Coresi's Forbidden Codex — Brasov Old Town

Before the 16th century, the Romanian language was primarily oral, and the few written texts mainly used Church Slavonic. The advent of the Protestant Reformation in Central Europe, with its emphasis on vernacular worship, created an urgent need for books in Romanian. It was in this context that Deacon Coresi, originally from Târgoviște but settled in Brașov, embraced the cause of printing. Supported by the Saxon magistrate of Brașov, he established his press within the walls of the First Romanian School, in the Șchei district, the heart of the city's Romanian community.

Between 1559 and 1583, Coresi and his workshop produced dozens of books, mainly religious texts (gospels, psalters, prayer books), but also chronicles and law codes, all printed in Slavonic and Romanian, often in Cyrillic characters. His monumental work laid the foundations of the Romanian literary language and played a crucial role in consolidating Romanian cultural and national identity, by making reading accessible to a much wider audience. He did not merely translate but adapted and disseminated ideas that transformed the spiritual and intellectual life of his people.