... could do little to stop the distribution of pamphlets. Although they were large and unwieldy, by 1500 print presses existed in over 200 European cities. According to Ozment, there were more books and pamphlets printed between the years 1460 and 1500 than ever before. This availability lowered the cost of books and thus allowed a more diverse audience to be exposed to the ideas of the major Reformation philosophers. Printers learned quickly that controversial religious matters sold more than everyday reading material, and Reformation leaders learned quickly that printed materials could reach a far larger audience than any other method. One of greatest examples of the effect of the printing press on the spread of Protestantism occurred in the textile factories of Netherlands. Because pamphlets and religious books were readily available and far more inexpensive than the hand-made texts of the Middle Ages, educated peasants could possess books. Literacy was ...

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