La fin du rêve ? La circulation des œuvres d'Érasme après le Concile de Trente dans les anciens Pays-Bas et en Principauté de Liège

Abstract

This article aims to fill a lack of historiographic order concerning our knowledge and understanding of the circulation of the works of Erasmus after the Council of Trent in the former Low Countries and in the Principality of Liège. Indeed, while the condemnation of the great humanist by the Roman Church and the University of Louvain has given rise to many high-quality publications, it is clear that few scholars have considered the reception of his works after the adoption of the Index of the Council of Trent by the authorities of these two territories. Our research has shown that the presence of Erasmus will disappear with time. Even if the censorship and the work of expurgation have been difficult to put in place, for obvious material and human reasons, the erasmian heritage has gradually eroded over the years before beginning a long sleep, sometimes hidden, on conventional library shelves.