The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 2 (of 2)Putnam, George Haven
History
The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 2 (of 2)
Putnam, George Haven
Freedom of the press; Liberty of conscience; Prohibited books
The chief difficulty in the application of any censorship regulation
within the Lutheran States was the existence of different schools of
belief, the controversies between which soon became active. The control
of the censorship machinery for any one State fell into the hands
first of one set of controversialists and then of another, according
to the activity of the respective leaders and to the influence brought
to bear upon the local ruler. In the Lutheran States, such as Saxony,
the prohibition against papistical writings was accompanied by an
equally sweeping condemnation of the writings of the Calvinists;
while the Calvinistic authorities of States like Brandenburg were
prompt on their side to take similar measures for the protection
of their own special tenets. This continued conflict between the
several groups of reformers had the necessary effect of bringing into
disrepute and ineffectiveness the larger portion of the attempts at
censorship control. Some attempts were made towards a more tolerant
and a more practicable policy. Zwingli, for instance, insisted that
his fellow-believers in Essling should follow the Christian example of
the church in Zürich, which refused to interfere with the sale even of
Anabaptist writings; but in Zürich itself this tolerant spirit was not
long permitted to control.
The Elector of Saxony[75] prohibited, under a penalty of three thousand
gulden, the printing of the _Corpus Doctrinae_ of Melanchthon,
and Frederick II of Denmark prohibited preachers and instructors,
under penalty of the loss of their positions and (for persistency
in misdoing) of further punishments, the use of the formula of the
_Concordia_. Again, in 1574, the Elector of Saxony compelled the
members of the University of Wittenberg to subscribe to an oath that
they would neither purchase nor read the writings of the Sacramentists
or of the Vermigli.
In 1439, Nicholas Wohlrab, who had, under the instructions of Duke
George of Saxony and the Magistracy of Leipsic, brought into print the
_Postille_ of Wicels, was put into prison by Duke Henry, acting
at the instance of the Elector John Frederick. Before he could secure
his release, Wohlrab was obliged to take oath to bring no further
works into print or into sale until these had received the censorship
and the approval of the magistrates. The three other book-dealers of
Leipsic were forbidden to print or to sell any books that had not
secured approval of the censor appointed by the magistrates, and two
deputy magistrates were detached to make a weekly inspection of
the printing-offices and assure themselves that nothing was printed
antagonistic to the teachings of the Gospel.[76]
There were from time to time schemes for a Protestant Index. In 1579,
Duke Julius of Brunswick brought out a scheme for charging a general
synod with the duty of compiling an Index of heretical books and of
instituting measures for the censorship of the press; but the plan was
not put into execution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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