Erasmo da Rotterdam e l'Europa senza confini

The paper analyses the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, aimed at spreading the culture of peace and solidarity beyond the narrow circle of humanists. The Dutchman was undoubtedly the most convinced proponent of a pedagogical model based on the values emerging from the bonae litterae of Greco-Latin culture, which would produce boni mores in individuals. According to his hopes, travel, dialogue and exchange between individuals of different languages and cultures would lay the foundations for the formation of a renewed consciousness of an open and borderless Europe. A continent, a precious guardian of human values, where – as in a Respublica litterarum – people could enrich each other by exchanging knowledge and interpretations. The cosmopolitan spirit would make it possible to eliminate, or at least reduce, prejudice and hostility, protecting people from all forms of fanaticism.