Writing, London, and the Bishops’ Ban of 1599

Last month Ana Vadillo gave an informative talk about Alice Meynell's captivating book London Impressions. This month we are pleased to announce that the group will be delving into the literature of early modern London for the first time. Dr Adam Hansen will introduce a session which looks at a number of texts which were proscribed by the Bishop's Ban of 1599. This event will take place at Senate House Room 234 on Tuesday 15th April 6.00-7.30pm.

Writing, London, and the Bishops’ Ban of 1599

In June 1599, the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, and the Archbishop of London, Richard Bancroft, ordered a range of texts to be confiscated and burned. Why? Censorship had always conditioned early modern authors’ work, but this was an unusual step. Many of the texts proscribed were satires: was writers’ railing and vituperation getting too much? Many of the texts were explicit in their discussions of sexual and social relations: were they too explicit? Many readers at the end of the century recognised they were living through cuspy, liminal, and ‘interesting’ times, centred on a capital barely accommodating an ageing, heirless monarch, restless nobles, and new cultural forces (like the theatre) whose full potential was as yet unknown. Was enough enough?