'Condemned by some, read by all': the attempt to suppress the publications of the Louvain humanist Erycius Puteanus in 1608

Numerous examples of censorship in early modern Europe prove that church and state frequently collaborated in their efforts to prevent the publication and distribution of heretical or seditious works. Yet, the prosecution of Erycius Puteanus (1574-1646) on account of his De conviviorum luxu epistola (1608) shows that a publication could also be opposed on other than religious or political grounds. The case, as well as the strategic presentation of Puteanus' Comus, published later that same year, demonstrates how an early modern author could even find support with political, legal and ecclesiastical dignitaries to overcome opposition against a questionable publication. Moreover, this study sheds new light on the continuing success of the Comus, which became one of the standard seventeenth-century texts satirizing excessive eating and drinking. © 2009 The Author.status: publishe