The Most Important Invention Of The Middle Ages | The Machine that Made Us

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  • čas přidán 14. 04. 2024
  • Stephen Fry takes a look inside the story of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the world's first printing press in the 15th century, and an exploration of how and why the machine was invented.
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Komentáře • 167

  • @AnglephileSwedenGerman
    @AnglephileSwedenGerman Před měsícem +21

    Fry is a world treasure

  • @jcristi321
    @jcristi321 Před měsícem +4

    I got one of those little printing kits when I was a kid too! Ended up with a Journalism degree.

  • @jpkatz1435
    @jpkatz1435 Před měsícem +4

    What the BBC can do so well! THANKYOU.

  • @onepouchman7389
    @onepouchman7389 Před měsícem +8

    This was absolutely wonderful to watch. Thank you!

  • @gerardkiff2026
    @gerardkiff2026 Před měsícem +10

    Stephen Fry makes everything entertaining and enjoyable.

  • @johnbanka2623
    @johnbanka2623 Před dnem +1

    A very good chronicle with one modest flaw. There is no mention on how he made his ink. Ink normally does not stick evenly to metal. Unless compounded in a particular way, the printed pages would have come out with blotches of text in some places and no text in others.

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +4

    I had no idea Stephen Fry was Jeeves, of Jeeves and Wooster which I watched on pbs in the U.S. decades ago.

  • @340wbymag
    @340wbymag Před měsícem +3

    I would never dispute the value of the printing press, but it was the invention of papyrus that really changed the world. Prior to papyrus, writing was done on clay tablets and velum paper made from animal hides. It might require an entire flock of sheep to provide enough velum for just one book, and not all ink was well-suited for writing on the animal hides. Only the most wealthy could purchase books. When the Egyptians began producing papyrus, paper became cheap and easy to produce. It was easy to write on and could be made into books easily. Papyrus was the invention that changed the world, bringing mankind out of the Dark Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment.

    • @cherylwright3917
      @cherylwright3917 Před měsícem

      Yes the history of papyrus is fascinating. Unfortunately as a plant today it’s loosing habitat.

    • @SiskoSvK
      @SiskoSvK Před 26 dny +1

      I get your point, but at the other half of your comment you literally described the argument why the printing machine was milion times better than papyrus.

    • @340wbymag
      @340wbymag Před 26 dny

      @@SiskoSvK The printing press would have had no value if it hadn't been for papyrus because prior to papyrus, books were made from animal hides. Thousands (millions perhaps) of books were written on papyrus before the printing press was invented. Paper itself transformed the world. It enabled the transfer of knowledge that brought humanity out of the Dark Ages. The printing press certainly increased the spread of knowledge greatly by making books available to the masses. I would never belittle its importance. I believe technology will one day fail us. Perhaps the printing press will again be the device that saves humanity.

  • @avalonkerr8332
    @avalonkerr8332 Před měsícem +4

    I adore Stephen Fry!

  • @rocwould
    @rocwould Před měsícem +5

    Guttenburg did not in vent the press! He invented movable type .

    • @davidkantor7978
      @davidkantor7978 Před 25 dny

      Yes. Printing existed at the time. But it was a tedious task to engrave the plate for one page. Movable type made it easier and faster.

  • @wehojm7320
    @wehojm7320 Před 16 dny

    I enjoyed this story of Guttenberg and the origins of the printing press. Last summer I was on a river cruise and visited Mainz and the Guttenberg Museum where they had a replica of the printing press which a demonstration of how the press worked. This documentary with Mr. Fry made the history more interesting.

  • @cyclingnerddelux698
    @cyclingnerddelux698 Před měsícem +6

    Stephen Fry is a treasure.

  • @larryscott3982
    @larryscott3982 Před 27 dny +2

    34:43 is he handling lead and near molten lead without PPE?
    Hardly any ventilation visible.

  • @ryanbarton72
    @ryanbarton72 Před dnem

    Great work on this piece.

  • @youtubehatesus2651
    @youtubehatesus2651 Před měsícem +1

    That was very interesting. I liked your first piece of paper and first letter. Thank you,.

  • @sue-ellenchalmers8669
    @sue-ellenchalmers8669 Před měsícem

    Thankyou. Thoroughly enjoyed this programme

    • @wendyHew
      @wendyHew Před měsícem

      Sue? Ong it's me Wendy H !!!!!!

  • @pup1008
    @pup1008 Před 14 dny

    The way the type spaced on my phone read -
    "Most important invention of the Middle Ages. *The Mac....."* 😂

  • @lynnwood7205
    @lynnwood7205 Před dnem

    46:38 instructions on plate of page of type - Center - "PUT THIS SLUG BETWEEN COLUMNS" . Edge - "take out lead here first".

  • @tombrunila2695
    @tombrunila2695 Před 24 dny

    I had one of those printing sets sometime in the late 60's.

  • @jonathanfriedlander8563
    @jonathanfriedlander8563 Před měsícem +1

    Watching this has made me more aware of questioning everything we are told .Really english texts need to be rewritten .

    • @sterling557
      @sterling557 Před měsícem

      What did you question regarding Gutenberg?

  • @user-rw7tw5tx6h
    @user-rw7tw5tx6h Před 17 dny

    Superb!

  • @todd3205
    @todd3205 Před 9 dny +1

    Why does this vid have only 1.3K likes?

  • @katherinecollins4685
    @katherinecollins4685 Před 26 dny

    Really informative

  • @gaslitworldf.melissab2897
    @gaslitworldf.melissab2897 Před měsícem +1

    . . . nothing like hand craftsmanship to satisfy the soul.

    • @jpkatz1435
      @jpkatz1435 Před měsícem

      May or may not be Soul satisfying, but can be beautiful.

  • @56NeilWatson
    @56NeilWatson Před 22 dny

    When I see programs like this and hear that only 50 copies out of 150. Granted, a lot will have deteriorated through use, but how many have been lost through conflict. So many works of art have been lost due to conflict.

  • @SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands
    @SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands Před měsícem +1

    Actually they already printed pictures with a block used as stamp..

  • @metalmyke1
    @metalmyke1 Před měsícem

    That is brilliant mates.

  • @jenniferlyons4150
    @jenniferlyons4150 Před 5 dny

    And at one time books were burned and people didn't have the ability to read. It was illegal for certain groups of people to learn to read and you could only learn if you were the "right" color. To think the great lengths he went through to make prints and books available. Very interesting. 😊

  • @alfabsc
    @alfabsc Před měsícem +1

    Thanks for sharing this documentary. Movable type printing fueled literacy, which led to democratic revolutions and protestant denominations.

    • @jpkatz1435
      @jpkatz1435 Před měsícem

      Unfortunately, Mine Kunf also.

  • @davidkantor7978
    @davidkantor7978 Před 25 dny

    The point of movable type is that you can quickly compose a page of type, as compared to engraving the whole page on one plate.

  • @tomliemohn624
    @tomliemohn624 Před měsícem +1

    Tonight we're going to party like it's 1499. Very cool! I think a church I went to in the Seattle area has a single page from one of these bibles.

    • @sterling557
      @sterling557 Před měsícem

      Huntington Library in Pasadena California has a complete copy if you find yourself in the neighborhood.

  • @5kehhn
    @5kehhn Před 27 dny

    Quite good🙂

  • @MrJakeTucker
    @MrJakeTucker Před měsícem +3

    I didn't know Gutenberg had printed an indulgence before his bible. I can imagine the church, at least some of the church, must of had a love/hate relationship with Gutenberg. Indulgences could be mass printed but so could the bible meaning more people could read/hear what it actually said.

    • @sterling557
      @sterling557 Před měsícem

      As long as they could read Latin, which learned people could I believe. But maybe not common people.

    • @robertewalt7789
      @robertewalt7789 Před 19 dny

      Were indulgences printed by Gutenberg worth as many years off Purgatory as compared to indulgences written out by hand?

  • @wernerkrautler8668
    @wernerkrautler8668 Před 25 dny

    i like this guy called fry

  • @MysticChronicles712
    @MysticChronicles712 Před měsícem +8

    Wow, this video brilliantly explores the significance of the most important invention of the Middle Ages.

  • @johnclark7648
    @johnclark7648 Před 9 dny

    The first moveable type press was made in China during the Song Dynasty.

  • @rachelgates509
    @rachelgates509 Před měsícem

    That was great! I am confused about one thing, though. Was the Gutenberg Bible that he was thumbing through at the end of the documentary printed on cowskin or paper?? He seemed to suggest, to me, that THAT particular one was on cow skin. I wonder when the first mechanical printing press was invented. When did printing become automated?

    • @sterling557
      @sterling557 Před měsícem

      Fry said that the one he was looking at was cow skin (vellum), and there were 12 copies made on vellum with the other hundred on paper.

  • @larryscott3982
    @larryscott3982 Před 27 dny

    And it’s ends with the mark of the year… in Roman numerals: MMVIII

  • @richardthornhill4630
    @richardthornhill4630 Před 26 dny

    The printed Word changed the world. A blessing for good, a curse for evil, depending on what is printed.

  • @danielesai3451
    @danielesai3451 Před měsícem +9

    Further debunking that this period is not the "dark ages".

    • @liloupumpkin5278
      @liloupumpkin5278 Před měsícem +5

      I had read that it was due to the lack of sources during that period, but it seems to me that it was for an earlier part of the Middle Ages.

    • @TheSmartPorcupine
      @TheSmartPorcupine Před měsícem +1

      Nobody said this was the "dark ages" time. Also there was no debunking of the dark ages.

  • @cellevangiel5973
    @cellevangiel5973 Před 20 dny

    Gutenberg did not invent the printing press, that was long known for etches and wood cuts. He invented the individual letters.

  • @michaelbatarick9617
    @michaelbatarick9617 Před měsícem

    What were their names

  • @gonefishing167
    @gonefishing167 Před měsícem +6

    The man who put the ink on must have had a meticulous job to do. Yes , china may have been first and everyone credits that but , back then, east snd west were so far apart and very little contact for outsiders snd definitely no ‘info’. Credit where credits due 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺👍👍

    • @kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061
      @kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061 Před měsícem

      The Silk Road existed and had been in place all the way back, some Anthropologists say to Homo Erectus in some cases. O.o; They found African stone tools in Asia and you have Denisovans, too. Homo Erectus had rafts! Those aren't even your modern humans--and you somehow think that Europeans couldn't do the same? Europe doesn't have a magical force field around it. Things like soccer, golf, business cards, reinforced paper, etc traveled as both ideas and objects along the Silk Road, which extended all the way to the Britons, into Africa and into East Asia. The Islamic empire also collected information as well by travelling along such routes, not to mention you have the freaking Mongols! (Who, BTW, gave Russia and Korea the idea of distillation from Iran.) And what happened the the Rromani in your imagination? They came from Western India to Europe.
      Europeans didn't invent traveling either. There were Phonecians with boats. And look up Polynesians and traveling by boat and be floored. They made it all the way to the Americas before any Europeans and then brought back sweet potatoes. Haha. My (white) Anthropology prof was making fun of European sailing habits compared to Polynesians who mastered figuring out ocean currents sometimes simply by sticking their hands in the water and then memorizing maps they were given as children. (Some New Zealanders also have tattoos as reminders.)
      Europe was slow to travel, but that doesn't mean things didn't go to them. And Marco Polo even traveled by foot/ horse.
      There's records that a Persian Queen might have been Korean too.
      Trade has always been defacto. It's just the amount of time, danger, and determination one has to get there that's changed. "Age of Discovery" is a damned lie.

  • @heikestucke8964
    @heikestucke8964 Před 24 dny

    An illumination, it was a treasure hunt …..exceptionally researched, thank you Mr. Fry❤️🧑‍🎨🦋

  • @LopezZeta
    @LopezZeta Před měsícem +1

    Cool. Anyway, what's with middle aged British men that love having teenager haircuts?

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +1

    German genius!

  • @SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands

    Lauwrence Jan's son Coster, the inventor, you mean, of Haarlem city, the Netherlands.

  • @lephtovermeet
    @lephtovermeet Před 5 dny

    I love this documentary but clearly lathes predate the press (they're using ancient lathes to make parts for the press). Of all the tools the lathe had the most prolific effect on propagating technology. It's truly the tool that made everything including itself.

  • @lynnwood7205
    @lynnwood7205 Před dnem

    23:55 graffiti Mat P I Love You - S. MATP JE T'AIME S

  • @petervanvelzen1950
    @petervanvelzen1950 Před 29 dny +1

    "Down the Rhine (21 minutes) should be "Up the rhine" as the river flows to the North and Gutenberg went south!

  • @tombrunila2695
    @tombrunila2695 Před 24 dny

    Who invented the alphabet with vowels and consonants?

  • @currentbatches6205
    @currentbatches6205 Před 18 dny

    40:57 - Highly recommended: "On Paper", Mark Kurlansky. A history.
    48:56 - Hope you are going to somehow identify these as reproductions, so they don't end up in the hands of a crook and get passed off as original pages.
    51:00 - And this was CHEAPER than the alternative!

  • @leonardmilcin7798
    @leonardmilcin7798 Před 10 dny

    Say what you want, I think the most important invention of the middle ages was human rights.

    • @stardresser1
      @stardresser1 Před 8 dny

      Without reading and the spread of ideas, very little at all could exist, much less spread, in terms of human rights.

  • @tobberfutooagain2628
    @tobberfutooagain2628 Před měsícem

    Personally, I think it was toilet paper….
    But that’s just me…..

  • @danytalloen
    @danytalloen Před měsícem

    Interesting but I always cringe when someone use the word (or term) "middle ages", while 15th century is actually the "renaissance".

    • @gaslitworldf.melissab2897
      @gaslitworldf.melissab2897 Před měsícem +2

      Yes, but Late Medieval and Early Modern overlap in the 16th century. No specific date ends one and starts the other. Basically, the Ren actually occurs _inside_ of the Middle Ages and was concentrated into an area.

    • @henriknielsen1662
      @henriknielsen1662 Před měsícem +2

      @danytalloen: the Middle Ages as a periodisation of pan-European cultural history is usually said to begin in AD 500 and end in AD 1500. In some parts of Europe, the Renaissance began towards the end of this period, in others it began later. In Scandinavia, the first few centuries of the Middle Ages are usually referred to as the Late Iron Age, whereas a case can be made for saying that the Middle Ages in parts of Southern Europe began sooner after the breakdown of the Roman empire. Hard and fast limits are really just a convenience

  • @Haveaniceday123kick
    @Haveaniceday123kick Před 10 dny

    Why didnt he just read a book and save the traveling

  • @ziploc2000
    @ziploc2000 Před měsícem +38

    The Chinese invented printing around 700 CE and movable type by 1051.

    • @naikrovek
      @naikrovek Před měsícem +16

      why is Gutenberg credited, then? Also, it's possible for a thing to be invented twice, independently.

    • @liloupumpkin5278
      @liloupumpkin5278 Před měsícem +31

      ​@@naikrovekEast and West developed independently. Gutenberg made movable type printing popular, something that China had not managed to do.
      And he had the genius to make this type of printing economically viable, something the Chinese had also not done.

    • @kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061
      @kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061 Před měsícem +9

      I edited Gutenberg's Wikipedia page and they kept removing his true invention over and over. What's so shameful about the adjustable type mould? They won't give credit to Uighurs or Chinese or Koreans. BTW, I posted the dates and locations to correct Stephen Fry with names. The guy that imported the invention, doesn't mean he invented it. It's like the BS with Copernicus, etc when the best they did was translate and verify Islamic texts.

    • @dcmackc01
      @dcmackc01 Před měsícem +2

      @@naikrovek Racism

    • @liloupumpkin5278
      @liloupumpkin5278 Před měsícem +13

      ​@@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061The theory of heliocentrism dates back to the Greeks, not the Muslims. Not to mention the fact that Muslim scholars are not the only ones to have thought about this since that period. Nevertheless, we should thank the Arabs for having brought Indian numerals to Europe (which, in fact, dated from much earlier!).

  • @user-yy9hk9od9u
    @user-yy9hk9od9u Před měsícem +2

    The printing press was invented in China over a thousand years before Gutenberg.

    • @danytalloen
      @danytalloen Před měsícem

      A claim like that should be supported with names, dates, links... I meen, stamps are not considdered a printing press.

    • @cyclingnerddelux698
      @cyclingnerddelux698 Před měsícem

      But this is a documentary about an invention of the Middle Ages, which is a term used to describe a period in European history. So thanks for playing. Off you go.

    • @Robert-dp9rt
      @Robert-dp9rt Před měsícem

      But it wasn't in Europe at that time so yes he invented his version things were more isolated

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      @PappuSingh-rj2hb Před měsícem +1

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  • @lesabri
    @lesabri Před měsícem +1

    First!

  • @hygenicoption608
    @hygenicoption608 Před měsícem +2

    China comes to mind

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

    How could the fool Gutenberg not make or the monarch at that time not order any illustrations/diagrams for his machine!!!

    • @Flaschenteufel
      @Flaschenteufel Před měsícem +3

      Maybe because it' was the very first prototype and stuff evolves..? At least we got you now these days, mankind is blessed.

  • @JessePollardII
    @JessePollardII Před měsícem +2

    actnually the printi ng press was first invented in China.

    • @andihajar3412
      @andihajar3412 Před měsícem +1

      But the famous one is Gutenberg?

    • @TheSmartPorcupine
      @TheSmartPorcupine Před měsícem +1

      So? It never made it to Europe. More than one person can think up similar solutions to a problem. We've done it for a lot of things.

  • @rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185

    The narrator cups his farts and smells his hands

  • @stephengent9974
    @stephengent9974 Před měsícem

    the Chinese invented it way before Gutenberg

  • @borneandayak6725
    @borneandayak6725 Před měsícem +1

    And it was made by Christian, not atheist 😃😃😃

  • @martinstubs6203
    @martinstubs6203 Před 28 dny

    To say again what has been said many times: Gutenberg DID NOT invent the printing press but "only" movable type. As far as this goes, this whole video ist nonsense.

  • @sstarklite2181
    @sstarklite2181 Před měsícem +3

    “It would cost a fortune…but money didn’t grow on trees” shows us that if there was equal wealth, as there should be, great inventions would amaze the world! If all “venture capitalists” had said “No that’ll never work” then they could stop progress for centuries or millennia! That’s why there should be EQUAL wealth worldwide! Look at the first canned food goods were made in France 1804, and if they had been able to tell about it worldwide, think of the millions of lives that could have been saved from all famines since 1804! From now on no one should be dying from famines, and now we have perfect communication and transportation! Capitalists want the whole world to worship them as gods who have the vision of helping one poor person invent this printing press, so his name could be worshipped by all humans! What a selfish system of lies capitalism is! They think it’s right to give all the money to a few rich people, and leave billions of would-be great inventors to starve to death!

  • @giovanni5063
    @giovanni5063 Před měsícem +1

    The Babylonians, Egyptians Greeks, Armenians,Japanese ,Arabs and East Enders were all there before old Gut' n Berg. Just check your Wikipedia. Wake up mate!

    • @clarkblount7788
      @clarkblount7788 Před měsícem +6

      Seriously? Are you obtuse?😊

    • @Flaschenteufel
      @Flaschenteufel Před měsícem +2

      "i can't even write Gutenberg but trust me bro! I know this histeria stuff supercrazy much!"

    • @TheSmartPorcupine
      @TheSmartPorcupine Před měsícem

      Printing is not the same as writing. You shouldn't be sharing your thoughts.

  • @ConfusedBassGuitar-yb5dc
    @ConfusedBassGuitar-yb5dc Před měsícem

    So why the world doesn't use the Chinese printing?

    • @thebeaconnetwork
      @thebeaconnetwork Před měsícem +1

      Maybe the same reason English, French, and Spanish are spoken in North and South America: colonialism

    • @user-iq8zs2fn4j
      @user-iq8zs2fn4j Před měsícem

      Exactly. Thank you finally somebody said it

    • @Flaschenteufel
      @Flaschenteufel Před měsícem +1

      Maybe it's also way easier to use about 100 Symbols than 200 billion but hey...

    • @thebeaconnetwork
      @thebeaconnetwork Před měsícem

      @@Flaschenteufel ...cause colonialism was so much more practical than letting people be free.
      Gutenberg is a hero of mine and the Protestant Reformation was made possible by his innovations.
      But i'm not fan of white supremacy which fails to take proper account of the innovations of other peoples.