Epistolae obscurorum virorum

E270089

Epistolae obscurorum virorum is a satirical collection of fictitious letters from supposedly ignorant theologians that mocked scholasticism and supported the humanist and reformist movements in early 16th-century Germany.

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Label Occurrences
Epistolae obscurorum virorum canonical 1

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Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Latin-language literary work
letter collection
satirical work
approximatePublicationEnd 1517
approximatePublicationStart 1515
associatedWith German humanism
early Protestant Reformation
circulation printed pamphlets
countryOfOrigin Germany
criticizes abuses of ecclesiastical authority
intellectual corruption in the Church
culturalSignificance important document of early Reformation satire
key text in the conflict between humanists and scholastics
genre epistolary literature
satire
hasFictionalAuthors obscure theologians
historicalContext pre-Reformation Germany
influenced religious reform debates in Germany
language Latin
literaryForm fictitious letters
literaryTechnique caricature
irony
parody
mainSubject Reformation
humanism
scholasticism
theology
movement Renaissance humanism
surface form: Northern Renaissance humanism
narrativeDevice letters written by ignorant theologians
placeOfPublication Germany
portrays theologians as ignorant and bigoted
publicationCentury 16th century
publicationPeriod early 16th century
purpose to mock scholastic theologians
to support humanist ideas
to support reformist movements
satirizes conservative theologians
scholastic theology
supports critical study of religious texts
philological scholarship
targetAudience educated humanists
targetOfAttacks anti-humanist theologians
timePeriod Renaissance
titleTranslation Letters of Obscure Men
uses mock-learned Latin

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ulrich von Hutten notableWork Epistolae obscurorum virorum