This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Government and the printing trade 1540-1560. Took, P. M The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 LC I Govrnrriont and the Printing Trade, 154D-1560. A Thesis subriitted by Patricia margaret Took, registered at King's College, London, for the (legree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London, 1978. (i (LOtHN. Abstract - Government and the Printing Traile, 1540-1560. P.m, Took. Chapter I is concerned with the legal framework within which printers and stationers operated. Thia includes not only legislation specifically introduced to govern the printing trade, but also the extension to printed books of existing prohibitions on slanderous, prophetic, treasonable or heretical utterances. It also discusses the consolidation of censoring powers within the Privy Council following the Proclamation of 1530. Chapter II contains a chronological account of relations between the government and the printers (a.) under Henry, with particular attention to the difficulties encountered by stationers after 1540, the rise of the political broadside, and the increase in imported propaganda,(b.) under Edward, discussing Somerset's liberalisation, the influx of foreign refugees, the vast increase in the number of books printed, particularly social and religious polemic, bills and ballads, and the reimposition of censorship. The confiscation of catholic service books under Northumberland is considered, and the abortive attempt of the catholic emigres to establish a counter propaganda. The religious commitment of the stationers is examined in detail, leading to a discussion of the effect upon the protestant printers of (c.) Mary's accession. Mary's success in silencing criticism is assessed, with its effects; the fall in book production, the operation of underground presses, the appearance of seditious pamphlets and the increase in imported polemic. The work of the Marian printers is examined, particularly service book production and the printing of catholic apologetics. Chapter III considers the role of patrons of the press, such as Cranner, Catherine Parr, and Somerset. The optimistic approach to the dissemination of books which characterised the evangelical, humanist tradition is discussed , and the deliberate use made of printers by Cro!wel1 and Cranmer is traced. In prticu1ar the use of patents and licenses to supply the Edwardian church with all necessary devotional aids is traced, and contrasted with the passive role adopted by rary's government, particularly after the death of Gardiner. I (ii) Contents Abstract page ii Preface iv Abbreviations V Chapter One: Legislation concerning the operation and output of the printing press 1 1 Trade Legislation 3 2 Slender and raise News 30 3 Treason 47 4 Prophecy and Diplomatic Questions 60 5 Heresy 65 Chapter Two: To what extent did the Covernoent succeed in controlling the Printers ? Henry VIII 1 Protestant Literature 87 2 Bills and Broadsides, 1540-1547 119 Edward VI 1 Somerset and the Press 134 2 Bills and Ballads, 1547-1552 150 3 Northumberland 163 4 Religious commitment among the Printers 184 mary i 1 The Purge of the Protestant Printers 224 2 Liturgical Productions 253 3 Seditious Literature 271 4 Book Smuggling 300 Chapter Three: Patrons and Censors 312 Appendix I: Sills in favour of the Duke of Somerset, October, 1549 336 Appendix II: Chronological table of foreign book workers in London 1541-1560 33V Appendix III: Craphe showing 1 The number of books known to have been print- ed in England 1540-1560 343 2 The number of Stationers known to have been active in London 1540-1560 345 3 The number of books known to have been printed abroad for the English Parket, 1540-1560 346 Appendix IV: Service Books Produced in England and abroad before 1558 347 Bibliography 349 (iii) Preface Evcr since John Foxe described the crucial role played by the printing press in the spread of' the reformation, historians of the sixteenth century have stressed the importance of printed propaganda and of the dissemination of the vernacular scriptures in shaping the religious development of' England. In recent times Professor A.G. Dickens dealt at some length with the subject in his cl,ssic work The English Reformation and theauthors and contents of propaganda tracts have been closely studied by Professcr W.K. Jordan, Professor L.P. Fairfield, Dr. D.ffl. Loades and others. But the part played by the printers themselves in the religious controversy has not, to my knowledge, been thoroughly investigated. In tackling this question for the years 1540-60 I have investigated, as far as surviving evidence permits, the extent and nature of religious corn- mitment among the printers, and the degree to which that commitment influenced the output of the presses. This led on to an examination, of the relationship between the printers and the government, and the extent to which successive governments controlled the stationers' activities. The main part of this thesis,(Chapter II), is taken up with a chronological account of the book trade and of the governments' attempts to control it. This chronological treatnerit avoids the repetition of political circumstances which would have been inevitable if different aspects of the trade had been treated seperataly, but in order to counter- balance the resulting length of the chapter I have subdivided it into the three reigns under consideration, and further broken it down into sections covering the main topics of interest in each of' the reigns. Although the years under discussion are 1540-60 it has been recessary to look briefly at the earlier part of Henry's reign to explain the situation inherited by government and stationers in 1540. The years 1558-60 are treated here as a postscript to mary's reign, the relationship between Elizabeth and the printers being too large a topic to cover. quotations are given throuahout with modern spelling and punctuation, except where the titles of' tracts and bills are concerned. Short Title Catalogue numbers have been used sparingly, because of possible changes still to take place when the Revised Catalogue is completed. Detailed bibliographical descriptions have had to be confined to a few pamphlets where such descriptions are particularly significant; the number of pamphlets under discussion would have made the thesis impossibly long if detailed desciptions had been given of' them all. I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound apprec- iation of the kindness and encouragement given to me in my work by my supervisor, the late Professor W.D.J. Cargill Thoripson. (iv) Abbreviations A.P.C. Acts of the Privy Council of England, ed. 3.R. Dasent, 1890-1907. Arber, Transcript. E.Arber, A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London,1554-1640, 1875-1894. B.. British museum. D.N.B. The Dictionary of National Biography. Dom. Cal. Calendar of State Papers (Domestic Series) 1547-1590, ed. R. Lemon, 1856. Duff, Century. C. Duff, A Century of the English Book Trade, 1457-1557, Bibliographical Society, 1905. E.H.R. English Historical Review. Foxe. The Acts and monuments, ed. 3. Pratt, 1877. Garrett. C. Garrett, The marian Exiles, Cambidge, 1938. Greyfriars. Creyfriars Chronicle, ed. J.C. Nichols, Camden Society, 1852. Hughes & Larkin. Tudor Royal Proclamations, ed. P.L.Hughes and 3.1. Larkin, New Haven and London, 1964. J.E.H. Journal of Ecclesiastical History L.& P. Letters and Papers, foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547, ad. Breier, Gairdner & Brodie, 1862-1920. machyn. The Diary of Henry machyn, ad. J.G. Nichols, Camden Society, 1848. muller. The Letters of Stephen Gardir,er, ed J.A. muller, Cambridge, 1933. N.O? R. Narratives of the Days of the Reformation, ed. ).C.Nichols, Camden Society, 1859. Nicolas P.C.P. Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, 1368-1542, ed. H. Nicolas, 1834-37. O.L. Original Letters relative to the English Reformation, ed. H. Robinson, Parker Society, Cambridge, 1856. P.R.0. Public Record Office. S .R. The Statutes of the Realm, 1810-1828. S.T.C. A Short-Title Catalogue of Books printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of English Books printed abroad, 1475-1540, ed. A.W. Pollard & G.R. Redgrave,l926. Scarisbrick. 3.3. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, 1968. Span. Cal. Calendar of State Papers, Spanish, ed. P. de Coyangos and others, 1862-1954. Strype, E.11. 3. Strype, Ecclaeiastica1 memorials, 1822. T.A. Typograhical Antiquities, ad. 3. Anes, J. Herbert, & 1. 1. Dibdin, L3l6. T.B.S. Transactions of the Bibliographical . Society. T.C.B.S.