Page:The Roman index of forbidden books.djvu/19

Rh It is remarkable that Henry VIII of England, who afterwards fell away from the Church, was among the first to legislate against heretical books, his index of forbidden books appearing as early as 1526. After his apostasy he continued with increased severity the policy of prohibiting books which he deemed objectionable.

More than thirty years after the first index of Henry VIII had appeared, the first Roman Index of Forbidden Books was compiled and issued by Paul IV, 1559, It remained in force only a few years, till 1564, when the so-called Tridentine Index was published under Pius IV. It was called "Tridentine," because it had been drawn up by a commission appointed for this purpose by the Council of Trent. It was milder than the Index of Paul IV, and contained divers "Index rules," the forerunners of the general decrees embodied in the Constitution "Officiorum ac munerum."

The Tridentine Index remained the Roman Index for more than three hundred