Index for the Netherlands

Phillip II, King of Spain (1527–1598).
Philippi II Regis Catholici edictum de librorum prohibitorum catalogo observando.
Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1570.
[Issued with:] Index librorum prohibitorum . . . cum appendice
in Belgio, ex mandato Regia Cathol. Maiestatis confecta.
Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1570. (BRB0169)

A powerful defender of Catholicism, King Phillip II of Spain insisted that his territories in the Netherlands should not fall into Protestant “heresy.” This 1570 edition of the Index librorum prohibitorum was augmented for his Netherlandish subjects with the king’s edict proclaiming that the authority to censor books emanates from the Crown and that its enforcement will be overseen by the Duke of Alva (1507–1582), Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. The accompanying Index, a reprint of the Tridentine version of 1564, includes a supplement listing prohibited Bibles and other books printed in Spanish, French, and Dutch.