Zensur in der frühen Reformationszeit

Against the backdrop of the late medieval development of book censorship in both canonical
and secular law following the invention of the printing press with movable metal type,
this article highlights the increasing importance of state regulation with the Reformation
era. Even leading representatives of the Wittenberg Reformation supported censorship
measures to suppress the opinions of opponents within their own camp. Using examples
from the imperial cities of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Strasbourg, a broad spectrum of
different approaches and levels of censorship are illustrated. The dynamic international
spread of Reformation literature is reflected clearly in censorship measures in Hanseatic
cities.