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Index of Prohibited
Books

Since ancient times, churches and governments have attempted to ban books that they considered dangerous. During the Protestant Reformation* the Roman Catholic Church took a special interest in stopping the sale, printing, and reading of books that promoted Protestant ideas. Church officials such as popes and archbishops created lists of forbidden books. Some Catholic rulers, such as the Holy Roman Emperor* CHARLES V, also outlawed Protestant texts.

In 1544 professors of religion at the University of Paris issued the first Index of Prohibited Books to appear in print. This list contained 230 titles in Latin and French. Over the next 12 years, the number of banned works grew to 528. Most of these were works by Protestant authors or by humanists* such as the Dutch scholar Desiderius ERASMUS and the French writer François RABELAIS.

The Spanish Inquisition* published its own catalog of banned books in 1551. This list focused on religious texts. However, in response to pleas from scholars, printers, and booksellers, Spanish authorities allowed some of the forbidden books to appear in print with their offending passages removed. The papacy* issued lists of prohibited books as well. Pope Paul IV (ruled 1555–1559) became the first pope to create such a list, banning more than 1,000 works—including 45 editions of the BIBLE.

Throughout the 1500s, the different Indexes of Prohibited Books condemned works by about 2,000 authors. Three-fourths of these authors had all their works banned. It is not clear, however, how effective these restrictions actually were at stopping the spread of Protestant ideas. The Index of Prohibited Books was finally abolished in 1966.

(See also Books and Manuscripts; Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation; Censorship; Ideas, Spread of; Inquisition; Protestant Reformation.)

* Protestant Reformation

religious movement that began in the 1500s as a protest against certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually led to the establishment of a variety of Protestant churches

* Holy Roman Emperor

ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, a political body in central Europe composed of several states that existed until 1806

* humanist

Renaissance expert in the humanities (the languages, literature, history, and speech and writing techniques of ancient Greece and Rome)

* Spanish Inquisition

court established by the Spanish monarchs that investigated Christians accused of straying from the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly during the period 1480–1530

* papacy

office and authority of the pope