medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi, Susan
The reference is presumably to Erasmus' satiric _Moriae Encomium_ ('Praise of Folly'), most of which is an oration delivered by a personified Folly. There's an online text of John Wilson's translation (1688) here:
http://tinyurl.com/2eonds
If you scroll down to "The Christian Religion's Alliance with Folly" (still part of Folly's speech) you'll get explicit connections with Christianity.
The _Moriae Encomium_ is addressed to St. Thomas More. The speaker of More's _Utopia_ is the fool Hythlodaeus (whose very name implies 'fool'; note also that one of the standard punning interpretations of More's own surname is that of Latinized Greek _morus_ = 'fool').
Perhaps it's more likely that the textual context of your pew-end is scriptural (Proverbs).
Best,
John Dillon
On Thursday, February 8, 2007, at 10:14 am, Susan Hoyle wrote:
> I am describing a pew-end which depicts a jester or fool. The current
>
> churchwardens were taught that he was a reference to something which
> Erasmus wrote
> about only a fool being able to be a Christian. Something to do with
>
> innocence I suppose?
>
> Can anyone give me a proper quote on this, please? I have no access
> just
> now to his works, and no idea where to begin; and of course I need it
> quickly.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|