Mind-Munitions

The Reformation and the War of Religious Ideas 101
and to pray to Him before and after their meals… whereupon he
would ask the poor peasants if they would not like him to pray to God
for them. Some were greatly comforted and edified by this, others were
astounded at hearing unfamiliar things; some molested him, because
he showed them that they were on the path to damnation if they did
not believe in the Gospel.
Such activities helped to spread the ‘Lutheran contagion’ out from
such centres as Lyon and Paris throughout France and which manifested
itself in the smashing of religious statues, the spoiling of
church icons, and finally in the French wars of religion (1559-98).
The Catholic reaction, spearheaded by such propagandists as
John Eck and Frederick Nausea, was backed up with a degree of
reform that ultimately became the Counter-Reformation. But the
papacy was not content to rely solely upon positive methods of
propaganda. It also recognized the value of censorship. Many
individual books were condemned and in 1527, Pope Clement VII
issued a bull attacking heretical works and their readers. The first
list of prohibited books in England was issued in 1529, to be
followed a year later by a licensing system (whilst still a Catholic,
Henry VIII burned Luther’s works in 1531). In 1559 the Papacy
issued an Index of Prohibited Books. As John Foxe wrote, ‘either
the pope must abolish knowledge and printing or printing must at
length root him out’. But prohibition and repression failed to stem
the Protestant tide; actions tend to speak louder than words
(provided they can be publicized sufficiently) and it was only with
the reforms laid down by the Council of Trent (1545-63) that the
Catholic Church was able to lay the foundations for an attempt to
regain its supremacy.