Question

Why did the Roman Catholic Church begin to keep an Index of prohibited books from the mid 16th century ?
Give answers in short

Answer 1

(i) printed religious literature stimulated a variety of interpretations of faith, even among the little educated working class in the early 16th century.

(ii) menocchio, an italian miller, reinterpreted the bible in a away that enraged the roman catholic church.

(iii) such instances worried the church about people reading the various interpretations of the religion and questioning the church.

(iv) Hence, it imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began maintaining an index of prohibited books.