True or False: Printing presses were common in the early Middle Ages.

The story behind the answer

Movable-type printing arrived in Europe only in the mid-15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg built his press in Mainz. In the early Middle Ages (5th–10th centuries), books were produced by hand in monastic scriptoria on parchment or vellum, with scribes copying texts and artists illuminating pages.

East Asia pioneered printing earlier—woodblock printing in Tang China and movable type by Bi Sheng in the 11th century—but these methods did not reach or reshape early medieval Europe. Only after Gutenberg did presses spread quickly, slashing book costs and fueling literacy, universities, religious reform, and scientific exchange.