Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The Vatican's Four-Hundred-Year Reading List Closes Forever
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The Vatican's Four-Hundred-Year Reading List Closes Forever
The Vatican’s Four-Hundred-Year Reading List Closes Forever
On 14 June 1966, the Catholic Church quietly abolished the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, ending 409 years of official literary censorship. The Index, first published in 1557, had listed thousands of forbidden books, from Galileo’s astronomy to Simone de Beauvoir’s feminism. Its dissolution marked a profound shift in how the Church engaged with modern thought. But 14 June holds other surprises: in 1789, Captain William Bligh completed a 7,400-kilometre navigation in an open boat following the Bounty mutiny, arriving in Timor without losing a single man to the sea. In 1822, Charles Babbage proposed his Difference Engine to the Royal Astronomical Society, sketching the conceptual foundation of the computer a century before the technology existed. And in 1949, Albert II, a rhesus macaque, became the first mammal in space, launched from White Sands aboard a V-2 rocket. Clara Vale guides us through a day that spans censorship and freedom, survival and ambition, human brilliance and the quiet cost of progress.
Chapters
Clara introduces the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Catholic Church’s list of forbidden books that banned some of history’s greatest thinkers for four centuries.
On 14 June 1966, the Vatican abolished the Index after 409 years. The list had grown to thousands of titles, including works by Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Voltaire, and Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Vatican Council recognised the Index had become unenforceable and incompatible with modern engagement.
Clara invites listeners to follow the show and share it with curious friends.
On 14 June 1789, Captain William Bligh and 18 crew members reached Timor after 47 days in an open boat, having navigated 7,400 kilometres following the Bounty mutiny. Despite losing one man at Tofua, all 18 survived the sea crossing.
On 14 June 1822, Charles Babbage presented his Difference Engine concept to the Royal Astronomical Society. Though never completed in his lifetime, the design contained the conceptual architecture of the modern computer.
On 14 June 1949, rhesus macaque Albert II became the first mammal in space, reaching 134 kilometres altitude aboard a V-2 rocket from White Sands. He survived the ascent but died when the parachute system failed on landing.
Clara closes with reflections on a day that challenged boundaries: banned books unlocked, impossible navigation achieved, computers imagined, and space reached for the first time by a mammal.
Links
View all episodes
By Clara ValeThe Vatican’s Four-Hundred-Year Reading List Closes Forever
On 14 June 1966, the Catholic Church quietly abolished the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, ending 409 years of official literary censorship. The Index, first published in 1557, had listed thousands of forbidden books, from Galileo’s astronomy to Simone de Beauvoir’s feminism. Its dissolution marked a profound shift in how the Church engaged with modern thought. But 14 June holds other surprises: in 1789, Captain William Bligh completed a 7,400-kilometre navigation in an open boat following the Bounty mutiny, arriving in Timor without losing a single man to the sea. In 1822, Charles Babbage proposed his Difference Engine to the Royal Astronomical Society, sketching the conceptual foundation of the computer a century before the technology existed. And in 1949, Albert II, a rhesus macaque, became the first mammal in space, launched from White Sands aboard a V-2 rocket. Clara Vale guides us through a day that spans censorship and freedom, survival and ambition, human brilliance and the quiet cost of progress.
Chapters
Clara introduces the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Catholic Church’s list of forbidden books that banned some of history’s greatest thinkers for four centuries.
On 14 June 1966, the Vatican abolished the Index after 409 years. The list had grown to thousands of titles, including works by Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Voltaire, and Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Vatican Council recognised the Index had become unenforceable and incompatible with modern engagement.
Clara invites listeners to follow the show and share it with curious friends.
On 14 June 1789, Captain William Bligh and 18 crew members reached Timor after 47 days in an open boat, having navigated 7,400 kilometres following the Bounty mutiny. Despite losing one man at Tofua, all 18 survived the sea crossing.
On 14 June 1822, Charles Babbage presented his Difference Engine concept to the Royal Astronomical Society. Though never completed in his lifetime, the design contained the conceptual architecture of the modern computer.
On 14 June 1949, rhesus macaque Albert II became the first mammal in space, reaching 134 kilometres altitude aboard a V-2 rocket from White Sands. He survived the ascent but died when the parachute system failed on landing.
Clara closes with reflections on a day that challenged boundaries: banned books unlocked, impossible navigation achieved, computers imagined, and space reached for the first time by a mammal.
Links