Censorship as a tool of power

With its novel approach to the formation of the discipline, the project 'Disciplining history. Censorship and historiography in early modern Europe' (DISHIS) offered new insights into censorship of historical literature as a set of significant ideas regarding the ends, effects and power of history as a branch of knowledge.

Research into the relationships between censorship and historiography involved three main areas of work. The first classified authors, works and genres of historical literature from 16th century indices of prohibited and expurgated books. Secondly, case studies were used to analyse why works on these indices were prohibited or expurgated, and what the repercussions were. Thirdly, DISHIS undertook a comparative analysis of the manifestations of censorship discourse and the various means of controlling history by institutions, instruments and individuals.

The systematic classification of works offered an overview and broad temporal, geographical, political and cultural framework within which to examine the censor's control of historiography. Covering the period from 1544 to the 1580s, the classification provides a map of repression and the Church's control of history. It also helps compare and contrast the censorship policies of institutions involved in screening printed matter, and to better understand conditions of specific censorship actions.

Applying a more comprehensive conception of censure and censorship to the study of the ideological control of history marks the project's second major contribution. This enabled the collection and comparison of explicit institutionalised forms of surveillance and repression as well as ways of defining history and setting standards to regulate it. Such an approach made it possible to identify important points of interest related to ideological control and political repression, on the one hand, and the formation of (historiographical) knowledge on the other.

Furthermore, project work contributed to the history of modern historiography by allowing the study of censorship as a force with major effects on shaping history as a knowledge discipline.

As such, DISHIS offered a new approach to the role of ideology and politics in processes of social and cultural advancement of historiography in the 16th and 17th centuries. Project outcomes thus also have important implications for the modernisation of the science of history.