Paper Summary:

This paper argues the case that the Protestant Reformation was a consequence of the advent of the printing press and the mass circulation of books and pamphlets. While taking into consideration the wider social factors and the roles of the key protagonists, Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther, the paper on the show that the key events and accomplishments were dictated by the mechanics of the new medium of print, and this is because it was able to give expression to the rising wave of individualism.

From the Paper:

"And of course there was the rising tide of intolerance and brutality wrought by the Church on the freethinkers. With the overturning of Aristotelianism new ideas began to flourish, mainly emerging from the great universities that has staked independence from the Church, like those in Paris and Oxford. As the Church became more and more corrupt and oppressive, the free thinkers rose up against it and one by one fell martyrs. The lengthening list of martyrs to the cause of free thought inflamed the revolutionary spirit of the masses. In particular the execution of Girolamo Savonarola in 1498 left bitter repercussions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. Reprint ed. Boston: MIT Press, 1994.
• Mills, C. Wright. White Collar. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2002.

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