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Expansion of Printing in Europe

Type Event Region Europe Time 1560–1569

In the 1560s, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation drove European printing to expand in volume, geography, and subject matter.

Timeline

  1. 1560–1569Geneva and the German states · GenevaCalvinist and Lutheran regions continued publishing Bibles, catechisms, and current-affairs pamphlets in various languages; printers used movable type and woodcut illustration techniques to expand circulation, spreading Reformation ideas to urban and rural readers through inexpensive printed matter.
  2. 1564–1566Rome · RomeAfter the Council of Trent, the papacy and Catholic regimes of various countries strengthened pre-publication censorship; the Index of Forbidden Books was revised in 1564 and its scope expanded, forming a church publishing control system to counter Protestant publishing expansion.
  3. 1565–1570Amsterdam and Antwerp · AmsterdamReligious conflict and commercial networks in the Low Countries made Amsterdam and Antwerp into international hubs of printing and book trade; publishers served readers across Europe with multilingual editions, driving the printing industry's spread from traditional southern European centers to northern Europe.

Sources