Licensing Act: By an order of 1581, new plays in Britain could not be performed until they were licensed by the Master of Revels. A separate license, granted by the Court of High Commission, was required for the play to actually be published and printed--though as Greenblatt notes, plays were in practice often pirated and printed without a license. From 1610, the Master of Revels was responsible for licensing plays for both publication and performance (Greenblatt 1142). In John Milton's time, a similar Licensing Act passed under Puritan influence in 1643. It demanded that all British writers submit their works to a parliamentary body for review. If the body disapproved, they would issue no license and thus make it illegal to publish the material. John Milton strongly opposed this licensing process, leading him to write Areopagitica as an argument in favor of free speech. See also Areopagus. Contrast with the Censorship Ordinance.

 

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