Erasmus Seminar: Erasmus and Bayle

Dear all,

On 24 March the Erasmus of Rotterdam Research Centre (ERRC) officially launched with a successful Erasmus Seminar. We will continue the seminars with regular discussions of recent and relevant publications about Erasmus. On behalf of the ERRC, we are happy to invite you to our next seminar on Thursday 28 April 2022 about Erasmus and Bayle.

30 April 2022 marks the 400th birthday of the Erasmus Statue that presently stands beside the Laurence Church in Rotterdam. When Pierre Bayle arrived in Rotterdam in 1681, he undoubtedly encountered the statue, which then stood on the Grotemarkt. Bayle did not discuss the statue at length, but he did elaborately read, criticize, eulogize, defend, and emulate Erasmus’ publications and personality.

The numerous references to Erasmus throughout Bayle’s oeuvre are analyzed by Willis Goth Regier in his recent article “Pierre Bayle’s Erasmus”. Regier provides an overview of these references and assesses to what extend Bayle is a follower of Erasmus. Regier concludes by denominating Pierre Bayle an exemplary Erasmian. However, Regier stresses that this does not mean Bayle is greatly indebted to Erasmus, because without Erasmus “he’d still be Bayle … though not so well read”.

We propose to review Regier’s article and together discuss the role of Erasmus’s indebtedness to Bayle for his later legacy and fame. How did Bayle’s extensive references and commentaries to Erasmus shape later inquiries into Erasmus? How does the culture of remembrance, expressed most obviously in the statue of Erasmus, influence the public and academic notoriety and understanding of Erasmus?

Drawing a parallel to the present-day culture of remembrance within Erasmus University Rotterdam, we will conclude our discussion with a short tour of the Bayle and Erasmus monuments on Campus Woudestein.

For a fruitful and interesting discussion, we ask you to read the following article by Willis Goth Regier prior to the seminar: Willis Goth Regier. "Pierre Bayle’s Erasmus", Erasmus Studies 42, 1 (2022): 30-59, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/18749275-04201003

What? Erasmus Seminar about Erasmus and Bayle
When? 28 April 2022, 15:00
Where? Campus Woudestein, ESPhil, Bayle Building J5-62/64 (Glasbak)

Kind regards,

Ronald van Raak
Han van Ruler
Sanne Steen