古騰堡印刷術對歐洲宗教改革的影響（movable-type printing and the Reformation）

 古騰堡印刷術對歐洲宗教改革的影響（movable-type printing and the Reformation）

● 字源

「Reformation」由拉丁文 re-（再、重新）與 formare（塑形、成形）組合而成，字面意思是「重新塑形」。十六世紀起專指以路德（Martin Luther）為起點、使西方基督教分裂出新教的運動，首字母大寫時特指此事件。

● 例句

Such was the speed with which Gutenberg's movable-type press, which he perfected at Mainz around 1450 and which could produce in days what a scribe needed months to copy, spread across the cities of Europe that Luther's Ninety-five Theses of 1517, whose German versions circulated within weeks, reached readers, as contemporaries noted with alarm, faster than any bishop could answer, and a theological quarrel, which earlier centuries would have confined to a university hall, became a mass movement that no prince, however determined, could contain.

（約 85 字）

● 排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

Such was the speed

with which Gutenberg's movable-type press,

which he perfected at Mainz around 1450

and which could produce in days

what a scribe needed months to copy,

spread across the cities of Europe

that Luther's Ninety-five Theses of 1517,

whose German versions circulated within weeks,

reached readers,

as contemporaries noted with alarm,

faster than any bishop could answer,

and a theological quarrel,

which earlier centuries would have confined to a university hall,

became a mass movement

that no prince,

however determined,

could contain.

● 分解為原初的短小句

The speed was such that the other events followed.（Such was the speed 為補語倒裝，原序為 The speed ... was such that ...。）

Gutenberg's movable-type press spread across the cities of Europe at that speed.（with which 引導之關係子句，with which = at which speed。）

Gutenberg perfected the press at Mainz around 1450.（第一個 which 引導之非限定子句。）

The press could produce in days what a scribe needed months to copy.（第二個 which，與前一個並列。）

A scribe needed months to copy something.（what 引導之名詞子句，what 在子句中作 copy 之受詞。）

Luther's Ninety-five Theses of 1517 reached readers faster than any bishop could answer.（that 引導之結果子句，與 such 呼應。）

German versions of the Theses circulated within weeks.（whose 引導之插入子句。）

Contemporaries noted this with alarm.（as 引導之插入子句，as 代替「論題傳播比主教回應更快」整件事。）

A theological quarrel became a mass movement.（and 連接之第二個結果子句。）

Earlier centuries would have confined the quarrel to a university hall.（which 引導之非限定性關係子句，含虛擬語氣。）

No prince could contain the movement, however determined he was.（that 引導之限定性關係子句，however determined 為讓步插入語。）

● 文法解析

Such was the speed with which ... that ... 補語倒裝（such 置於句首）：

原句為 The speed with which the press spread was such that ...。把補語 such 提前，主詞 the speed 就被推到動詞 was 之後，而且主詞本身又帶了一個很長的 with which 子句，其內部動詞 spread 到很後面才出現。全句等到 that 之後才揭曉「速度快到什麼程度」。讀者容易把 Such 當成一般形容詞，須先辨認這是 such ... that 結果結構的倒裝。

兩個 which 並列插入（which he perfected ... and which could produce ...）：

兩個非限定關係子句共同修飾 press，夾在主詞 press 與動詞 spread 之間，約 21 字。第二個 which 的動詞 could produce 離先行詞較遠，須回頭確認主詞。

what 名詞子句（produce in days what a scribe needed months to copy）：

what = the thing which，在子句中作 copy 之受詞，整個子句又作 produce 之受詞。needed months to copy 為 need + 時間 + to 不定詞，表示「花了幾個月才抄完」。in days 與 months 形成對比，突顯效率差距。

that 結果子句內的 whose 與 as 雙重插入：

that 子句的主詞 Theses 與動詞 reached 之間被 whose 子句截斷，reached readers 之後又插入 as contemporaries noted with alarm，最後才接 faster than 比較結構。as 在此為準關係代名詞，代替整個「Theses 傳播得比主教回應更快」。

and 並列的第二個結果子句與假設語氣（which earlier centuries would have confined）：

and 之後的 a theological quarrel 是第二個主詞，同樣屬於 that 結果子句。which 子句中 earlier centuries would have confined 用 would have + 過去分詞，表示與過去事實相反：若換作以前的世紀，爭論就會被限制在大學講堂內。這裡的條件由 earlier centuries 這個主詞隱含，沒有出現 if。

that no prince, however determined, could contain：

that 為關係代名詞，在子句中作 contain 之受詞，先行詞為 movement。no prince 為否定主詞，however determined 為 however determined he was 之省略，屬讓步插入語，位於主詞與動詞之間。

● 參考譯文

古騰堡約於一四五〇年在美因茨改良的活字印刷機（它幾天內就能印出抄寫員需數月才抄完的份量），在歐洲各城市傳播的速度之快，竟使一五一七年路德的《九十五條論綱》（其德文版在數週內流傳開來）抵達讀者手中的速度，如當時人所驚覺，比任何主教的回應都快，而這場原本在更早的世紀只會被限制在大學講堂內的神學爭論，也就演變成一場任何君主，無論多麼堅決，都無法遏止的群眾運動。

● 補充說明

句型亮點與文法變化：

Such was ... that 補語倒裝： 前幾篇已用過 No sooner、Seldom、Little、Only after、Not only、Not until、Hardly、Were it not for 等倒裝，本篇改用 such 補語倒裝，主詞被推到動詞之後，且主詞本身再帶長關係子句。

不使用分號： 全句僅以 which、whose、what、that、as、however 與 and 推進，單一主幹貫穿到底。

雙結果子句： 兩個並列的結果（Theses 傳播之快、爭論升級為群眾運動）共用同一個 that，展現「技術 → 傳播 → 運動」的因果鏈。

多重插入： press 與 spread 之間、Theses 與 reached 之間、reached readers 之後、no prince 與 could contain 之間，皆有插入成分。

更多可替換或延伸的史實例子：

一四五〇年代的《古騰堡聖經》（Gutenberg Bible）是歐洲最早以活字印刷的大型書籍之一。

路德將《新約聖經》譯成德文（一五二二年），促進了德語書面語的統一，是印刷術與母語（vernacular）結合的代表例子。

宗教改革初期的小冊子（pamphlets）與木刻版畫插圖，使不識字者也能接觸新教宣傳，可作為「印刷品跨越識字門檻」的補充。

天主教會一五五九年公布《禁書目錄》（Index Librorum Prohibitorum），可作為「當局試圖控制印刷品」的對照。

核心學術字彙與文法重點總結：

關鍵字詞： Movable type（活字）、Reformation（宗教改革）、Scribe（抄寫員）、Pamphlet（小冊子）、Vernacular（母語、白話）、Circulate（流傳）、Contemporary（同時代的人）、Confine（限制）、Contain（遏止）。

文法重點： Such was ... that 補語倒裝、並列 which 子句、what 名詞子句、whose 插入、as 準關係代名詞、虛擬語氣 would have + 過去分詞、however + 形容詞讓步插入。

一點小提醒： 《九十五條論綱》原以拉丁文寫成，主要是對學界提出的辯論命題，德文版是後來他人翻譯並印行的，流傳速度的確極快，但「數週」是概略說法，各史家描述不一。印刷術是宗教改革得以迅速擴散的重要助力，但並非唯一原因，政治與社會條件同樣關鍵，例句為求簡潔省略這個區別。例句實際約 85 個英文單字（含數字）。參考譯文為求順暢，已調整部分分句順序。