The Printing Press

 The Printing Press

The printing press had a huge effect on communication in Europe.  Before this device was invented, books had to written out one by one.  Only about 30,000 books were created per year.  They were expensive to produce and had many errors.  Since there was not a large amount of books, not many people were literate.  Once the printing press was created everything changed.  About 12 million books were produced each year which made more people literate.  Books were less expensive and easier to  manufacture.  This effective piece of machinery brought ease to Europe and was the start of new creations.

My name is Catherine of Aragon and I am King Henry VIII’s first wife.  For twenty years I lived a good marriage with my husband but when he wanted a son things turned around.  I am a catholic and it is against my religion to divorce.  My husband wants a son that I can’t give him so he’s decided to end our marriage and marry Anne Boleyn, his lover.  The pope will not allow Henry to have an annulment so he is proceeding to start his own religion.  I thought I had a solid marriage with my husband, but since we only have a daughter he can’t live with me anymore.  Henry is going through all this work to start a new religion just so he can divorce me.  Struggling with worshipping the Catholic church and dealing with my husband is frustrating.  I disagree with my husband’s beliefs and I cannot believe that he is just going to leave me.  I am going to be the good citizen I am and follow my religion.  I don’t know how I’ll end up but I won’t turn away from the Catholic church since it is what we are told to do.