Gutenberg Johannes Gutenberg Was Initially a Goldsmith Essay

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Gutenberg

Johannes Gutenberg was initially a goldsmith and a businessman from Mainz, Germany (Bellis). In 1436, Gutenberg solicited investments for an invention that involved replaceable (movable or modular) letters for the purposes of printing. Gutenberg noticed the need for a more efficient type of typing, which did not involve producing a one-off woodcut or similar stamping device, or involving painstaking and time consuming calligraphy. Using Gutenberg's new invention, it was possible to have an actual printing press that could be used again and again to publish multiple copies of diverse texts. Gutenberg certainly did not invent the first method of printing. Printing has been around for thousands of years, and likely originated with the Chinese. Gutenberg did revolutionize the method, media, and procedure of printing. Gutenberg's invention is heralded more for its impact on society and the evolution of ideas, than for its scientific or innovative merits.

The exact date of Gutenberg's birth is not known; it was "some time in the last decade of the fourteenth century, presumably between 1394 and 1399," and is generally assumed to be 1400 (Wallau). Likewise, the exact date of Johannes Gutenberg's death is generally stipulated as 1468 but it may have been 1467 (Wallau). If the printing press had already been invented, it is likely the birth and death dates would have been more meticulously recorded in church records. Vander Hook and Romano note that Johannes was most likely born in the month of June.

Johannes was born to Friele (Friedrich) Gansfleisch and Else Wyrich. The surname Gutenberg was derived from the name of the house in which he was born: "Hof zum Gutenberg," which was itself the ancestral house "zu Laden, zu Gutenberg," of Johannes' father's family (Wallau). Johannes' father's family traced their heritage in the town of Mainz back to the thirteenth century. The Gansfleisch were a prominent patrician family (Wallau). By the fifteenth century, the Gansfleisch family inherited the title of Hausgenossen, or retainers of the household, which entitled them to the archiepiscopal mint (Wallau).

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Therefore, gold smithing and minting were family enterprises. Johannes' mother Else Wyrich was the daughter of a burgher of Mainz. Else and Friele married in 1386.

As a patrician family, the Gutenberg household were driven out of Mainz during a general revolt of guild members. Patricians enjoyed an odd contract with the city government. On the one hand, patrician families were not considered part of the nobility. They did not have noble blood. On the other hand, they gave money to the city in lieu of taxes and were given a special status whereby they earned the right to control a certain guild. Patricians could also participate in city council discussions and were exempt from paying taxes (Vander Hood and Romano). Moreover, the city paid the patricians a yearly annuity based on their guild revenues: viewed as a return on the patrician investment into the guild organization (Vander Hook and Romano). This yearly annuity was of course paid for by the guild members themselves: the workers. As union-like organizations, the guilds staged periodic revolts against the patricians for the unfair labor laws and practices. "The struggle between the guilds and the patricians was a constant source of conflict for Johannes and his family," (Vander Hook and Romano). Wallau simplifies the situation by referring to "political problems" faced by the Gutenberg household. In any case, Johannes and his family fled Mainz to Strassburg by 1434. In Strassburg, Johannes resumed his goldsmith occupation, joined the local guild, and expanded his knowledge by learning how to work with gems and also looking-glass manufacturing (Wallau). He engaged in a business partnership "to produce metal hand mirrors used by pilgrims visiting holy sites," and it is highly likely the metal work used in that endeavor rubbed off on the "method of making metal type….....

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