The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1476)
Written at the end of the 14th century, Chaucer’s collection of stories in Middle English has been banned, challenged and censored for centuries. The stories follow a group of pilgrims making up tales on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, and are filled with sexual innuendo, swearing and perceived criticism of the church. It was censored widely on first publication and then, under the 1873 Comstock Law, it was banned from being posted in the US, with several modern editions still heavily edited for profanity.
