Control of religious printing in early Stuart England
Religious printing in Jacobean and Caroline England and the measures taken to regulate it have not generally been studied as a separate issue. Previous examinations of the control of print publication did not isolate religious works and suggested that even in the 1630's the mechanisms of press control were but intermittently and ineffectively applied. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the surviving evidence in an attempt to measure the effectiveness of press control over a period of four decades. For this reason samplings were made of the religious press for the years 1607, 1617, 1627 and 1637. Each of the four decadal chapters charts the development of press controls, but the main purpose is to compare texts. This comparison reveals that the licit first editions which contained evangelical Calvinist teachings of unconditional predestination, portrayals of the Pope as Antichrist, and strict sabbatarianism, among other views, accounted for 63% of the sample in 1607 and 71% in 1617, but were not present in the books surveyed for 1637. Thus the content of religious printing changed between the start and finish of the early Stuart period; while William Laud was archbishop of Canterbury, a shift in
Towers, Suellen Mutchow
Press control; Calvanist; Press; Licensing
Control of religious printing in early Stuart England. Religious printing in Jacobean and Caroline England and the measures taken to regulate it have not generally been studied as a separate issue. Previous examinations of the control of print publication did not isolate religious works and suggested that even in the 1630's the mechanisms of press control were but intermittently and ineffectively applied. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the surviving evidence in an attempt to measure the effectiveness of press control over a period of four decades. For this reason samplings were made of the religious press for the years 1607, 1617, 1627 and 1637. Each of the four decadal chapters charts the development of press controls, but the main purpose is to compare texts. This comparison reveals that the licit first editions which contained evangelical Calvinist teachings of unconditional predestination, portrayals of the Pope as Antichrist, and strict sabbatarianism, among other views, accounted for 63% of the sample in 1607 and 71% in 1617, but were not present in the books surveyed for 1637. Thus the content of religious printing changed between the start and finish of the early Stuart period; while William Laud was archbishop of Canterbury, a shift in
control religious print early_stuart england religious print jacobean caroline england measure_take regulate generally study separate issue previous examination control print publication isolate religious work suggest even mechanisms press control intermittently apply purpose investigation examine survive_evidence attempt measure effectiveness press control period reason sampling make religious press chart_development press control main_purpose compare text comparison reveals first_edition contain evangelical calvinist teaching unconditional predestination portrayal pope strict among view account sample present book survey thus content religious printing change start finish early_stuart period william laud archbishop canterbury shift