Ebook: Rodolphus Agricola Phrisius 1444-1485: Proceedings of the International Conference at the University of Groningen, 28-30 October 1985

Rodolphus Agricola died at Heidelberg on October 27, 1485. He was born in Baflo near Groningen in the Netherlands in 1444 (or 1443). Although in his own manuscripts his name is also spelled "Rhodolphus Agricola Frisus", traditionally it is given in Latin as Rodolphus Agricola Phrisius. His intelligence and ingenuity have inspired readers of his work through the centuries. Since Erasmus and Melanchthon, Agricola's decisive influence on the development of Italian humanism north of the Alps has been recognized widely.

Modern scholarship of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries usually regards him highly. Nevertheless, only sporadic systematic attention has been given to his biography and work. Especially important in this regard are the chronological list of his letters and orations compiled by Allen (1906), the biographical study in Dutch by Van der Velden (1911) and the bibliographical and rhetorical analysis of his work by Ong (1958).

The quincentenary of Agricola's death in 1985 appeared to offer an excellent opportunity for stimulating the renewal of Agricolan studies. A commemoration could appropriately have been organized in a number of places: he studied at Erfurt, Louvain, Pavia, Ferrara and, perhaps also, at Cologne; he filled public office in Groningen and stimulated humanism there; at Heidelberg he taught and functioned in the University and at the court of Johann, Bishop von Dalberg. The Groningen homage to Agricola was not prompted solely by patriotic feelings. There is an established interest in Agricola and northern humanism especially in the departments of classics, history and philosophy of the University and in its library. In general, too, Agricola is considered one of the founding fathers of intellectual life in the northern Netherlands and Germany.