Editing Johannes Gutenberg (section)

===Education===
No documents survive concerning Gutenberg's childhood or youth.{{sfn|Wagner|2000|p=60}} The biographer {{ill|Albert Kapr|de}} remarked that "most books on Gutenberg pass over this period with the remark that not a single fact is known".{{sfn|Kapr|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/johanngutenbergm0000kapr/page/36/mode/2up 36]}} As the son of a patrician, education in reading and arithmetic would have been expected.{{sfn|Kapr|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/johanngutenbergm0000kapr/page/37/mode/2up 37]}} A knowledge of [[Latin]]—a prerequisite for universities—is also probable, though it is unknown whether he attended a Mainz parish school, was educated in [[Eltville]] or had a private tutor.{{sfn|Wagner|2000|pp=60–61}} Gutenberg may have initially pursued a religious career, as was common with the youngest sons of patricians, since the proximity of many churches and monasteries made it a safe prospect.{{sfn|Kapr|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/johanngutenbergm0000kapr/page/37/mode/2up 37]}} It has been speculated that he attended the {{ill|Stift St. Viktor vor Mainz|de|lt=St. Victor's}} south of Mainz (near {{ill|Mainz-Weisenau|de|lt=Weisenau}}), as he would later join their brotherhood.{{sfn|Füssel|2019|p=11}} It was the site of a well-regarded school and his family had connections there, though his actual attendance remains speculative.{{sfn|Wagner|2000|p=61}}

He is assumed to have studied at the [[University of Erfurt]], where there is a record of the enrollment of a student called Johannes de Altavilla in 1418—Altavilla is the Latin form of Eltville am Rhein.{{sfn|Wagner|2000|pp=61–62}}

Nothing is now known of Gutenberg's life for the next fifteen years, but in March 1434, a letter by him indicates that he was living in Strasbourg, where he had some relatives on his mother's side. He also appears to have been a goldsmith member enrolled in the Strasbourg [[militia]]. In 1437, there is evidence that he was instructing a wealthy tradesman on polishing gems, but where he had acquired this knowledge is unknown. In 1436/37 his name also comes up in court in connection with a broken promise of marriage to a woman from Strasbourg, Ennelin.<ref name=museum>{{cite web|title=Gutenberg und seine Zeit in Daten (Gutenberg and his times; Timeline)|url=http://www.mainz.de/gutenberg/zeitgutb.htm|publisher=[[Gutenberg Museum]]|access-date=24 November 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222075141/http://www.mainz.de/gutenberg/zeitgutb.htm|archive-date=22 December 2006}}</ref> Whether the marriage actually took place is not recorded. Following his father's death in 1419, he is mentioned in the inheritance proceedings.