In Strasbourg, printer Johann Carolus began issuing Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, widely treated as Europe’s first regularly appearing printed newspaper. It emerged from earlier handwritten news services and relied on postal networks and correspondents for timely reports.
Carolus petitioned Strasbourg’s city council for an exclusive privilege to print his weekly news publication—an archival trace often cited as key evidence for dating the Relation to 1605 rather than 1609.
Avisa Relation oder Zeitung began publication in Wolfenbüttel (Holy Roman Empire), one of the earliest serial news periodicals. Its early issues compile foreign news from multiple regions, reflecting the fast-growing market for periodic printed news.
Amsterdam’s Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. began appearing as a regular weekly paper and is often described as the first Dutch newspaper and an early folio (broadsheet-style) news publication—an important format shift from earlier quarto newsbooks.
In Antwerp, Abraham Verhoeven’s news serial—known to modern cataloguers as Nieuwe Tijdinghen—developed into the first Flemish newspaper. It also stands out for heavy use of woodcut illustration and other features that broadened the appeal of printed news.
In London, Corante: or, Newes from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine and France appeared as an English-language newspaper translated from Dutch corantos, illustrating how continental news forms and networks fed early English print news.
Under royal and ministerial patronage, Théophraste Renaudot published the first issue of La Gazette in Paris, commonly described as France’s first newspaper. It exemplified the state-aligned gazette model that would spread across Europe.
Sweden’s Ordinari Post Tijdender (later Post- och Inrikes Tidningar) was founded as a state-connected gazette drawing on postal information flows. It became a durable model of official publication and is often cited among the oldest continuing newspaper traditions.
Leipzig printer Timotheus Ritzsch began Einkommende Zeitungen, widely cited as the first daily newspaper. The move from weekly/occasional issues to near-daily periodicity marked a major step in commercialization and audience routine.
The Oxford Gazette (later The London Gazette) first appeared while Charles II’s court was in Oxford during the Great Plague. Issued “by authority,” it helped normalize a dated, regular news format tied to government information needs.
The paper moved with the court’s return and began publishing in London as The London Gazette, cementing the official-gazette model in England and providing a long-running vehicle for state notices and sanctioned news.
By the late 17th century, regularly issued newspapers and weekly gazettes had become established across major European information hubs, supported by expanding postal routes, professional correspondence, and print-shop distribution—creating a sustained news market beyond elite manuscript newsletters.
Emergence of newspapers in Europe: from Relation to weekly gazettes (1605–1700)
