Edinburgh Napier University

  During the latter half of the fifteenth century, the city of Deventer occupied a singular position within the northern Low Countries. As a thriving riverside centre of commercial, ecclesiastical, and scholarly endeavour, it attracted merchants, missionaries, and various other visitors from across the region and further afield. Due to its prominence, Deventer likewise came to play host to a thriving local print culture, whose earliest practitioners became responsible for a s much as 25 per cent of the Low Countries' entire output during the final quarter of the century.
Prior research on printing in Deventer - whilst often briefly discussed within broader city histories - has traditionally been limited to the specific types and outputs of its early local printers, thereby lacking overarching investigation into the wider politico-economic factors underpinning their success. By assessing, in turn, the political, economic, and cultural factors that facilitated Deventer’s development as a prominent centre of early printing, this chapter endeavours to address this particular lacuna, highlighting how the city was able to optimally exploit its geopolitically liminal - albeit culturally significant - position during these critical decades.