The first public manifesto in support of greater press freedom is held to be Milton's Aeropagitica, in which the author opposed the then requirement, which had been ordained by proclamation of the King in 1534, that all publishers had to obtain a license for work and, if they wanted to keep it, they had to be careful about what came out of their printing shops.
Za prvi javni nastop v prid večji svobodi tiska štejejo Miltonovo Aeropagitico, s katero se pisec upira dotedanji praksi, da morajo, tako je določil kraljevi razglas iz leta 1534, vsi založniki najprej pridobiti licenco za delo; da bi jo ohranili, pa morajo sami paziti, kaj objavljajo.