The censor, the editor, and the text: the Catholic Church and the shaping of the Jewish canon in the sixteenth century

Official Catholic censorship of Hebrew literature, which began in the mid-16th century, included bookburnings, prohibitions against using certain books, and erasures in books that were not prohibited. Although the first bookburning took place in Paris in the 13th century, a system of official censors, made up mostly of Jewish converts to Catholicism, was first set up in the 1560s. The printing of the Talmud was prohibited entirely at that time. Relates the censorship to the Church's restrictions against Italian Jews. In 1555 Pope Paul IV issued a bulla restricting their social, economic, and religious activities. Ghettos were established in some cities and there were expulsions from others. However, based on a study of the Catholic censorship in general, contends that the main goal in censoring Hebrew texts was to prevent Catholics from reading them at a time when Catholic scholars showed great interest in Hebrew literature. The censorship was not a negation of knowledge, but was meant to set limits for the religion by limiting the literature available.