Ranke, L., Die Römischen Päpste, ihre Kirche und ihr Staat, im XVIten und XVIIten Jahrhundert, printed in 1835, prohibited in 1841.
Hume, David, History of England, printed in 1761, prohibited in 1823.
Robertson, William, History of Charles the Fifth, printed in 1762, prohibited (in a French edition) in 1777.
Goldsmith, Oliver, History of England, printed in 1770, prohibited (in an Italian edition), with a d.c., 1823.
Roscoe, William, Biography of Leo X, printed 1805, prohibited, in both the English and Italian versions, in 1825.
Hallam, Henry, View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, printed in 1818, prohibited (in the Italian edition) in 1833. Constitutional History of England, printed in 1824, prohibited 1827.
Beugnot, A., Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme en Occident, printed in 1835, prohibited in 1837.
Sismondi, J. C. L. S. de, Histoire du Moyen-Age, printed in 1812, prohibited in 1817. The prohibition covers, however, only the first eleven volumes. The sixteenth volume, which contains the noteworthy chapter on the pernicious effects produced on Italy by the casuistical morality of the Church of Rome, escaped condemnation.
Gregorovius, Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, printed in 1859–1873, condemned in 1874, both in the German original and in the Italian version.
Mignet, F. A., Histoire de la Révolution Française, printed in 1824, prohibited 1825.
Ségur, Comte de, Galerie Morale et Politique, printed in 1817–1823, prohibited 1826.
Jobez, Alph., La France sous Louis XV, printed 1865–1867, prohibited 1868.
Le Bas, Phil., L’Univers Pittoresque, printed in 1851, prohibited in 1853. The reprehensible chapters in this descriptive work were those giving an account of the religions of the world.
Munks, La Palestine, Description géographique, historique, et archéologique, printed 1845, prohibited in 1853.
Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la France, edited by Le Bas and Rénier, printed, in twelve volumes, 1840–1845, prohibited (in a separate decree) in 1853.
The prohibitions of this period include a long series of French, German, and Italian encyclopaedias, universal dictionaries, gazetteers, etc., in addition to those specified.
Lalande, J. L. de, Voyage en Italie, printed in 1769, prohibited in 1820. It is possible that one reason for placing on the Index, so many years after the date of its appearance, this particular book was the association at a later date by the author with the Dictionnaire des Athées which was compiled by Maréchal. This latter work, however, curiously escapes the attention of the Index compilers.
Didier, Ch., Rome souterraine, printed in 1833, prohibited in 1835. It is proper to point out that this work has to do, not with the Catacombs, but with the secret societies of Rome.
Viardot, Louis, Les Musées d’Italie, printed in 1842, prohibited in 1865. A later work by this author on the Jesuits, the bishops, and the pope, apparently much more serious in its subject-matter, escapes attention.
Ciocci, Raffaelle, A Narrative of Iniquities and Barbarities practised at Rome in the 19th Century, printed (in a French version) in 1841, prohibited in 1845. The author was formerly a Cistercian and had been librarian of the papal College of San Bernardo. It is not surprising that his work failed to secure the approval of the Roman authorities.
La Châtre, Maurice, Histoire des Papes; Les Crimes, Meurtres ... des Pontifes Romains, depuis S. Pierre jusqu’ à Gregoire XVI, printed in 1842–1845, prohibited in 1848.
Among the noteworthy works under the heading of general literature may be cited the following:
Sue, Eugene, Mystères de Paris, printed in 1843, prohibited in 1852; Le Juif Errant, printed in 1845, prohibited in 1852. Later in the same year, Sue’s name was placed upon the Index connected with the term Opera omnia. In 1864, the list of French authors all of whose works were prohibited includes the following names: Balzac, Champfleury, Dumas the elder and Dumas the younger, Feydeau, Murger, Sand, Soulié, and Stendhal. The name of Flaubert appears in the same year in connection with two only of his romances. The volume of the Abbé Michon, published anonymously under the title Le Maudit, was prohibited in the year of its publication, 1864, and the later volumes issued as by the author of Le Maudit were prohibited as they appeared. Since 1864, the compilers of the Index have given comparatively little attention to French fiction.
In 1834, the Chansons of Béranger were prohibited. Some of these had been printed as far back as 1815. Additional titles from French literature are as follows:
Lamartine, Alph. de, Souvenirs d’un Voyage en Orient, printed in 1835, prohibited in 1836.
Hugo, Victor, Notre Dame de Paris, printed in 1831, prohibited in 1834; Les Misérables, printed in 1836, prohibited in 1864.
The famous volumes by Ferd. Fabre, Lucifer and L’Abbé Grand, curiously enough escape condemnation.
The selections of this period from German literature are inconsiderable. They include:
Lessing, Erziehung des Menschen-geschlechts, prohibited 1835.
Heine, H., Reisebilder, printed in 1834, prohibited in 1836; De la France, printed in 1833, prohibited in 1836; De l’Allemagne, printed in 1835, prohibited 1836; Gedichte, printed in 1844, prohibited in 1845.
In 1855, Mrs. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was prohibited, under some special instruction, as far as its sale in the papal States was concerned. The title does not find place in the Index.
The small group of Spanish and Portuguese works includes the following titles:
Torres, Quentos en verso Castilano del Remédo de la Melencholia, prohibited 1824.
Tressera, El Judio Errante, prohibited 1864.
The long series of anti-clerical romances by Benito, Perez, and Galdós escape condemnation.
Stockler, Poezias Liricas, printed in 1820, prohibited in 1836.
The Italian list includes:
Foscolo, Ugo, translation of Sterne’s Sentimental Journey, printed in 1817, prohibited in 1819; La Commedia di Dante, illustrated, printed in 1830, prohibited in 1845.
Zaccheroni, G., an edition of Dante’s Inferno with notes, printed in 1838, prohibited (as far as the introduction and the notes are concerned) by the Inquisition in 1840. The larger number of the commentaries on Dante are condemned as printed.
Guerrazzi, Dom., L’Assedio di Firenze, printed in 1830, prohibited in 1837. His later romances, Isabella Orsini and Beatrice Cenci, were prohibited promptly on publication, the former in 1844, the latter in 1854.
Niccolini, G. B., Arnaldo da Brescia, printed in 1844, prohibited the same year.
Bossie, Conte Luigi, Della Istoria d’Italia Antica e Moderna, printed in Milan, 1819–1822, in nineteen volumes, prohibited in 1824. The same author produced a translation of Roscoe’s Life of Leo X, which was promptly condemned some twenty years after the prohibition of the same work in the original.
Botta, Carlo, Storia d’Italia del 1729 al 1814, ten volumes, printed in 1824, prohibited in 1826. Botta had gained the name of “the Italian Tacitus.” His son, Vincenzo Botta, was well known in New York as a man of letters, between the years 1850 (he was one of the exiles of ’48) and 1880.
Rossetti, Gabrielle, Sullo Spirito anti-Papale, etc., printed in 1832, prohibited 1833; Iddio a l’Uomo, printed in 1836, prohibited 1837.
The Spanish and Portuguese group of general literature of this period includes the following titles:
Llorente, J. A., Histoire Critique de l’Inquisition de l’Espagne, printed in Paris in 1820, prohibited in 1822. The author, who was the Secretary-General of the Inquisition, had been banished from Spain in 1812. His history, written in Spanish, was translated under his own supervision.
Historia Completa des Inquisiçoes de Italia, Hispagnia e Portugal, printed (anonymously) in 1822, prohibited in 1825. This is probably a translation of the Histoire de l’Inquisition of Lavalée printed in Paris in 1809, and prohibited in 1819. The histories of the Inquisition, whether written from the Dominican point of view or from that of their opponents, found their way in great part into the Index.
26. The Synod of Pistoja, 1786.—In 1794, the conclusions arrived at by the Diocesan Synod held at Pistoja at the instance of Bishop Ricci, were condemned by the Bull Auctorem Fidei of Pius VI. In this Bull, were censured specifically eighty-five propositions. The Pope condemns and prohibits, under penalty of excommunication, the printing, distribution, or reading of any editions or translations of the acts of the synod and of all works written in defence of these acts. It is doubtless through oversight that this very sweeping condemnation does not find place in the Index. Certain publications reporting the conclusions of the synod had been already specifically prohibited; while certain further works, the subjects of which were connected with the issues raised by the synod, were prohibited in later years, in certain instances as late as 1817. For these later prohibitions, the statement was added that the works were already condemned under the Bull Auctorem Fidei.
27. The Festival of the Heart of Jesus.—In 1697 and again in 1729, the Congregation of Rites recalled the authorisation for a specific office for the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and in 1704, was prohibited the treatise by the Jesuit Croiset, written in defence of this office. Under Clement XIII in 1765, the office was again authorised, and under Pius IX, the festival in honour of the Heart of Jesus was made a general usage. This special act of adoration had originated with the Jesuits; those who opposed it were classed as Jansenists. The office came, however, into question with a good many Churchmen other than Ricci and his friends; and a number of the most important of the treatises written against it were published under Clement XIV in Rome.
28. Theological Writings of French, German, and English Catholics, 1758–1800.—But one important work of theology printed in France, Theologia Lugdunensis, came upon the Index during the last decade of the 18th century. From England, the single title of the same period covers a book of worship, and from Germany, were prohibited, in addition to the writings already referred to, a volume by Isenbiehl and several treatises by Stättler, Meyer, and Oberrauch. During these years, were published in England a number of works by Catholic authors which had to do with the controversies of the time, such as the Oath of Allegiance, the re-institution of the hierarchy of bishops, etc., but no one of these writings is recorded in the Index. The single English work above referred to was published in London, in 1767, under the title The Catholik Christians’ New Universal Manual, being a true spiritual guide for those who ardently aspire to salvation. The book contains the entry, Permissu superiorum, which did not prevent its prohibition in 1770. On the other hand, the writings of Charles Dodd, J. Berington, Alexander Geddes, George Cooper, and Bishop Butler, the teachings of which would hardly have met the approval of the Holy See, escaped condemnation.
29. The French Revolution.—The Constitution Civile of the clergy, framed in 1780, and the Defence of the same issued a year later by the so-called Constitutional Bishops, were promptly condemned by briefs of Pius VI, but they do not find place in the Index. The acts of the national councils of 1797 and 1801 were condemned in like manner but these titles also escaped the attention of the Index compilers. The practice on the part of the Index editors in regard to the recording of legislative acts appears not to have been consistent. In 1817, for instance, a collection of the acts and declarations of the Italian bishops and chapters, which had been printed in 1811, was placed upon the Index although the subscribers and compilers of the same had made recantation of the opinions expressed.
The long series of revolutionary writings and of anti-Church writings which came into print in France after 1789 were in large part recorded by the Spanish Inquisition but in the Roman Indexes are represented by only a few titles.
In July, 1797, the Congregation of the Index publishes its last decree for the century. The authors whose books are condemned include Stättler, Oberrauch, Tamburini, and Zola; in addition to these, there is a series of German theological and juristical theses which the students of Freiburg had defended between the years 1786 and 1794. The last work prohibited by the Inquisition during the 18th century is a treatise by Guadagnini.
The first prohibition of the 19th century condemns a monograph by a Greek theologian, printed in Corfu in 1800. The Congregation of the Index resumed its activities in 1804 after a suspension of more than seven years. In decrees issued in 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1808 were condemned a number of French and Italian writings that had to do with the Revolution. The imprisonment in June, 1809, of Pius VII again brought to a close the operations of the Roman Congregations. The Pope returned to Rome in May, 1814, and in August, 1815, the Inquisition resumed its supervision of literature. The work of the Congregation of the Index was, however, not taken up till January, 1817. In this year, a list of prohibitions was issued covering a number of works that had been published in France and in Italy between 1796 and 1815.
The two briefs that Pius VI had issued in March and in April, 1781, for the condemnation of the so-called Civil Constitution of the French clergy, were declared by the “constitutional” party in the Church to be apocryphal. It was pointed out that the second brief, while dated in Rome, April 13th, was distributed in Paris April 14th, from which detail, it came to be known as the “Miraculous Brief.” In a brief issued in 1792, the Pope calls attention to this statement as one of the insults coming from France. The Index of 1806 contains, printed as an appendix, a list of the books prohibited from 1804 to 1806. The more important names in this list are those of Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Mirabeau, Dulaurens, and La Fontaine.
30. The French Concordat of 1801.—In August, 1801, a Bull of Pius VII records the provisions of the Concordat that had been arrived at between Napoleon and himself. Under the Concordat, the number of the French bishoprics was reduced from a hundred and fifty-six to sixty and a new division of the dioceses was provided for. In a brief bearing the same date, the Pope calls for the resignation of all the French bishops, and in November of 1801, he issues a second Bull, declaring those bishops who had not resigned to be deposed, and fixing the limits of the new bishoprics. In 1803, thirty-six bishops present a protest against these regulations. This protest was widely circulated and served as the text for a long series of monographs in which were brought into discussion various questions relating to the Concordat. In 1817, a second Concordat was put into force between the Papacy and Louis XVIII. In 1822, a long series of writings which took ground against the authority of this Concordat were placed upon the Index.
31. Protestant Theological Writings, 1750–1884.—The selections for condemnation, in the last years of the 18th century and during the first half of the 19th century, of works by Protestant theologians appears to have been made with no greater consistency and with no more assured principles than had been apparent in the selection of Protestant writings of an earlier date. The following titles may be noted:
Michaelis, J. D., Introduction to the New Testament, published in 1750, condemned in 1827.
Strauss, The Life of Jesus (Das Leben Jesu), published in 1835, prohibited 1838.
Bauer, Streit der Kritik mit Kirche und Staat, published in 1844, prohibited in 1845.
Bunsen, Hippolytus and his Age, published 1852, prohibited 1854.
Maurice, F. D., Theological Essays, published 1854, prohibited 1854 (the entry in the Index is under the word “Denison”).
Stroud, The Physical Causes of the Death of Christ, published 1847, prohibited 1878.
Morgan, Lady, Italy, prohibited 1822.
Waldie, Rome in the Nineteenth Century, published 1820, prohibited 1826.
Blunt, James, Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs in Modern Italy and Sicily, published 1823, prohibited 1827. The difficulty with Mr. Blunt’s treatise was the connection made by him between certain ceremonies and practices of the Roman Church and the earlier Pagan usages.
Seymour, Hobart, A Pilgrimage to Rome, printed 1851, prohibited 1851. The title is entered under “Pilgrimage.”
Whately, Archbishop, Introductory Lessons on Christian Evidences, an Italian version printed in 1850 and prohibited in the same year.
The treatise by John Poynde, Popery in Alliance with Heathenism, the publication of which (in 1835) brought out some sharp controversial letters from Wiseman, escaped the attention of the Index compilers.
The more noteworthy of the French titles in the Indexes of this period are the following:
Bruitte, Edouard, abbé and professor of philosophy, Mes Adieux à Rome, published in 1844, prohibited in 1844.
Mourette, Le Pape et l’Évangile, published in 1844, prohibited in 1845. This latter was also prohibited in Paris.
Coquerel, Athanase, (†1868), Le Christianisme experimental, published in 1847, prohibited in 1850. No other of the series of writings by this famous Protestant preacher nor any of those of his son, Athanase Josue, find place in the Index.
Bugnoin, T. R., Catéchisme de l’Église du Seigneur, published in 1862, prohibited in 1863.
Martig, Emm., Manuel d’Histoire religieuse a l’Usage des Écoles, published at Geneva in 1877, prohibited in 1878.
D’Aubigné, l’Histoire de la Réforme du Seizième Siècle, printed, in an Italian edition, in 1847, prohibited in 1852.
The list of Italian and Spanish publications contains few names that would be familiar to English readers.
Bianchi, Angiolo, Biographia di Fra Paolo Sarpi, printed (in Brussels) in 1836, prohibited in 1844; Del Pontificato di S. Gregorio il grande, printed (in Milan) in 1844, prohibited in 1853.
Boni, Filippo de, Del Papato, printed in 1850, prohibited in 1852.
Castro, Adolpho de, Historia des los Protestantes Españoles, printed in 1851, prohibited in the same year.
32. Writings concerning the Eastern Church.—The larger number of the works under this heading the titles of which come into the Index of the 19th century, are the production of the “United Armenians.” The addition of a group of monographs by Polish writers is doubtless due to the fact that during the reign of Pius IX, the consultor of the Congregation was a Pole, Peter Semenenko. The Bull issued by Pius IX in July, 1867, under the title of Reversurus, in which it had been ordered that the procedure of worship of the Armenians should be reconstituted, resulted in a schism in this division of the Church. Between the years 1872 and 1873, three monographs by Ormanian and one by Casangian, written in opposition to this Bull, are placed upon the Index. The list also includes the following:
Pichler, A., Die kirchliche Trennung zwischen Orient und Occident.
The Greek Church of Russia is represented in the Index of this time by but one or two titles:
Tolstoy, Dimitri, Le Catholicisme Romain ou Russe, published in 1864, prohibited in 1866. This work stands in the Index under the entry “Dimitri.” The entry is connected with the reference Opus praedamnatum ex reg. II. ind. This entry indicates that, prior to 1870, the Russians were already classed as heretics.
Pociej, Joh. (Chancellor of the Cathedral at Chelm), O Jezusie Chrystusie (a study of the record of the early Christians), printed in 1852 (with the approval of the Church authorities at Warsaw), prohibited in 1857.
The record of the proceedings of a Synod of Melchites, held in 1810, in Beyrout, with the approval of the papal delegate, Gandolfi, was condemned in 1835 by a brief of Gregory XVI. The record had been printed in Arabic and was not likely therefore to have secured an extended circulation in Catholic States.
In 1851, was prohibited an Italian version of the Critical History of the Greek and Russian Church by Josef Schmitt, which had been published in Mayence in 1840. In 1868, was prohibited a work by the English writer, Edmund S. Ffoulkes, which had been published in London in 1865 under the title, Christendom’s Divisions, a Philosophical Sketch of the Divisions of the Christian Family in East and West. The work had been sharply criticised by Manning, but it does not appear that Manning had made any formal denunciation of the same to Rome.
33. The Theologians of Pavia, 1774–1790.—In 1774, the Austrian Government instituted a theological faculty in the University of Pavia. In 1783, the Emperor Joseph II transferred to Pavia, for use in the newly instituted Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum, the collections belonging to the old Collegium Germanicum of Milan. The divines of the theological faculty of Pavia came to be classed as Jansenists. The classification appears to have been based not so much upon their teaching of the Augustinian doctrine of Grace as upon their own sharp antagonism to the theories and practices of the Jesuits. These divines contended openly that the so-called Jansenist heresy was a phantom, and they also undertook the defence of the Church of Utrecht. They were, further, opponents of the doctrines taught by the Jesuits in regard to morality; they were in sympathy with the claims of the Gallican Church, and, finally, they maintained stoutly the necessity for reforms within the Catholic Church on the lines indicated by the Synod of Pistoja. In the years succeeding 1781, were placed upon the Index the titles of a number of writings by these theologians and by others who had accepted their views. Among these writers may be mentioned the following: Pietro Tamburini, Giuseppe Zola, Count Th. Trautmannsdorf, Canon Litta, and G. B. Guadagnini. The treatise by Trautmannsdorf on Toleration, condemned in 1783, the author found desirable to disavow in order to secure his appointment as bishop.
34. French, Dutch, and English Writings, 1817–1880.—In 1825, a report was laid before the French Minister of the Interior concerning certain writings classed as irreligious or immoral which had been published between the years 1817 and 1824. The list included various editions of the complete works of Voltaire and of Rousseau, together with a number of issues of their separate volumes. There were no less than eight editions of the Système de la Nature, by d’Holbach, and four of the Lettres Persanes. It was complained that these pernicious books were being sold so cheaply that they were brought within the reach of the masses of the people and were bringing about widespread evil. The Tartuffe of Molière, sold for five sous, had at once reached a sale of one hundred thousand copies. In 1821, Étienne Antoine, Bishop of Troyes, in a pastoral letter writes: “We renew all the censorship orders issued, between the years 1782 and 1785, by the clergy of France, and the individual orders issued by the archbishops of Paris, in which these works were condemned as godless and sacrilegious, and as tending to undermine morals and the State. We prohibit, under the canonical law, the printing or sale of these books within the territory of this diocese, and we charge the vicar-generals to enforce this regulation and to see to the carrying out of the necessary penances for all who make confession of disobedience to these regulations.” The authority of the Church of France appears to have been considered as sufficient for the control of the matter. No application was made to have these books again placed upon the Index.
Dupuis, Ch. Fr., Origine de tous les Cultes, printed 1794, prohibited, 1818. An abridgment of this work, printed in 1798 and reprinted in a number of editions thereafter, escaped condemnation.
Volney, J. F., Les Ruines ou Méditations sur les Révolutions des Empires, printed in 1799, prohibited in 1821. This book was also strongly condemned in the Spanish Indexes. An Italian translation, printed in 1849, escaped the Index.
Pigault, Le Brun, Le Citateur, printed in 1803, prohibited in 1820. This work contains some bitter assaults on the Bible and on the dogmas of Christianity. Reiffenberg states that, in 1811, Napoleon, in a state of irritation with a brief of Pius VII, gave instructions for the distribution to the public, free or at a nominal price, of ten thousand copies of Le Citateur, but there is no record that these instructions were carried out. A Spanish version of the book, printed in London in 1816, was prohibited in Spain in 1819.
Essai historique sur la Puissance temporelle des Papes, printed in Paris in 1818, prohibited in 1823. No author’s name is connected with any of the several editions of this treatise, but the introduction to the original issue states that the work was translated from a Spanish manuscript found at Saragossa.
After the Restoration, negotiations were in train during a series of years for a modification of the provisions of the Concordat of 1801. A series of controversial publications bearing upon the Concordat were placed upon the Index as they appeared.
Constant, Benjamin, De la Religion Considerée dans sa Source, etc., printed in 1824–1831, in five volumes, prohibited in 1827.
Gandolphy, Peter, A Defence of the Ancient Faith, or Exposition of the Christian Religion, printed (in London) in 1813, prohibited in 1818. Gandolphy was a priest of the Catholic Church and at the time of this publication had charge of the Spanish Chapel in London. The book had been promptly condemned by Pointer, Apostolic Vicar in London. Gandolphy journeyed to Rome and succeeded in securing for his book the approval of the master of the palace and a certificate giving him the authority to state that his book had been approved by the Holy See. On the strength of this certificate, he placed copies again on sale. Pointer secured from the Inquisition instructions to confirm the prohibition, and as this was still ignored by Gandolphy, the latter was suspended. After some years of controversy, the difficulty was finally adjusted by the correction of the text according to the specifications of Pointer.
Earle, Charles J., The Forty Days, or Christ between His Resurrection and Ascension and The Spiritual Body. These were printed in 1876 and 1878 and were prohibited in 1880. Earle had in 1851 been converted to Romanism.
In 1857, an association was instituted in England “for the promotion of the unity of Christendom.” Its special purpose was to bring together the members of the Catholic, the Greek, and the English Churches. The members of the society accepted the obligation to make a daily prayer to this end. Cardinal Patrizzi declared in the name of the Inquisition, in a letter addressed, September, 1864, to the English bishops, that Catholics were forbidden to take part in this association. In 1866, Archbishop Manning confirmed this prohibition. Patrizzi had condemned in his first letter the Union Review, which was the organ of the society, but the Review was not placed on the Index. A series of essays on the reunion of Christendom, written by members of the society, and edited by F. G. Lee, was placed on the Index in 1867.
35. Writings of German Catholics, 1814–1870.—During the 19th century, were placed upon the Index a larger proportion than in the earlier period of the writings of the Catholics of Germany, but the selection of the works so distinguished appears as heretofore to have been arrived at with no very definite policy or principle. It is evident that the books were not selected on the ground either of their relative heresy, of their scholarly importance, or of their popular influence. It seems probable that the condemnation of any particular work was dependent upon the accident of its title being brought to the attention of the Congregation. The names of a few of the more noteworthy authors in the list are specified below.
Wessenberg, Vicar-General of Constance, Die deutsche Kirche, printed in 1806, condemned by a brief of Pius VII, in 1814.
Dannemayer, Institutiones Historiae Ecclesiasticae, printed (in Vienna) in 1780, prohibited in 1820.
Rechberger, Enchiridion Juris Eccles. Austriaci, printed in 1809, prohibited in 1819.
Reyberger, Institutiones Ethicae Christ., printed in 1805–9, prohibited 1834.
Bolzano Bernhard (professor of geology in Prague), Stunden der Andacht, printed in 1813, prohibited in 1828. It was largely on the ground of this work, which was published anonymously, that Bolzano was deposed from his professorship. Lehrbuch der Religions-Wissenschaft, printed in 1813, prohibited 1838.
Brendel, Sabold, professor of law in Würzburg, Handbuch des kath. und protest. Kirchenrechts, etc., printed in 1823, prohibited in 1824. Brendel retained his professorship but was later ordered to give up instruction in canon law.
Theiner, Anton., Die katholische Kirche in Schlesien (published anonymously), printed in 1826, prohibited the same year.
Müller, Alexander, Handbuch des kath. und protest. Kirchenrechts, printed 1829–1832, prohibited in 1833. It would appear that very few of the treatises on canon law or ecclesiastical jurisprudence were so written as to meet the approval of the Index authorities.
Hirscher, J. B., a treatise on the mass, entitled Missae Genuinam Notionem Eruere, etc., printed in 1821, prohibited in 1823.
Drey, G. S. von, a treatise on confession, entitled Diss. Hist. theol. Originem et Vicissitudinem, etc., printed, in 1815, prohibited in 1823.
Gehringer, Liturgik und Theorie der Seelsorge, printed in 1848, prohibited in 1850.
Hermes, George, Die philosophische Einleitung in die christ. katholische Theologie, printed in 1819, prohibited in 1831. The other writings by this author, together with a long series of treatises by his followers, were for the most part prohibited. It was contended by the Hermessians, as it had formerly been contended by the Jansenists, that the specific errors on the ground of which the condemnations had been arrived at did not as a matter of fact exist in the writings of Hermes. In May, 1837, six years after the death of Hermes, Professors Braun and Elvenich journeyed to Rome for the purpose of securing a fresh examination of the works of Hermes and of establishing their orthodoxy, but after a series of conferences, they failed to secure the recall of condemnation.
Günther, A., Peregrins Gastmahl, Janusköpfe für Philosophie und Theologie, and a group of similar writings published between 1830 and 1843, were condemned together in 1857. The Congregation of the Index began in 1851 to give special attention to Günther. In 1852, instructions were given by Pius IX to the bishop of Wurzburg to prohibit the teaching of the theories that had become known as the philosophy of Günther.
Trebisch, Leop. (classed as a follower of Günther), Die christliche Weltanschauung in ihrer Bedeutung für Wissenschaft und Leben, printed in 1858, prohibited in 1859.
Frohschammer, J., Ueber den Ursprung der menschlichen Seelen, printed in 1854, prohibited in 1857. The work of Frohschammer was brought upon the Index by the influence of the Jesuit Kleutgen. It is recorded that the secretary of the Congregation asked Dr. Döllinger, who was at the time in Rome, to induce Frohschammer to submit himself and to recall his treatise, but no such action was taken by the author. His later treatises, Einleitung in die Philosophie, Der Grundriss der Metaphysik, and Ueber die Freiheit der Wissenschaft, were prohibited together in 1862. He was suspended from his functions in 1863, and in 1871, placed under excommunication. In the introduction to the papal brief of 1863, Pius writes that he had learned with great sorrow that a number of the theologians and instructors in philosophy having chairs in the Catholic institutions of Germany had permitted themselves to bring into their teachings an unwarranted license of thought and of expression. The works through which these teachings were distributed to the general public were in many cases carrying most pernicious errors. These works, in so far as they had been examined and reported upon, the Pope had therefore ordered to be placed on the Index.
Oischinger, Paul J. N., who appears to have belonged to the same theological group with Frohschammer, is recorded as the author of a long series of philosophical works, only one of which was placed upon the Index: Die spekulative Theologie des H. Thomas von Aquin, printed in 1859, prohibited in 1859. Oischinger maintains that Thomas had wrongly comprehended a number of the most important divisions of the dogma of the Church.
Pichler, Aloys, Geschichte der kirklichen Trennung zwischen dem Orient und Occident, printed in 1865, prohibited in 1866. Die Theologie des Leibnitz, printed in 1869, prohibited in 1870.
36. La Mennais.—The writings of Abbé La Mennais had, even before 1830, brought out in France some measure of criticism. They had, however, secured the approval of Leo XII. After the Revolution of July, 1830, the opinions of La Mennais and his associates were condemned in Rome as in more ways than one pernicious. In August, 1832, Gregory XVI, in the encyclical entitled Mirari, condemned the ecclesiastical and political opinions presented in the journal issued by La Mennais and his associates under the title L’Avenir. No one of the writers was mentioned by name, but in a letter by Cardinal Pacca accompanying the encyclical, they were informed that the condemnation applied to their work. They all submitted themselves to the authority of the Church. After some negotiations, La Mennais, in December, 1833, gave his signature to a formula which had been sent from Rome for the purpose. A few months later, however, he brought into print a monograph entitled Paroles d’un Croyant, through the declarations in which he made a direct breach with Rome. In June, 1834, he received, through a separate encyclical, sharp condemnation. A year later, the Congregation placed on the Index the treatise Affaires de Rome and the subsequent writings were prohibited promptly on their appearance. The earliest publication of La Mennais, issued in 1809 under the title Réflexions sur l’État de l’Eglise en France pendant le XVIIIme Siècle et sur la Situation actuelle, was promptly suppressed by the imperial police, but was not placed upon the Index. The Essai sur l’Indifférence en matières de Religion, published in 1817–1820, was sharply criticised in France but was not condemned in Rome. The monograph De la Religion Considérée dans ses Rapports avec l’Ordre Politique et Civile, printed in 1826, was condemned by a number of the bishops and the author was sentenced by the courts to the payment of a large fine.
The journal L’Avenir, previously referred to, had for its purpose the maintenance of the independence of the Gallican Church against the encroachments of the Ultramontanes, and also the final separation of Church and State. The publication of the journal was suspended by the Government in 1831, and Lacordaire and Montalembert journeyed to Rome to present the case of its editors. A Mémoire written by Lacordaire was delivered in February, 1832, to Cardinal Pacca. In this, the memorialists asked the pope to have thorough investigation made of their purpose and actions and to give permission for the continuation of their work. After some weeks, Pacca gave decision on behalf of the pope that, while the good service rendered in the past by the memorialists was fully acknowledged, he found ground for grave disapproval of their later actions in stirring up controversies which tended to bring the authority of the Church into disrepute. While the matter was under consideration, an appeal came to Rome from thirteen of the bishops of France, asking the pope to confirm the condemnation of L’Avenir and specifying fifty-six propositions which were in themselves sufficient ground for its condemnation. This memorial secured later the support of fifty further French bishops. In September, 1832, La Mennais and his associates sent to Rome an acknowledgment of the decision of the pope and made promise that the journal L’Avenir should no longer be printed. In May, 1833, the pope sent to the Archbishop of Toulouse a brief in which he made reply to the memorial of the bishops. He pointed out that in the encyclical he had presented the sound and final doctrine of the Church and that he had taken measures to prevent the further circulation of the pernicious opinions complained of by the bishops.
In August, 1833, La Mennais sent to the pope through the Bishop of Rheims a letter in which he protests against the strictures expressed in the papal brief. He professes himself prepared to give the fullest possible acceptance to all provisions of the Holy See which have to do with matters of doctrine and of morals. He asks the pope to indicate the expressions occurring in his writings which are open to condemnation. In October, 1833, the pope replies to the Bishop of Rheims, pointing out certain statements by La Mennais the purport of which tends to undermine the authority of the Church. La Mennais had taken the ground that he was not undertaking to interfere with purely ecclesiastical questions. While in such matters he gave the fullest acceptance to the authority of the pope, he was not prepared to accept the judgment of the pope in matters that seemed to him to be outside of the proper authority of the Holy See.
In 1834, La Mennais published, under the title of Affaires de Rome, a report concerning his correspondence and relations with the Holy See. This was duly prohibited by the Congregation in 1835. Le Livre du Peuple, printed in 1837, was prohibited in 1838. The same course was taken with his later writings, appearing between 1841 and 1846. La Mennais died in February, 1854. The set of his works in five volumes, published after his death, 1855–1858, does not appear in the Index.
37. The Roman Revolution of 1848.—The operations of the Index Congregation were not intermitted on the ground of the absence of Pius IX from Rome, from November 25, 1848, to April 12, 1850. During this period, three sessions were held in Rome and two in Naples, and judgment was passed upon a number of the more important of the publications of the day. Among those condemned the following titles may be noted:
Rosmini, Antonio, Die fünf Wünder der h. Kirche, and Die Verfassung gemäss der socialen Gerechtigkeit.
Gisberti, V., Der moderne Jesuit.
Ventura, G., Discorso funebre dei morti di Vienna, etc. (The three titles in German are recorded in Italian.)
A few months before the condemnation of the two treatises of Rosmini, his name had been under consideration with the pope for appointment as cardinal. His theological and philosophical writings had been denounced by his theological opponents as early as 1841, but, in 1843, Gregory XVI had ordered the controversies concerning the doctrines of Rosmini to be brought to a close. In 1850, the denunciation of the writings of Rosmini was renewed. The Congregation of the Index caused an examination of the works to be made by a number of consultors and, in 1854, the judgment was given that they were not to be disapproved, dimittantur opera. This continued controversy concerning the philosophical and theological teachings of Rosmini brought about, in 1880, an authoritative definition of the formula dimittantur.
In November, 1848, Pius IX took refuge in Gaeta. Rosmini followed the Pope thither, but finding that the influence of his opponent, Cardinal Antonelli, was still controlling, he returned without securing any personal consideration. A series of negotiations, controversies, and correspondence followed, but it was not until 1854 that his works finally secured quittance. The question then placed before the Congregation was whether, as the writings of Rosmini had been thoroughly examined and had been shown to be free from errors in matters both of doctrine and morality, the prohibition that had been placed upon them ought not to be cancelled. The Jesuits were still unwilling to give up their contest against the teachings of Rosmini. They pointed out that the Inquisition held higher authority than that of the Congregation, and that in a number of instances books which had been passed with approval by the Congregation had been condemned by the Inquisition. Cornaldi, in a treatise printed in 1882, contended that the philosophy of Rosmini was distinctly opposed to the doctrines of St. Thomas. Leo XIII, in a brief addressed, in January, 1882, to the Bishops of Milan and Turin, reproves the attempts to renew the controversies concerning Rosmini and calls attention to his encyclical in which he had indicated the way by which all devout philosophers could arrive at a harmony of conclusion.
38. Traditionalism and Ontology, 1833–1880.—In 1833, Abbé Bautain of Strasburg was responsible for the initiating of certain controversies, in part philosophical and in part theological, which appear to have turned upon the proper interpretation of the doctrines so-called of Traditionalism and Ontologism. In 1870, these controversies were revived in Louvain and in Paris with the result of bringing out certain condemnations from the Congregation and from the Inquisition. In 1840, Bautain was compelled to subscribe to certain propositions formulated by the Congregation, and in 1855 his associate Bonnetty took the same course. In 1861, the Inquisition declared seven propositions, selected from the writings of Ubagh and other French Ontologists, to be heretical. Ubagh was compelled to correct certain treatises of his own according to specifications laid down by the Index; and, in 1866, after lengthy negotiations, his friends in Louvain were obliged to declare their acceptance of the reproval and of the conclusions of the Congregation and of the Inquisition. Ubagh held in the University of Louvain the chair of philosophy and logic.
39. Attritio and the Peccatum Philosophicum.—In addition to the Inquisition’s decrees in which whole series of propositions were condemned, certain decrees were issued in which consideration was given to one or two propositions. In May, 1667, Alexander VII issued a decree in which, while not undertaking to decide the issue that had arisen concerning the sufficiency of incomplete repentance to secure absolution, he prohibited any writings which maintained that one view or the other of the matter was in itself heretical. In August, 1690, a decree of Alexander VIII condemns the two propositions, first, that the love of God is not requisite for the leading of a proper life, and, second, the theory that a sin which has been committed by some one who does not know God, or committed during a moment in which the sinner is not thinking of God, (the so-called philosophical sin as distinguished from the theological sin) is not to be classed as a mortal sin. These two definitions of the Inquisition resulted in the prohibition of a number of writings upon the questions. The most important of these was the Amor poenitens by Johannes Mercassel, Bishop of Castro, which, after a long series of investigations, was finally condemned in 1690, with a d.c.
The Council of Trent[54] had declared that the perfect repentance which has its motive in the love of God (contritio caritate perfecta) can secure reconciliation with God before the sacrament of confession may be received, but it does not free the believer from the requirement for this sacrament. The instruction says, further, that the incomplete repentance, the so-called attritio, which arises from a consideration of the shamefulness of the sin or is produced by a fear of the punishment of hell and which is therefore connected with the will to refrain from sin with the hope for forgiveness, can not of itself and without the sacrament of confession, bring about a reconciliation with God. Such a condition in the believer places him, however, by means of the sacrament of confession, in a position to secure grace. The doctrines presented in these instructions were, as above indicated, the texts for a long series of writings, many of which failed to secure with the Index authorities approval as orthodox.
40. Communism and Socialism, 1825–1860.—The selections from the long lists of works of those classed as socialists are but inconsiderable and, as in the case of certain other important divisions of literature, it is difficult to trace any plan or principle upon which they have been based. Proudhon is distinguished by having his entire series of works included in the Index, while of Saint-Simon (†1825) not a single volume has been condemned. Of the works of Charles Fourier (1768–1837), one book only has been selected for prohibition, Le Nouveau Monde, Industriel et Sociétaire, printed in 1829, prohibited in 1835.
Étienne Cabet (1788–1856) is represented in the Index by one only of his long series of treatises, Le Vrai Christianisme, printed in 1846, prohibited in 1848.
Esquiros, H. A. (†1876), has, next to Proudhon, the longest list in the Index of works belonging to this class. Of these the most important is L’Évangile du Peuple, printed in 1840, prohibited in 1841. This is followed by three socialist tracts entitled Les Vierges Martyres, Les Vierges Folles, Les Vierges Sages, printed in 1841, prohibited in 1842.
Further titles in this group are:
Constant, L. A., La Bible de la Liberté, printed in 1841, prohibited in the same year. The author was condemned to imprisonment for his works.
Chevé, Ch. Fr., Le Dernier Mot du Socialisme, par un Catholique, printed in 1848, prohibited in 1852.
41. Magnetism and Spiritualism, 1840–1874.—From the year 1840, the Inquisition published a series of decrees or opinions in regard to the theory of animal magnetism, but did not undertake to lay down any final conclusions. Certain expressions of opinion were also given in regard to the theories grouped under the name of spiritualism, but for this subject also there is wanting from the censorship authorities any authoritative or final word of counsel. From the long list of writings by the spiritualists of the time, only about a dozen were formally condemned. The list includes:
Kardec, Allan, Revue Spirite, Journal d’Études Psychologiques, 1858–1864; Le Spiritisme à sa plus simple Expression, printed in 1862, prohibited in 1864; Le Livre des Esprits, printed in 1863, prohibited in 1864.
Guldenstubbe, L. V., Positive Pneumatologie, printed in 1870, prohibited in 1874.
Under magnetism may be noted:
Cahagnet, L. A., Guide du Magnétiseur; Le Magnétisme Spiritualiste.
With this group may also be classed the Memoir of Swedenborg by the Protestant theologian, J. Matter of Strasbourg, Swedenborg, Sa Vie, ses Écrits et sa Doctrine, printed in 1863, prohibited in 1864.
42. French Authors, 1835–1884.—Among the more important of the books by French authors which are represented in the Index during this half-century may be noted the following:
Ségur, Mgr. L. G. de (1881), La Piété et la Vie Intérieure, printed in 1864, prohibited in 1869. The name of the author is not recorded in the Index and it is stated that the omission was due to personal consideration for him. Ségur states, in an article printed in 1860, that the monograph, before being brought into print, had been passed upon with approval by a number of devout scholars. He said further, that seventeen thousand copies had been distributed and that during the five years since the publication no criticism concerning it had come to him. He yields himself now to the authority of the Holy See and recalls the work from circulation.
Cloquet, Abbé. This author comes into the Index in 1864, on the ground of a series of monographs having to do with the subject of indulgences.
Alletz, P. A. (†1785), Dictionnaire Portatif des Conciles, printed in 1758 and reissued in 1822, first prohibited (with a d.c.) in 1859.
Caron, L. H., Abbé, La Vraie Doctrine de la Sainte-Église, printed in 1852, prohibited in 1856.
Siguier, Aug., Christ et le Peuple, printed in 1835, prohibited in 1836.
Marne, M. G. de la, La Religion Défendue contre les Préjugés et la Superstition, printed in 1823, prohibited in 1843.
Quinet, Edgar (1803–1875), Ahasuérus, printed in 1833, prohibited in 1835; La Génie de Religion, printed in 1842, prohibited in 1844; L’Allemagne et l’Italie, printed in 1839, prohibited in 1848; La Révolution, printed in 1865, prohibited in 1866.
Michelet, J., Mémoires de Luther (a translation from the German), printed in 1835, prohibited in 1840; Du Prêtre, De la Femme, De la Famille, L’Amour, La Sorcière, La Bible, De l’Humanité, printed between 1845 and 1864, prohibited promptly after publication.
Mickiewicz, Adam (1798–1855), L’Église Officielle et le Messianisme, printed in 1843, prohibited in 1848.
Renan, E. The writings of this author ought properly to have come into the Index under the specification Opera omnia. The Congregation appears to have taken prompt action concerning each book as soon as information of the publication came to hand, but a few titles escaped attention. The more important of those recorded are the following: Le Livre de Job, Étude d’Histoire Religieuse, Origine du Langage, Histoire des Langues Sémitiques, Averroés et l’Averroisme, Vie de Jésus, L’Antéchrist, Les Évangiles, La Mort de Jésus. (These books appeared between the years 1858 and 1884.)
Pêyrat, Alphonse, Histoire Élémentaire de Jésus, printed in 1864, prohibited the same year.
Soury, Jules, Jésus et les Évangiles, printed 1878, prohibited 1878.
Scholl, Le Procès de Jésus, printed in 1878, prohibited 1878.
Havet, E., Le Christianisme et ses Origines, printed 1873, prohibited 1878.
Aube, B., Histoire des Persécutions de l’Église; Histoire de l’Église; La Polémique Paienne à la fin du deuxième siècle; Le Christianisme dans l’Empire Romain, printed 1876–1880, prohibited as published.
Larroque, P., Examen des Doctrines de la Religion Chrétienne; L’Esclavage chez les Nations Chrétiennes, printed in 1859–1864, prohibited as published. Later writings by this author were also placed on the Index, apparently in so far as their titles were brought to the attention of the Congregation.
Jacolliot, L., La Bible dans l’Inde; Vie de Jezeus Chrishna, an identification of Christ with the Chrishna of the Hindus, printed in 1869, prohibited the same year. A group of later writings by this author were also promptly condemned.
Rodrigues, H., Les trois Filles de la Bible, printed in 1865; Les Origines du Sermon de la Montagne, printed in 1868; La Justice de Dieu, printed in 1869; Histoire du Premier Christianisme, printed in 1873. The above books were prohibited together in 1877 with the specification: “these works are condemned in accordance with the Constitution of Clement VIII, issued in 1592, on the ground of their presenting Jewish writings which contain heresies and errors tending to undermine Christian doctrine.”
Lajollais, Mlle. Nathalie de, Le Lime des Mères des Families sur l’Éducation Pratique des Femmes, printed in 1845, prohibited (with a d.c.) in 1846.
Gréville, Mme. Henri, Instruction Morale et Civile des Jeunes Filles, printed in 1882, prohibited the same year.
Bert, Paul, L’Instruction Civile à l’École, printed in 1883, prohibited the same year. The volume of Bert had been officially adopted for use in the schools of Paris and also in certain other of the large cities. The decree of the Index was published by the Archbishop of Albi and by the Bishops of Annécy, Viviers, Langres, and Valence. The ecclesiastical authorities were sharply reproved by the magistracy for their interference in the matter and for their undertaking to criticise the action of the Government in a matter which, as it was claimed, belonged to the temporalities. In May, 1883, Minister Ferry, speaking in the Senate, says: