Summary of Andrew Pettegree's The Invention of News

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor between 1493 and 1519, was not the most astute of rulers. He spent a lot of money on projects that never really went anywhere, like an imperial postal service. But he did have imagination, and he harnessed the power of the printing press more effectively than any other ruler.

#2 The Roman postal service was an achievement of breathtaking imagination and administrative ambition. The service was not generally open to the public, but it was used to transport a large amount of military freight along the roads.

#3 The wooden tablets found in the Vindolanda excavation have transformed what is known of the writing culture of the northern Empire. Britain was as far away as it was possible to be from the production centers of papyrus, which was the most common writing material in Roman times.

#4 The Romans were very good at exercising power, and the postal service was a reflection of that. The Romans understood that control of information was essential to the government of widely dispersed and thinly garrisoned possessions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Aug 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350015836

IRB Media

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Insights on Andrew Pettegree's The Invention of News

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor between 1493 and 1519, was not the most astute of rulers. He spent a lot of money on projects that never really went anywhere, like an imperial postal service. But he did have imagination, and he harnessed the power of the printing press more effectively than any other ruler.

#2

The Roman postal service was an achievement of breathtaking imagination and administrative ambition. The service was not generally open to the public, but it was used to transport a large amount of military freight along the roads.

#3

The wooden tablets found in the Vindolanda excavation have transformed what is known of the writing culture of the northern Empire. Britain was as far away as it was possible to be from the production centers of papyrus, which was the most common writing material in Roman times.

#4

The Romans were very good at exercising power, and the postal service was a reflection of that. The Romans understood that control of information was essential to the government of widely dispersed and thinly garrisoned possessions.

#5

The Church was one of the great estates of medieval Europe. Its institutions had played a crucial role in the preservation of learning after the collapse of the Roman Empire. As the Church consolidated its reach across the whole of western Europe, it would also be in the forefront in the transition from a culture where inherited wisdom was preserved by memory to one of written record.

#6

Bernard was a monk who lived during the 12th century. He was extremely well informed, but there was still a large element of chance in the individuals who passed by and the news they brought him.

#7

The medieval chroniclers were the first historians of western Christendom. They were religious priests who were often secular laymen, and they had close access to the centers of power in the royal courts. They recorded events that reflected the unfolding of God’s purpose, but they also recorded events that were credible and recognized as such.

#8

The medieval chroniclers were able to look back and draw the appropriate morals from events, as they were able to reflect on them with hindsight. They were able to link past, present, and future events in one organic whole.

#9

Medieval travel was never undertaken without purpose. The hardships and dangers of the road were well known, and there were few with the resources or leisure to undertake journeys not directly connected to their occupational needs.

#10

The medieval period was a difficult time for the reception of news. News had to compete with marvels, horrors, and deeds of valour in the travelogues and romantic epics of the time.

#11

The popularity of pilgrimage was beginning to attract criticism from more austere religious figures, who feared pilgrims like these might be a distraction for the more pious and aesthetic.

#12

The Roman Catholic Church was the first place where many states established their own representatives. The birth of diplomacy, a natural generator of news, gossip and intrigue, was partly accidental. The journey to Rome was long and papal business slow. But while travellers recuperated and waited patiently to conduct business, they became the first ambassadors.

#13

The papacy was similar to a royal court in the way it used a variety of mechanisms to receive and despatch news. The need to save money often led to delays, though, and efficiency and economy were in constant tension.

#14

The university postal service was developed by the students, who were a part of Europe’s clerical class. They were dedicated to training