International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

The English word “censorship” is derived from the root cense from the Latin censure: to estimate, rate, assess, judge. Censor was a title given to two magistrates in ancient Rome who were responsible for administering the census, and supervising public morals. When the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire, the church assumed primary responsibility for → censorship.The early church used its censorial authority to establish orthodoxy and condemn heresy. Written scripture codified the tenets of the Christian faith and secured the church's earthly authority, but the clergy possessed a monopoly over interpretation of the sacred text. Instruction of the laity was almost exclusively oral: with few exceptions, only those entering the priesthood had advanced levels of education and access to reading materials, which were stored in monasteries during the manuscript period. The church began cataloguing forbidden texts as early as the second century; however the development of the Gutenberg press in the fifteenth century posed a profound challenge to church authority. Print facilitated the spread of heterodox ideas, especially Protestant reform. The church responded by establishing an elaborate administrative system of prior censorship, requiring a license to publish (an imprimatur), and certification that a book had been inspected by a local Ordinary, usually the bishop. The church published ... log in or subscribe to read full text