The Censorship Laws of Medieval England and Their Influence on Vernacular Literature

The article deals with the issue related to the problems of creation, reading and distribution of vernacular literature in medieval England in connection with the introduction of censorship legislation, the so-called Constitution of Archbishop Thomas Arundel, prohibiting the reading of literary works in the native English language. The method of historical analysis was used. The main source of information on the topic was the text of T. Arundel’s Constitution. From the text of the document the main goal pursued by the archbishop – the prohibition of translation of theological literature into English, the prohibition of discussions on church doctrine, the prohibition of heretical teachings of John Wycliffe and his Lollard followers – is well traced. The influence of Arundel’s Constitution on the further development of English-language literature is described. An attempt is made to characterise the main trends in the development of vernacular literature, which, despite bans and persecution, continued to develop. Special attention is paid to the comparison of vernacular literature of the second half of the fourteenth century, created under the great influence of the English translation of the Bible by the Lollards and the literature created in the fifteenth century after the introduction of censorship laws.