08.10.25 / Lecture Maria Fallica – Sacred Folly: A Woman’s Voice in Erasmus’ World (EN)
She is bold, brilliant, and just a little outrageous.
Meet the “fool” who knew more than anyone expected.
Mary Magdalene by Quentin Massys. Oil on oak panel, 15th or 16th century. Detroit institute of Arts.
Sacred Folly: A Woman’s Voice in Erasmus’ World
What happens when a woman dares to speak uncomfortable truths? In The Praise of Folly, Erasmus gives us Lady Folly – a sharp-tongued, witty, and captivating speaker who slips between humour and seriousness, charm and challenge. She teases, provokes, moralizes, and, in the end, leads us to something unexpected: a soaring, almost mystical vision of faith.
Lady Folly’s voice is not just entertainment – it raises questions about how femininity, wisdom, and faith were imagined in Christian thought. Her “fool’s mask” hides and reveals at the same time, protecting the speaker while allowing her to say the unsayable.
This mask, worn by both Erasmus’ fictional heroine and many real Renaissance women writers, reflects a paradox at the heart of Christianity: the idea that what seems foolish can contain the deepest truth.
Maria Fallica
Maria Fallica (PhD, Sapienza University of Rome) is Tenure-track Assistant Professor of History of Christianity at Sapienza University of Rome. Her research interests lie in the reception of the Fathers of the Church in the modern age and the European Reformations. She is currently working on a project on the gendered notion of folly in the early modern Age, with a particular focus on France and Italy (Folly and the Feminine in the Renaissance (FOLIE).
Practical
Wednesday 8th October 2025 – 6 pm
In English
The lecture is followed by a concert of the accordeonist Sara Salvérius at 8 pm
Prices : 3€ (lecture – Friends of Erasmus House) / 5€ (lecture) / 15€ (lecture and concert)
Booking is required
