The Erasmus of Rotterdam Society was founded in 1980 to promote the following aims: to encourage research and writing on Erasmus, his contemporaries, and their intellectual milieu; to sponsor the publication of a Yearbook containing scholarly articles and book reviews on these subjects; to sponsor and publish two annual lectures: the Birthday Lecture (near Erasmus’ birthday, October 27), which focuses attention on the ideals and goals of Erasmus, who during his own lifetime promoted unity, peace, understanding, and dispassionate inquiry, at Huygens ING (The Netherlands) and the Margaret Mann Phillips lecture, at locations in North America, commemorating the anniversary of Erasmus’ death (July 12). The Society is an affiliate of the Renaissance Society of Americaand the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference.