00:23:32.914
Yeah, so I know harvard has some, sure, and the university of indiana has some yeah, that seems weird to me, but there's a lot of universities that have sections of the gutenberg bible that makes sense.

00:23:32.934 --> 00:23:36.826
I mean, yeah, historic and you know, learning and so on.

00:23:37.146 --> 00:23:43.387
So meanwhile, the fast chauffeur shop was the first in europe to bring out a book with the printer's name and date.

00:23:44.048 --> 00:23:54.497
The mains, soita, soita of august 1457 and while proclaiming the mechanical process by which it had been produced, it made no mention of gutenberg.

00:23:54.497 --> 00:23:57.926
Johannes gutenberg also continued printing.

00:23:57.926 --> 00:24:08.136
Scholars are confident that the, the famous Latin dictionary printed in Mays in 1460, known as the Catholicon, could only have been printed by Johannes Gutenberg.

00:24:08.136 --> 00:24:19.532
Famously, however, a printer's name is not listed in the colophon, and a new type, much smaller than that of the Gutenberg Bible, was used in this similarly monumental typographic undertaking.

00:24:19.532 --> 00:24:27.309
But Gutenberg ceased any efforts at printing after 1460, possibly due to impaired vision.

00:24:27.309 --> 00:24:33.686
He died in 1468 with little notice or acknowledgement of his contributions.

00:24:33.686 --> 00:24:38.434
He was buried in the cemetery of the Franciscan Church at Mainz.

00:24:42.009 --> 00:24:43.665
So you're a big fan of world war ii, right?

00:24:43.786 --> 00:24:51.421
I am so I'm a big fan of learning about it, oh for sure um, yeah, buffoon.

00:24:52.163 --> 00:24:52.363
Um.

00:24:52.363 --> 00:25:02.973
So, because of where he was buried world war ii uh, the church and the cemetery were destroyed during that time and his grave was lost because of that.

00:25:03.233 --> 00:25:03.855
Yeah, that's crazy.

00:25:04.204 --> 00:25:05.230
Which it's funny.

00:25:05.230 --> 00:25:08.114
I mean, I get it because bombs blew up shit.

00:25:08.114 --> 00:25:13.869
It's just like to think of, like this historic person who is very beneficial for the world.

00:25:13.869 --> 00:25:16.881
Really, you have no idea where he's buried.

00:25:16.881 --> 00:25:20.013
Yeah, he's probably not buried anymore Cause he blew up.

00:25:20.546 --> 00:25:21.631
It's very possible.

00:25:21.631 --> 00:25:30.028
But either way, you know I get it so the invention of the printing press by johannes gutenberg in germany sparked a new and lucrative trade.

00:25:30.028 --> 00:25:36.131
Workers who assisted gutenberg in his early experiments leveraged their knowledge to become printers themselves.

00:25:36.131 --> 00:25:43.035
These skilled individuals then spread their expertise across europe, establishing printing presses in various countries.

00:25:43.035 --> 00:25:49.970
Italy embraced the new technology quickly Following the arrival of the printing press in 1465,.

00:25:49.970 --> 00:25:55.480
Italian printers thrived by 1470, producing a wealth of printed materials.

00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:57.964
And I know, I call it Italian, not Italian.

00:25:58.987 --> 00:26:02.977
I only brought that up the one time because it's like me, I call it italian.

00:26:02.977 --> 00:26:08.655
But you had said italian italian, which I think is more proper, but I've.

00:26:08.655 --> 00:26:13.948
I don't know if you're italian let us know send in, or italian, I don't know.

00:26:16.069 --> 00:26:28.241
This success story continued in France, where German printers were invited to set up presses at the Sol Bona in Paris just five years later.

00:26:28.241 --> 00:26:35.201
Their focus on printing textbooks catered to the student population and further fueled the growth of the trade.

00:26:35.201 --> 00:26:46.551
The demand for printing extended to Spain, with German printers establishing themselves in Valencia in 1473 and Barcelona in 1475.

00:26:46.551 --> 00:26:51.299
Portugal followed suit, welcoming printers to Lisbon in 1495.

00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:58.895
Meanwhile, william Caxton, an Englishman residing in Bruges, right let's go with that.

00:26:58.895 --> 00:27:00.057
What'd you say?

00:27:00.417 --> 00:27:00.939
Bruges.

00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:01.640
Bruges.

00:27:04.545 --> 00:27:05.086
I'm not saying I'm right.

00:27:05.086 --> 00:27:06.449
I'm just saying that's how I've always heard it.

00:27:06.548 --> 00:27:15.673
Well, if he's reciting in bruges he's in belgium, so let's go he recognized the potential of gutenberg's invention.

00:27:15.673 --> 00:27:25.349
He traveled to cologne in 1471 to learn the printing craft with the intention of setting up his own printing press back in bruges.

00:27:26.551 --> 00:27:27.413
Yeah I think so.

00:27:27.594 --> 00:27:37.327
I think that's how it's pronounced upon returning to england, caxton established a press at westminster abbey, serving the monarchy as a printer until his death in 1491.

00:27:37.327 --> 00:27:47.855
This collaborative effort, spearheaded by german printers and fueled by individuals like caxton, solidified printing as a widespread and successful trade across europe.

00:27:47.855 --> 00:28:01.286
The printing press, particularly particularly the invention of the movable type printing press by johannes gutenberg in the 1400s, was a revolutionary moment that completely reshaped the spread of knowledge and ideas.

00:28:01.788 --> 00:28:04.115
I thought this was actually extremely interesting here.

00:28:04.115 --> 00:28:09.156
So, before the printing press, information was painstakingly copied by hand.

00:28:09.156 --> 00:28:18.076
They had and I'm just trying to go off what I remember a lot of Franciscan monks used to.

00:28:18.076 --> 00:28:26.891
That's what they did is they hand-copied shit and that obviously took a lot of freaking time, because they're just doing it all by hand.

00:28:26.891 --> 00:28:29.336
Um, but making books.

00:28:29.336 --> 00:28:38.953
That made books incredibly expensive, because if you weren't wealthy, you couldn't afford these books because there was very few of them and it took a long time to make.

00:28:38.953 --> 00:28:50.567
Um, but the printing press allowed for mass production of books and pamphlets, making knowledge far more accessible to the public, which this is the part I think is really awesome.

00:28:50.567 --> 00:29:01.396
It led to a surge in literacy, so like, hey, people can read and uh, so yeah, it got to just more people so they were able to learn.

00:29:01.616 --> 00:29:04.413
Basically, so, it's pretty revolutionary if you think about it.

00:29:04.413 --> 00:29:07.914
But, yeah, it's wider sharing of ideas.

00:29:07.914 --> 00:29:17.513
So, even though a lot of it was religious-based text back then, or books, I should say it got to way more people.

00:29:17.513 --> 00:29:25.801
So that's pretty fascinating that creating this helps people to evolve in a way.

00:29:25.801 --> 00:29:28.874
Yes, by learning to read, because a lot of people didn't know how to read.

00:29:28.874 --> 00:29:31.692
So I don't know, I thought that was pretty interesting.

00:29:31.825 --> 00:29:43.625
It also helps streamline language in general, I know you get to, which is pretty fantastic because there's obviously a lot of variations of language from location to location.

00:29:43.625 --> 00:29:54.755
Even even within a short distance, they talked a similar dialect but at the same time it was it varied to a degree and it's like it really streamlined it and made it.

00:29:54.755 --> 00:29:56.218
This is what we do.

00:29:56.218 --> 00:29:57.567
Yeah, I mean that's.

00:29:57.567 --> 00:29:58.828
That's awesome actually.

00:29:59.830 --> 00:30:05.539
So it also became a powerful tool for spreading revolutionary ideas, both religious and political.

00:30:05.539 --> 00:30:15.200
Martin Luther's 95 Thesis, a challenge to the Catholic Church, were widely disseminated thanks to the printing press, fueling the Protestant Reformation.

00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:21.337
Similarly, philosophical and political ideas of the Enlightenment era were easily shared and debated.

00:30:21.337 --> 00:30:33.026
With the mass production of printed materials, language began to be standardized, spelling and grammar became more consistent, fostering clearer communication and a stronger sense of national identity.

00:30:33.026 --> 00:30:38.814
Now italian is spelled italian, right, but you say italian, I say ital.

00:30:38.814 --> 00:30:42.859
So now it's just a dialect difference, correct.

00:30:45.144 --> 00:30:47.468
But it's still spelled the same way.

00:30:47.468 --> 00:30:48.087
It's like it.

00:30:48.087 --> 00:30:52.011
I mean, you just pronounce the I more than I do, is all it is.

00:30:53.054 --> 00:31:00.441
The ability to easily share scientific discoveries and research through printed journals accelerated scientific progress.

00:31:02.825 --> 00:31:03.787
Which I found very fascinating as well.

00:31:03.787 --> 00:31:34.964
So, alongside what I just said, um, because b, people could actually write it down and then share it more, that people scientists could build upon each other's work more efficiently and leading to faster breakthroughs and innovation, so like it really accelerated a lot of we'll call them experiments, I guess, or even whatever but just because they're able to more, um, streamline what people were thinking and not just be like, hey, I heard this guy did this over here, let's work on that.

00:31:34.964 --> 00:31:44.635
They could go off it and build on it and it really advanced a lot of things at that time, which is pretty fascinating because obviously science has been around for a long time.

00:31:44.635 --> 00:31:49.625
It's evolved greatly over the last 700 years, but you know quite awesome.

00:31:49.625 --> 00:31:50.950
With the help of reading and writing.

00:31:51.653 --> 00:31:55.115
Yeah, I mean, we just got to throw arithmetic in there and we're fucking set.

00:31:56.365 --> 00:32:00.557
The printing press fueled the development of newspapers and other forms of mass media.

00:32:00.557 --> 00:32:03.865
Printing press fueled the development of newspapers and other forms of mass media.

00:32:03.865 --> 00:32:09.292
This led to a more informed public and the rise of public sphere, where ideas could be debated and challenged.

00:32:09.292 --> 00:32:15.356
Overall, the printing press is considered a pivotal invention that ushered in a new era of communication, learning and social change.

00:32:15.356 --> 00:32:25.960
It laid the foundation for the modern information age and the explosion of knowledge we see today, and that is the story of Johannes Gutenberg and the revolutionary printing press.

00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:33.057
So the last time, last episode, we had mentioned Ring Around the Rosie.

00:32:33.637 --> 00:32:33.979
We did.

00:32:35.026 --> 00:32:36.932
And we all thought it was about the plague.

00:32:37.404 --> 00:32:40.555
Someone tried to link it to the plague and apparently they are wrong.

00:32:40.964 --> 00:32:45.031
Okay, so you've got the real history on it well, I have some history on it.

00:32:45.112 --> 00:32:51.230
Okay, I don't know how real it is I'm ready to learn something or you know, yeah, uh.

00:32:51.310 --> 00:32:57.948
So basically, ring around the rosy, um was just a children's rhyme that they would sing.

00:32:57.948 --> 00:33:06.470
Some people thought it was because, during a certain time, um, dancing was like a lot, and like even the states.

00:33:06.470 --> 00:33:08.413
At one point I'm like is this footloose?

00:33:08.413 --> 00:33:12.609
I know kevin bacon's gonna show up in a white t-shirt, that'd be great.

00:33:12.609 --> 00:33:13.952
I don't know about that.

00:33:13.952 --> 00:33:23.199
I do like kevin bacon, but um, basically, so they think it came from just children coming up with words.

00:33:23.199 --> 00:33:30.699
It's funny because there's even a quote saying as for the meaning of bring around the rosy, there may not be one at all.

00:33:30.699 --> 00:33:35.817
The Beatles, for example, often wrote nonsensical lyrics that they thought sounded good.

00:33:35.817 --> 00:33:38.665
I mean, he's not wrong, was there an?

00:33:38.705 --> 00:33:39.770
example of that Of the.

00:33:39.790 --> 00:33:41.237
Beatles no, no, no, well, I mean Yellow submarine, I mean he's not wrong.

00:33:41.237 --> 00:33:42.221
Was there an example of that Of the Beatles?

00:33:42.221 --> 00:33:42.884
No, no, no, Well, I mean.

00:33:43.404 --> 00:33:44.410
Yellow Submarine.

00:33:44.410 --> 00:33:46.290
I mean, that's nonsense.

00:33:47.207 --> 00:33:48.451
I mean that is nonsensical.

00:33:48.451 --> 00:33:50.211
Who lives in a Yellow Submarine?

00:33:50.211 --> 00:33:52.713
Or, like I am, the walrus Cuckoo kichoo?

00:33:52.713 --> 00:33:56.990
I mean that's nonsensical, but it sounded good to their music For sure.

00:33:56.990 --> 00:33:58.952
But basically, but basically.

00:33:58.952 --> 00:34:13.827
Um, so this one guy back in 61, leaser lesser, whatever his name is, he tried to link it to the plague from.

00:34:13.827 --> 00:34:14.268
Oh, I've lost a year.

00:34:14.268 --> 00:34:15.753
I should have looked that up and had that readily available.

00:34:15.753 --> 00:34:16.715
Um, because there's the black plague.

00:34:16.715 --> 00:34:19.344
And then what was the other one called?

00:34:19.344 --> 00:34:24.277
I don't remember, but oh, the bubonic plague, right um.

00:34:24.536 --> 00:34:27.382
Amos is playing with uh the chord your chord.

00:34:27.382 --> 00:34:29.827
So that's the yeah sorry about that folks.

00:34:29.867 --> 00:34:30.009
What?

00:34:30.516 --> 00:34:38.268
you're hearing is amos is getting a little frisky he wants to play but uh, yeah.

00:34:38.309 --> 00:34:57.047
So they don't know if it's either, uh, the, the great plague of london, um, or the bubonic plague, uh of the of the bubonic plague in 1665, but there also was another plague that happened in the 1400s, so they're not sure which one he's really referring it to.

00:34:57.047 --> 00:35:08.527
But basically, like ring around the rosy, um, which is weird because I found out that there's other variations of this nursery rhyme that says ring around the roses, it's like.

00:35:08.527 --> 00:35:10.257
So it was a pocket full of poses.

00:35:10.498 --> 00:35:49.467
It's not very rhyming if you do it that way, but uh, I'll be honest, until I looked into this, I never realized it was referring to roses as rosy yeah I just thought of like a color, like your cheeks get rosy or something, yeah, but they think that he thought that the, the rose, the ring around the rosy, was like the um basically the, the markings that you got from the plague and like the red red rings on your whatever face or body or whatever, and that the pocket full of posies was to help things smell better.

00:35:49.748 --> 00:35:49.907
Yeah.

00:35:49.994 --> 00:35:58.286
Which is I think I alluded to that in the last episode yeah, or also the ashes, ashes, ashes.

00:35:58.286 --> 00:36:03.400
We all fall down is like they thought was like for cremating the dead bodies and or the we all fall down people dying.

00:36:03.641 --> 00:36:03.862
Right.

00:36:04.596 --> 00:36:11.373
But apparently I also learned that during the time he thinks that the uh, it was linked.

00:36:11.373 --> 00:36:15.324
God darn it, cord, sorry, um is that you were.

00:36:15.324 --> 00:36:20.983
I think that was kind of both the the time frame that he links it to the plague.

00:36:20.983 --> 00:36:49.050
Apparently cremation was illegal in london until, like, it didn't get legalized again to like the 1800s, um, which also kind of makes sense, why they had to use graves, as I once stated, um, or maybe you haven't stated yet, yeah, you know what I mean anyways, um, so yeah, they banned cremmation so they couldn't burn people, so that didn't make any sense.

00:36:49.050 --> 00:36:55.255
So basically, it doesn't mean anything and it has no link to the plague.

00:36:55.255 --> 00:37:04.802
It was just a fun thing that kids did and they literally held hands and went in a circle singing this and then they would literally just fall down when they said we all fall down.

00:37:06.726 --> 00:37:07.288
That's lame.

00:37:12.554 --> 00:37:14.920
I mean, yeah, you think about songs, though I mean there doesn't have to be meaning to songs.

00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:19.539

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