The censorship of the Press, as far at least as Germany and the Low Countries were concerned, began with the time of Luther. Before the burning of the Papal Bull at Wittenberg, the Press had enjoyed the same measure of freedom as that accorded to other industries. On the 25th of May, 1521, an imperial edict of Charles V. ordered that, thereafter, all books must, before being printed, secure the approval of censors appointed for the purpose under imperial authority. The first censors so appointed were ecclesiastics, and the censorship appeared to have reference only to matters of theological heresy. In the same year, 1521, the Diet of Worms placed under condemnation the writings of Luther. All existing copies of these writings were ordered destroyed, and those convicted of printing, selling, or reading the same were adjudged guilty of treason (_lèse-majesté_). In 1529, a further imperial edict forbade the printing of all books containing the new heresies, and forbade also the printing (unless with the special sanction of the Church) of any portion of the Scriptures. The penalty for printing any book without the authorisation of the Government was fixed at five florins gold. Two years later, a supplementary edict added to this fine the punishment of public exposure and of branding with a hot iron, or of having an eye put out or the hand chopped off, as the judge might decide. In 1550, an imperial ordinance punished with death those who printed or published the books condemned in 1529, and the fine for printing other books without authorisation was raised to twenty florins gold. No one could become a printer without an imperial license. Booksellers could open their packages only in the presence of the censors. They were obliged to post in their shops the lists of books condemned, and also the lists of the books kept in sale. The penalty for failure to do this was fixed at one hundred florins. Under the direction of King Philip II., the Inquisition took into its own hands, in all the countries of his dominions, the supervision and censorship of the Press. In 1895, Mr. A. M. Huntington, of New York, printed, at the De Vinne Press, reproductions in facsimile of five of the _Indexes_ issued during this period under the authority of Charles V., of Philip II., and of the Spanish Inquisition. The following brief summary will give an impression of the purpose and character of the group of _Indexes_, a group which can, I judge, be considered as fairly characteristic of the whole series. I. THE LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1546. “Mandamêt der Keyserliicker Maiesteit vuytghegene int laer Xlvi. Met Dintitulatie ende declaratie vande geroprobeerde boecken, gheschiet beiden, Doctoren inde Faculteyt van Theologie in D’universiteyt van Loeuen, Duer dordonnantie ende beuel der seluer K. M.”