What were the significant technological developments in the Late Middle Ages and how were they responsible for expanding the European economy?

Answer 1

There were many technological advances of the late middle ages, and they influenced the economy in many different ways. Some of them include the following:

• The printing press, which was probably invented in the late 14th century by adapting presses used for pressing grapes or for pressing cloth and used for printing wood block artwork
• Movable type, which I personally think was invented by a man named Laurens Janszoon Coster in the Netherlands in about 1410 to 1420 (There is a link below to a related question on this.)
• The type mold, which was probably invented by Gutenberg and made printing with movable type practical by making type that was sufficiently mechanically uniform to use in a printing press
• The blast furnace, which very much increased both quality and quantity of steel
• Rotary grind stones, which made it far less expensive to produce blades, but also eventually made it possible to shape steel in ways never before done
• Oil based paint, which made it possible to made highly detailed artwork and also made possible oil based printers ink
• Crank and connecting rod, which was a fundamental invention for mechanisms and enabled new kinds of machines
• Cranked hoist and reel, which was used in ports for the recently invented new types of cranes, and for many other purposes
• Paddle wheels, which were used for pumping and low head water power, and were adapted much later for propulsion.

I think the economic benefits of most of these inventions are obvious. I am sorry if I seem a little partisan on the subject of the movable type and printing press, but I don't think I really am. I have studied this since I worked as a type caster many years ago, and came to realize there was a great deal more to the invention of printing than most people realize; it was not a simple invention that one person could have dreamed up in a short time, but the combination of many inventions into a rather complicated system.

There are links below.