Praise Of Folly

A satire on the intrinsic vanity of the social order and an exhortation towards a humanistic Christianity, Erasmus's Praise of Folly--written in 1509 and put on the Index of forbidden books by the Council of Trent in 1559 after becoming the greatest literary success of the Humanistic Age-- is the towering achievement of one of the most brilliant minds of all time, and one of the most influential books ever written.

Considered one of the most important works of literature in Western Civilization, Desiderius Erasmus's essay, "Praise of Folly," is a classic satirical work in the style of Lucian, the ancient Greek, in which the Goddess of Folly extols the virtues of frivolousness and indulgence of ones passions and then turns to a satirical examination of Christian piousness. In a humorously satirical way, "Praise of Folly" examines the abuses of power of the Roman Catholic Church at the time and is seen as one of the major catalysts for the Protestant Reformation.