The Ordonnance de Montpellier, signed on 28 December 1537 by

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, established the first

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

system. Previously, on 13 January 1535, Francis I had banned all printing following the

Affair of the Placards The Affair of the Placards (french: Affaire des Placards) was an incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans, in the night of the 17 to 18 Octob ...

. This decree was later repealed, but concern about errant religious teachings remained. In the Ordonnance, Francis decreed that no book be sold in France until a copy was deposited in his library. The Ordonnance was one of about 140 acts signed by the king during his stay in Montpellier from 21 December 1537 to 17 January 1538. In context, the law would control the spread of ideas, particularly heretical religious beliefs. Vague and ineffective, the decree was not widely followed and the legal deposit requirement was abolished in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

References

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External links

* Laws and ordinances of the Ancien Régime Arts and culture in the Ancien Régime 1537 in France Library history * 1537 in law Library law Francis I of France {{library-stub