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Ship of Fools (Modern German:Das Narrenschiff;Latin:Stultifera Navis; originalmedieval German title:Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam) is asatiricalallegory in German verse published in1494 inBasel, Switzerland, by thehumanist andtheologianSebastian Brant. It is the most famous treatment of theship of fools trope and circulated in numerous translations.
TheShip of Fools was published in1494 inBasel, Switzerland, bySebastian Brant.[1][2] It was printed byMichael Furter for Johann Bergann von Olpe.[3] The book consists of a prologue, 112 brief satires, and an epilogue, all illustrated with woodcuts.[4] Brant takes up theship of fools trope, popular at the time, lashing with unsparing vigor the weaknesses and vices of his time.[citation needed] He conceivesSaint Grobian, whom he imagines to be thepatron saint of vulgar and coarse people.[citation needed]
The concept of foolishness was a frequently usedtrope in the pre-Reformation period to legitimize criticism, as also used byErasmus in hisPraise of Folly andMartin Luther in his "An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation von des christlichen Standes Besserung" (Address to the Christian Nobility).[citation needed]Court fools were allowed to say much what they wanted; by writing his work in the voice of the fool, Brant could legitimize his criticism of the church.[citation needed] The abbot ofSponheimJohannes Trithemius lamented Brant's title choice and would have preferred the book to be calledDivina Satyra.[5] He compared the work toDante Alighieri'sDivina Commedia for the use in both of their local languages.[5] The educatorJacob Wimpfeling deemed the book worthy to be taught in school andUlrich von Hutten praised Brant for his mixture of classical metrics with a barbarian dialect and the organization of the poetry in theShip of Fools.[5]
The work immediately became extremely popular, being published inReutlingen,Nuremberg,Strasbourg andAugsburg, with six authorized and several unauthorized editions until 1512.[1] Brant's own views onhumanism and the new, revolutionary views on Christianity emerging in the 16th century are unclear. The debate still continues about whetherShip of Fools is itself a humanist work or just a remnant of medieval sensibilities.[6]
The book was translated intoLatin byJakob Locher [de] in1497,[7][1] into French byPierre Rivière [fr] in 1497 and byJean Drouyn [d] in 1498, into English byAlexander Barclay and byHenry Watson [d] in1509.
Of the 103 woodcuts, two-thirds are attributed to the youngAlbrecht Dürer,[1] and the additional wood-cuts are the work of the so-calledHaintz-Nar-Meister [de], thegnad-her-Meister and two other anonymous artists.[citation needed]
An allegorical painting byHieronymus Bosch, TheShip of Fools, a fragment of a triptych said to have been painted by Bosch between 1490 and 1500, may have been influenced by the frontispiece for the book.[citation needed] The painting is on display in theLouvre Museum inParis.
Some 20th-century artists, includingArt Hazelwood [d],[citation needed]Dušan Kállay [fr],[citation needed]István Orosz,[citation needed]Richard Rappaport [de;pt],[citation needed]Brian Williams,[citation needed] made images based onDas Narrenschiff, or drew illustrations for contemporary editions ofThe Ship of Fools.
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