Is the most famous satire of the Renaissance actually a sermon on divine madness?

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly in 1509 while staying with Sir Thomas More. Though it began as a playful, satirical attack on human vanity and religious corruption, the work pivots into a profound meditation on the folly of the cross, challenging the boundary between human wisdom and divine truth.

Written in Latin and first printed in 1511, In Praise of Folly was born from a week of collaboration between Desiderius Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. The title itself is a dense pun: Moriae Encomium refers to Folly, but also serves as a tribute to More. Erasmus framed the work as a learned encomium, where Folly herself acts as the narrator. Drawing on the style of the Greek satirist Lucian, she parades as a goddess born of Wealth and Youth, accompanied by companions like Self-Love, Flattery, and Pleasure. She argues that life would be unbearable without her influence, claiming that all human success is owed to her.

The text shifts from lighthearted satire to a darker, more critical tone as it examines the superstitions and corrupt practices of the contemporary church. While many later commentators interpreted the book as a direct assault on the Roman Catholic Church, Erasmus remained faithful to the institution. He later noted that the controversy surrounding the book stemmed not from the princes or popes he satirized, but from theologians who took offense. The work eventually became a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation, though this reputation may have been amplified by sectarian interpolations in later translations.

At its core, the book moves beyond simple mockery to explore the metaphysical nature of folly. It contrasts the wisdom of the world—which Erasmus views as a form of folly—with the supra-rational "folly of the cross" found in 1 Corinthians. By the end, the satire transforms into a sermon on the Christian ideal, suggesting that true wisdom lies in the divine madness of love. This complexity has made the text notoriously difficult to analyze, as it balances classical humanism with a deep, orthodox religious purpose that elevates folly to a state of grace.

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