Licensing Order of 1643
Encyclopedia
The Licensing Order of 1643 instituted pre-publication censorship
upon Parliamentary England
. Milton
's Areopagitica
was written specifically against this Act.
in July 1641, which led to the de facto cessation of censorship.
(For background information on the earlier censorship measures, see this online edition of Areopagitica.) http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=1224
The loosening of controls led to an immediate, dramatic rise in publishing. Between 1640 and 1660, at least 300 news publications were produced.
The abolition of the Star Chamber and the severe 1637 Star Chamber Decree, however, did not indicate Parliament's intention to permit freedom of speech and of the press; rather it indicated a desire on the part of Parliament to replace the Royal censorship machinery with its own.
Motivated by a desire to eliminate chaos and piracy in the printing industry, protect parliamentary activities and proceedings from its opponents, suppress royalist propaganda and check the widening currency of various sects’ radical ideas, Parliament
instituted a new state-controlled censoring apparatus in the Licensing Order of 16 June 1643.
The Licensing Order reintroduced almost all of the stringent censorship machinery of the 1637 Star Chamber Decree including:
The Stationers’ Company was given the responsibility of acting as censor, in return for a monopoly of the printing trade. http://www.ibas.re.kr/eng/journal/10-5.pdf
published the Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing.
After the Restoration of the monarchy in the 1660s, even tighter controls were imposed on the press. A single individual was given the authority to publish an official newspaper along with the responsibility of serving as censor for all other publications.
of 1688, William and Mary were invited to ascend the throne on the condition that they agree to the terms spelled out in the Declaration of Rights
. This came to be understood as part of the
British "constitution" that American patriots cited as the source of their own freedoms as "Englishmen."
The Licensing Order was allowed to lapse in 1694. Although most accounts stipulate that "the Licensing act expired in 1695," the "expiration" was not the result of a simple lapse of attention on the part of the government. Instead, the freedoms established by the Declaration of Rights created a more open society, and an explosion of print was the result. In England, the emergence of publications like the Tatler
and the Spectator
are given credit for creating a 'bourgeois public sphere' that allowed for a free exchange of ideas and information. In America, the end of the Licensing Act also sparked the creation of new publications and set the stage for the battle of words that would lead to the American Revolution
in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
upon Parliamentary England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Areopagitica
Areopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
was written specifically against this Act.
Abolition of the Star Chamber
Parliament abolished the Star ChamberStar Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
in July 1641, which led to the de facto cessation of censorship.
(For background information on the earlier censorship measures, see this online edition of Areopagitica.) http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=1224
The loosening of controls led to an immediate, dramatic rise in publishing. Between 1640 and 1660, at least 300 news publications were produced.
The Licensing Order of 1643
Motivated by a desire to eliminate chaos and piracy in the printing industry, protect parliamentary activities and proceedings from its opponents, suppress royalist propaganda and check the widening currency of various sects’ radical ideas, Parliament
instituted a new state-controlled censoring apparatus in the Licensing Order of 16 June 1643.
The Licensing Order reintroduced almost all of the stringent censorship machinery of the 1637 Star Chamber Decree including:
- pre-publication licensing
- registration of all printing materials with the names of author, printer and publisher in the Register at Stationers’ Hall
- search, seizure and destruction of any books offensive to the government
- arrest and imprisonment of any offensive writers, printers and publishers.
The Stationers’ Company was given the responsibility of acting as censor, in return for a monopoly of the printing trade. http://www.ibas.re.kr/eng/journal/10-5.pdf
Milton's Areopagitica
In protest, English poet and political writer, John MiltonJohn Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
published the Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing.
Censorship during the Restoration
After the Restoration of the monarchy in the 1660s, even tighter controls were imposed on the press. A single individual was given the authority to publish an official newspaper along with the responsibility of serving as censor for all other publications.
1694: the Licensing Order lapses
With the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688, William and Mary were invited to ascend the throne on the condition that they agree to the terms spelled out in the Declaration of Rights
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
. This came to be understood as part of the
British "constitution" that American patriots cited as the source of their own freedoms as "Englishmen."
The Licensing Order was allowed to lapse in 1694. Although most accounts stipulate that "the Licensing act expired in 1695," the "expiration" was not the result of a simple lapse of attention on the part of the government. Instead, the freedoms established by the Declaration of Rights created a more open society, and an explosion of print was the result. In England, the emergence of publications like the Tatler
Tatler
Tatler has been the name of several British journals and magazines, each of which has viewed itself as the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. The current incarnation, founded in 1901, is a glossy magazine published by Condé Nast Publications...
and the Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
are given credit for creating a 'bourgeois public sphere' that allowed for a free exchange of ideas and information. In America, the end of the Licensing Act also sparked the creation of new publications and set the stage for the battle of words that would lead to the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in the second half of the eighteenth century.