The Impact of Print

As the Renaissance (‘revival of learning’) took place across Europe between the 14th and 17th century, the importance of European vernacular languages increased. Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press meant that old Greek and Roman scriptures could now be translated and shared with a wider variety of people, which was seen as a huge step forwards in terms of societal relations.
A standard form of English was identified, with norms and grammatical rules set out. One of the first publications outlining this was Lily’s Short Introduction to Grammar, which was published in 1523 and used as the basis for teaching the English language in schools. A few years later, the Bible was translated into English, and this too helped to set its foundation as one of the most important languages in the world.