In 1559, the Roman Catholic Church drew up a list of prohibited books called the “index librorum prohibitorum”. in it, they named various scientific, philosophical, and literary works that were deemed too heretical or obscene to read.
For more than 400 years, the list was updated by different sacred congregations that meticulously reviewed controversial writings. ironically, banning books only makes people want to read them more. that is as true today as it was in the sixteenth century. In 1966, in an attempt to modernize the church, Pope Paul VI abolished the list.
You are reading: Catholic church banned books
so, since the inquisition won’t visit us for reading these works, here are five books the church didn’t want you to read.
Les Miserables was published in 1862 and is considered one of the most important literary works of the 19th century. Victor Hugo’s French historical novel examines politics, justice, religion, and romance through the events surrounding the June 1832 rebellion. The book allows the reader to join in the struggles and redemption of many characters, with particular significance to ex-convict jean valjean’s journey.
victor hugo’s work was sympathetic to anti-monarchist rebels in paris at the time. while church teaching does not necessarily prefer one form of government over the other, the French monarchs strongly supported the church. if the monarchy lost power, the church would probably lose influence. therefore, I guess they thought of it as a strategic move to ban the wretches.
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The story of this adventure novel takes place in France and Italy during the Bourbon Restoration era. features a man who, after being wrongfully imprisoned, escapes his sentence, acquires a fortune, and begins a revenge plot against those who imprisoned him. the piece explores themes of hope, justice, and mercy.
dumas work was included in the index for its obscenity, as it contained incidents of extramarital affairs and illegitimate birth. the censors probably didn’t like the count either. the character reasoned that he was the vessel of god’s will to carry out violent revenge on him.
Copernicus’s magnum opus, on the revolutions of the celestial spheres, offered proof that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around, as had previously been believed. ironically, he even wrote a dedication to the pope in his book when it was published in 1543.
It took almost a hundred years for the church to realize the heresy in the astronomer’s work. In 1633, the inquisitors condemned Galileo for “following the position of Copernicus, which is contrary to the true meaning and authority of the holy scriptures,” and promptly banned Copernicus’s book.
Apparently, believing that the sun was at the center of the universe contradicted the Bible, as in Joshua 10:10-15, where the prophet commanded the sun to stand still.
This novel is a little dearer to me because I grew up with its animated adaptation. the novel is not so child-friendly. The story follows the misfortunes of Quasimodo, a hunchbacked cathedral bell ringer, and the complicated web of love between other characters. he is madly in love with a friendly gypsy named esmeralda, who is in turn madly in love with someone else. throw in an archbishop obsessed with her too, and you have a recipe for disaster.
After its publication in 1834, the Catholic Church immediately banned reading the book because it was too sensual, lewd and sexy. the book also has some anticlerical comments, but the church did not explicitly mention these as reasons behind the ban.
Madame Bovary is a tragic story of marriage, disappointment, debt and extramarital affairs. It is argued that it is Flaubert’s best work for its ingenious use of irony to demonstrate harsh realities.
The novel centers on the exploits of Emma Bovary, a peasant girl who marries a boring doctor who doesn’t meet her expectations of intimacy. she then plunges into a hedonistic binge of illicit relationships and debt-fueled luxuries. The details of Emma’s reckless intimacies were so detailed for the time that conservatives sought to censor the book immediately.
After its publication in 1856, the French government prosecuted the author for violating obscenity laws. The trial ultimately ruled in favor of Flaubert, which increased interest in his work.
The controversial topics and descriptions made by Flaubert in Madame Bovary immediately caused the Church to include him in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. he remained there for more than a century until the church abolished the list in 1966.
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