COM 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Blasphemous Libel, Obscene Libel, Worshipful Company Of Stationers And Newspaper Makers
5 Apr 2017
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The age of reason: reviewing the past age, the age of faith left several legacies, some good some bad: The good: the reformation ended the agency of the church vis-a-vis the people, at least in protestant nations. It weakened the church"s political and spiritual power: liberty of the mind encouraged free and independent thinking. Who could communicate: members of parliament, but only while exercising their parliamentary duties. Expression limited to what was politically acceptable (more about this follows) Printing was limited to london, oxford, and finsbury. No house could be rented to a printer nor could any printing equipment be made without notice to the stationers company. Publication of scandalous and seditious material was prohibited. It"s about the matter, not necessarily the nature of the offense. An injurious assault on any prominent member of the court was considered and assault on the king himself.
