THE FIRST SERIES OF INDEXES, 1510–1559
1. Louvain, 1510 (doubtful). 2. Paris, 1544. 3. Venice, 1543.
4. Louvain, 1546. 5. Louvain, 1550. 6. Lucca, 1545. 7. Venice,
1549. 8. Florence, 1552. 9. Valentia, 1551. 10. Valladolid,
1554. 11. Venice, 1554. 12. Louvain, 1558. 13. Valladolid, 1559.
14. Rome, 1559.
_1._ _1510._ _Louvain._ Panzer makes reference[111] to a catalogue of
prohibited books printed in Louvain in the year 1510. The title cited
is, _Die Catalogen oft Inventaryen van den Quaden Verboden Bouken;
na advis dar Universiteyt van Louen. Met een Edict oft Mandement der
Keyserlycker Majesteyt. Te Louen, deprint bej Servaer van Sassen.
MCCCCCX._ This catalogue, no copy of which is at this time known to be
in existence, is also referred to by Gesner. The heresies which at that
time were to be controlled had not as yet been very clearly classified.
Martin Luther, in a letter written February 8, 1516, says: _Nec cessant
universitates bonos libros cremare et damnare, rursum malos dictare,
immo somniare_.[112]
_2._ _1544._ _Paris._ The first schedule of prohibited books printed
under the name of an Index was, as far as is at present known, that
issued by the University of Paris, in 1544. The faculty of the Sorbonne
had been instructed, under an order of the Parliament of July, 1542,
to prepare a list of the books that the college had thus far condemned.
No copy of the original list has been preserved, but a supplementary
list is in existence, bringing the record down to 1543. This supplement
contains sixty-five titles, printed without any order or arrangement,
and presenting the names of the leading German and French Reformers.
There is also a list of anonymous French works. In 1544, the college
printed an alphabeted list with about 170 titles. This was reprinted,
with additions, in 1547, in 1551, and in 1556. This is the last Index
published by the Sorbonne.[113]
_3._ _1543._ _Venice._ _Index Generalis Scriptorum Interdictorum._ This
Index is cited by Reimann in his _Catalogus Bibliothecae Theologicae_.
The entry of title is connected with the following specification:
_Atque ab hoc tempore conquievit haec libros excommunicandi ratio usque
ad A. D. 1543, quo primus Scriptorum interdictorum Index Generalis
prodiit Venetiis, quem plures postea secuti sunt_. The previous
reference had been to the decree of Gelasius of 493. Mendham is
inclined to doubt the existence of this Venetian Index, and it is not
cited by Reusch.
_4._ _1546._ _Louvain._ Compiled by the theological faculty of the
University of Louvain, under the instructions of the Emperor (Charles
V) and under the authority of the Bull issued April 13, 1536 (_Bulla
Coenae Domini_) by Paul III. Title-pages in Flemish. Lists of books in
Latin repeated in Dutch. An edition was also printed in which the lists
are given in Flemish.[114]
Title-pages (in part):
_Copie uten mandamente_ | _aengaende den statuten._ | _Onlãex gemaect_
| _Eerst op die leengoeden Erfgoeden._ | _Chijsen Eygen goeden Kenten
oft an_ | _der onberoerlicke goeden_ | _ghelegen_ | _inden lande van
Brabant_ | _Lemborch_ | _Vlaenderẽ Hollant Zeelant eñ Ouer_ | _mase.
Le Datmen dve selue voortaen_ | _niet en sal moghen ver coopen_ |
_opdraghen transporteren_ | _verthieren_ | _of per_ | _mitteren_ |
_eenighen gheestelijken per_ | _soonen oft godshuysen Ende onlancx _|
_ghepubliceert inder stadt van Ant_ | _werpen_ | _ende in anderen_ |
_hooftsteden van Brabant._ | ¶_Men vinste te Coope Thantwer-_ | _pen In
onser lieuer Vrouwen_ | _Pant Bi my Claes de_ | _Graue._ |
_Ordinancien en Statuten_ | _dye-de Keyserlijke Maiesteyt in zijnder
teghe-_ | _woordicheyt op den. vij. dach Octobris Int iaer MCCCCCXXXI._
_Gheprint te Loeuen by Seruaes Sassenus_ | _ghe_ | _sworen printer._ |
_Met Gracie ende Preuilegie der Keyserlijcker Maiesteyt._ |
_The authority of the Index was emphasised by an imperial mandate,
printed in Flemish, Spanish, and French, and ordered to be connected
with the catalogue. _Mandement de l’Impériale Majesté donné et publié
en l’an MDXLVI Avecq Catalogue. Intitulation ou déclaration des livres
reprouvés, faiete par Messieurs les Docteurs en Sacrée Théologie de
l’université de Louvain, a l’ordonnance et commandement de la susdicte
Maiesté Impériale. Imprimé à Louvain par Servais de Sassia. MDXLVI cum
gratia et privilegio._
This Index of Louvain is distinctive in being the first of the long
series of catalogues of books and of authors condemned as heretical
which were issued with the sanction of the Church. It antedates by
thirteen years the first of the Indexes produced in Rome, under the
immediate supervision of the pope, and may possibly be considered
as an example of the special zeal against heresy on the part of
the ecclesiastical authorities of the Spanish realm and of the
effectiveness of the Spanish Inquisition. As the later records give
evidence, it was only in the territory in which the authority of the
Inquisition remained unquestioned and by means of its machinery that
it proved practicable to carry out with any thoroughness the policy
of the Church in regard to the ecclesiastical control of literary
productions. The faith of the believing subjects of the Emperor Charles
was threatened most seriously by heretical writings coming from
Holland and from Germany, and it was therefore quite fitting that the
first official protest of the Church should be made from a place like
Louvain, the university of which stood like a picket-post of orthodoxy
confronting the perilous heresies advancing from the North and from
the East. The name of the Inquisition is not directly connected with
this first Index of Louvain, but it appears on that printed at the
same place four years later, which is in substance a reissue of the
catalogue of 1546, and it is probably the case that the command of the
Emperor for the preparation of the earlier publication may be credited
to the Senate of the Inquisition.
The _Mandement_ makes reference to _Ordonnances_ for the restraint
of the press, issued in 1540 and 1544. It complains of the continued
publication of heretical books, and particularly of corrupt editions
of the Scriptures; and it accordingly subjects booksellers to new
restrictions, under penalty of death if they sell any books containing
error, without the previous inspection and mark of the appointed
inspectors. No books could be printed except by a duly certified
printer who was a member of the guild. The Index itself comprises, 1,
a list of Bibles and New Testaments in Latin, low German, and French
editions; 2, a list of works in Latin, chiefly the writings of the
German Reformers (these titles are repeated in Flemish); 3, a list of
heretical works in German and French; and, 4, a list of books which had
been condemned in the rescript of 1540.
The introduction by the theological faculty states that the Emperor has
charged the faculty with the duty of examining all the libraries and
bookshops, and of taking out from these the books classed as heretical,
together with those which bordered upon heresy, and also all writings
which might prove dangerous for the unlearned. A separate class was
to be made of the books which, while not condemned as heretical, were
not to be left available for the use of the general public or of young
people. The writers of the introduction admit that their lists might
be more comprehensive. They point out, however, that the compilers had
undertaken to condemn only those books which they had themselves had an
opportunity of examining. They add a remark, which might to advantage
have received further consideration on the part of the producers of
later Indexes, to the effect that it was wiser to ignore books of a
certain character rather than, in calling attention to them, to incite
curiosity and risk bringing them into influence. The writers point out
that the devout reader is in a position to judge, through the titles
presented, as to the class of literature that he is instructed to avoid.
The list of titles is arranged alphabetically, but the arrangement
confuses together the surnames and the forenames of the authors and
the titles of the books. A list is given of authors all of whose
writings are prohibited. In certain instances, as with the names of
Bucer, Bullinger, and Brenz, certain titles are specified and are
followed by a general word to the effect that “as these authors are now
known as notorious heretics, all of their writings are prohibited.”
This first Index of the series makes a precedent, which was followed
but very seldom in the later Indexes, in adding a list of works the use
of which was commended and which were permitted for the schools.
_5._ _1550._ _Louvain._ Index, prohibitory and permissive. Compiled,
under the instructions of the emperor and by authority of the Senate of
the Inquisition, by the University of Louvain. Title-pages and text in
Flemish.
_1550._ _Louvain._ The same, with Latin text. S. Sassenus.
_Catalogi Librorum reprobatorum et praelegendorum ex judicio Academiae
Lovaniensis. Cum Edicto Caesareae Majestatis evulgati Jussu, Gratia et
Privilegio Caesaris Majestatis. Lovanii ex officina Servatii Sasseni._
_Les Catalogues des livres reprouvés, Et de ceux que l’on pourra
enseigner aux enfans es escholles particulières selon le jugement
de l’université de Louvain. Avec l’édict et mandement de la Maiesté
Impériale._
The list of books condemned is closed with the words: _solam fidem
sufficere ad salutem_. The condemned Bibles and New Testaments, in
editions printed in various languages, aggregate forty-eight titles.
The introduction, addressed to “Christian readers,” is written over
the signatures of the rector and the members of the general faculty of
the university. The writers point out that the lists of prohibited
books include not only such as are to be classed as heretical or
as very suspicious, but also others which, under the cover of
religious instruction, are likely to mislead the unlearned or to
convey erroneous views concerning the pope, the ceremonials of the
Church, confession, mass, and the saints. Of the chief heretics, all
the writings are prohibited, the names being in the main those that
appear in the catalogue of 1540. The list includes Brunfels, Brenz,
Bucer, Bullinger, Corvinus, Calvin, Petrus Martyr, Urbanus Regius, and
Musculus. The names of Luther and Melanchthon are not included. The
suggestion is made to students whose work would be hampered through
the want of certain scholarly treatises, important in themselves and
marred possibly only through a small proportion of heretical error,
and in the case of texts from the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Chaldean,
the annotations to which may contain error, that permission can be
secured, by properly accredited applicants, from commissioners to be
appointed for the purpose, for a restricted use of such volumes; or the
commissioners will, at their discretion, eliminate from the volumes the
heretical or dangerous portions, thus rendering them available for use
in the class-room.
This Louvain Index of 1550 was, in 1551, reprinted in Spain under the
direction of Valdes, Inquisitor-General. Its lists (in the Latin text)
were included in the Valdes Index of 1559, and in a number of other
of the Indexes produced in Spain. The Latin lists were also utilised
in the first of the Venetian Indexes and from this the titles were
transferred to the Roman Index of 1559. The work of the theologians of
Louvain was in fact accepted as the foundation or general model for
the whole series of Indexes which were produced prior to the Council of
Trent, and was indeed, through the Index of Paul IV, utilised by the
compilers of the Tridentine Index of 1564.
The Roman compilers, in including in their schedules the titles from
the Louvain volume, transferred to Class I (comprising authors of
acknowledged heresy, all of whose works were condemned) the names of a
number of writers of whose productions the Louvain doctors had found
but a few examples deserving of condemnation. These general heretics of
Class I belong, with but one or two exceptions, to Germany and the Low
Countries. From the heretical writers of France are selected Dolet and
Marot, and from Italy, Ochinus and Curio.
_6._ _1545._ _The Senate of Lucca._ The earliest catalogue issued in
Italy of books condemned as heretical, which is entitled to be classed
as an Index, was published in Lucca in 1545. This was seventy-one
years after the introduction of printing into Italy, and fourteen
years earlier than the first papal Index. The catalogue is published
under the authority not of the bishop but of the Senate or Council of
Magistrates, but the initiative probably came from the Inquisition. The
edict orders that all copies of the books specified in the lists are,
within fourteen days, to be delivered for burning, to the confessors or
to the vicar of the bishop, under penalty of confiscation of property.
_1549._ A supplementary edict of the Senate includes among the works
condemned all anonymous works treating of religion or the Scriptures
that have not secured the approval of the vicar. The catalogue, which
is printed in Latin, presents the names of twenty-eight writers all of
whose works are condemned, the list including Wyclif, Huss, Zwingli,
Oecolampadius, Melanchthon, Carlstadt, Hütten, Hessius, Bomelius, and
other less well-known names. Calvin does not appear. There are in
addition the titles of about one hundred other pernicious books. A
brief of Pius IV, issued in 1562, commends the Senate of Lucca for its
“pious and praiseworthy decree.”
Paul V takes a different position. Under an order issued by him in
1605 the Lucca decree is annulled on the ground that the repression
of heresy is a matter that belongs exclusively to the Church, and
concerning which laymen have no authority to take action. At the same
time, he orders the institution in Lucca of an Inquisition tribunal.
_7._ _1549._ _Venice._ _Il catalogo de’ Libri li quali nuovamente nel
mesi di maggio nell anno presente MDXLVIIII, sono stati condannati et
scommunicati per heretici, da Giovan della Casa, legato di Venetia et
d’Alcani frati. E aggiunto sopra il medesimo catalogo un judicis et
discorso del Vergerio, 1549._ (In dating this Index 1549 instead of
1548 as stated by Reusch, I take the authority of Mendham, who cites
the _catalogus Bibliothecae Banavianae_.) This Index is known by the
name of Casa. No copies of the original have been found, and the
references to it are based upon the reprint issued by Vergerio in 1550.
John della Casa was the Archbishop of Benvenuto, and papal Nuncio at
Venice. His Index was, according to Vergerio, prepared by the command
of Pope Paul III. It must in that case take rank as the first Index
issued under direct papal authority. The lists are preceded by the
statement that: “All works produced by the heretics and heresiarchs
whose names follow, which have to do with theology or kindred subjects,
are condemned and prohibited.” The names of authors include Luther,
Huss, Marsilius of Padua, and Nicholas Clemangis. The catalogue
presents 142 titles--of which twenty-five are those of books issued (in
Latin) anonymously. There is also a general prohibition of “Bibles and
New Testaments containing notes or comments opposed to the faith, and
of all works which within the preceding twenty-four years have been
printed without the name of the author and address of the printer.”
Vergerio is able to point out that this Index is a very clumsy
compilation which contains a full measure of errors and which compares
unfavourably with the catalogues recently issued in Louvain and in
Paris. In certain instances, the names of the authors or of their books
are so carelessly worded as to render identification difficult. The
titles of a number of the Latin books are given in Italian, and those
of some of the few Italian books in Latin. There does not appear to
be any arrangement of the titles, alphabetical or other. Of certain
authors, as, for instance, of Giusto Giona, all the writings are
condemned, and later are given for separate condemnation the titles
of selected books of the same author. Casa speaks of having secured
the assistance of some of the most learned of the Italian theologians,
but their work appears to have been most carelessly done, particularly
in view of the fact that they had available for use the comparatively
accurate lists of the Louvain Catalogue of 1546.
Vergerio wrote (in Italian) an analysis pointing out the ignorance, and
occasional impiety, of which this catalogue gave evidence. He speaks
of it as “the first monster of the kind which had appeared in Italy,”
a statement which ignores an edition said to have been printed in
Venice in 1543.[115] In 1552, the catalogue was reprinted in Florence
with some additional titles and with correction of certain of the
errors previously pointed out by Vergerio. Concerning this catalogue,
also, Vergerio printed a criticism as a result of which a third edition
with further revisions was published in 1554, in Milan. In the same
year, a fourth edition was issued in Venice, the many blunders in
which (Vergerio uses the terms “folly” and “madness” of the compilers)
provoked the commentator to a new exposure which was printed in Latin.
Vergerio points out the omission from the lists of obscene books and of
books of magic, etc. In the former class ought, as he claims, to have
been included a work by Casa himself, _Capitolo del Forno_.
This Index of Casa has importance, notwithstanding its slightness and
bad workmanship, as well because the responsibility for its production
rested with Paul III, as because its lists, imperfect as they were, are
in part reproduced, errors included, in the Index of Paul IV.
It would have been impossible to present any account of the work
of these earlier Italian Index-makers except for the scholarly and
critical labours of Vergerio, who charged himself with the duty of
recording and of characterising these first efforts of the Church to
supervise the literature of the time and to control the output of the
printing-presses.
Peter Paul Vergerio had been papal Nuncio to Germany in 1530, and
Bishop of Capo d’Istria in 1536. He became, in 1544, a convert to
Protestantism, and in 1553 was a preacher in Tübingen, where the
greater part of his later literary work was done. His collected works
were printed in Tübingen in 1563.
What is possibly the first recorded list of heresiarchs is given in
a catalogue compiled under the instructions of the Archbishop of
Benevento and printed in Venice in the year 1549. It is printed under
the title of _Il catalogo de’ Libri, li quali nuovamente nel mese
di maggio ... sono stati condannati et scommunicati per heretici_.
The catalogue is known through the reissue by Vergerio, printed at
Strasburg in 1553.
_Heresiarchs, as recorded in 1549._
(The names are printed partly in the nominative and partly in the
genitive of the Latin form.)
Martin Luther.
Martini Buceri.
Martini Borrhai.
Melanchthonis.
Eccolampadii.
Zuinglii.
Joannis Hus.
Bullingeri.
Erasmi Sarcerii.
Joannis Brentii.
Pellianai (sic)
Antonii Corvini.
M. Antonii Bodii.
Hermani Bodii.
Hieronimi Saonensis.
F. Julii de Mediolano.
Petri Vireti.
Gulielmi Farelli.
Petri Artopei.
Arsatii Schoffer.
Conradi Lagii.
Claudii Guilandi.
Joan. Lorichii.
Hadmarii.
Justi Jonae.
Jo. Pauperii.
Gerziani.
Joan. Malter in Apoc.
Joan Spangelbergii Herdesioni.
Petri Artophagi.
Andreae Althameri.
Othonis Brunfelsii.
Joan. Calvini.
Huld. Hutteni.
Urbani Rhegii.
F. Bernadini Ochini.
F. Petri Martyris Flor.
Martini Morhai.
Clementis Maroti.
Victoris de Bordellai.
Theodori Bibliandri.
Hermetis Zetmarii
Jo. Oldenthorpo
Heliae Pandochei.
Hippoliti Melangei.
_8._ _1552._ _The Inquisition of Florence_ issues an _Index
Prohibitorius_ which, like that of Casa, is known to us only through
Vergerio. It contained the titles collected by Casa, with a few
additions, and with certain corrections based upon the strictures made
by Vergerio on Casa’s lists.
_9._ _1554._ _The Archbishop of Milan, Giovanni Angelo Arcimboldi_,
publishes an Index, preserved only through the reprint in a
controversial pamphlet of Vergerio. The title reads: _Catalogo del
Arcimboldo Arcinescovo di Milano, one egli condanna et di ffama per
heretici la magior parte de figliuoli de Dio, et mebri di Christo,
quali ne loro, scritti cercano la reformatione della chiesa Christiana.
Con una riposta fattagli in nome d’ una parte di quei ualenti nomini.
Nello anno MDLIII._ The Index bears, in addition to the name of the
Archbishop, that of Castiglione, Commissary General of the Inquisition
for Lombardy, and the announcement that it is issued “with the approval
of the Senate of Milan.”
Under the responsibility of these three authorities, is issued, in a
preamble to the catalogue, an edict, with the following regulations:
Ecclesiastics and laymen alike are prohibited, under penalty of
excommunication and of bodily punishment, from preaching or reading
(aloud?) the Scriptures, either in church or elsewhere, without a
written permit from the archbishop. The printing, selling, possessing,
reading, etc. of books classed as heretical is prohibited. The penalty
is for each offence, excommunication, and a fine of one hundred
scudi. The fine is to be divided equally between the informer, the
Inquisition, and the imperial representative. Persons concealing
books, or withholding information, incur the same penalties. Printers,
binders, and booksellers must, within a term of two months, deliver
to the authorities a sworn schedule of the books handled by them,
with supplementary lists from month to month, and the sale, or the
possession of, any book not specified in such schedules brings upon the
dealer excommunication and a fine of ten scudi for each book. Dealers
who deliver up within ten days after receipt copies of prohibited or
of heretical books are freed from the penalties. Any person having
knowledge of the presence in the diocese of Milan of a heretic or of
one suspected of heresy, and failing to give information within thirty
days, falls under excommunication plus a fine of fifty scudi. The same
penalty comes to one who renders assistance to a Lutheran or other
heretic. A Lutheran or other heretic who recants and who denounces a
fellow heretic receives one fourth of the penalty.
The Index contains nearly five hundred titles, arranged alphabetically,
the names of the authors and those of the books being listed together.
It is therefore much more considerable than that of Casa. The list
of authors all of whose works (present and future) are condemned
(corresponding to Class I of the Roman Indexes) is proportionately
large.
_10._ _1551._ _Valentia, Valladolid, and Toledo._ _Emperor Charles
V and Archbishop Valdes.--Index prohibitory._ Compiled under
the supervision of Fernando Valdes, Archbishop of Seville and
Inquisitor-General. The Emperor Charles sent to Valdes the Louvain
Index of 1550 with instructions to have the same published in Spain.
The Spanish issue includes as a supplement a list of the books which
up to that date had been prohibited in Spain. The title reads:
_Catalogi librorum reprobatorum, et praelegendorum ex judicio Academiae
Louaniensis. Cum edicto Caesarae maiestatis evulgate. Valentiae,
typis Joannis Mey Flandri MDLI, mandato Dominorum de consilio sanctae
generalis Inquisitionis._ (Portions of the edition bear the imprints of
Valladolid and Toledo).
The first list in the volume bears the title: _Catalogus librorum
jampridem per sanctum officium Inquisitionis reprobatorum_. This is
followed by the Latin lists of the Louvain Index, with the anonymous
works alphabeted in, and a supplement with eleven further titles.
This Valdes Index is the first of the Spanish series, and forms the
foundation of the Index of 1559.
Llorente mentions[116] an Index prepared in 1555 under the instructions
of the Inquisition, but states that this was kept in the form of
manuscript for the use only of the inquisitors. Valdes was concerned
with the compilation of two further Indexes, those of 1554 and 1559.
The supplement to the lists of 1551 presents certain general
prohibitions; such as of Bibles in Spanish or in any vernacular
versions; (these are entered curiously under the letter “N,” “New
and Old Testaments”); pictures, figures or statues by means of which
the Virgin or the Saints might be brought into ridicule; all books
tainted with heresy (_sapiento haeresim_); works having to do with
necromancy; books (whatsoever their text) which had been printed
within twenty-five years, and which failed to present the name and
address of the printer. A separate prohibition is provided for books
written against the proceedings of the Diet of Ratisbon (1541). This
is directed against a monograph by Calvin, published anonymously,
in which this Diet is sharply handled. The lists report the authors
given in the Louvain Index, in some instances with fresh errors
(“Bronzins” for “Brentius”). The new names include Michael Servetus
(his first appearance in any Index), connected with his tract on
the Trinity; Simon Essius, for Simon Hessus, connected with his
_Apologia_; John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (possibly the earliest
English author prohibited outside of England); Ulrich von Hutten,
_libri omnes_ (Hutten, while not listed in Louvain, had been recorded
by Casa); Alcoranus _vel alii libri in arabigo ubi sunt errores sectae
Mahometicae_ (this is the first appearance in an Index of Arabic
heresy). As late as 1790, the _Koran_, in every version, finds place in
the Spanish Index, while there is a special prohibition of the Latin
translation of the same that had been made in the 12th century by
Peter of Cluny, and had been printed, _cum refutationibus variorum_,
in Basel in 1543. In the Index of Quiroga, the _Koran_ appears under
the title _Machumetis ... ejusque successorum vitae ac doctrina ipseque
Alcoran ... adjunctae sunt confutationes multorum una cum M. Lutheri
praemonitione_, etc.
Reusch points out that this prohibition has to do not with the
doctrines of the _Koran_ but with the godless (_impia_) undertakings
of the publisher, Theodor Bibliander of Basel. In the Index of Clement
VIII, the entry appears, _Instructionum et rituum sectae Mahometanae
libri omnes_. Since Benedict XIV, the prohibition comes under the
general decree I, 11.
The antagonism on the part of the Protestant authorities of Basel to
the circulation of the _Koran_ appears to have been more decided than
that of the Inquisition. In 1536, the magistrates refused permission to
Heinrich Petri to print an edition; and, in 1542, an edition printed
by Oporinus was confiscated. The publisher appealed to the scholars,
and the question of permitting the publication was discussed from
the pulpits. On the receipt of an opinion from Luther in favour of
Oporinus, the books were released on condition that when published they
should not bear the imprint of Basel and that copies should not be sold
within the city.
This Valdes Index contains but four Spanish titles, the writings of
Enzinas and of Urrea, an anonymous _Dialogue of Christian Doctrine_,
and a Spanish version, printed in Geneva, of Calvin’s _Catechism_. This
last title does not appear in later lists.
_11._ _1554._ _Valladolid._ _Senate of the Inquisition.--Index
expurgatorius. Censura generalis contra errores quibus recentes
haeretici sacram scripturam asperserunt. Edita a supremo Senatu
Inquisitionis, constituto adversus haereticam pravitatem, et apostasiam
in Hispania, et aliis regnis, et dominis Caesareae majestatis
subjectis. Pinciae, ex officina Francis Ferdinan. Corduben. cum
privilegio Imperiali. 1554._
The text is known through the reprint by Ziletus in Venice, in 1562.
The lists in this Index are devoted exclusively to Bibles, of which 103
editions are specified. Many of these find place in Louvain, 1550, and
in Valdes, 1554, among the books entirely prohibited. Here, however,
these Bibles are presented as open to censure on the ground of certain
errors and heresies contained in the notes and introductions, which
notes, etc., are ordered to be cancelled or expunged. Copies thus
corrected (by cancellations) are permitted to be left in the hands of
their owners. This Index of Valdes is the first example of an _Index
expurgatorius_. A number of such expurgatory Indexes were produced
later under the authority of the Spanish Inquisition, but outside of
Spain, the attempts to control literature through the expurgation of
books already printed were but few. The futility of such attempts came
to be recognised at an early date.
The editorial responsibility for this Index of 1554 rested with the
Dominican, Alfonso Martinez, who was also the author of the _censura
generalis_. The editor had the co-operation of the theological faculty
of Alcala. The possessors of copies of the works specified are directed
to deliver these within sixty days to the bishop of the diocese or
to the local inquisitors. These officials are to take measures to
cancel (_obliterare_) the offending notes, etc., so that they can no
longer be read. The penalty for retaining uncorrected copies beyond
the period of sixty days is _excommunicatio major latae sententiae_.
The books themselves are to be destroyed, and their delinquent owners
are to pay (apparently for each offence) a fine of thirty ducats. A
similar punishment comes upon the bookseller who imports copies of
these condemned editions. The publishing centres at that time actively
engaged in the production of editions of the Scriptures are indicated
by the imprints represented in the lists of this Index as follows:
Antwerp, 14; Basel, 3; Lyons, 35; Paris, 11 (including 4 from Robert
Estienne); Zurich, 1 (Froschover); Venice, 3. Two examples may be cited
to illustrate the principles and the method of the censure.
Deuteronomy v, 9. _Solus Deus adorandus._
_Haec propositio, excludens adorationem sanctorum, est erronea._
Deut. xv, 11. _Alendi pauperes nec permittendi ut mendicant._
_Et ibidem. Prohibetur mendicitas._
_Hae et similes propositiones injuriosae sunt et malitiose annotatae
in odium religiosorum mendicantium._
Special condemnation is placed upon the Bibles printed by Estienne
(Stephanus) as edited by Vatablus. The New Testament division is to
be cancelled altogether, the errors being too many to expunge. The
Old Testament can be retained with the cancellation of the notes
(_scholia_).
_12._ _1554._ _Venice._ _The Inquisition._ A few months after the
publication of the Index of Milan, an Index was issued in Venice under
the authority of the Venetian Inquisition. The papal Nuncio, Filippo
Archinto (who succeeded Arcimboldi as Archbishop of Milan), shared with
the inquisitors the responsibility for the preparation of the lists. Of
the original issue no copy is known to exist. The description given by
Reusch is based on the reprint published by the persistent Vergerio.
The Index is accompanied by no decree. The catalogue bears as a heading
the words: _Nomina eorum qui male de fide scripserunt quorum scripta
a catholicis legi prohibentur_. The lists comprise a reprint of the
titles of the Milan Index with the addition of some seventy entries. An
appendix gives the decree of Gelasius (492) together with a few of the
book prohibitions of the Middle Ages taken from Eymeric. This Venetian
Index was utilised as the basis of the lists compiled for the Index of
Paul IV.
The Venetian and Milan compilers themselves made use of the material
collected by the Louvain compilers of 1550, and of the titles in
the Casa Index of 1549. They had also taken from the catalogue of
Lutzenburg and from the _Bibliotheca_ of Gesner the names of a number
of the heretics of the Middle Ages. Further names were secured,
curiously enough, from the letters of Oecolampadius and Zwingli, and
these last were cited so heedlessly that they include those of a number
of persons who were not, in any respect, authors.[117] Reusch points
out that in the endeavour, without adequate knowledge, to make their
lists comprehensive, the compilers had been led to include a number of
unimportant persons some of whom had published nothing religious or
theological, while others were, as said, not authors at all. In some
instances, large sounding entries cover simply the Latin rendering of
the titles of insignificant German tracts (_flügschriften_).
The Venetian Index was reprinted (from Vergerio’s reprint) in
London, 1840, by Joseph Mendham, in connection with a reprint of
the Index of Gregory XXI of 1835. Mendham uses as a general title,
_The Literary Policy of the Church of Rome_. The compilers of this
Index, like those of Milan, have included the names of a number of
persons classed as heretics in the earlier Middle Ages and before the
invention of printing, some of whom had never written anything, while
of others no writings had been preserved. To this class belong the
Wycliffite Richard “Anglicus,” the Hussite, Mathias Boemus, Desiderius
Longobardus, Joh. de Poliaco, Petrus de Aragonia, Joh. de Stuma, and
Petrus de Luna. These names are taken from Lutzenburg. Of the series
of names taken from the Louvain Index of 1550, a number are so altered
(either by scribes or by printers) as to be identified with difficulty.
From the Index of 1546 are taken Petrus Lignius, and the _Facetiae_
of Poggio and of Bebel. From Gesner are taken thirty writers some
of whom are responsible for no books at all either in theology or
religion.[118] The list includes Maturin Cordier, the instructor of
Calvin, who appears for the first time in the Venetian Index. Other
names and titles to be noted are Dante, for the _De Monarchia_ (which
was printed for the first time in 1559, in Germany, and first in Italy
in 1658), Laurentius Valla, Hubmeyer (whose name was secured from a
letter of Zwingli), Botzheim (friend of Erasmus), _Dialogi Obscurorum
Virorum_, Eckstein, and Murnarus for his _Leviathan_.
The appendix contains a prohibition, taken from Eymeric, of all works
on the subjects of geomancy, necromancy, and pyromancy.
_13._ _1558._ _Louvain._ In December, 1557, an _ordonnance_ of King
Philip II directed the preparation by the theological faculty of
Louvain of a revised and enlarged issue of the Index of 1550. This was
printed, in Flemish and in French, in 1558. The preface, signed by the
Rector of the University, states:
“It is well known to all that, since 1550, avowed heretics and others
whose catholicity is not to be trusted, have brought secretly into the
land pernicious and dangerous books, through the influence of which
the heretics are confirmed in their errors and the faithful are led
astray. It is the purpose of the present work to secure the destruction
of the existing copies of this baneful literature and to protect
the land against the introduction of further similar books. _Le
Catalogue des livres reprouvéz et des livres que l’on pourra lire aux
enfans és escholles particulières, selon le jugement de l’université de
Louvain. Imprimé par ordonnance de la Majesté Royale. Á Louvain. Par
Martin Verhassett. Imprimeur juré. L’an de grace MDLVIII. Avec Grace et
Privilège du Roy._
(Then follows a second title-page in Flemish.)
The lists contain, with some corrections, the titles printed in 1550.
The additions (distributed alphabetically) comprise about one hundred
titles. The bibliography is much more correct, in the matter of names,
book-titles, freedom from duplicate entries, and consistency of
arrangement, than that of the Italian lists of the same period. Among
the new names in Class I (authors all of whose works are condemned) are
those of Jo. Athanisius Veluanus, Jo. Sleidanus, and Memno Symonis. The
first should read: Jo. Anastasius (Jan Geeraerds ter Stege), Veluanus
(Pastor in Veluve). There are twelve additional titles in the list of
anonymous works.
The material of this Louvain Index was undoubtedly utilised by the
compilers of the Index of Paul IV, but they managed to bring into their
transcripts a number of errors that did not find place in the original.
_14._ _1559._ _Valladolid._ _Valdes._--_Catalogus Librorum qui
prohibentur mandato Illustrissimi et Reverend. D. D. Ferdinand de
Valdes, Hispalen., Archiepi., Inquisitoris Generalis Hispaniae. Nec
non et Supremi Sanctae ac Generalis Inquisitionis Senatus. Hoc Anno
MDLIX editus. Quorum jussu et licentia Sebastianus Martinez, Excudebat
Pinciae._ The industrious Inquisitor-General had already, as we have
seen, brought into print two Indexes; for the first of these he had
utilised the lists of the Louvain compilers, while the titles in the
second were restricted to editions of the Scriptures.
This Index of 1559 is the first Spanish publication in which the
lists represent original work on the part of the Spanish editors in
the selection of literature to be condemned. The brief of Paul IV,
printed in the Valdes Index, which bears date January 4, 1559, gives an
indication of the independent character of the actions of the Spanish
Inquisition. Paul states that the Inquisitor-General had informed
him that the measures taken by the Inquisition against heretical and
suspicious books had been hampered because of the licenses that had
been accorded by the Curia, not only to divines but to many laymen, for
the reading of such books. The Pope had, however (under his brief of
December 21, 1558), recently recalled and cancelled all such licenses.
He therefore charges Valdes to prohibit absolutely the printing,
selling, reading, or possessing of such books, and to order, under
the customary penalties, the delivery and destruction of all copies
of the same. To the Inquisitor-General is given the fullest authority
in the matter and no appeals from his decisions will be entertained.
Paul makes no reference in the brief to the Index that had, under his
instructions, just been brought into print in Rome, and while this is
in form addressed to the whole world, the Pope appears to assume that
as far as the Spanish dominions are concerned, the matter of heretical
literature is to be left in the charge of the Spanish Inquisition. On
his part, Valdes makes no reference to the Index of Paul, although
it is hardly to be supposed that he had failed to examine it. In the
editorial preface, Valdes informs the scholars and others who may,
through ignorance of their character, have been led into possessing
and reading heretical books that these lists have been prepared for
their help and guidance. He says further that those who, with the
information presented in these catalogues, may continue to print,
import, sell, read, or possess copies of the books specified shall be
punished with a fine of two hundred gold ducats and with the greater
excommunication (_latae sententiae_.) Those who may take part in
the translating of these works shall be liable to the same penalties.
A curious exception is given in favour of Seb. Martinez, who is
permitted, under the instructions of the Inquisition, to print certain
of the forbidden works. At the close of the Index, the statement is
made that there are many heretical and dangerous books in addition to
those whose titles are here given, and that lists of these will be
issued later. In connection with the enforcement of the provisions of
the Index (a task which was carried out by the Inquisition of Spain
with a thoroughness that was never attempted elsewhere), the confessors
were instructed, under penalty of the “reserved excommunication,”
to secure from all their penitents information concerning heretical
literature possessed either by themselves or by others.
Through a brief of January 7th, Valdes is given authority, for a term
of two years, to take measures against bishops who may be charged
with the utilising of heretical literature, and, if necessary, to
relieve them of their duties and to place them in confinement. He is
instructed to report to the Curia such cases of arrest and to send to
Rome the record of the evidence. This special authority appears to
have been secured by Valdes for the particular purpose of proceeding
against Carranza, Archbishop of Toledo. Through a brief of January
11th, King Philip II is instructed to take such measures as might be
necessary for confirming and carrying into effect the regulations of
the Inquisition. Professors who had been applying themselves to the
study of Oriental languages were not to be freed from the obligation to
deliver up, under penalty of excommunication, (possibly for revision or
for the cancellation of heretical notes,) copies of the Scriptures in
Hebrew or in Greek. Such copies in the hands of the booksellers were to
be destroyed. Among the books specially marked out for sequestration,
were works of grammar containing the notes of Melanchthon (who was at
the time largely engaged in the compilation of school-books to replace
the earlier monkish texts); all Bibles printed in Germany since 1519
without the imprint of the publishers; the editions of St. Chrysostom
by Oecolampadius and Musculus (the first complete editions, by the
way, of the works of this Father that had yet appeared), and the
Commentaries of Vadiamus on Pomponius Mela.
The editions with heretical imprints, which had been proscribed by
Paul, of such authors as Lucian, Aristotle, Plato, and Seneca, were not
forbidden by Valdes.
The Index of Valdes differs from that of Paul in two respects:
First, the books are classified according to languages, the order
of arrangement being Latin, Spanish, Flemish, Low German, High
German, French, and Portuguese. The arrangement of titles is roughly
alphabetical, with frequent confusion in connection with forenames and
surnames.
Secondly, Valdes does not undertake to present the three classes which
had been accepted as a precedent for the Roman Indexes. Class I may be
said, however, to find place in the general alphabet in which appear
the names of a number of authors with the prohibition of _opera omnia_.
The formula _donec corrigatur_ does not find place in the Valdes Index.
A large portion of the titles in this Valdes Index are taken from
the lists in the Spanish reprint of the Louvain Index of 1550. It is
difficult to trace the principle on which either the omissions or the
selections of these Louvain titles have been arrived at. The additions
made by the compilers of the Inquisition cover in the main such of the
Reformation writings as had found their way into Spain through the
Low Countries. The editors make no reference to preceding Indexes but
present this as if it could be accepted as a substantially complete
guide for believing readers. The _Historia Ecclesiastica_ of Albert
Kranz (1517) finds place in the Valdes Index for the first time among
prohibited books. Bellarmin writes later that the editions of this
historian are to be condemned simply on the ground of the godless notes
added by heretical editors.
A noteworthy title which also here first finds condemnation is that of
the _Gesta Romanorum_. The compilation of these old legends of the
Church has been ascribed to the Cistercian Helimand (†1227). This book
was first condemned in 1472, when the first printed edition was issued
in Cologne. It was often reprinted. An edition was issued in New York
as late as 1901.
Another prohibited title is that of _Hortulus Animae Absque Nomini
Authoris_. Of this book there had been a great variety of editions,
in one or more of which heretical editors had included scoffing
pictures. The text included fifteen prayers of St. Bridget. Of these
prayers it was said that if they should be repeated during an entire
year, fifteen souls would be saved from everlasting punishment. In the
same edition, there is a prayer to the Virgin to which was ascribed
especial soul-saving value. In Aragon, for instance, in the year 1290,
one sinner who had during the preceding year sung this hymn daily,
was able, after being beheaded, to retain his soul in the body until
all his sins had been confessed and he had received absolution. It
would seem as if this book belonged to the class that should have been
retained _donec corrigatur_.[119]
Llorente, in his description of this Index, refers to a story of Saint
Theresa, who, when she complained of the unjust proscriptions of
certain orthodox books, was answered by the Lord: “Disturb not thyself,
I will give thee the book of life.”
The entry in the Index of 1559 under the name Desiderius Erasmus is
noteworthy. The name is placed in Class I, comprising authors all of
whose writings are prohibited. After the name of Erasmus however,
there follows a specific prohibition as follows: _Cum universis
Commentariis, Annotationibus, Scholiis, Diologis, Epistolis, Censuris,
Versionibus, Libris et Scriptis suis, etiam si nil penitus contra
Religionem vel de Religione contineant_. This specific condemnation,
in addition to that expressed under the term _opera omnia_, would
appear to have included the edition prepared by Erasmus of the Greek
Testament. It may be borne in mind, however, that the latter had
secured the approval and very cordial commendation of Pope Leo X, to
whom the work had been dedicated. The Pope wrote, in 1516, a letter in
which he emphasises the exceptional service rendered by Erasmus in
this work to the study of sacred theology and to the maintenance of
the true faith. A curious comment made upon this action of the Pope,
in the Spanish Index of 1612, may be inserted here. In the expurgatory
division, under the article devoted to _Erasmi Roterodami Opera_,
at the beginning of the censures on the sixth volume, is printed: _Ad
marginem Epistolae Leonis P. P. X. ad Erasmum, quae incipit, Dilecte
Fili, salutem, et adscribe: Dulcibus encomiis pius Pater nutantem ovem
allicere conatur_ (“With gracious commendations the Holy Father
endeavours to attract [win back] the wandering sheep”).[120]
Another noteworthy detail in the Index of 1559 is the entry in the
list of works condemned of the title _Liber inscrip. consilium * * *
de emendanda ecclesia_. This _Consilium_ was a report presented by an
assembly of four cardinals (including the Englishman, Pole) and five
prelates, which had been instructed by Pope Paul III, in 1537, to
give him counsel in regard to the reform of the Church. The report or
_Consilium_ was more outspoken (in regard to corruptions, etc.) than
was considered desirable, and when one of the body, Cardinal Caraffa,
assumed the tiara (as Paul IV) he caused his own _Advice_ to be placed
on the list of prohibited books. The Index of 1559 also contains a
condemnation of the work by Aeneas Sylvius (afterwards Pius II),
_Commentaria de actis et gestis Concilii Basileen_. In the Tridentine
Index, this condemnation is modified to read, _In actis Aeneae Silvii
prohibentur ea quae ipse in bulla retractationis damnavit_. It is not
out of order to assume that when a man has become a pope, he may be in
a position to see things more clearly and to correct the errors of his
fallible days.
_14._ _1559._ _Rome._ This is the year of the accession of Paul IV, by
whose name the Index of 1559 is known. Its lists were in part based
upon the Louvain Index of 1558, and were themselves utilised in the
preparation of the Tridentine Index of 1564. It was published during
the second interregnum in the council, 1552–1562. The title is:
_Index Auctorum et Librorum qui ab officio Sanctae Rom. et
Universalis Inquisitionis caveri ab omnibus et singulis in universa
Christiana Republica mandantur, sub censuris contra legentes, vel
tenentes libros prohibitos in Bulla quae dicta est in Coena Domini
expressis et sub aliis poenis in Decreto ejusdem Sacri officii
contentis. Index venundatur apud Antonium Bladum. Cameralem impressorem
de mandato speciali Sacri Officii, Romae Anno Domini, 1559, Mense
Jan._
This is followed by the prohibitory decree of the Inquisition, with a
specification of the punishments for transgression as set forth in the
_Bulla Coenae Domini_. To these penalties are added others, _nostro
arbitrio infligendis_. The chief penalty was the _excommunicatio latae
sententiae_. The Index itself is presented in three schedules or
divisions arranged alphabetically: I. Authors, all of whose writings,
past or future, are condemned. II. Books, classified by authors. III.
Anonymous works.
Then follows a list of _Biblia Prohibita_, and of New Testaments, with
a general prohibition of all similar translations; and finally a list
of sixty-one printers (printer-publishers) all of whose publications
are condemned. The formula _donec corrigatur_, later so general, occurs
in this Index but once. It is connected with Boccaccio’s _Decameron_.
In Trent, the prohibition was confirmed subject to expurgation.
The text of the _Decameron_ was duly corrected by a commission of
five, and thus corrected was published in Florence in an authorised
and privileged edition in 1572. The revision eliminated from the
_Decameron_ the obnoxious references to ecclesiastics, but left in the
text a number of episodes _contra bonos mores_ which had to do only
with laymen. The revisers had, in some of the stories, changed the nuns
into noble ladies, the monks to conjurers, an abbess to a countess,
etc.[121] Paul includes in his Index a prohibition of the treatise
or report that had been prepared in 1538, under the instructions of
Paul III, by a commission of nine and printed in the papal printing
office under the title of _Consilium delectorum cardinalium et aliorum
praelatorum de emendanda ecclesia_. Cardinal Caraffa, later Paul IV,
was a member of the commission. The _Consilium_ was issued by Luther,
in 1539, in a German version, with a polemical commentary. It was again
printed by the ever-watchful Vergerio in 1559, the year of Caraffa’s
elevation to the Papacy. Vergerio did not fail to point out that the
Pope was condemning a work for the production of which he was himself
in part responsible. The prohibition remained on the Index until 1758.
In the Index of this year, the prohibition was modified so as to cover
only the editions printed with heretical commentaries. The work closes
with a form of license to be secured for the reading of the works
prohibited. This license was, for some reason, omitted from the later
reprints of the Index.
The Index of Paul is described by the Catholic historian Gretser, but
he admits that his information concerning it is derived from the
Protestant critic Vergerio. This is the first Index prepared under
the direct supervision of the Pope, and the first which bears the
official designation of “Index,” the previous lists having been termed
catalogues. Editions of Paul’s Index appeared within the year 1559
in Bologna, Venice, Genoa, and Avignon. In 1560, the indefatigable
Vergerio reprinted it with a critical, or rather polemical
introduction. In the same year, Vergerio published, separately,
a treatise (in Latin and Italian) devoted to an attack upon the
inquisitors who were responsible for the Index of Paul IV.
The title of the Latin edition of Vergerio’s work reads: _Postremus
Catalogus Haereticorum Romae Conflatus. 1559. Continens Alios Quatuor
Catalogos qui post Decennium in Italia nec non eos omnes qui in Gallia
et Flandria post renatum Evangelium fuerunt editi. Cum Annotationibus
Vergerii, MDLX Colophon, Corvinus excudebat Pfortzheimii, 1560._
The volume is dedicated to Count Stanislaus. The Italian edition was
printed at Ulm and dedicated to the King of Bohemia. The author’s
preface is dated from Tübingen. The author states that the Index or
Catalogue of 1559 was concocted by the Pope with the concurrence of six
inquisitors only. Vergerio goes on to say that when, ten years back,
the Pope observed that the Gospel and books favourable to the Gospel
were making their way into Italy, he published, in imitation of the
divines of the Sorbonne and of Louvain, a small catalogue condemning
seventy books.
The _Annotations_ of Vergerio, irrespective of the interest of their
severe criticisms on the judicial action and the bibliographical
blunders of the inquisitors, have proved of service in preserving the
most complete enumeration of the Italian Indexes prior to 1559. The
sources of information concerning these earlier Indexes are, in fact,
so scanty and in the main so untrustworthy that the papal historians
themselves have been under the necessity of accepting the record of
their Protestant critic.
The task of compiling the Index of 1559 had been confided by Paul
to Cardinal Caraffa and his associates of the Roman Inquisition. An
impression was struck off in 1557, but was cancelled on account of
errors that had come to light. The lists as reprinted in 1559 had had
the advantage of collation with the Louvain Index of 1558. The papal
brief (dated December 21, 1558) follows in the main the text of that of
Julius III, of 1550, but there is some new material. One of the earlier
sentences is typical of the difficulty of the problems with which the
Church found itself confronted:
“A number of ecclesiastics, both regular and secular, who were
hopeful of being able to combat the Lutherans and the other
heretics of our time and to overthrow their heretical doctrines,
and who secured for the purpose permission from the Apostolic
Chair to read the works of these heretics, found themselves
confused and influenced by these writings so that they were
quite largely led astray and perverted into the acceptance of
heretical errors. It has therefore, been found necessary to
recall and to cancel all such permits issued in Briefs or in
Bulls, whether given to bishops, archbishops, or cardinals, to
marquises, dukes, kings, or emperors.”
The only exceptions to this general cancellation are in the case of
the inquisitors-general and certain cardinals, who may, from time to
time, be charged by the Curia with special duties in the examination
and classification of literature. Copies of the books condemned are
to be delivered to the officials appointed by the Inquisition for
the purpose. All the faithful are charged with the duty of giving
information concerning such copies as may become known to them. The
brief is to be published in Rome by the Inquisition and elsewhere by
each bishop in his own diocese. The lists in the first class include
(given, for the most part, in two places under both surname and
forename) Calvin, Luther, Melanchthon, Zasius, Pirckheimer. Cassander,
Blaurerus, Oecolampadius, Zwingli, Islebius, and Hütten (printed
Huldrychus Huttenus). English names to be noted are John Rogers
(printed John Rochors), Nicholas Ridley (Nic. Ridlaeus), and Thos.
Cranmer. The name of Erasmus, omitted here, finds place in Class II
against several of his works. These lists are, says Vergerio, marked by
many errors and inconsistencies. In the third class, under the heading
_Libri_ are given certain general prohibitions of which the
following may be cited as examples:
All books and tracts (pamphlets) are forbidden, whatever may be their
titles, or their subject-matter, and in whatever language they may be
written ... and whether they be original productions or translations,
which have been written by heretics, or which may be printed by
heretics ... even when such books contain no material bearing upon
faith or religion.[122] Also all books which, within the preceding
forty years have been issued without the name of the author, and the
name and address of the printer, or for which have not been secured
the approval and license of the bishop or inquisitor, or of some
other official appointed for the purpose by the pope or by the
inquisitors. Record of such permit must be printed in each copy of the
book. Forbidden also are all books having to do with the subjects of
aeromancy, cheiromancy, physiognomy, geomancy, hydromancy, oneiromancy,
pyromancy, or necromancy, divination, magic, or astrology, (exceptions
are made in favour of treatises on natural science planned for the
guidance of mariners, agriculturists, or physicians); and all books
which have been or shall be condemned under the decrees of popes or of
councils.
The prohibition of every work that had been produced, or that might
thereafter be produced, from the presses of printers classed as
heretics (of whom sixty-one were specified by name) constitutes
a new feature in the system of Indexes, and is evidence of the
importance that had come to be associated with the influence of the
printer-publishers of the time. The list is alphabeted by forenames.
It comprises: for Augsburg 1, Sig. Grym; for Basel 15, the most
important being the brothers Petri, Oporinus, Cratander, and Wolfius;
for Frankfort 1, Brubachius; for Genoa 5; for Marburg 2; for Hagenau 1;
for Leipzig 2, Blum and Wohlrab; for Nuremburg 5, including Montanus;
for Poschlav (Bohemia) 3; for Strasburg 9, including Ulricher and
the brothers Richelius; for Tübingen 1, Morhadius; for Venice 1,
Brucciolus; for Wittenburg 5, including Rau, Crato, and Klug; for
Zurich 3, including Gesner; for Paris 1, but that one noteworthy,
Robert Estienne, the most scholarly publisher of his generation;
without specification of place, 5. The selection of firms gives an
indication of the places which in this matter of heretical publishing
were at that time considered to be the sources of danger for the
doctrines and for the believers of the Church. The omission of any name
from the Low Countries would indicate that the books from the Dutch and
Flemish presses were not making their way into Italy and were not known
to the members of the Roman Inquisition.
Christopher of Padua, General of the Augustinians, who had had to do
with this Index, stated at Trent that in the work of its preparation,
careful examination had been made of all the heretical books in the
library of the Vatican. The compilers had utilised, in addition to the
lists of Louvain, of Venice, and of Casa, certain lists which Reusch
traces to the “Library” (Bibliothek) of Gesner, and to Cochlaeus’s
_Historia de Actis et Scriptis M. Lutheri_. Further titles are taken
from the “Letters” of Oecolampadius and of Zwingli. Certain omissions
of noteworthy and “deserving” names or titles, which were available in
previous lists, such as Beza, recorded in the Venice Index, and the
_Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum_, which appears in Louvain, were due
doubtless simply to oversights in transcribing. A curious entry in
Class II is _Arturus Britannus_, which stands for the _Legend of King
Arthur_ and which is responsible for the appearance in later Indexes
of the heretical author “Thomas Arturus.” The entry in Class I of the
name of an author was not permitted to stand in the way of a separate
condemnation in Class II or in Class III (under individual titles) of
his more pernicious productions.
This Index of Paul IV seemed to call for some special measure of
attention in this schedule, because it is the first prepared in
Rome under the direct instructions of the pope, and because in its
general purpose and policy, in the method of its compilation, in its
characteristic features, and its bibliographical errors, it was
typical of the whole series of Indexes, and was in fact quite closely
followed not only by that of Trent, but by not a few of those that
came later. The policy of the Church in its contest with the perils of
an uncontrolled printing-press may be said to have been marked out in
1559 by Paul IV and his associates. The fact that the lists included,
in addition to works by admitted heretics and to those concerned with
matters of theology, faith, and dogma, a number of books by Catholic
writers in good standing, others whose subjects were entirely outside
of theology and religion, and a further number whose only fault was
that of being printed by heretical printers, is an indication of the
wide view taken by the framers of the Index, and doubtless by Paul
himself, as to the responsibilities of the Church in the supervision of
literature. The Index of Paul may also be considered as a declaration
that the responsibility for the supervision and characterisation of
literary productions belonged properly to the head of the Church and
could not safely be left to be cared for by princes, universities, or
local inquisitors. It seems very probable that Paul and his advisers
of the Roman Inquisition had such a contention in mind, but as the
record of the production of later Indexes makes clear, the authorities
in Rome proved unequal to the task of controlling the prohibition
of books, and were obliged to accept, with more or less protest, a
considerable series of Indexes compiled under the direction of kings,
princes, universities, local inquisitors, and local ecclesiastics. The
fact that the work came to be carried on by a number of authorities
of varying character and with certain inevitable differences of
purpose, of policy, and of method, caused the results to be more
or less inconsistent and incongruous. An obedient believer, whose
desire was simply to accept and be guided by the instructions of the
authorities, might easily have found himself not a little perplexed at
the conflicting instructions that came to him in regard to this matter
of pernicious literature, in the two centuries between the Index of
Louvain and that of Benedict XIV. An example of the effect produced
by this Index on the mind of one Roman scholar is given in a letter
written in January, 1559 (immediately after the publication of the
Index) by Latinus Latinius to Andrea Masius[123]:
“Why should you be planning for the publication of any new
works at a time when nearly all the books which have thus far
appeared (_qui adhuc sunt editi_) are being taken away from
us? It seems to me that at least for some years to come, no one
among us will dare to write anything but letters. There has
just been published an Index of the books which, under penalty
of excommunication, we are no longer permitted to possess. The
number of those prohibited (particularly of works originating
in Germany) is so great that there will remain but few. On
this ground, I advise you to put to one side your variants of
the Bible and the translation of Demosthenes. Faernus has been
devoting some days to the ‘purifying’ of his library; I shall
begin to-morrow going over my own collection so that nothing may
be found in it which is not authorised. Should I describe the
process as a shipwreck or a holocaust of literature? In any case
this [censorship] must have the result of deterring many of your
group from the production of books, and will serve as a warning
to the printers to be cautious in making selections for their
presses.”
It may be understood, although it is not specifically so stated, that
the books delivered over to the bishops or inquisitors were burned.
Natalis Comes writes (possibly with some rhetorical exaggeration),
“There was everywhere such a conflagration of books, that one was
reminded of the burning of Troy. Neither private nor public libraries
were spared, and many were nearly emptied.... In all the cities of
Italy, readers were mourning for their lost treasures.”[124] A letter
from Bologna dated February 11, 1559, says: “The prescriptions of the
Index are obeyed here. Nothing is permitted but the _Thesaurus linguae
latinae_ and the _Commentaries_ of Dolet. Of the writings of Erasmus,
one is permitted to retain nothing but one or two of the translations
[of the Fathers] and in these the name of the translator must be
cancelled.”[125]
Bullinger writes to Ambrose Blaurer: “In Rome, Paul IV is burning
books, and among others, all the writings of Erasmus. Even the works
of Cyprian, Jerome, and Augustine are included because they have been
rendered pernicious through the notes of Erasmus.”[126]
Paul IV died in August, 1559, and after his death, the enforcement
of the provisions and regulations of his Index was very materially
relaxed. In Venice (a State which in connection with its early and
important interests in the production of books maintained from the
outset a protest against the efforts of Rome to control the work of
the printing-press) this Index was never put into force. The Viceroy
of Naples and the Governor of Milan refused to permit the publication
of the Index in their territories, but referred the matter to the
King of Spain. The magistrates of Basel, Zurich, and Frankfort and of
other centres of book-production made application to Cosmo, Duke of
Tuscany, to protect the interests of their printers. A report prepared
for Cosmo by the jurist Livio Torelli stated that the execution of the
papal decree would bring upon Florence an immediate loss in property of
100,000 ducats, and would cause the ruin of the printer-publishers and
booksellers whose business was of increasing importance to the city;
while it would also call for the destruction of the supplies of Bibles
and classics and of other valuable literature which had been produced
for Italian scholars by the printers of Germany and of France. Under
pressure from the Cardinal of Alessandria, the Duke finally ordered the
burning of all books which were opposed to religion and of those having
to do with magic and astrology, which order was duly carried out on the
8th of March on the Piazza San Giovanni. The Duke refused to permit the
destruction of books outside of those two classes, and (as patron of
the monastery) prohibited the monks of San Marco, who wanted to carry
out the decree in full, from burning any of the volumes presented by
his predecessors to the library of the monastery. Outside of Italy,
excepting in the town of Avignon, very little attempt was made to put
into force the provisions of the Index. In Spain, it was never brought
into print. In France, the application for a privilege to print was
referred to a committee of doctors of the Sorbonne, and from this
committee no report appears to have been made. Arias Montanus writes
November 16, 1571: “This Index has caused indignation to all scholars,
and not only in France and in Spain, but in many portions of Italy,
they decline to respect its injunctions.”[127] Even in the preface to
the Index of Trent, it is noted that the Index of Paul IV had failed
to secure acceptance in many provinces because it included in its lists
of prohibited books many whose use was essential for scholars. In
several respects, the framers of the Index of Trent, which became the
authority for the Church, found occasion to modify and to mitigate the
sweeping severity of the provisions of the Index of Paul, while Valdes,
Inquisitor-General of Spain, refused to permit these provisions to be
put into force within that kingdom. It is evident that the officials
who had, under the instructions of Paul, compiled this first Roman
Index were considered by many of their contemporaries, as well as by
their successors, to have done their work in too sweeping a fashion,
and with an ignorance, or a disregard of, the legitimate requirements
of scholars in good standing within the Church, who had a just claim to
consideration.
A repeated complaint on the part of the critics of the censorship
operations under Paul IV was the ignorance and the heedlessness of the
examiners who had in their hands the responsibility for passing upon
the works of scholars. The books of the great leaders of thought were,
it was charged, placed under the control of ignorance and mediocrity.
The work of a learned commentator of St. Chrysostom or of the Psalmist
was to be condemned by examiners who had no knowledge either of Greek
or of Hebrew. Under such a system, it might still be possible for
scholars to carry on their researches with a patience adequate for the
production of compilations, but it was not possible to preserve for
original thinkers the serenity of soul and the independence of spirit
required for the production of really great works.