Philhellenic Neo-Latinist | Boekenman
The Odyssey in Leuven:Historical wanderings from Erasmus to Fry Introduction to the interview of Sir Stephen Fry by Thomas Vanderveken (Saturday 29 March 2025, Grote Aula, Maria-Theresiacollege) at the occasion of his honorary doctorate on Friday 28 March 2025 (promotores: Liesbet Heyvaert, Geert Brône, and Geert Roskam) To celebrate both the honorary doctorate Sir Stephen …
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On 2 April 1524, Erasmus wrote a highly confidential letter to one of his closest friends, Conrad Goclenius, professor of Latin at the Collegium Trilingue. To warn his addressee about the top-secret content, he noted above the address a directive in Greek: Ἀναγίνωσκε μόνος καὶ λάθρα. (Allen 1437) “Read alone and in secret.” After gossiping …
Erasmus dedicated the new edition of Cicero's 'Tusculanae Quaestiones' published by Froben to John Vlatten, a clergyman, councillor, and educational reformer who was his friend. In his dedicatory letter to Vlatten, Erasmus discusses his admiration for Cicero and the nuances of a humanist education. Two instances of 'code-switching', meaning transitioning between languages, occur in the letter, providing insights on his perspectives towards different aspects of classical culture. [Excerpt generated by AI.]
Today, the new academic year started in Leuven. By a historical coincidence, Erasmus wrote on this day 500 years ago to the professor of Latin at his Trilingual College (Collegium Trilingue) in the same city, his close friend Conrad Goclenius (ca. 1490-1539) from Mengeringhausen (today in the German state of Hessen). Erasmus touches on some …
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Non possum litteris tibi satis significare praesentem huius regionis et horum temporum statum; aut ego nihil video, aut aliquid monstri alitur inter multas regiones et ciuitates quasdam precipuas. Ex hoc famulo multa disces quae litteris mandare tutum non est. Hortaris vt scribam in Lutherum; atqui iam id feci, non semel testatus me ab ea factione …
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Erasmus 500 years on: The paraphrasis of Luke and Henry VIII
Erasmus was entitled to a pension from emperor Charles V, but had not received it since he had left Brabant (Leuven) in the fall of 1521, despite numerous reminders he sent out. Finally, in the summer of 1523, Charles wrote to his aunt Margaret of Austria, urging her in a French letter to pay the …
On this day 500 years ago, Erasmus sent a letter from Basel to the Zürich town council addressing the arrogant behavior of Ulrich von Hutten, a reformed knight and author, and a former friend of Erasmus. He hoped to counter Hutten's public attack on his persona. Erasmus' aim was to spread the correct message of …
Raf Van Rooy 