Index of Forbidden Books

E111097

Roman Catholic Church document censorship instrument ecclesiastical index librorum prohibitorum list of prohibited publications

The Index of Forbidden Books was a list maintained by the Roman Catholic Church from the 16th to the 20th century that cataloged publications deemed heretical or morally dangerous and therefore prohibited to the faithful.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Index of Forbidden Books canonical	4
Index Librorum Prohibitorum	2
Index of Forbidden Books listing of heliocentric works	1
Index of Prohibited Books	1
Index of Prohibited Books (in principle)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T945098 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Index of Forbidden Books
Context triple: [Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, addedToIndex, Index of Forbidden Books]

A. Censura Forensis
Censura Forensis is a significant 17th-century legal treatise by Dutch jurist Simon van Leeuwen that systematically analyzes and critiques contemporary civil and canon law.
B. Librarian’s Vault
Librarian’s Vault is a secure, restricted-access chamber within the Library of Congress that houses some of the institution’s most rare, valuable, and historically significant materials.
C. Among My Books
"Among My Books" is a collection of literary essays by American poet and critic James Russell Lowell, in which he offers scholarly and reflective studies of major authors and their works.
D. Codex
Codex is an AI system developed by OpenAI that translates natural language into code and powers tools like GitHub Copilot.
E. The Book of Right-On
"The Book of Right-On" is a song by Joanna Newsom, known for its intricate harp accompaniment and idiosyncratic, poetic lyrics.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Index of Forbidden Books
Target entity description: The Index of Forbidden Books was a list maintained by the Roman Catholic Church from the 16th to the 20th century that cataloged publications deemed heretical or morally dangerous and therefore prohibited to the faithful.

A. Censura Forensis
Censura Forensis is a significant 17th-century legal treatise by Dutch jurist Simon van Leeuwen that systematically analyzes and critiques contemporary civil and canon law.
B. Librarian’s Vault
Librarian’s Vault is a secure, restricted-access chamber within the Library of Congress that houses some of the institution’s most rare, valuable, and historically significant materials.
C. Among My Books
"Among My Books" is a collection of literary essays by American poet and critic James Russell Lowell, in which he offers scholarly and reflective studies of major authors and their works.
D. Codex
Codex is an AI system developed by OpenAI that translates natural language into code and powers tools like GitHub Copilot.
E. The Book of Right-On
"The Book of Right-On" is a song by Joanna Newsom, known for its intricate harp accompaniment and idiosyncratic, poetic lyrics.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Roman Catholic Church document ⓘ censorship instrument ⓘ ecclesiastical index librorum prohibitorum ⓘ list of prohibited publications ⓘ
abolishedBy	Pope Paul VI ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Index Librorum Prohibitorum ⓘ linked to: Index of Forbidden Books
appliedTo	Catholic faithful ⓘ
contains	literary works considered obscene ⓘ philosophical works deemed contrary to faith ⓘ scientific works deemed theologically problematic ⓘ works considered heretical ⓘ works considered morally dangerous ⓘ works critical of Catholic doctrine ⓘ works on Protestant theology ⓘ
createdUnderAuthorityOf	Pope Paul IV ⓘ
endTime	1966 ⓘ
enforcementMechanism	ecclesiastical penalties for unauthorized reading ⓘ requirement of ecclesiastical permission to read certain works ⓘ
firstEditionPublishedBy	Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition ⓘ linked to: Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition
firstEditionPublishedIn	1559 ⓘ
hasSuccessorConcept	ongoing moral guidance on reading by the Catholic Church ⓘ
historicalPeriod	Counter-Reformation ⓘ Early modern period ⓘ
influenced	Catholic attitudes toward reading and scholarship ⓘ
influencedBy	Protestant Reformation ⓘ linked to: Reformation
language	Latin ⓘ
legalStatus	abolished in 1966 ⓘ
maintainedBy	Holy See ⓘ Roman Catholic Church ⓘ linked to: Roman Catholicism
notableWorkIncluded	De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ⓘ Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems ⓘ Les Misérables ⓘ Madame Bovary ⓘ On the Origin of Species ⓘ works of Erasmus of Rotterdam ⓘ works of John Calvin ⓘ works of Martin Luther ⓘ Émile, or On Education ⓘ linked to: Emile, or On Education
purpose	to identify heretical publications ⓘ to identify morally dangerous publications ⓘ to prohibit Catholics from reading certain books ⓘ
reasonForAbolition	declining practical effectiveness ⓘ incompatibility with modern views on intellectual freedom ⓘ
regulatedBy	Roman Inquisition ⓘ Sacred Congregation of the Index ⓘ
relatedTo	Catholic Church censorship ⓘ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ⓘ linked to: Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Roman Inquisition ⓘ
scope	universal for the Roman Catholic Church ⓘ
startTime	1559 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems → addedToIndex → Index of Forbidden Books ⓘ

Counter-Reformation → policyInstrument → Index of Forbidden Books ⓘ

Galileo affair → result → Index of Forbidden Books listing of heliocentric works ⓘ