Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda Obituary Written in Remembrance of Erasmus of Rotterdam — a Memorial or a Settling of Scores?

Juan Gines de Sepúlveda’s inclusion of an obituary of Erasmus of Rotterdam in Book XV of De rebus gestis Caroli V is usually considered a belated recognition by the Spaniard after the series of notorious disputes they had endured. The hypothesis put forward in this paper is radically different and completely new. It is based on a profound interpretation of the obituary itself and its historical context, which leads to the conclusion that it is more a matter of Sepúlveda settling scores, declaring that he was right in criticising the Dutchman. Hence, we would be, in the presence of an intelligent use of the obituary genre, in defence of his positions on Humanism and the Reformation.