Censorship of books in the Habsburg hereditary lands was initially effectively controlled by the Catholic Church and was secularized only under Maria Theresa (1740–1780). During the process, the Church gradually lost its decisive influence: in 1751, the Court Book Censorship Committee was established, in 1764 the last Jesuit member of the commission was ousted, and in 1772 the state took over censorship of even theological and religious publications. The new censorship differed from the old one in many ways; for example, with grounding in moderate Enlightenment. In some respects, it resumed the tradition (e.g., favoring Catholicism), and in others it even became more restrictive (e.g., when dealing with literature).
