Seventeenth-Century European Newspaper and News System

Timeline

1. 1605–1631Strasbourg and Amsterdam · Holy Roman EmpireIn 1605, Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) publisher Johann Carolus founded Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, recognized by most scholars as Europe's earliest periodic printed news publication. A similar periodical also appeared in Antwerp the same year. Over the following decade, weekly news sheets successively appeared in Frankfurt, Berlin, Amsterdam, and elsewhere; the Dutch-language Courante uyt Italien was founded in Amsterdam in 1618, and its relatively relaxed publishing environment made the Netherlands an important hub for the circulation of news in Europe. England's earliest news pamphlets (corantos) were likewise imported from the Netherlands in the 1620s and reprinted and circulated in London.
2. 1631–1650Paris · FranceIn 1631, the French physician Théophraste Renaudot, with the support of Cardinal Richelieu, founded La Gazette in Paris, which became one of Europe's earliest officially authorized periodic news publications. Published weekly, La Gazette included court news, diplomatic developments, and military reports, and was in substance an extension of the royal propaganda machine. This "official newspaper" model became an important paradigm for monarchies across Europe to control public opinion. During the Fronde in France (1648–1653), the opposition also imitated La Gazette by founding political satirical pamphlets, and news became an important tool of political struggle.
3. 1650–1660London · LondonDuring the English Civil War (1642–1651), both Parliamentarians and Royalists printed large numbers of news pamphlets for political mobilization, and dozens of various news publications at one point flooded London. After Cromwell's Protectorate government came to power, it imposed strict control over publishing: an order issued in 1655 reduced the legally publishable newspapers to two—Mercurius Politicus, edited by Marchamont Nedham, and The Public Intelligencer—both directly controlled by the government to disseminate the Protectorate's political views. Nedham himself shifted his stance several times between the republican and royalist camps, epitomizing the survival of journalists under intense political pressure in this period. Around the collapse of the Protectorate regime in 1659–1660, controls briefly loosened and various news pamphlets re-emerged, laying public-opinion groundwork for the Restoration.
4. 1660–1700London and major European cities · Western EuropeAfter Charles II's restoration in 1660, Britain rebuilt the royal newspaper licensing system, founding the Oxford Gazette in 1665 (moved to London the following year and renamed the London Gazette), which became one of the oldest continuously published newspapers still in existence and established the format norms of the modern official press. The Licensing Act of 1662 further clarified the government's authorized control over the publishing industry; only when it expired and was not renewed in 1695 did the English publishing industry enter a relatively free phase, laying the institutional foundation for the flourishing of commercial journalism in the eighteenth century.