Familiar Colloquies

The Familiar Colloquies (Latin Colloquia familiaria) is a collection of short dialogues by Desiderius Erasmus, the Dutch theologian and educator regarded as the "Prince of Christian Humanists". The first edition, published in 1518, offered Latin conversational formulae and passages for schoolboys, but the work grew over the following decades into a vehicle for religious and social criticism.

The dialogues began in the late 1490s as informal exercises for Erasmus's own pupils. Around 1522 he came to see in this form a way of pursuing his aim of gradually enlightening and reforming all of Christendom. Between that date and 1533, twelve new editions appeared, each larger and more serious than the last, until some fifty colloquies, of between two and fifty pages each, had accumulated. Their subjects range from war, travel and lay piety to sleep, the tricks of beggars, funeral superstitions, customs, the plight of prostitutes and literature.

The style is graceful and easy, with gentle though sometimes scathing humour, which explains their long popularity as school texts and as light reading for adults. With the Protestant Reformation, some of their bolder passages came under censorship, and translations often selected, expurgated or reinterpreted the text to suit sectarian agendas. More than a hundred editions have been recorded.

Several dialogues stand out. "Naufragium" gives a vivid account of a shipwreck and has been linked to the opening scenes of Shakespeare's The Tempest. "Peregrinatio religionis ergo" uses irony to recall pilgrimages to English shrines and argues for moderation against devotional excess. "Inquisitio de fide", added in 1523, asks whether Lutherans should be considered heretics, reflecting Erasmus's wish to calm the conflict. "Epicureus", his last colloquy, is of particular interest to scholars: it surveys classical Greek philosophical schools and proposes a Christian Epicureanism that equates pleasure with faith and a clear conscience.