Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch humanist philosopher and theologian, the illegitimate son of a priest and was himself forced into a monastic life by his guardians. In the monastery at Steyr, his lifelong passion for Latin began and he quickly outstripped the ability of his tutors. He escaped the monastic life in his late twenties and proceeded to broaden his horizons by travelling and studying extensively. He eventually came to England and struck up a friendship with Thomas More, which lasted until the latter's death at the hands of Henry VIII (SLE) . It was whilst making his way to England on a subsequent visit from Italy that he conceived his best known work, In Praise of Folly. Arriving at More's house in London, he quickly committed it to paper with More's support, in 1509. In Praise of Folly, Erasmus wrote this work with two intentions in mind; to satirize and inveigh against the offices and institutions of the Church, for which he had developed a deep hatred of duri...
An international resource on Socionics, a theory of personality type.