15th Century: Introduction

The fifteenth century gave birth to three major events on the European scene: the beginning of the Renaissance (circa 1453) with a return to research and Classical learning; the birth of the Age of Discovery with increased exploration and improved ships and navigation methods that led to new trade routes; and the birth of modern printing marked by fifteenth-century master printer Johann Gutenberg's invention of movable type presses (1440), which made possible the inexpensive mass-printing of books.