<P> Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, developed, circa 1439, a printing system by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes, as well as making inventions of his own . Printing in East Asia had been prevalent since the Tang dynasty, and in Europe, woodblock printing based on existing screw presses was common by the 14th century . Gutenberg's most important innovation was the development of hand - molded metal printing matrices, thus producing a movable type based printing press system . His newly devised hand mould made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities . Movable type had been hitherto unknown in Europe . In Europe, the two inventions, the hand mould and the printing press, together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents, particularly in short print runs . </P> <P> The printing press spread within several decades to over two hundred cities in a dozen European countries . By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million volumes . In the 16th century, with presses spreading further afield, their output rose tenfold to an estimated 150 to 200 million copies . The operation of a press became synonymous with the enterprise of printing, and lent its name to a new branch of media, "the press". </P> <P> In Renaissance Europe, the arrival of mechanical movable type printing introduced the era of mass communication, which permanently altered the structure of society . The relatively unrestricted circulation of information and (revolutionary) ideas transcended borders, captured the masses in the Reformation and threatened the power of political and religious authorities . The sharp increase in literacy broke the monopoly of the literate elite on education and learning and bolstered the emerging middle class . Across Europe, the increasing cultural self - awareness of its peoples led to the rise of proto - nationalism, and accelerated by the development of European vernacular languages, to the detriment of Latin's status as lingua franca . In the 19th century, the replacement of the hand - operated Gutenberg - style press by steam - powered rotary presses allowed printing on an industrial scale . </P> <P> The rapid economic and socio - cultural development of late medieval society in Europe created favorable intellectual and technological conditions for Gutenberg's improved version of the printing press: the entrepreneurial spirit of emerging capitalism increasingly made its impact on medieval modes of production, fostering economic thinking and improving the efficiency of traditional work - processes . The sharp rise of medieval learning and literacy amongst the middle class led to an increased demand for books which the time - consuming hand - copying method fell far short of accommodating . </P>

What did the printing press do for the renaissance time period
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