How Mediums and Rhetoric Shaped the Renaissance

We witness changes in communication today at the very localized level. For example, the way I speak to my friends now is very different from the way I would if I had never been exposed to cell phones and the internet. Between texting and conversing via tagging each other in Facebook memes, today’s social interface hardly resembles that of the Renaissance. While forms of communication in the Renaissance Era is fairly difficult to track there are certain factors and events that can indicate changes in trends.

Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward

Medium:

One such event was the birth of the printing press. With tools like computers, we take the magic of printing for granted. The printing press allowed print to be faster and less costly, causing a spike in the availability of the written word.

Arguably one of the most adept users of the new medium of communication was Martin Luther. His 95 Theses were not the only things he published. He wrote and published many short sermons and pamphlets. These were cheap and short enough that someone could have it read to them if they didn’t know how to read themselves. Luther was a genius who recognized quickly how printing could help him spread his ideas.

Even if the information that was published wasn’t accurate, it’s accessibility gave more people who wouldn’t normally read the option to do so. With more people reading, more people were talking about what they had read and learned.

This led to discussion and debates at Saoirse’s and the birth of the idea of “sprezzatura”, which described a certain wit, sophistication, and eloquence of speaking at these gatherings. An example of the accomplishments of one who possessed this can be found here.

Discussion in the public square acquired a different flavor when the Protestant Reformation took hold. Because open discussion was now the norm, people began to publicly critique, criticize, and even protest against aspects of the Catholic Church.

Back, Forward, & Back Again

Petrarch looked back over his shoulder nearly thirteen centuries to glimpse sight of works that would make mankind wonder and marvel for centuries to come: Cicero’s letters.  This demonstration of ‘ad fontes’ triggered a new perspective of communication.  Somehow, diving back into the past allowed our forefathers to move more quickly forward. 

Letters to Cicero

Petrarch’s discovery didn’t stop there.  He continued to dig deeper into the past and introduced ideals of humanism—that man was capable of great things.  “What a piece of work is man!”  Shakespeare would later exclaim, which is the very sentiment that fueled and sustained a new awareness of communication.

The two letters Petrarch wrote to Cicero were only the beginning; humanism ideals couldn’t be contained to the written word alone.  Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo communicated their ideas and passions through arts, and for others, it was speech.  Castiglione’s The Courtier masterfully illustrates how the Renaissance-theme of sprezzatura shifted the communication-focus to speech. 

On progress within the Common Man's written world

A Gift from that God who watches over us

On Progress Within the Renaissance Man's Written World

Before the advent of the Printing Press within the 15th century, the average man was largely reduced to the spoken word, as he was not literate, and even if for some odd reason he was there were almost no books for him to read. Only the local clergy as well as collegiates had the knowledge and resources to be able to read and study anything in any capacity. With Johannes Gutenberg's invention of such around 1439, however, several drastic shift began, the most greatest of which are the heightening of literacy in the general public and the reduction of trust placed on the Clergy as the representatives for the people in the eyes of God.

One Small Typographical Error, One Giant Leap For Mankind

     In 1631, the then royally appointed printer, Robert Barker published a reprinted version of the King James Bible, within which a small error was made that drastically changed the way that Exodus chapter 20 read when listing the 10 commandments. In the 7th commandment, where it is written "thou shalt not commit adultery" the single word "not" was omitted. Resulting in the commandment now reading as "thou shalt commit adultery." One can easily see how troublesome this error could be especially concerning the fact that many Christians of the time were just beginning to have access to reading The Bible for themselves. This great invention, the printing press gave many advantages to those who wanted to spread authentic writings and truth, as Berlyn Flake points out in her blog post titled "The Printing Press and the Weakening of Catholicism," but the invention also proved to enable the hasty spread of misinformation in some cases. 

(Below is a depiction of the type and text.)

The Printing Press and the Weakening of Catholicism

Microsoft Word

History of Printing

I remember the time I first realized as a young child that I could type out words on a computer. I had been an avid reader, and it had never occurred to me that words that I wrote could be printed out and look just like the words that I had read in my books. I no longer would have to hand copy invitations to my friends; I could type everything out one time and each invitation would be identical.


Similarly, with the invention of the printing press came a newfound freedom. Words could now spread throughout the world without the painstaking task of hand-copying. Ideas could take root more firmly and take route faster than ever before.

Martin Luther and the Press 
Martin Luther famously posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517. It is speculated that Luther originally wanted only to make the issues known and that he had no intention of causing such a far-reaching disruption to the Catholic Church. However, as his ideas