Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.

Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of debate and discussion. Not everyone welcomed the printed book, and those who did also had fears about it. Many were apprehensive of the effects that the easier access to the printed word and the wider circulation of books, could have on people’s minds. It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread. If that happened the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed.

Example from Europe: Menocchio, a miller in Italy, read locally available books and reinterpreted the message of the Bible formulating a view of God and Creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church. He was arrested and questioned twice and finally executed. The Roman Church, troubled by such effects of popular readings and questionings of faith, imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.

Example from India: Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances. In East Bengal, in the early nineteenth century, Rashsundari Debi, a young married girl in a very orthodox household, learnt to read in the secrecy of her kitchen.