While the official Church remained passive during the beginnings of the Reformation, the Swiss Catholic cantons took measures early on to keep the new movement at bay. They assumed judicial and financial powers over the clergy, laid down firm rules of conduct for the priests, outlawed concubinage, and reserved the right to nominate priests in the first place, who previously had been assigned by the bishoprics. They also banned printing, distributing, and possessing Reformist tracts; and banned the study of Hebrew and Greek (to put an end to the independent study of biblical sources). Overall, these measures were successful: not only did they prevent the spreading of the Reformation into the Catholic cantons but also they made the Church dependent on the state and generally strengthened the power of the civil authorities.