Around this time Europe was recovering from the devastating impact of the Black Death. This disease had killed a large portion of the population and had led to the decline in the power of the church, the rise of the money economy, and the birth of the Renaissance.
On the back of this, the printing press was 'in the right place at the right time' to help in the secularisation of Western culture. "Secularisation" means that government and daily life is not related to religion or the Church. Of course, many early texts were of a religious nature but more and more were beginning to be more secular in nature.