Question

What effects might the way books were produced in the Middle Ages have had on Europeans and Europe? How Might this have affected the number of books available, the cost of those books and the number of people who could read them?

Answer 1

During the Middle Ages, books were extremely elaborate in Europe. While other civilizations had used easily accessible materials and formats to create their scrolls, books or tablets, Europeans during the Middle Ages spent a great deal of time and money making books. These were bound in leather, decorated with elaborate drawings, and copied by hand in elaborate scripts.

This had a very important effect on European society. It meant that books were not available for the vast majority of the population. It also meant that books were difficult to find and very expensive to acquire. Finally, it also meant that only a very small group of people could read, and these were usually wealthy men and monks.