S1 EP2 - Great Leap Years - A Faustian Pact Podcast By cover art

S1 EP2 - Great Leap Years - A Faustian Pact

S1 EP2 - Great Leap Years - A Faustian Pact

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A medieval tech start-up led by serial entrepreneur Johannes Gutenberg and his invention that unleashed a societal revolution.


As Europe recovered from the scourge of the Black Death, a young man from a family that had made its name in metalwork, specifically in gold and silver smithing pondered a new invention, It would combine his knowledge of working hot and molten metals with other technologies that had yet fully to coalesce in his mind. He believed that if he got it all right it would make him a staggering amount of money.


Researched, written & read by Stephen Fry. Music composed and conducted by Guy Farley with The Chamber Orchestra of London.

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Alex Christie spent years in Mainz, Germany, after discovering a book in an antique bookstore in New York. The genius of her research produced a more significant truth about who and how the printing press was invented. Her book, Gutenburg’s Apprentice took painstaking years of digging only to find the genius behind the genius, Peter Schoeffer the adopted son of Johannes Fust, not yet Faust, as that name was given as an honor after the famous author Faust many years later. Johannes Fust was a wealthy merchant who had loaned the money to Guttenburg, which can be found in documents today.
Peter Schoeffer, who was sadly only mentioned twice, was the inventor behind the inventor who often in history is forgotten. Yes, Gutenberg had the original idea, but Schoeffer breathed it to life along with a handful of men who worked underground and in secret for years.
Why do I know or care about any of this? Johannes Fust and Peter Schoeffer are my 16th and 17th great-grandfathers. In my research, every story had conflicted views and outcomes until one day, in a bookstore, something caught my eye. A red book, Gutenburgs Apprentice gave a clear and concise understanding of what went on in the making of the press.
I reached out to Cristie after reading the book and asked her about the research she had taken on. Her reply was the only one fictional part of the story was the girlfriend of Peter Schoeffer, Anne.
I highly recommend reading her book.

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