Europe during the 15th and 16th century - 3

rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like marshes), ball bearings, the worm gear, which was a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once, reducing the strain on the teeth, allowing more pressure to be put on the mechanism.

Another major invention was the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg (the late 1300's-1468. He was a German craftsman, inventor, and printer. He invented the first printing press with movable type in 1450. This invention revolutionized printing by making it simpler and much more affordable. Gutenberg produced dies and molds that easily allowed him to produce individual pieces of metal type that could be made, assembled, and later reused. Gutenberg's new presses could print a page every three minutes.

This made printed material available to the masses for the first time in history. The Roman Catholic church was the first to truly take advantage of mass media. Ferdinand and Isabella, acting with papal approval, established the Spanish Inquisition in 1480. Its task was to combat religious heresy and root out Jews and Muslims. among the "New Christians." Jews were similarly driven out of many other European lands during that century. In 1492 Jews were

expelled from Sicily and Sardinia, in 1496 from Portugal, in 1541 from Naples, and in 1596 Pope Pius V expelled the Jews from the Papal territories. From the kingdom of France the Jews were expelled in 1306, and again in 1322 and 1394. Jews were banished from Warsaw in 1483.

The Edict of Expulsion issued by Ferdinand and Isabella ordered all Jews to quit Spain by the last day of July 1492. They thereby unleashed the Inquisition. This act of misplaced religious zeal destroyed what has been a society marked by remarkable religious tolerance and co-existence. They were particularly onerous on the Jews, who were forced to emigrate to lands throughout Europe and North Africa; others converted outwardly but practiced their religion in secret; these "marranos" were hunted down by the Inquisition.

Queen Isabella of Spain rejected Christopher Columbus's plan to reach the Indies by sailing west three times before changing her mind. His conditions (the position of Admiral; governorship for him and his descendants of lands to be discovered; and ten percent of the profits) were met. On August 3, his expedition departed. He returned the next year and presented his findings to the monarchs, bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome. Spain entered a Golden Age of exploration and colonization. In 1494, by the Treaty of Tordesillas, Isabella and Ferdinand divided the Earth, outside of Europe, with king John II of Portugal.