TY  - BOOK
AU  - Eva Schaten
PY  - 2025
CY  - Berlin, Germany
PB  - Peter Lang Verlag
SN  - 9783631924877
TI  - Supervision of Books in a Manuscript Culture: Theory and Practice of Censorship in Late Medieval England
DO  - 10.3726/b22221
UR  - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1483778
N2  - Did censorship exist before the invention of the printing press and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum? This study examines the attempted suppression of written religious and political dissent in pre-Reformation England, with a focus on legal aspects and historical context. A wide range of instruments was in use to discourage the circulation of unwelcome books. They ranged from drastic measures such as executions and public book burnings to more subtle approaches like erasures and reader warnings. Wycliffite writings were the most obvious target, but civil censorship developed at the same time. Even books of magic make a rare appearance in the records. An interesting aspect is the paradox of censorship: The very act of suppression generated publicity, and many heterodox doctrines are only known from their own condemnation.
KW  - Late medieval urban communication, Bill-posting, Lancastrian kings, History of Law, Lollard movement, John Wycliffe, political propaganda, books of magic, book burning, book censorship, manuscript culture, sedition and treason, heretical movements, heterodoxy, erasure and expurgation
LA  - English
ER  -