In Praise of Folly
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Overview
This sixteenth-century religious satire by a Renaissance critic and theologian is “a masterpiece of humor and wise irony” (Johan Huizinga, Dutch historian).
At the onset of his hugely successful satire of medieval European society, Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus invokes the goddess Folly, daughter of Youth and Wealth, who was raised by Drunkenness and Ignorance. She’s followed by idolatrous companions, including Self-love, Flattery, Pleasure, and Laziness.
Through Folly’s wry and humorous speech, Erasmus denounces the superstitions and nonsensical eccentricities of his contemporary theologians and churchmen, monastic life, and the condition of the Catholic Church. An immensely influential humanist text, In Praise of Folly helped lay the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation and marked a transitional time between medieval beliefs and modern ideals.
At the onset of his hugely successful satire of medieval European society, Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus invokes the goddess Folly, daughter of Youth and Wealth, who was raised by Drunkenness and Ignorance. She’s followed by idolatrous companions, including Self-love, Flattery, Pleasure, and Laziness.
Through Folly’s wry and humorous speech, Erasmus denounces the superstitions and nonsensical eccentricities of his contemporary theologians and churchmen, monastic life, and the condition of the Catholic Church. An immensely influential humanist text, In Praise of Folly helped lay the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation and marked a transitional time between medieval beliefs and modern ideals.
- The Life of Erasmus
- Erasmus’s Epistle to Sir Thomas More
- On the Argument and Design of the Following Oration
- Erasmus’s Praise of Folly
“There is no more joyous and delightful bit of forensic jugglery than Desiderius Erasmus’s The Praise of Folly. . . . Like all great minds Erasmus has the faculty of being perennially contemporary, and The Praise of Folly is a gay, witty revelation of the subtleties and intricacies of the scholarly mind of the Renaissance.” —The New York Times
“One of the most characteristic and delightful pieces of Renaissance literature [that] has rightly enjoyed a wide popularity.” —Journal of Philosophy
“One of the most characteristic and delightful pieces of Renaissance literature [that] has rightly enjoyed a wide popularity.” —Journal of Philosophy
Product Details
- Title : In Praise of Folly
- Author: Erasmus, Desiderius
- Publisher: Open Road Media
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9781504041225
Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian. A classical scholar who wrote in a pure Latin style, his most famous work is In Praise of Folly.