Summary: | The authors analyze early letters of the Dutch humanist Erasmus Roterodam (1487-1488) in the first year of his stay in the monastery of Steyn. The Epistles addressed to his fellow countryman and the young monk of the same monastery Servatius Roger. The authors explore the possibility of interpretation this texts from three points of view: as some samples of epistolary art; as some patterns of homosexual behaviours of the young Erasmus; as evidence of sentimental masculine friendship phenomenon inherent in the medieval monastic culture and tradition of devotiomoderna. The letters allow the authors to put the question of the role of rhetorical standards in describing the emotional experiences as well as to analyze Erasmus’ views on friendship, love, regulations of everyday life and their interrelations. The first Russian translation of one of the Erasmus-Servatius correspondence is given in the issue.
|