ABSTRACT
From their inception in England around 1500, printed broadside ballads addressed a wide range of subjects in the service of diverse functions. A series of broadside ballads about monstrous births appeared in England during the 1560s and quickly achieved popularity, based on the number of copies that survive relative to other types of ballad from the same period. An early catalyst for print regulation in England was the Lutheran reform movement and its perceived threat to Henry VIII, who took measures to prevent European propaganda from reaching English soil. The 1560s witnessed a new series of regulations, including the 1566 Star Chamber proclamation reinforcing the authority of any two members of the Company to search for illicit materials in any port or workhouse or shop in the country, extending to them the power 'to open and view all packs' with impunity.
