Well, I was going to try to squeeze Gutenberg into the last episode, since he actually lived before the High Renaissance, and his invention kind of fit into the ethos of talking about the high points of the Renaissance. But there was just too much to cover in one episode, plus Gutenberg really does deserve his own episode.
The TV channel A&E did a countdown, back in 1999, just before the new millennium began, and it counted down the most important people of the last 1000 years – so the period from AD 1000 to AD 1999. They surveyed a bunch of history experts and professors to come up with the list. It’s kind of an interesting list, and is still out there on the internet. Coming in at the number 2 most important person of that millennium is Martin Luther, who we will get to in a couple of episodes. But coming in at number one was Johannes Gutenberg.
Johannnes Gutenberg
A recreation of Gutenberg’s shop
moveable type, being set into a spacer before being set into the actual press.
Page from the Gutenberg Bible at the University of Texas
Gutenberg Bible at the New York Public Library