Basel deliberately defaced vellum manuscripts to spurn Catholics

Evidence

Around 1600, the university was still selling off vellum manuscripts from monastic libraries, but the regents instructed their librarian to cut out random leaves, and jumble others together, so that if the manuscripts ended up back in Catholic hands, they would no longer be of much use. — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 240

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: intentional library destruction as a deliberate act of cultural sabotage, not neglect — rare and vivid.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 240
• XREF: connects to: Reformation town libraries inherited unusable Catholic monastic book hoards — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 412