What was the main reason books became more common throughout Europe after the invention of the printing press?

They could be produced much more quickly and at a lower cost.

Kings passed laws requiring every citizen to own at least one book.

A new style of colorful, hand-drawn illustration became popular.

The Pope encouraged monks to double their speed of copying by hand.

Before the printing press was invented, books were rare and usually only owned by the wealthy because...

it was illegal for common people to buy them.

they were copied by hand, a slow and costly process.

paper had not yet been invented anywhere in the world.

most books were written in languages that were no longer spoken.

The cost of paper increased significantly.

An increase in literacy rates occurred.

People stopped communicating through speech.

Governments banned the creation of new libraries.

It was the first time governments printed official laws for citizens.

It marked a major shift in how knowledge was created and distributed.

It led to a series of wars over who could own and operate a printing press.

It caused the price of books to become higher than ever before in history.

new ideas and scientific knowledge could spread faster than ever before.

only the church was permitted to own and operate the new printing machines.

the traditional skill of hand-copying manuscripts was completely lost forever.

book prices remained extremely high and unaffordable for most ordinary people.