{"id":162491,"date":"2023-12-20T11:25:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T10:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=162491"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:06","slug":"erasmus-search-for-love-and-affection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/12\/20\/erasmus-search-for-love-and-affection\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus\u2019 search for love and affection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI curse those beautiful boys who make it impossible for me to enjoy that part of Italy that smiles on me more each day!\u201d Erasmus penned this complaint in a letter he wrote in December 1508 to Aldo Manuzio, a publisher in Venice.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the time, the humanist was visiting Italy \u2013 the country that gave birth to humanism \u2013 to attain a degree at the university in Turin and to arrange for Manuzio to publish his Adagia<\/em>, a collection of proverbs and maxims from classical antiquity. Shortly before leaving Italy, Erasmus wrote to Manuzio about how the Italian boys distracted him from his work. This was not the first time Erasmus, whom our university is named after, lyrically expressed his passion and sorrow on account of the young men close to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish that you, if possible, would care for me as much as I for you. And that you were tormented by love for me, just as I am constantly tortured by my desire for you.\u201d This quote comes from one of the letters Erasmus wrote to Servaas Rogier as a very young man, having just joined the monastery in Stein, near Gouda, as a novice. Erasmus felt lonely and unhappy in this monastery. Servaas was a novice like himself and, like Erasmus, Servaas was looking for ways to study and write independently within the monastery\u2019s walls. The letters are typical of Erasmus, who liked to play with words and imagery and was not afraid of hyperbole. They can also be read as a young monk\u2019s plea for love and affection.<\/p>\n\n\t

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