The thermal stability of papermaking pulps under conditions of accelerated aging and at pyrolytic temperatures was examined. Degradation was found to be extremely complex and influenced by both the technical processes of papermaking and by the experimental methods used. At moderate temperatures, as used for accelerated aging, the folding endurance test was found to be a sensitive measure of degradation. Methods of reducing the variability of the test were considered, and a new technique capable of handling widely different results was developed and evaluated. Several papermaking pulps were artificially aged and the resultant loss of strength attributed to the interaction between a gradual fiber strength reduction and a rapid increase in interfiber bonding. Excessive initial inter-fiber bonding decreased handsheet stability. Softwood sulfite and kraft pulps were more stable than a birch kraft pulp, but the behavior of sulfite pulps varied greatly. The presence of lignin or a high hemicellulose content was not of itself sufficient to cause rapid aging. The pyrolytic behavior of pulps was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. Papermaking pulps had mean pyrolytic activation energies between 30-45 kcal/mole. The activation energy decreased as the reaction proceeded. Correlation of these activation energies with the rate of loss of physical properties during accelerated aging was not good. The results indicated that the rate determining reactions for pyrolysis and for low temperature degradation are different but that the pyrolytic behavior is partially determined by the supramolecular structure. Empirical stability indices, based on both the integral and differential thermograms, were calculated, and these correlated well with the relative rates of loss of physical properties.