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The printing press, developed in the mid-fifteenth century, introduced movable metal type that could be rearranged and reused for different texts, a marked departure from the carved wooden blocks used in earlier printing methods. Because a single set of type could produce many identical copies of a text far faster than manual copying by scribes, the cost per book dropped dramatically within a few decades, making texts accessible to a far broader readership than the aristocracy and clergy who had previously dominated literate society. This shift is often credited with accelerating the spread of new scientific and religious ideas across Europe, since arguments could circulate in weeks rather than the years required for hand-copied manuscripts to travel. Some historians argue the press's standardizing effect on spelling and grammar mattered as much as its speed.