The Freedom of the Press
The Freedom of the Press
This chapter first turns to the problem of writing histories, beginning with a major figure in the Catholic culture of France, Jacques Auguste de Thou, whose way of writing history brought him into conflict with his own church in terms that presaged future events such as the story of Paolo Sarpi or the ordeal of Galileo. It then turns to the poet and polemicist John Milton, a controversial figure who was closely identified with the English parliamentary struggles and civil war. The chapter reviews his works, particularly his Areopagitica: A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicens'd Printing (1644), a pamphlet written in favor of the freedom of the press. It draws attention to one of the major themes of his Areaopagitica: his treatment throughout the work of the problem of schisms and sects.
Keywords: freedom, press, history writing, John Milton, Areaopagitica, schisms, sects
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.