Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist,

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, educationalist,

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

, and philosopher. Through his

works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

, he is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...

and one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture. Erasmus was an important figure in classical scholarship who wrote in a spontaneous, copious and natural

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

style. As a

developing humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared pioneering new

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

scholarly editions of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

and of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

, with annotations and commentary that were immediately and vitally influential in both the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

and the Catholic Reformation. He also wrote '' On Free Will'', ''

The Praise of Folly ''In Praise of Folly'', also translated as ''The Praise of Folly'' ( or ), is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511. Inspired by previous works of the Italian humanist ''De Triumpho ...

'', '' The Complaint of Peace'', ''

Handbook of a Christian Knight The ''Handbook of the Christian Knight'' (), sometimes translated as ''The Manual of the Christian Knight'' or ''The Handbook of the Christian Soldier'' or just the Enchiridion, is a work written by Dutch scholar Erasmus, Erasmus of Rotterdam in ...

'', ''

On Civility in Children ''On Civility in Children'' () is a handbook written by Erasmus of Rotterdam, and is considered to be the first treatise in Western Europe on the moral and practical education of children. First published in 1530, it was addressed to the eleven- ...

'', '' Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style'' and many other popular and pedagogical works. Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious

reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

s. He developed a biblical humanistic theology in which he advocated the religious and civil necessity both of peaceable concord and of pastoral tolerance on '' matters of indifference''. He remained a member of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

all his life, remaining committed to reforming the church from within. He promoted what he understood as the traditional doctrine of

synergism In Christian theology, synergism refers to the cooperative effort between God and humanity in the process of Salvation in Christianity, salvation. Before Augustine of Hippo (354–430), synergism was almost universally endorsed. Later, it came to ...

, which some prominent reformers such as

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

rejected in favour of the doctrine of monergism. His influential middle-road approach disappointed, and even angered, partisans in both camps.

Life and career

Erasmus's almost 70 years may be divided into quarters. * First was his

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Dutch childhood, ending with his being orphaned and impoverished; * Second, his struggling years as a canon (a kind of semi-monk), a clerk, a priest, a failing and sickly university student, a would-be poet, and a tutor; * Third, his flourishing but peripatetic

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

years of increasing focus and literary productivity following his 1499 contact with a reformist English circle notably John Colet and

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

, then with radical French Franciscan Jean Vitrier (or Voirier), and later with the Greek-speaking Aldine New Academy in Venice; and * Fourth, his financially more secure

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

years near the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

: as a prime influencer of European thought through his New Testament and increasing public opposition to aspects of Lutheranism, first in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and then as a Catholic religious refugee in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Early life

Desiderius Erasmus is reported to have been born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

on 27 or 28 October ("the vigil of Simon and Jude") in the late 1460s. He was named''Erasmus'' was his

baptismal name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious name, religious personal personal name, name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In Anglosphere, English-spe ...

, given after

Erasmus of Formia Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo (died ), was a Christianity, Christian saint and Christian martyrs, martyr. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, s ...

e. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' was a scholarly name meaning "from Rotterdam", though the Latin toponymic adjective would be . after

e, whom Erasmus' father Gerard (Gerardus Helye) personally favoured. Although associated closely with Rotterdam, he lived there for only four years, never to return afterwards. Rotterdam standbeeld Erasmus

The year of Erasmus' birth is unclear: in later life he calculated his age as if born in 1466, but frequently his remembered age at major events actually implies 1469. (This article currently gives 1466 as the birth year. To handle this disagreement, ages are given first based on 1469, then in parentheses based on 1466: e.g., "20 (or 23)".) Furthermore, many details of his early life must be gleaned from a fictionalised third-person account he wrote in 1516 (published in 1529) in a letter to a fictitious Papal secretary, Lambertus Grunnius ("Mr. Grunt"). His parents could not be legally married: his father, Gerard, was a Catholic priestCornelius Augustijn, ''Erasmus: His life, work and influence'', University of Toronto, 1991 who may have spent up to six years in the 1450s or 60s in Italy as a scribe and scholar. His mother was Margaretha Rogerius (Latinized form of Dutch surname Rutgers), the daughter of a doctor from Zevenbergen. She may have been Gerard's housekeeper. Although he was born out of wedlock, Erasmus was cared for by his parents, with a loving household and the best education, until their early deaths from the bubonic plague in 1483. His only sibling Peter might have been born in 1463, and some writers suggest Margaret was a widow and Peter was the half-brother of Erasmus; Erasmus on the other hand called him his brother. There were legal and social restrictions on the careers and opportunities open to the children of unwed parents. Erasmus' own story, in the possibly forged 1524 ' was along the lines that his parents were engaged, with the formal marriage blocked by his relatives (presumably a young widow or unmarried mother with a child was not an advantageous match); his father went to Italy to study Latin and Greek, and the relatives misled Gerard that Margaretha had died, on which news grieving Gerard romantically took Holy Orders, only to find on his return that Margaretha was alive; many scholars dispute this account. In 1471 his father became the vice-curate of the small town of Woerden (where young Erasmus may have attended the local vernacular school to learn to read and write) and in 1476 was promoted to vice-curate of Gouda. Erasmus was given the highest education available to a young commoner of his day, in a series of private, monastic or semi-monastic schools. In 1476, at the age of 6 (or 9), his family moved to Gouda and he started at the school of Pieter Winckel, who later became his guardian (and, perhaps, squandered Erasmus and Peter's inheritance.) Historians who date his birth in 1466 have Erasmus in Utrecht at the choir school at this period. In 1478, at the age of 9 (or 12), he and his older brother Peter were sent to one of the best Latin schools in the Netherlands, located at

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

and owned by the chapter clergy of the Lebuïnuskerk (St. Lebuin's Church). A notable previous student was Thomas à Kempis. Towards the end of his stay there the curriculum was renewed by the new principal of the school, Alexander Hegius, a correspondent of pioneering rhetorician Rudolphus Agricola. For the first time in Europe north of the Alps, Greek was taught at a lower level than a university and this is where he began learning it. His education there ended when plague struck the city about 1483, and his mother, who had moved to provide a home for her sons, died from the infection; then his father. Following the death of his parents, as well as 20 fellow students at his school, he moved back to his ' (Rotterdam?) where he was supported by Berthe de Heyden,DeMolen, Richard L. (1976),p.13 a compassionate widow. Hieronymus Bosch - Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony - WGA2585

Hieronymus Bosch - Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony - WGA2585

In 1484, around the age 14 (or 17), he and his brother went to a cheaper grammar school or seminary at

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

run by the Brethren of the Common Life:Painter Hieronymous Bosch lived nearby, on the marketplace, at this time. Erasmus' ''Epistle to Grunnius'' (see above) satirises them as the "Collationary Brethren" who select and sort boys for monkhood. He was exposed there to the Devotio moderna movement and the Brethren's famous book '' The Imitation of Christ'' but resented the harsh rules and strict methods of the religious brothers and educators. The two brothers made an agreement that they would resist the clergy but attend the university; Erasmus longed to study in Italy, the birthplace of Latin, and have a degree from an Italian university. Instead, Peter left for the Augustinian canonry in Stein, which left Erasmus feeling betrayed. Around this time he wrote forlornly to his friend Elizabeth de Heyden "Shipwrecked am I, and lost, 'mid waters chill'." He suffered Quartan fever for over a year. Eventually Erasmus moved to the same abbey as a postulant in or before 1487, around the age of 16 (or 19.)"Poverty stricken, suffering from quartan fever, and pressurized by his guardians"

Vows, ordination and canonry experience

Poverty had forced the sickly, bookish, teenaged orphan Erasmus into the consecrated life, entering the novitiate in 1487 at the

canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

at rural Stein, very near

Gouda, South Holland Gouda () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province , city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands , municipality in the west of the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Utrecht (city), Utrecht, in the Provinces of the Netherland ...

: the ''Chapter of Sion'' communityCanons regular of St Augustine, Chapter of Sion (or Syon), ''Emmaus'' house, Stein (or Steyn). largely borrowed its rule from the larger monkish Congregation of Windesheim who had historical associations with the Brethren of the Common Life, but also with the notable pastoral, mystical and anti-speculative post-scholastic theologians Jean Gerson and Gabriel Biel: positions associated also with Erasmus. In 1488–1490, the surrounding region was plundered badly by armies fighting the Squire Francis War of succession and then suffered a famine. Erasmus professed his vows as a

Canon regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religiou ...

of St. Augustine there in late 1488 at age 19 (or 22). Historian Fr. Aiden Gasquet later wrote: "One thing, however, would seem to be quite clear; he could never have had any vocation for the religious life. His whole subsequent history shows this unmistakably." But according to one Catholic biographer, Erasmus had a spiritual awakening at the monastery. Certain abuses in

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

s were among the chief objects of his later calls to reform the Western Church from within, particularly coerced or tricked recruitment of immature boys (the fictionalised account in the ''Letter to Grunnius'' calls them "victims of Dominic and Francis and Benedict"): Erasmus felt he had belonged to this class, joining "voluntarily but not freely" and so considered himself, if not morally bound by his vows, certainly legally, socially and honour- bound to keep them, yet to look for his true vocation. While at Stein, 18-(or 21-)year-old Erasmus fell in unrequited love, forming what he called a "passionate attachment" (), with a fellow canon, Servatius Rogerus,

Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch (; born 31 October 1951) is an English academic and historian, specialising in ecclesiastical history and the history of Christianity. Since 1995, he has been a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; he was former ...

(2003). '' Reformation: A History''. p. 95. MacCulloch has a footnote "There has been much modern embarrassment and obfuscation on Erasmus and Rogerus, but see the sensible comment in J. Huizinga, ''Erasmus of Rotterdam'' (London, 1952), pp. 11–12, and from Geoffrey Nutuall, ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' 26 (1975), 403"
In Huizinga's view: "Out of the letters to Servatius there rises the picture of an Erasmus whom we shall never find again—a young man of more than feminine sensitiveness; of a languishing need for sentimental friendship. ..his exuberant friendship accords quite well with the times and the person. ..Sentimental friendships were as much in vogue in secular circles during the fifteenth century as towards the end of the eighteenth century. Each court had its pairs of friends, who dressed alike, and shared room, bed, and heart. Nor was this cult of fervent friendship restricted to the sphere of aristocratic life. It was among the specific characteristics of the ''devotio moderna''." and wrote a series of love letters in which he called Rogerus "half my soul", writing that "it was not for the sake of reward or out of a desire for any favour that I have wooed you both unhappily and relentlessly. What is it then? Why, that you love him who loves you."Erasmus editor Harry Vredeveld argues that the letters are "surely expressions of true friendship", citing what Erasmus wrote in his ''Letter to Grunnius'' about an earlier teenage infatuation with a "Cantellius": "It is not uncommon at

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

age to conceive passionate attachments 'fervidos amores''for some of your companions". However, he allows "That these same letters, which run the gamut of love's emotions, are undoubtedly also literary exercises—rhetorical —is by no means a contradiction of this." This correspondence contrasts with the generally detached and much more restrained attitude he usually showed in his later life, though he had a capacity to form and maintain deep male friendships,But also a capacity to feel betrayal sharply, as with his brother Peter, "Cantellius", Aleander, and Dorp. such as with More, Colet, and Ammonio.The biographer J.J. Mangan commented of his time living with Andrea Ammonio in England "to some extent Erasmus thereby realized the dream of his youth, which was to live together with some choice literary spirit with whom he might share his thoughts and aspiration". Quoted in J. K. Sowards, ''The Two Lost Years of Erasmus: Summary, Review, and Speculation'', Studies in the Renaissance, Vol. 9 (1962), p. 174. No mentions or sexual accusations were ever made of Erasmus during his lifetime. His works notably praise moderate sexual desire in marriage between men and women. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the Catholic priesthood either on 25 April 1492, Galli, Mark, and Olsen, TED (conference). ''131 Christians Everyone Should Know''. Nashville: Holman Reference, 2000, p. 343. or 25 April 1495, at age 25 (or 28). Either way, he did not actively work as a choir priest for very long, though his many works on confession and penance suggests experience of dispensing them.

Disengagement

In 1493, his prior arranged for him to leave the Stein house and move to Brabant, to take up the post of Latin Secretary to the ambitious Bishop of Cambrai, Henry of Bergen, on account of his great skill in Latin and his reputation as a man of letters. Following this, he went to Paris to study theology. His status as priest, latinist and student, and his habit of being far away, afforded a measure of disengagement from the Stein canonry. From 1500, he avoided returning to the canonry at Stein even insisting the diet and hours would kill him,Erasmus suffered severe food intolerances, including to fish, beer and many wines, which formed much of the diet of Northern European monks, and caused his antipathy to fasts. "My heart is Catholic, but my stomach is Lutheran." (''Epistles'') though he did stay with other Augustinian communities and at monasteries of other orders in his travels. Rogerus, who became prior at Stein in 1504, and Erasmus corresponded over the years, with Rogerus demanding Erasmus return after his studies were complete. Nevertheless, the library of the canonryThe canonry burnt down in 1549 and the canons moved to Gouda. ended up with by far the largest collection of Erasmus' publications in the Gouda region. In 1505,

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

granted a dispensation from the vow of poverty to the extent of allowing Erasmus to hold certain benefices, and from the control and

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

of his order, though he remained a priest and, formally, an Augustinian canon regularDispensed of his vows o
stability and obedience
from his obligations "by the constitutions and ordinances, also by statutes and customs of the monastery of Stein in Holland", quoted in J. K. Sowards, ''The Two Lost Years of Erasmus: Summary, Review, and Speculation'', Studies in the Renaissance, Vol. 9 (1962), p. 174. Erasmus continued to report occasionally to the prior, who disputed the validity of the 1505 dispensation. the rest his life. In 1517,

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

granted legal dispensations for Erasmus' ''defects of natality''Undispensed illegitimacy had various effects under canon law: if a man's biological parents had never married, he could not be ordained a secular priest, unless he became a canon or regular monk, or to hold benefices; but any or all of these disabilities could be removed by a papal dispensation. This canon law, in effect since the Council of

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

(1078), was intended to prevent kings appointing their illegitimate children as abbots and bishops. In practice, dispensations were frequently given: Erasmus' student, the teenage Alexander Stewart was the illegitimate child of the Scottish king and, by papal dispensation, Archbishop of St Andrews. and confirmed the previous dispensation, allowing the 48-(or 51-)year-old his independence but still, as a canon, capable of holding office as a prior or abbot. Indeed, in 1535, incoming Pope Paul III appointed him Provost of the "Canons of Deventer" (i.e., the semi-monastic Brethren of the Common Life chapter, which had long resisted titles such as Provost, and/or perhaps the canons of the Grote or Lebuïnuskerk): this may also have been related to his intended return to the Low Countries. In 1525, Pope Clement VII granted, for health reasons, a dispensation to eat meat and dairy in Lent and on fast days. 1501

Travels

Erasmus travelled widely and regularly, for reasons of poverty, "escape" from his Stein canonry (to

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

), education (to Paris,

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

), escape from the

sweating sickness Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning i ...

plague (to

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Brabant), royal counsel (

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

), patronage, tutoring and chaperoning (North Italy), networking (

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

), seeing books through printing in person (Paris,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

), and avoiding the persecution of religious fanatics (to

). He enjoyed horseback riding.

Paris

In 1495 with Bishop Henry's consent and a stipend, Erasmus went on to study at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in the Collège de Montaigu, a centre of reforming zeal,Subsequent students included Ignatius of Loyola, Noël Béda, Jean Calvin, and John Knox. under the direction of the ascetic Jan Standonck, of whose rigors he complained. The university was then the chief seat of Scholastic learning but already coming under the influence of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

humanism. For instance, Erasmus became an intimate friend of an Italian humanist Publio Fausto Andrelini, poet and "professor of humanity" in Paris. During this time, Erasmus developed a deep aversion to exclusive or excessive

Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics ...

and

Scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...

and started finding work as a tutor/chaperone to visiting English and Scottish aristocrats, most importantly in his life William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy. There is no record of him graduating.

First visit to England (1499–1500)

Erasmus stayed in England at least three times.Some of these visits were interrupted by trips back to Europe. In between he had periods studying in Paris, Orléans, Leuven and other cities. In 1499 he was invited to England by Blount, who offered to accompany him on his trip to England. His six months in England was fruitful in the making of lifelong friendships with the leaders of English thought in the days of King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. During his first visit to England in 1499, he stayed for two months at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, at St Mary's College, the college for Augustinian canons, where he befriended the leading Greek scholars Thomas Linacre, William Grocyn and William Lily. Erasmus was particularly impressed by the Bible teaching of John Colet, who pursued a preaching style more akin to the

church fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

than the Scholastics. Through the influence of the humanist John Colet, his interests turned towards patristic theology. Other distinctive features of Colet's thought that may have influenced Erasmus are his pacifism, reform-mindedness, anti-Scholasticism and pastoral esteem for the sacrament of Confession. This prompted him, upon his return from England to Paris, to intensively study the Greek language, which would enable him to study patristic theology on a more profound level. Erasmus also became fast friends with

, a young law student considering becoming a monk, whose thought (e.g., on conscience and equity) had been influenced by 14th century French theologian Jean Gerson, and whose intellect had been developed by his powerful patron Cardinal John Morton (d. 1500) who had famously attempted reforms of English monasteries. Erasmus left London with a full purse from his generous friends, to allow him to complete his studies. However, he had been provided with bad legal advice by his friends: the English customs officials confiscated all the gold and silver, leaving him with nothing except a night fever that lasted several months.

France and Brabant

Following his first trip to England, Erasmus returned first to poverty in Paris, where he started to compile the ''Adagio'' for his students, then to Orléans to escape the plague, and then to semi-monastic life, scholarly studies and writing in France, notably at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Bertin at St Omer (1501,1502) where he wrote the initial version of the ''Enchiridion'' ('' Handbook of the Christian Knight''). A particular influence was his encounter in 1501 with Jean (Jehan) Vitrier, a radical Franciscan who consolidated Erasmus' thoughts against excessive valorisation of monasticism, ceremonialism and fasting in a kind of conversion experience, and introduced him to

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

. In 1502, Erasmus went to Brabant, ultimately to the university at Louvain. In 1504 he was hired by the leaders of the Brabantian "Provincial States" to deliver one of his few public speeches, a very long formal

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

for Philip "the Fair", Duke of Burgundy and later King of Castille: the first half being the conventional extravagant praise, but the second half being a strong treatment of the miseries of war, the need for neutrality and conciliation (with the neighbours France and England), and the excellence of peaceful rulers: that real courage in a leader was not to wage war but to put a bridle on greed, etc. This was later published as ''Panegyricus''. Erasmus then returned to Paris in 1504.

Second visit to England (1505–1506)

For Erasmus' second visit, he spent over a year staying at recently married

's house, now a lawyer and Member of Parliament, honing his translation skills. Erasmus preferred to live the life of an independent scholar and made a conscious effort to avoid any actions or formal ties that might inhibit his individual freedom.Treu, Erwin (1959), p.8 In England Erasmus was approached with prominent offices but he declined them all, until the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

himself offered his support. He was inclined, but eventually did not accept and longed for a stay in Italy.

Italy

In 1506 he was able to accompany and tutor the sons of the personal physician of the English King through Italy to Bologna. His discovery en route at Park Abbey of

Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo Valla (; also latinized as Laurentius; 1 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator and scholar. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the Donation of Constantine w ...

's ''New Testament Notes'' was a major event in his career and prompted Erasmus to study the New Testament using

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. In 1506 they passed through Turin and he arranged to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology () from the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

at age 37 (or 40). Erasmus stayed tutoring in Bologna for a year; in the winter, Erasmus was present when

entered victorious into the conquered Bologna which he had besieged before. Erasmus travelled on to Venice, working on an expanded version of his Adagia at the

Aldine Press The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics (Latin and Greek masterpieces, plus a few more modern works). The first book that was d ...

of the famous printer

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; ; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and Renaissance humanism, humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...

, advised him which manuscripts to publish, and was an honorary member of the graecophone Aldine "New Academy" (). From Aldus he learned the in-person workflow that made him productive at Froben: making last-minute changes, and immediately checking and correcting printed page proofs as soon as the ink had dried. Aldus wrote that Erasmus could do twice as much work in a given time as any other man he had ever met. In 1507, according to his letters, he studied advanced Greek in Padua with the Venetian natural philosopher, Giulio Camillo. He found employment tutoring and escorting Scottish nobleman Alexander Stewart, the 24-year-old Archbishop of St Andrews, through Padua, Florence, and Siena, Erasmus made it to Rome in 1509, visiting three times and seeking the acquaintance of some notable librarians and cardinals, but having a less active association with Italian scholars; one notable minor friendship was with Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici who later became Pope Leo X and a leading supporter of Erasmus' Biblical program. In 1509, William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Mountjoy lured him back to England, now ruled by what was hoped would be a wise and benevolent king (

) educated by humanists. Warham and Mountjoy sent Erasmus £10 to cover his expenses on the journey. On his trip over the Alps via Splügen Pass, and down the Rhine toward England, Erasmus began to compose ''The Praise of Folly''.

Third visit to England (1510–1515)

In 1510, Erasmus arrived at More's bustling house, was confined to bed to recover from his recurrent illness, and wrote ''The Praise of Folly'', which was to be a best-seller. More was at that time the

undersheriff An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient Kingdom of England, English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions. United States In Policing ...

of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. His wife Jane died, aged 21, in 1511, and More quickly remarrried. After his glorious reception in Italy, Erasmus had returned broke and jobless, with strained relations with former friends and benefactors on the continent, and he regretted leaving Italy, despite being horrified by papal warfare. There is a gap in his usually voluminous correspondence: his so-called "two lost years", perhaps due to self-censorship of dangerous or disgruntled opinions; he shared lodgings with his friend Andrea Ammonio (Latin secretary to Mountjoy, and the next year, to Henry VIII, who had been lodging in Thomas More's large and welcoming household but did not get on with the new wife) provided at the London Austin Friars' compound, skipping out after a disagreement with the friars over rent that caused bad blood. He assisted his friend John Colet by authoring Greek textbooks and securing members of staff for the newly established St Paul's School and was in contact when Colet gave his notorious 1512 Convocation sermon which called for a reformation of ecclesiastical affairs. At Colet's instigation, Erasmus started work on . In 1511, the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's chancellor, John Fisher, arranged for Erasmus to be (or to study to prepare to be) the Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, though whether he actually was accepted for it or took it up is contested by historians. He studied and taught Greek and researched and lectured on

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

. Erasmus mainly stayed at Queens' College while lecturing at the university, between 1511 and 1515.It is reported that the commission of theologians Henry VIII assembled to identify the errors of Luther was made up of three of Erasmus' former students: Henry Bullock, Humphrey Walkden and John Watson. Erasmus' rooms were located in the "" staircase of Old Court. Despite a chronic shortage of money, he succeeded in mastering Greek by an intensive, day-and-night study of three years, taught by Thomas Linacre, continuously begging in letters that his friends send him books and money for teachers. Erasmus suffered from poor health and was especially concerned with heating, clean air, ventilation, draughts, fresh food and unspoiled wine: he complained about the draughtiness of English buildings. He complained that Queens' College could not supply him with enough decent wine"Beer does not suit me either, and the wine is horrible." (wine was the Renaissance medicine for gallstones, from which Erasmus suffered). As Queens' was an unusually humanist-leaning institution in the 16th century, Queens' College Old Library still houses many first editions of Erasmus's publications, many of which were acquired during that period by bequest or purchase, including Erasmus's New Testament translation, which is signed by friend and Polish religious reformer

Jan Łaski Jan Łaski or Johannes à Lasco (1499 – 8 January 1560) was a Polish Calvinist reformer. Owing to his influential work in England (1548–1553) during the English Reformation, he is known to the English-speaking world by the Anglicised form ...

. By this time More was a judge on the poorman's equity court ( Master of Requests) and a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

Flanders and Brabant

His residence at Leuven, where he lectured at the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, exposed Erasmus to much criticism from those ascetics, academics and clerics hostile to the principles of

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

and religious reform to which he was devoting his life. In 1514, ''en route'' to Basel, he made the acquaintance of Hermannus Buschius, Ulrich von Hutten and Johann Reuchlin who introduced him to the Hebrew language in Mainz. In 1514, he suffered a fall from his horse and injured his back. Quinten Massijs - Portret van Peter Gilles

Quinten Massijs - Portret van Peter Gilles

Erasmus may have made several other short visits to England or English territory while living in Brabant. Happily for Erasmus, More and Tunstall were posted in Brussels or Antwerp on government missions around 1516, More for six months, Tunstall for longer. Their circle include Pieter Gillis of Antwerp, in whose house

's wrote ''Utopia'' (1516) with Erasmus' encouragement, Erasmus editing and perhaps even contributing fragments. His old Cambridge friend Richard Sampson was

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

running the nearby diocese of Tournai, recently under English control and governed by his former pupil William Blount. In 1516, Erasmus accepted an honorary position as a Councillor to Charles V with an annuity of 200 guilders (over US$100,000), rarely paid, and tutored Charles' brother, the teenage future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand of Hapsburg. In 1516, Erasmus published the first edition of his scholarly Latin-Greek

with annotations, his complete works of Jerome, and ''

The Education of a Christian Prince ''The Education of a Christian Prince'' () is a Renaissance mirror for princes, by Desiderius Erasmus, which advises the reader on how to be a good Christian prince. The book was dedicated to Prince Charles, who later became Habsburg Emperor ...

'' () for Charles and Ferdinand. In 1517, he supported the foundation at the university of the Collegium Trilingue for the study of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, Latin, and Greek—after the model of Cisneros' College of the Three Languages at the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá () is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ''Studium Generale'' for t ...

—financed by his late friend

Hieronymus van Busleyden Hieronymus van Busleyden (Dutch: Jeroen van Busleyden; French: Jérôme de Busleyden) (c.1470 – 27 August 1517) was a patron of learning and a humanist from the Habsburg Netherlands. His name is usually partially Latinized in English, and c ...

's will. On being asked by Jean Le Sauvage, former Chancellor of Brabant and now Chancellor of Burgundy, Erasmus wrote '' The Complaint of Peace''. In 1517, his great friend Ammonio died in England of the

Sweating Sickness Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning i ...

. In 1518, Erasmus was diagnosed with the plague; despite the danger, he was taken in and cared for in the home of his Flemish friend and publisher Dirk Martens in Antwerp for a month and recovered. By 1518, he reported to Paulus Bombasius that his income was over 300 ducats per year (over US$150,000) without including patronage. By 1522 he reported his annual income as 400 gold florins (over US$200,000). British - Field of the Cloth of Gold - Google Art Project

British - Field of the Cloth of Gold - Google Art Project

In 1520 he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold with Guillaume Budé, probably his last meetings with

and

William Warham William Warham ( – 22 August 1532) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1503 to his death in 1532. Early life and education Warham was the son of Robert Warham of Malshanger in Hampshire. He was educated at Winchester College and New Colleg ...

. His friend Richard Pace gave the main sermon to the kings. His friends and former students and old correspondents were the incoming political elite, and he had risen with them.By 1524, his disciples included, in his words, "the (Holy Roman) Emperor, the Kings of England, France, and Denmark, Prince Ferdinand of Germany, the Cardinal of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and more princes, more bishops, more learned and honourable men than I can name, not only in England, Flanders, France, and Germany, but even in Poland and Hungary..." quoted in He stayed in various locations including Anderlecht (near Brussels) in the summer of 1521.

Basel (1521–1529)

From 1514, Erasmus regularly travelled to

to coordinate the printing of his books with Froben. He developed a lasting association with the great Basel publisher

Johann Froben Johann Froben, in Latin: Johannes Frobenius (and combinations), (c. 1460 – 27 October 1527) was a famous printer, publisher and learned Renaissance humanist in Basel. He was a close friend of Erasmus and cooperated closely with Hans Holbein t ...

and later his son Hieronymus Froben (Erasmus' godson) who together published over 200 works with Erasmus, working with expert scholar-correctors who went on to illustrious careers. His initial interest in Froben's operation was aroused by his discovery of the printer's folio edition of the (

Adagia ''Adagia'' (singular ''adagium'') is the title of an annotated collection of Greek language, Greek and Latin proverbs, compiled during the Renaissance by Dutch Humanism, humanist Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus. Erasmus' repository of p ...

) (1513). Froben's work was notable for using the new

Roman type In Latin script typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of Typeface, historical type, alongside blackletter and Italic type, italic. Sometimes called normal or regular, it is distinct from these two for its upright style (relative to the ...

(rather than

blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter or black-letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule or Gothic type, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for ...

) and Aldine-like Italic and Greek fonts, as well as elegant layouts using borders and fancy capitals;

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

cut several woodblock capitals for Erasmus' editions. The printing of many his books was supervised by his Alsatian friend, the Greek scholar Beatus Rhenanus. In 1521 he settled in Basel. He was weary of the controversies and hostility at Louvain, and feared being dragged further into the Lutheran controversy. He agreed to be the Froben press' literary superintendent writing dedications and prefaces for an annuity and profit share. Apart from Froben's production team, he had his own household with a formidable housekeeper, stable of horses, and up to eight boarders or paid servants who acted as assistants, correctors, amanuenses, dining companions, international couriers, and carers. It was his habit to sit at times by a ground-floor window, to make it easier to see and be seen by strolling humanists for chatting.Introductory Note in In collaboration with Froben and his team, the scope and ambition of Erasmus' ''Annotations'', Erasmus' long-researched project of philological notes of the New Testament along the lines of Valla's ''Adnotations'', had grown to also include a lightly revised Latin Vulgate, then the Greek text, then several edifying essays on methodology, then a highly revised Vulgate—all bundled as his and pirated individually throughout Europe— then finally his amplified ''Paraphrases''. In 1522, Erasmus' compatriot, former teacher (c. 1502) and friend from the University of Louvain unexpectedly became

Pope Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI (; ; ; ), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his death on 14 September 1523. The only Dutch people, Du ...

, after having served as Regent (and/or Grand Inquisitor) of Spain for six years. Like Erasmus and Luther, he had been influenced by the Brethren of the Common Life. He tried to entice Erasmus to Rome. His reforms of the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

which he hoped would meet the objections of many Lutherans were stymied (party because the Holy See was broke), though re-worked at the Council of Trent, and he died in 1523. Pop adrian VI

As the popular and nationalist responses to Luther gathered momentum, the social disorders, which Erasmus dreaded and Luther disassociated himself from, began to appear, including the German Peasants' War (1524–1525), the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

insurrections in Germany and in the Low Countries, iconoclasm, and the radicalisation of peasants across Europe. If these were the outcomes of reform, Erasmus was thankful that he had kept out of it. Yet he was ever more bitterly accused of having started the whole "tragedy" (as Erasmus dubbed the matter)."When the Lutheran tragedy () opened, and all the world applauded, I advised my friends to stand aloof. I thought it would end in bloodshed", Letter to Alberto Pío, 1525, in e.g., In 1523, he provided financial support to the impoverished and disgraced former Latin Secretary of Antwerp Cornelius Grapheus, on his release from the newly introduced Inquisition. In 1525, a former student of Erasmus who had served at Erasmus' father's former church at Woerden, Jan de Bakker (Pistorius) was the first priest to be executed as a heretic in the Netherlands. In 1529, his French translator and friend Louis de Berquin was burnt in Paris, following his condemnation as an anti-Rome heretic by the Sorbonne theologians.

Freiburg (1529–1535)

Following sudden, violent, iconoclastic rioting in early 1529 led by Œcolampadius his former assistant, in which elected Catholic councilmen were deposed, the city of Basel definitely adopted the Reformation—finally banning the Catholic Mass on 1 April 1529. Erasmus, in company with other Basel Catholic priests including Bishop , left Basel on 13 April 1529Prominent reformers like Oecolampadius urged him to stay. However, Campion, ''Erasmus and Switzerland'', op. cit., p. 26, says that Œcolampadius wanted to drive Erasmus from the city. and departed by ship to the Catholic university town of

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

to be under the protection of his former student, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Erasmus wrote somewhat dramatically to Thomas More of his frail condition at the time: "I preferred to risk my life rather than appear to approve a programme like theirs. There was some hope of a return to moderation." Damiao de gois-albertina

In Spring early 1530 Erasmus was bedridden for three months with an intensely painful infection, likely carbunculosis, that, unusually for him, left him too ill to work. He declined to attend the

Diet of Augsburg The diets of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such se ...

to which both the Bishop of Augsburg and the Papal legate Campeggio had invited him, and he expressed doubt on non-theological grounds, to Campeggio and Melanchthon, that reconciliation was then possible: he wrote to Campeggio, "I can discern no way out of this enormous tragedy unless God suddenly appears like a and changes the hearts of men"; and later, "What upsets me is not so much their teaching, especially Luther's, as the fact that, under the pre-text of the gospel, I see a class of men emerging whom I find repugnant from every point of view." He stayed for two years on the top floor of the Whale House, then following another rent dispute bought and refurbished a house of his own, where he took in scholar/assistants as table-boarders such as Cornelius Grapheus' friend Damião de Góis, some of them fleeing persecution. Despite increasing frailty Erasmus continued to work productively, notably on a new ''magnum opus'', his manual on preaching ''

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

'', and his small book on preparing for death. His boarder for five months, the Portuguese scholar/diplomat Damião de Góis, worked on his lobbying on the plight of the Sámi in Sweden and on the Ethiopian church, and stimulated Erasmus' increasing awareness of foreign missions. There are no extant letters between More and Erasmus from the start of More's period as Lord Chancellor until his resignation (1529–1532), almost to the day. Erasmus wrote several important non-political works under the surprising patronage of Thomas Bolyn: his or ''Triple Commentary on Psalm 23'' (1529); his catechism to counter Luther or '' A Playne and Godly Exposition or Declaration of the Commune Crede'' (1533) which sold out in three hours at the Frankfurt Book Fair; and or ''Preparation for Death'' (1534), which would be one of Erasmus' most popular and most hijacked works.The last was released at the time of Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn's wedding; Erasmus appended a statement that indicated he opposed the marriage. Erasmus outlived Anne and her brother by two months.

Fates of friends

In the 1530s, life became more dangerous for Spanish Erasmians when Erasmus' protector, the Inquisitor General Alonso Manrique de Lara fell out of favour with the royal court and lost power within his own organisation to friar-theologians. In 1532 Erasmus' friend, ''

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

'' Juan de Vergara ( Cisneros' Latin secretary who had worked on the Complutensian Polyglot and published Stunica's criticism of Erasmus) was arrested by the Spanish Inquisition and had to be ransomed from them by the humanist Archbishop of Toledo Alonso III Fonseca, also a correspondent of Erasmus', who had previously rescued

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

from them. There was a generational change in the Catholic hierarchy. In 1530, the reforming French bishop Guillaume Briçonnet died. In 1532 his beloved long-time mentor English Primate Warham died of old age, as did reforming cardinal Giles of Viterbo and Swiss bishop Hugo von Hohenlandenberg. In 1534 his distrusted protector Clement VII (the "inclement Clement") died, his recent Italian ally Cardinal Cajetan (widely tipped as the next pope) died, and his old ally Cardinal Campeggio retired. As more friends died (in 1533, his friend Pieter Gillis; in 1534, William Blount; in early 1536,

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

and Richard Pace;) and as Luther and some Lutherans and some powerful Catholic theologians renewed their personal attacks on Erasmus, his letters are increasingly focused on concerns on the status of friendships and safety as he considered moving from bland Freiburg despite his health."I am so weary of this region .. feel that there is a conspiracy to kill me ..any hope for war." Letter to Erasmus Schets (1534) In 1535, Erasmus' friends

, Bishop John Fisher and the Brigittine monk Richard Reynolds were executed as pro-Rome traitors by

, who Erasmus (with More) had first met as a boy and had corresponded with each other numerous times over the years. Despite illness Erasmus wrote the first biography of More (and Fisher), the short, anonymous ''Expositio Fidelis'', which Froben published, at the instigation of de Góis. He called them the 'new martyrs' of Christendom slain by 'another Herod.' After Erasmus' time, numerous of Erasmus' translators later met similar fates at the hands of Anglican, Catholic and Reformed sectarians and autocrats: including Margaret Pole,

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...

, Michael Servetus. Others, such as Charles V's Latin secretary Juan de Valdés, fled and died in self-exile. Erasmus' friend and collaborator Bishop

Cuthbert Tunstall Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an England, English humanist, bishop, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI of ...

eventually died in prison under Elizabeth I for finally refusing the

Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in the Kingdom of England, or in its subordinate Kingdom of Ireland, to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church. Failure to do so was to be trea ...

. Erasmus' correspondent Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who he had known as a teenaged student in Paris and Cambridge, was later imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

for five years under

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

for impeding Protestantism. Damião de Góis was tried before the Portuguese Inquisition at age 72, detained almost ''incommunicado'', finally exiled to a monastery, and on release perhaps murdered. His amanuensis Gilbert Cousin died in prison at age 66, shortly after being arrested on the personal order of Pope Pius V.

Death in Basel

When his strength began to fail, he finally decided to accept an invitation by Queen Mary of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands (sister of his former student Archduke Ferdinand I and Emperor Charles V), to move from Freiburg to Brabant. In 1535, he moved back to the Froben compound in

in preparation ( Œcolampadius having died, and private practice of his religion now possible) and saw his last major works such as

through publication, though he grew more frail. On 12 July 1536, he died from an attack of

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

. "The most famous scholar of his day died in peaceful prosperity and in the company of celebrated and responsible friends." His last words, as recorded by his friend and biographer Beatus Rhenanus, were apparently "Lord, put an end to it" (, the same last words as Melanchthon) then "Dear God" (). He had remained loyal to Roman Catholicism, but biographers have disagreed whether to treat him as an insider or an outsider. He may not have received or had the opportunity to receive the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

of the Catholic Church;This assertion is contradicted by Gonzalo Ponce de Leon speaking in 1595 at the Roman Congregation of the Index on the (mostly successful) de-prohibition of Erasmus' works said that he died "as a Catholic having received the sacraments." the contemporary reports of his death do not mention whether he asked for a Catholic priest or not, if any were secretly or privately in Basel. He was buried with great ceremony in the Basel Minster (the former cathedral). The Protestant city authorities remarkably allowed his funeral to be an ecumenical Catholic requiem Mass. Erasmus had received dispensations (from Ferdinand Archduke of Austria, and from Emperor Charles V in 1530) to make a will rather than have his wealth revert to his order (the Chapter of Sion), or to the state, and had long pre-sold most of his personal library of almost 500 books to Polish humanist Jan Łaski. As his heir or executor he instated Bonifacius Amerbach to give seed money"He left a small fortune, in trusts for the benefit of the aged and infirm, the education of young men of promise, and as marriage portions for deserving young women – nothing, however, for Masses for the repose of his soul." to students and the needy. One of the eventual recipients was the impoverished Protestant humanist Sebastian Castellio, who had fled from Geneva to Basel, who subsequently translated the Bible into Latin and French, and who worked for the repair of the breach and divide of Western Christianity in its Catholic, Anabaptist, and Protestant branches.

Thought and views

Biographers, such as

Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. Life Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two ...

, frequently draw connections between many of Erasmus' convictions and his early biography: esteem for the married state and appropriate marriages, support for priestly marriage, concern for improving marriage prospects for women, opposition to inconsiderate rules (notably, institutional dietary rules), a desire to make education engaging for the participants, interest in classical languages, horror of poverty and spiritual hopelessness, distaste for friars begging when they could study or work, unwillingness to be under the direct control of authorities, laicism, the need for those in authority to act in the best interest of their charges, a prizing of mercy and peace, an anger over unnecessary war, especially between avaricious princes, an awareness of mortality, the wisdom of avoiding danger, etc.

Manner of thinking

Erasmus had a distinctive manner of thinking, a Catholic historian suggests: one that is capacious in its perception, agile in its judgements, and unsettling in its irony with "a deep and abiding commitment to human flourishing".Terrence J. Martin
''Truth and Irony''
quoted in "In all spheres, his outlook was essentially pastoral." Erasmus has been called a seminal rather than a consistent or systematic thinker, notably averse to over-extending from the specific to the general, who nevertheless should be taken very seriously as a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

and rhetorical theologian, with a philological and historical approach—rather than a metaphysical approach—to interpreting Scripture and interested in the literal and tropological senses. French theologian Louis Bouyer commented, "Erasmus was to be one of those who can get no edification from exegesis where they suspect some misinterpretation." A theologian has written of "Erasmus' preparedness completely to satisfy no-one but himself". He has been called moderate, judicious and constructive even when being critical or when mocking extremes; but thin-skinned against slanders of heterodoxy.

Manner of expression

Irony

Erasmus often wrote in a highly ironical idiom, especially in his letters,His mode of expression made him "slippery like a snake", according to Luther,) which makes them prone to different interpretations when taken literally rather than ironically. * Ulrich von Hutten claimed that Erasmus was secretly a Lutheran; Erasmus chided him saying that von Hutten had not detected the irony in his public letters enough. * Antagonistic scholar J. W. Williams denies that Erasmus' letter to Ammonius, "let your own interests be your standard in all things", was in apparent jest, as claimed by those more sympathetic to Erasmus. * Erasmus' aphoristic quote on the persecution of Reuchlin, "If it is Christian to hate Jews, we are all abundantly Christians here", is taken literally by Theodor Dunkelgrün and Harry S. May as being approving of such hatred; the alternative view would be that it was sardonic and challenging. He frequently wrote about controversial subjects using the

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

to avoid direct statements clearly attributable to himself. For Martin Luther, he was an eel, slippery, evasive and impossible to capture.

Copiousness

Erasmus' literary theory of "copiousness" endorses a large stockpile of rich

adages A saying is any concise expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. A saying often shows a wisdom or cultural standard, having different meanings than just the words themselves. Sayings are categorized as follows: * ...

, analogies, tropes and symbolic figures, which leads to compressed communication of complex ideas (between those educated in the stockpile) but some of which, to modern sensibilities, may promote as well as play-off

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

. * Erasmus' lengthy collections of proverbs, the , established a vocabulary he and his contemporaries then used extensively and habitually: according to philosopher Heinz Kimmerle, it is necessary to know the explanations of various proverbs given by Erasmus' to adequately understand many passages in Erasmus' and Luther's written debate on free will (see below). *When Erasmus wrote of 'Judaism', he most frequently (though not always) was not referring to Jews:For Markish, Erasmus' "theological opposition to a form of religious thought which he identified with Judaism was not translated into crude prejudice against actual Jews", to the extent that Erasmus could be described as 'a-semitic' rather than 'anti-semitic'. instead he referred to those Catholic Christians of his time, especially in the monastic lifestyle, who mistakenly promoted excessive external ritualism over interior piety, by analogy with

Second Temple Judaism Second Temple Judaism is the Judaism, Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), destruction of Jerusalem in ...

. ** "Judaism I call not Jewish impiety, but prescriptions about external things, such as food, fasting, clothes, which to a certain degree resemble the rituals of the Jews." ** Erasmus' counter-accusation to Spanish friars of "Judaizing" may have been particularly sharp and bold, given the prominent role that some friars with the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

were playing in the lethal persecution of some '' conversos''. Terence J. Martin identifies an "Erasmian pattern" that the supposed (by the reader) otherness (of Turks, Lapplanders, Indians, Amerindians, Jews, and even women and heretics) "provides a

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

against which the failures of Christian culture can be exposed and criticized." * In a 1518 letter to John Fisher, Erasmus wrote: "The cunning of princes and the effrontery of the Roman curia can go no further; and it looks as though the state of the common people would soon be such that the tyranny of the Grand Turk would be more bearable." * In , Erasmus personifies that we should "kill the Turk, not the man. ..If we really want to heave the Turks from our necks, we must first expel from our hearts a more loathsome race of Turks: avarice, ambition, the craving for power, self-satisfaction, impiety, extravagance, the love of pleasure, deceitfulness, anger, hatred, envy."Erasmus, , cited by Ron, Nathan, ''The Non-Cosmopolitan Erasmus: An Examination of his Turkophobic/Islamophobic Rhetoric'', ''op. cit.'' p 99: Ron takes this as an affirmation by Erasmus of the low nature of Turks; the alternative view would take it as a negative foil (applying the model of the parable of The Mote and the Beam) where the prejudice is appropriated to subvert it.

Pacifism

Peace, peaceableness, and peacemaking, in all spheres from the domestic to the religious to the political, were central distinctives of Erasmus' writing on Christian living and his mystical theology: "the sum and summary of our religion is peace and unanimity". Erasmus continued: "This can hardly remain the case unless we define as few matters as possible and leave each individual's judgement free on many questions." Note that the use of is perhaps also a backhanded reference to the scholastic , which he upbraided for their moral and spiritual uselessness. At the

Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

"the angels sang not the glories of war, nor a song of triumph, but a hymn of peace": Erasmus was not an absolute

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

but promoted political pacificism and religious Irenicism. Notable writings on irenicism include , ''On the War with the Turks'', ''The Education of a Christian Prince'', ''On Restoring the Concord of the Church'', and ''The Complaint of Peace''. Erasmus' ecclesiology of peacemaking held that the church authorities had a divine mandate to settle religious disputes, in an as non-excluding way as possible, including by the preferably-minimal development of doctrine. In the latter, Lady Peace insists on peace as the crux of Christian life and for understanding Christ: A historian has called him "The 16th Century's Pioneer of Peace Education and a Culture of Peace". Erasmus' emphasis on peacemaking reflects a typical pre-occupation of medieval lay spirituality as historian John Bossy (as summarised by Eamon Duffy) puts it: "medieval Christianity had been fundamentally concerned with the creation and maintenance of peace in a violent world. 'Christianity' in medieval Europe denoted neither an ideology nor an institution, but a community of believers whose religious ideal—constantly aspired to if seldom attained—was peace and mutual love."

War

Historians have written that "references to conflict run like a red thread through the writings of Erasmus". Erasmus had a simple view of the renaissance state, where ultimately warfare was determined by single individuals: sovereign rulers (i.e. pope, emperor, king, duke, etc.) with malformed ambitions; so directing sovereigns towards inter-Christendom pacifism was thus a key practical prescription for peace, which in turn required a new curriculum for educating princes that did not encourage vainglorious milititarism. Erasmus had experienced war as a child and was particularly concerned about wars between Christian kings, who should be brothers and not start wars; a theme in his book ''

''. His ''Adages'' included "War is sweet to those who have never tasted it" ( from

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

's Greek). He promoted and was present at the Field of Cloth of Gold, and his wide-ranging correspondence frequently related to issues of peacemaking. He saw a key role of the Church in peacemaking by arbitration and mediation, and the office of the Pope was necessary to rein in tyrannical princes and bishops. He questioned the practical usefulness and abuses of

just war theory The just war theory () is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of #Criteria, criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. I ...

, further limiting it to feasible defensive actions with popular support and that "war should never be undertaken unless, as a last resort, it cannot be avoided". Appeasement should be considered. Defeat should be endured rather than fighting to the end. In his he discusses (common translation) " A disadvantageous peace is better than a just war", which owes to Cicero and John Colet's "Better an unjust peace than the justest war." Expansionism could not be justified. Taxes to pay for war should cause the least possible hardship on the poor. He hated sedition as, often, an excuse or cause of oppression. Erasmus was highly critical of the warlike way of important European princes of his era, including some princes of the church.Erasmus was not out of step with opinion within the church: Archbishop Bernard II Zinni of

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

speaking at the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512) denounced princes as the most guilty of ambition, luxury and a desire for domination. Bernard proposed that reformation must primarily involve ending war and schism. He described these princes as corrupt and greedy. Erasmus believed that these princes "collude in a game, of which the outcome is to exhaust and oppress the commonwealth". He spoke more freely about this matter in letters sent to his friends like

, Beatus Rhenanus and Adrianus Barlandus: a particular target of his criticisms was the Emperor Maximilian I, whom Erasmus blamed for allegedly preventing the Netherlands from signing a peace treaty with

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

and other schemes to cause wars to extract money from his subjects. One of his approaches was to send and publish congratulatory and lionising letters to princes who, though in a position of strength, negotiated peace with neighbours, such as King

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...

of Poland in 1527. Erasmus "constantly and consistently" opposed the mooted idea of a Christian "universal monarch" with an over-extended empire who could supposedly defeat the Ottoman forces: such universalism did not "hold any promise of generating less conflict than the existing political plurality"; instead, advocating concord between princes, both temporal and spiritual. The spiritual princes, by their arbitration and mediation do not "threaten political plurality, but acts as its defender."

Intra-Christian religious toleration

He referred to his irenical disposition in the Preface to '' On Free Will'' as a "secret inclination of nature" that would make him even prefer the views of the Sceptics over intolerant assertions, though he sharply distinguished from what was uncontentiously explicit in the

or absolutely mandated by Church teaching. Concord demanded unity and assent: Erasmus was anti-sectarian"I have made my support of the church sufficiently clear ..The only thing in which I take pride is that I have never committed myself to any sect." Erasmus, Letter to Georgius Agricola (1534) as well as non-sectarian. To follow the law of love, our intellects must be humble and friendly when making any assertions: he called contention "earthly, beastly, demonic" and a good-enough reason to reject a teacher or their followers. In Melanchthon's view, Erasmus taught charity, not faith. The centrality of Christian concord to Erasmus' theology contrasted with the insistence of

and, for example, later English

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

, that (Protestant) truth naturally would create discord and opposition. Quentin_Massys-_Erasmus_of_Rotterdam

Certain works of Erasmus laid a foundation for religious toleration of private opinions and

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. For example, in , opposing particular views of Martin Luther, Erasmus noted that religious disputants should be temperate in their language "because in this way the truth, which is often lost amidst too much wrangling may be more surely perceived". Gary Remer writes, "Like

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, Erasmus concludes that truth is furthered by a more harmonious relationship between interlocutors." In a letter to Cardinal

Lorenzo Campeggio Lorenzo Campeggio (7 November 1474 – 19 July 1539) was an Italians, Italian cardinal and politician. He was the last cardinal protector of England. Life Campeggio was born in Milan to a noble family, the eldest of five sons. Campeggio initi ...

, Erasmus lobbied diplomatically for toleration: "If the sects could be tolerated under certain conditions (as the Bohemians pretend), it would, I admit, be a grievous misfortune, but one more endurable than war." But the same dedication to avoiding conflict and bloodshed should be shown by those tempted to join (anti-popist) sects:

Heresy and sedition

Erasmus had been privately involved in early attempts to protect Luther and his sympathisers from charges of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. Erasmus wrote to say that the Lutherans (of 1523) were not formally heretics: he pushed back against the willingness of some theologians to cry heresy fast in order to enforce their views in universities and at inquisitions. For Erasmus, punishable heresy had to involve fractiously, dangerously, and publicly agitating against essential doctrines relating to Christ (i.e., blasphemy), with malice, depravity, obstinacy. As with St

Theodore the Studite Theodore the Studite (; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantin ...

, Erasmus was against the death penalty merely for private or peaceable heresy or for dissent on non-essentials: "It is better to cure a sick man than to kill him."Froude, James Anthony
''Life and letters of Erasmus: lectures delivered at Oxford 1893–4''
(London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1894), p. 359 The Church, he said, has the duty to protect believers and convert or heal heretics; he invoked Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares. Erasmus' pacificism included a particular dislike for sedition, which caused warfare: Erasmus allowed the death penalty against violent seditionists to prevent bloodshed and war: he allowed that the state has the right to execute those who are a necessary danger to public order—whether heretic or orthodox—but noted (e.g., to Natalis Beda) that

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

had been against the execution of even violent

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

s: Johannes Trapman states that Erasmus' endorsement of suppression of the Anabaptists springs from their refusal to heed magistrates and the criminal violence of the

Münster rebellion The Münster rebellion (, "Anabaptist dominion of Münster") was an attempt by radical Anabaptists to establish a communal sectarian government in the German city of Münster then under the large Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the Holy Rom ...

, not because of their heretical views on baptism. Despite these concessions to state power, Erasmus suggested that religious persecution could still be challenged as inexpedient (ineffective).

Outsiders

Most of his political writing focused on peace within

Christendom The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...

with almost a sole focus on Europe. In 1516, Erasmus wrote, "It is the part of a Christian prince to regard no one as an outsider unless he is a nonbeliever, and even on them he should inflict no harm", which entails not attacking outsiders, not taking their riches, not subjecting them to political rule, no forced conversions, and keeping promises made to them. In common with his times, Erasmus regarded the Jewish and Islamic religions as Christian heresies (and therefore competitors to orthodox Christianity) rather than separate religions, using the inclusive term ''half-Christian'' for the latter. However, there is a wide range of scholarly opinion on the extent and nature of antisemitic and anti-Muslim prejudice in his writings: historian Nathan Ron has found his writing to be harsh and racial in its implications, with contempt and hostility to Islam.

=Turks

= In his last decade, he involved himself in the public policy debate on war with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, which was then invading

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, notably in his book ''On the war against the Turks'' (1530), as the "reckless and extravagant" Pope Leo X had in previous decades promoted going on the offensive with a new crusade."... the goal of was to warn Christians and the Church of moral deterioration and to exhort them to change their ways. ... Erasmus' objection to crusades was by no means an overall opposition to fighting the Turks. Rather, Erasmus harshly condemned embezzlement and corrupt fundraising, and the Church's involvement in such nefarious activities, and regarded them as inseparable from waging a crusade." pp. 97,98 Erasmus reworked Luther's rhetoric that the invading Turks represent God's judgement of decadent Christendom, but without Luther's fatalism: Erasmus not only accused Western leaders of kingdom-threatening hypocrisy, he reworked a remedy already decreed by the Fifth Council of the Lateran: anti-expansionist moral reforms by Europe's disunited leaders as a necessary unitive political step before any aggressive warfare against the Ottoman threat, reforms which might themselves, if sincere, prevent both the internecine and foreign warfare.

=Jews

Erasmus perceived and championed strong

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

rather than exclusively Hebraic influences on the intellectual milieux of Jesus, Paul, and the early church: "If only the Christian church did not attach so much importance to the Old Testament!" Perhaps the only Jewish book he published was his loose translation of the first century Hellenistic-Judaic ''On the Sovereignty of Reason'', better known as 4 Maccabees. Erasmus' pervasive anti-ceremonialism treated the early Church debates on circumcision, food, and special days as manifestations of cultural chauvinism by the initial Jewish Christians in Antioch. While many humanists, from Pico della Mirandola to Johannes Reuchlin, were intrigued by Jewish mysticism, Erasmus came to dislike it: "I see them as a nation full of most tedious fabrications, who spread a kind of fog over everything, Talmud, Cabbala, Tetragrammaton, Gates of Light, words, words, words. I would rather have Christ mixed up with Scotus than with that rubbish of theirs." In his ''Paraphrase on Romans'', Erasmus voiced, as Paul, the "secret" that in the end times, "all of the Israelites will be restored to salvation" and accept Christ as their Messiah, "although now part of them have fallen away from it". Several scholars have identified cases where Erasmus' comments appear to go beyond theological

anti-Judaism Anti-Judaism denotes a spectrum of historical and contemporary ideologies that are fundamentally or partially rooted in opposition to Judaism. It encompasses the rejection or abrogation of the Mosaic covenant and advocates for the superse ...

into slurs or approving to an extent certain

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

policies, though there is some controversy.

=Slaves

= On the subject of slavery, Erasmus characteristically treated it in passing under the topic of tyranny: Christians were not allowed to be tyrants, which slave-owning required, but especially not to be the masters of other Christians. Erasmus had various other piecemeal arguments against slavery: for example, that it was not legitimate to enslave people taken in an unjust war; but it was not a subject that occupied him. However, his belief that "nature created all men free" (and slavery was imposed) was a rejection of Aristotle's category of natural slaves.

Politics

Erasmus promoted the idea that a prince rules with the consent of his people, notably in his book ''

'' (and, through More, in the book ''Utopia'', which proposed a "republic completely lacking sovereignty"). He may have been influenced by the Brabantine custom of an incoming ruler being officially told of his duties and welcomed: the Joyous Entry was a kind of contract. A monarchy should not be absolute: it should be "checked and diluted with a mixture of aristocracy and democracy to prevent it ever breaking out into tyranny". The same considerations applied to church princes. Erasmus contrasts the Christian Prince with the Tyrant, who has no love from the people, will be surrounded by flatterers, and can expect no loyalty or peace. Unspoken in Erasmus' views may have been the idea that the people can remove a tyrant; however, espousing this explicitly could expose people to capital charges of sedition or treason. Erasmus typically limited his political discussion to what could be couched as personal faith and morality by or between Christians, his business as a ''magister'' of theology.

Religious reform

Personal reform

Erasmus expressed much of his reform program in terms of the proper attitude towards the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

and their ramifications: notably for the underappreciated sacraments of Baptism and Marriage (see '' On the Institution of Christian Marriage'') considered as vocations more than events; and for the mysterious Eucharist, pragmatic Confession, the dangerous

Last Rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

(writing ''On the Preparation for Death''),According to historian Thomas Tentler, few Christians from his century gave as much emphasis as Erasmus to a pious attitude to death: the terrors of death are "closely connected to guilt from sin and fear of punishment" the antidote to which is first "trust in Christ and His ability to forgive sins", avoiding (Lutheran) boastful pride, then a loving, undespairing life lived with appropriate penitence. The priests' focus in the Last Rites should be comfort and hope. and the pastoral Holy Orders (see ''

''). Historians have noted that Erasmus commended the benefits of immersive, docile scripture-reading in sacramental terms.

=Sacraments

A test of the Reformation was the doctrine of the sacraments, and the crux of this question was the observance of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. Erasmus was concerned that the sacramentarians, headed by Œcolampadius of Basel, were claiming Erasmus held views similar to their own to try to claim him for their schismatic and "erroneous" movement. When the Mass was finally banned in Basel in 1529, Erasmus immediately abandoned the city, as did the other expelled Catholic clergy. In 1530, Erasmus published a

new edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

of the orthodox treatise of Algerus against the heretic Berengar of Tours in the eleventh century. He added a dedication, affirming his belief in the reality of the Body of Christ after consecration in the Eucharist, commonly referred to as

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

. Erasmus seems to have suspected that the scholastic formulation of transubstantiation stretched language past its breaking point, however he noted that even if transubstantiation were not true, as some Protestants has started to claim, it should not be a cause of preventing people with traditional views from worshipping (''latria'') God in the Host, as the divinity of God is everywhere present. By and large, the miraculous real change that interested Erasmus, the author, more than that of the bread is the transformation in the humble partaker. Erasmus wrote several notable pastoral books and pamphlets on sacraments, always looking through rather than at the rituals or forms: *on marriage and wise matches, *preparation for confession and the need for pastoral encouragement by priests (whose primary duty was to shepherd, not just to consecrate/absolve), *preparation for death and the need to assuage fear, *training and helping the preaching duties of priests under bishops, *baptism and the need for that faithful to own the baptismal vows made for them.

Catholic reform

=Institutional reforms

= The

began in the year following the publication of his pathbreaking edition of the

in Latin and Greek (1516). The issues between the reforming and reactionary tendencies of the church, from which

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

later emerged, had become so clear that many intellectuals and churchmen could not escape the summons to join the debate. According to historian C. Scott Dixon, Erasmus not only criticised church failings but questioned many of his Church's basic teachings;"Erasmus had been criticizing the Catholic church for years before the reformers emerged, and not just pointing up its failings but questioning many of its basic teachings. He was the author of a series of publications, including a Greek edition of the New Testament (1516), which laid the foundations for a model of Christianity that called for a pared-down, internalized style of religiosity focused on Scripture rather than the elaborate, and incessant, outward rituals of the medieval church. Erasmus was not a forerunner in the sense that he conceived or defended ideas that later made up the substance of the Reformation thought. ..It is enough that some of his ideas merged with the later Reformation message." however, according to biographer Erika Rummel, "Erasmus was aiming at the correction of abuses rather than at doctrinal innovation or institutional change." In theologian Louis Bouyer's interpretation, Erasmus' agenda was "to reform the Church from within by a renewal of biblical theology, based on philological study of the New Testament text, and supported by a knowledge of patristics, itself renewed by the same methods. The final object of it all was to nourish ..chiefly moral and spiritual reform"."Rigorously scientific biblical study must sustain an effort to renew the interior life, and the interior life must itself be at once the agent and the beneficiary of a renewal of the whole of Christian society." This went beyond the , which "was a spirituality of teachers"m At the height of his literary fame, Erasmus was called upon to take one side, but public partisanship was foreign to his beliefs, nature, and habits. Despite all his criticism of clerical corruption and abuses within the Western Church, especially at first he sided unambiguously with neither Luther nor the anti-Lutherans publicly (though in private he lobbied assiduously against extremism from both parties), but eventually shunned the breakaway Protestant Reformation movements along with their most radical offshoots. The world had laughed at his satire, ''

'', but few had interfered with his activities. He believed that his work had commended itself to the religious world's best minds and dominant powers. Erasmus chose to write in Latin (and Greek), the languages of scholars. He did not build a large body of supporters among the unlettered; his critiques reached a small but elite audience. Erasmus was also notable for exposing several important historical documents of theological and political importance as forgeries or misattributions: including pseudo-

Dionysius the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerated as a saint by multiple denominations. Life As rel ...

, the attributed to St Augustine, the attributed to Cicero, and (by reprinting

's work) the Donation of Constantine.

=Anti-fraternalism

= Reacting from his own experiences, Erasmus came to believe that monastic life and institutions no longer served the positive spiritual or social purpose they once may have: in the ''Enchiridion'' he controversially put it "Monkishness is not piety." At this time, it was better to live as "a monk in the world" than in the monastery. Many of his works contain diatribes against supposed monastic corruption and careerism, particularly against the mendicant friars (Franciscans and Dominicans). These orders also typically ran the university's Scholastic theology programs, from whose ranks came his most dangerous enemies. The more some attacked him, the more offensive he became about what he saw as their political influence and materialistic opportunism. He was scandalised by superstitions (such as that if a person were buried in a Franciscan habit, they would go directly to heaven), crime, and child novices. He advocated various reforms, including a ban on taking orders until the 30th year; the closure of corrupt and smaller monasteries; respect for bishops; requiring work, not begging (reflecting the practice of his own order of Augustinian Canons); the downplaying of monastic hours, fasts and ceremonies; and a less mendacious approach to gullible pilgrims and tenants. However, he was not in favour of speedy closures of monasteries, nor of closing larger reformed monasteries with important libraries: in his account of his pilgrimage to Walsingham, he noted that the funds extracted from pilgrims typically supported houses for the poor and elderly.''A Religious Pilgrimage'', These ideas widely influenced his generation of humanists, both Catholic and Protestant, and the lurid hyperbolic attacks in his half-satire ''The Praise of Folly'' were later treated by Protestants as objective reports of near-universal corruption. Furthermore, "what is said over a glass of wine, ought not to be remembered and written down as a serious statement of belief", such as his proposal to marry all monks to all nuns or to send them all away to fight the Turks and colonise new islands. He believed the only vow necessary for Christians should be the vow of baptism, and others such as the vows of the

evangelical counsels In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are chastity, poverty (or perfect charity), and obedience. As stated by Jesus in the canonical gospels, they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect" (, ). ...

, while admirable in intent and content, were now mainly counter-productive. However, Erasmus frequently commended the

for all believers, and with more than lip service: for example, the first adage of his reputation-establishing was "Between friends all is common", where he tied common ownership (such as practised by his order's style of poverty) with the teachings of classical philosophers and Christ. His main Catholic opposition was from scholars in the mendicant orders. He purported that " Saint Francis came lately to me in a dream and thanked me for chastising them." After his lifetime, scholars of mendicant orders have sometimes disputed Erasmus as hyperbolic and ill-informed. A 20th-century

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

scholar wrote of him as "all sail and no rudder". Erasmus did also have significant support and contact with reform-minded friars, including

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

such as Jean Vitrier and Cardinal Cisneros, and Dominicans such as Cardinal Cajetan, the former master of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

Protestant reform

The early reformers built their theology on Erasmus' philological analyses of specific verses in the New Testament: repentance over penance (the basis of the first thesis of the Luther's 95 Theses), justification by imputation, grace as favour or clemency, faith as hoping trust, human transformation over reformation, congregation over church, mystery over sacrament, etc. In Erasmus' view, they went too far, downplayed Sacred Tradition such as Patristic interpretations, and irresponsibly fomented bloodshed. Erasmus was one of many scandalised by the sale of indulgences to fund Pope Leo X's projects. His view, given in a 1518 letter to John Colet, was less theological than political: "The Roman curia has abandoned any sense of shame. What could be more shameless than these constant indulgences? And now they put up war against the Turks as a pretext, when their aim really is to drive the Spaniards from Naples."

=Increasing disagreement with Luther

= Erasmus and Luther impacted each other greatly. Each had misgivings about each other from the beginning (Erasmus on Luther's rash and antagonistic character, Luther on Erasmus' focus on morality rather than grace) but strategically agreed not to be negative about the other in public. Noting Luther's criticisms of corruption in the Church, Erasmus described Luther to Pope Leo X as "a mighty trumpet of gospel truth" while agreeing, "It is clear that many of the reforms for which Luther calls" (e.g., on the sale of indulgences) "are urgently needed."Galli, Mark, and Olsen, TED (conference). ''131 Christians Everyone Should Know''. Nashville: Holman Reference, 2000, p. 344. However, behind the scenes Erasmus forbade his publisher Froben from handling the works of Luther and tried to keep the reform movement focused on institutional rather than theological issues, yet he also privately wrote to authorities to prevent Luther's persecution. In the words of one historian, "at this earlier period he was more concerned with the fate of Luther than his theology." In 1520, Erasmus wrote that "Luther ought to be answered and not crushed." However, the publication of Luther's '' On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church'' (October 1520), which largely repudiated Church teaching on sacraments, and his subsequent bellicosity drained Erasmus' and many humanists' sympathy, even more as Christians became partisans and the partisans took to violence. Luther hoped for his cooperation in a work which seemed only the natural outcome of Erasmus' own,"In the first years of the Reformation many thought that Luther was only carrying out the program of Erasmus, and this was the opinion of those strict Catholics who from the outset of the great conflict included Erasmus in their attacks on Luther." ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' and spoke with admiration of Erasmus's superior learning. In their early correspondence, Luther expressed boundless admiration for all Erasmus had done in the cause of a sound and reasonable Christianity and urged him to join the Lutheran party. Erasmus declined to commit himself, arguing his usual "small target" excuse, that to do so would endanger the cause of which he regarded as one of his purposes in life. Only as an independent scholar could he hope to influence the reform of religion. When Erasmus declined to support him, the "straightforward" Luther became angered that Erasmus was avoiding the responsibility due either to cowardice or a lack of purpose. However, any hesitancy on the part of Erasmus may have stemmed not from lack of courage or conviction, but rather from a concern over the mounting disorder and violence of the reform movement. To Philip Melanchthon in 1524 he wrote: Catholic theologian George Chantraine notes that, where Luther quotes Luke 11:21 "He that is not with me is against me", Erasmus takes Mark 9:40 "For he that is not against us, is on our part." Though he sought to remain accommodative in doctrinal disputes, each side accused him of siding with the other, perhaps because of his perceived influence and what they regarded as his dissembling neutrality,Future cardinal Aleander, his former friend and roommate at the

, wrote "The poison of Erasmus has a much more dangerous effect than that of Luther". ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' which he regarded as peacemaking accommodation:

=Dispute on free will

= By 1523, and first suggested in a letter from Henry VIII, Erasmus had been convinced that Luther's ideas on necessity/free will were a subject of core disagreement deserving a public airing, and strategised with friends and correspondents on how to respond with proper moderation without making the situation worse for all, especially for the humanist reform agenda. He eventually chose a campaign that involved an irenical 'dialogue' ''The Inquisition of Faith'', a positive, evangelical model sermon ''On the Measureless Mercy of God'', and a gently critical 'diatribe' ''On Free Will''. The publication of his brief book ''On Free Will'' initiated what has been called "The greatest debate of that era", which still has ramifications today.Massing, 2022
publisher's abstract
They bypassed discussion on reforms which they both agreed on in general, and instead dealt with authority and biblical justifications of

versus monergism in relation to salvation. Luther responded with ''On the Bondage of the Will'' () (1525). Erasmus replied to this in his lengthy two-volume ''Hyperaspistes'' and other works, which Luther ignored. Apart from the perceived moral failings among followers of the Reformers—an important sign for Erasmus—he also dreaded any change in doctrine, citing the long history of the Church as a bulwark against innovation. He put the matter bluntly to Luther: Continuing his chastisement of Luther – and undoubtedly put off by the notion of there being "no pure interpretation of Scripture anywhere but in Wittenberg" – Erasmus touches upon another important point of the controversy:

= "False evangelicals"

= In 1529, Erasmus wrote "An epistle against those who falsely boast they are Evangelicals" to Gerardus Geldenhouwer (former Bishop of Utrecht, also schooled at Deventer). Here Erasmus complains of the doctrines and morals of the Reformers, applying the same critique he had made about public Scholastic disputations:

= Other

= According to historian Christopher Ocker, the early reformers "needed tools that let their theological distinctions pose as commonplaces in a textual theology; ..Erasmus provided the tools", but this tendentious distinction-making, reminiscent of the recent excesses of Scholasticism to Erasmus' eyes, "was precisely what Erasmus disliked about Luther" and "Protestant polemicists". Erasmus wrote books against aspects of the teaching, impacts or threats of several other Reformers: * Ulrich von Hutten: (1523) *

Martin Bucer Martin Bucer (; Early German: ; 11 November 1491– 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Anglican doctrines and practices as well as Reformed Theology. Bucer was originally a memb ...

: ''Responsio ad fratres Inferioris Germaniae ad epistolam apologeticam incerto autoreproditam'' (1530) * : ''Admonitio adversus mendacium et obstrectationem'' (1530) However, Erasmus maintained friendly relations with other Protestants, notably the irenic

Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

and

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

. A common accusation, supposedly started by antagonistic monk-theologians, made Erasmus responsible for Martin Luther and the Reformation: "Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther hatched it." Erasmus wittily dismissed the charge, claiming that Luther had "hatched a different bird entirely".Reynolds, Terrence M. (1977)
"Was Erasmus Responsible for Luther? A Study of the Relationship of the Two Reformers and Their Clash Over the Question of the Will"
''Concordia Theological Journal''. p. 2. . Reynolds references Arthur Robert Pennington (1875)
''The Life and Character of Erasmus''
p. 219. Erasmus-reader

Peter Canisius Peter Canisius (; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit priest known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The ...

commented: "Certainly there was no lack of eggs for Luther to hatch."Another commentator: "Erasmus laid the egg that Luther broke."

Philosophy

Erasmus has a problematic standing in the history of philosophy: whether he should be called a philosopher at all,For Craig R. Thompson, Erasmus cannot be called philosopher in the technical sense, since he disdained formal logic and metaphysics and cared only for moral philosophy. Similarly, John Monfasani reminds us that Erasmus never claimed to be a philosopher, was not trained as a philosopher, and wrote no explicit works of philosophy, although he repeatedly engaged in controversies that crossed the boundary from philosophy to theology. His relation to philosophy bears further scrutiny. (as, indeed, some question whether he should be considered a theologian either). Erasmus deemed himself to be a rhetorician (rhetoric being the art of argumentation to find what was most probably true on questions where logic could not provide certainty)"Humanists regarded it (rhetoric) as a practical way to investigate questions on which dialectical argumentation based on logic had proved unable to produce certitude. Rhetoric was the procedure to be used in pursuit of conclusions that could not be proved beyond doubt but were the most probable choice among the alternatives explored." or grammarian rather than a philosopher. He was particularly influenced by satirist and rhetorician

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

."According to Erasmus, Lucian's laughter is the most appropriate instrument to guide pupils towards moral seriousness because it is the denial of every peremptory and dogmatic point of view and, therefore, the image of a joyful ("true religion ought to be the most cheerful thing in the world"; , CWE 26, 385). By teaching the relativity of communicative situations and the variability of temperaments, the laughter resulting from the art of rhetoric comes to resemble the most sincere content of Christian morality, based on tolerance and loving persuasion." Erasmus' writings shifted "an intellectual culture from logical disputation about things to quarrels about texts, contexts, and words".

Classical

Erasmus syncretistically took phrases, ideas and motifs from many classical philosophers to furnish discussions of Christian themes: academics have identified aspects of his thought as variously

Platonist Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...

(duality),

Cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic p ...

(

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

), Stoic ( adiaphora),

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

(

ataraxia In Ancient Greek philosophy, ( Greek: , from indicating negation or absence and with the abstract noun suffix ), generally translated as , , , or , is a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and wo ...

,"Despite a lack of formal philosophical training and an antipathy to medieval

scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...

, Erasmus possessed not only a certain familiarity with

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

, but also close knowledge of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. Erasmus' interest in some Platonic motifs is well known. But the most consistent philosophical theme in Erasmus' writings from his earliest to his latest was that of the

goal of peace of mind, ''

''. Erasmus, in fact, combined Christianity with a nuanced Epicurean morality. This Epicureanism, when combined in turn with a commitment to the as well as with an allergy to dogmatic formulations and an appreciation of the Greek Fathers, ultimately rendered Erasmus alien to Luther and

though they agreed on much." Abstract of pleasure as virtue), realist/non-voluntarist, and Isocratic (rhetoric, political education, syncretism). However, his Christianized version of

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

is regarded as his own. Erasmus was sympathetic to a kind of epistemological ( Ciceronian not Cartesian)

Scepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

: Historian Kirk Essary has noted that from his earliest to last works Erasmus "regularly denounced the Stoics as specifically unchristian in their hardline position and advocacy of ": warm affection and an appropriately fiery heart being inalienable parts of human sincerity; however, historian Ross Dealy sees Erasmus' decrial of other non-gentle "perverse affections" as having Stoical roots. Erasmus wrote in terms of a tri-partite nature of man, with the soul the seat of free will: According to theologian George van Kooten, Erasmus was the first modern scholar "to note the similarities between Plato's ''Symposium'' and John's Gospel", first in the ''Enchiridion'' then in the ''Adagia'', pre-dating other scholarly interest by 400 years.

Anti-scholasticism

He usually eschewed metaphysical, epistemological and logical philosophy as found in

:In the ''Adagia'', Erasmus quotes Aristotle 304 times, "making extensive use of the moral, philosophical, political, and rhetorical writings as well as those on natural philosophy, while completely shunning the logical works that formed the basis for scholastic philosophy". Cited by in particular the curriculum and systematic methods of the post-Aquinas Schoolmen ( Scholastics) and what he regarded as their frigid, counter-productive Aristoteleanism: "What has Aristotle to do with Christ?" Erasmus held that academics must avoid philosophical factionalism as an offence against Christian concord, to "make the whole world Christian". Indeed, Erasmus thought that Scholastic philosophy actually distracted participants from their proper focus on immediate morality,Rice puts it "Philosophy is felt to be a veil of pretense over an unethical reality ... pious disquisitions cannot excuse immorality." "For I am ready to swear that Epimenides came to life again in Scotus." ''Erasmus to Thomas Grey'' Nichols, ep. 59; Allen, ep 64 unless used moderately, and by "excluding the Platonists from their commentaries, they strangle the beauty of revelation.""I find that in comparison with the Fathers of the Church our present-day theologians are a pathetic group. Most of them lack the elegance, the charm of language, and the style of the Fathers. Content with Aristotle, they treat the mysteries of revelation in the tangled fashion of the logician. Excluding the Platonists from their commentaries, they strangle the beauty of revelation." ''Enchiridion'', Erasmus, cited by "They are windbags blown up with Aristotle, sausages stuffed with a mass of theoretical definitions, conclusions, and propositions." Nevertheless, church historian has commented on a certain closeness of Erasmus' thought to

', despite Erasmus' scepticism about runaway Aristotelianism and his methodological dislike of collections of disconnected sentences for quotation. Ultimately, Erasmus personally owned Aquinas' , the and his commentary on Paul's epistles.

(Not to be confused with his Italian contemporary Chrysostom Javelli's .) Erasmus approached classical philosophers theologically and rhetorically: their value was in how they pre-saged, explained or amplified the unique teachings of Christ (particularly the Sermon on the Mount): the ."Why don't we all reflect: this must be a marvelous and new philosophy since, in order to reveal it to mortals, he who was God became man". In fact, he said, Christ was "the very father of philosophy" ().Similar to

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

's statement "the greatest philosopher is none other than Christ." In works such as his ''Enchiridion'', ''The Education of a Christian Prince'' and the ''Colloquies'', Erasmus developed his idea of the , a life lived according to the teachings of Jesus taken as a spiritual-ethical-social-political-legal philosophy: In philosopher Étienne Gilson's summary: "the quite precise goal he pursues is to reject Greek philosophy outside of Christianity, into which the Middle Ages introduced Greek philosophy with the risk of corrupting this Christian Wisdom." Useful "philosophy" needed to be limited to (or re-defined as) the practical and moral:

Theology

Three key distinctive features of the spirituality Erasmus proposed are accommodation, inverbation, and . In the view of literary historian Chester Chapin, Erasmus' tendency of thought was "towards cautious ''dulcification'' of the traditional atholicview".

Accommodation

Historian Manfred Hoffmann has described accommodation as "the single most important concept in Erasmus'

hermeneutic Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

". For Erasmus, accommodation is a universal concept: humans must accommodate each other, must accommodate the church and ''vice versa'', and must take as their model how Christ accommodated the disciples in his interactions with them, and accommodated humans in his

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

; which in turn merely reflects the eternal mutual accommodation within the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. And the primary mechanism of accommodation is language,"We see Erasmus' hermeneutic as governed by the idea of language as mediation ..The dynamics of mediation, central as it is in Erasmus' hermeneutic, informed all aspects of his world view." which mediates between reality and abstraction, which allows disputes of all kinds to be resolved and the gospel to be transmitted: in his New Testament, Erasmus notably translated the Greek ''logos'' in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word" more like "In the beginning was Speech: using Latin ''sermo'' (discourse, conversation, language) not ''verbum'' (word) emphasizing the dynamic and interpersonal communication rather than static principle: "Christ incarnate as the eloquent oration of God": "He is called Speech

ermo ''Ermo'' () is a Chinese comedy/drama film, released in 1994 and directed by Zhou Xiaowen. It is essentially a satire on Western consumerism and its influence on Chinese culture. It was adapted from a novella written by Xu Baoqi. Tan Ye and Y ...

because through him God, who in his own nature cannot be comprehended by any reasoning, wished to become known to us." The role models of accommodation were Paul, that "

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

" (or "slippery squid") and Christ, who was "more mutable than

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...

himself". Following Paul, Quintillian () and Gregory the Great's ''Pastoral Care'', Erasmus wrote that the orator, preacher or teacher must "adapt their discourse to the characteristics of their audience"; this made pastoral care the "art of arts". Erasmus wrote that most of his original works, from satires to paraphrases, were essentially the same themes packaged for different audiences. In this light, Erasmus' ability to have friendly correspondence with both

and Thomas Bolyn, and with both Philip Melanchthon and

, can be seen as outworkings of his theology, rather than slippery insincerity or flattery of potential patrons. Similarly, it shows the theological basis of his pacificism, and his view of ecclesiastical authorities—from priests like himself to Church Councils—as necessary mediating peace-brokers.

Inverbation

For Erasmus, further to accommodating humans in his Incarnation, Christ accommodated humans by a kind of ''inverbation'' through text: we now knowing the resurrection, Christ is revealed by the Gospels in a way that we can know him better by reading him than those who actually heard him speak; this will or may transform us. Since the Gospels become in effect like sacraments, for Erasmus reading them becomes a form of prayer which is spoiled by taking single sentences in isolation and using them as syllogisms. Instead, learning to understand the context, genres and literary expression in the New Testament becomes a spiritual more than academic exercise. Erasmus' has been called rhetorical theology ().

Scopus christi

is the unifying reference point, the navigation goal, or the organising principle of topics. According to his assistant-turned-foe, Œcolampadius, Erasmus's rule was ("nothing is to be sought in the sacred letters but Christ"). In Hoffmann's words, for Erasmus "Christ is the of everything": "the focus in which both dimensions of reality, the human and the divine, intersect" and so He himself is the hermeneutical principle of scripture": "the middle is the medium, the medium is the mediator, the mediator is the reconciler". In Erasmus' early ''Enchiridion''"Erasmus is so thoroughly, radically Christ-centered in his understanding of both Christian faith and practice that if we overlook or downplay this key aspect of his character and vision, we not only do him a grave disservice but we almost completely misunderstand him." he had given this in typical medieval terms of an ascent of being to God (vertical), but from the mid-1510s life he moved to an analogy of Copernican planetary circling around Christ the centre (horizontal) or Columbian navigation towards a destination. One effect is that scriptural interpretation must be done starting with the teachings and interactions of Jesus in the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

, with the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

serving as the starting point, and arguably with the

Beatitudes The Beatitudes () are blessings recounted by Jesus in Matthew 5:3–10 within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. In ...

and the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

at the head of the queue. This privileges peacemaking, mercy, meekness, purity of heart, hungering after righteousness, poverty of spirit, etc. as the unassailable core of Christianity and piety and true theology. The Sermon on the Mount provides the axioms on which every legitimate theology must be built, as well as the ethics governing theological discourse, and the rules for validating theological products; Erasmus' treats the primary and initial teaching of Jesus in the first Gospel as a theological methodology. For example, "peacemaking" is a possible topic in any Christian theology; but for Erasmus, from the Beatitude, it must be a starting, reference and ending point when discussing all other theological notions, such as church authority, the Trinity, etc. Moreover, Christian theology must only be ''done'' in a peacemaking fashion for peacemaking purposes; and any theology that promotes division and warmongering is thereby anti-Christian.

Mystical theology

Another important concept to Erasmus was "the Folly of the Cross" (which ''

'' explored):As with many of his individual works, reading ''The Praise of Folly'' in isolation from his other works may give an idea of Erasmus' priorities different to that given by broader reading, even though he sometimes claimed to be re-presenting essentially the same thoughts in different genres. the view that Truth belongs to the exuberant, perhaps ecstatic, world of what is foolish, strange, unexpected and even superficially repellent to us, rather than to the frigid worlds which intricate scholastic

dialectical Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the c ...

and

syllogistic A syllogism (, ''syllogismos'', 'conclusion, inference') is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. In its earliest form (define ...

philosophical argument all too often generated; this produced in Erasmus a profound disinterest in hyper-rationality, and an emphasis on verbal, rhetorical, mystical, pastoral and personal/political moral concerns instead.

Theological writings

Several scholars have suggested Erasmus wrote as an evangelist not an academic theologian. Even "theology was to be metamorphic speech, converting persons to Christ". Erasmus did not conceive of Christianity as fundamentally an intellectual system: Historian William McCuaig commented "I have never read a work by him on any subject that was not at bottom a piece of evangelical literature." Apart from these programmatic works, Erasmus also produce a number of prayers, sermons, essays, masses and poems for specific benefactors and occasions, often on topics where Erasmus and his benefactor agreed. His thought was particularly influenced by

. He often set himself the challenge of formulating positive, moderate, non-superstitious versions of contemporary Catholic practices that might be more acceptable both to scandalised Catholics and Protestants of good will: the better attitudes to the sacraments, saints, Mary, indulgences, statues, scriptural ignorance and fanciful Biblical interpretation, prayer, dietary fasts, external ceremonialism, authority, vows, docility, submission to Rome, etc. For example, in his ''Paean in Honour of the Virgin Mary'' (1503) Erasmus elaborated his theme that the Incarnation had been hinted far and wide, which could impact the theology of the fate of the remote unbaptised and grace, and the place of classical philosophy:

Works

Erasmus was the most popular, most printed and arguably most influential author of the early sixteenth century, read in all nations in the West and frequently translated. By the 1530s, his writings accounted for 10–20% of book sales in Europe. "Undoubtedly he was the most read author of his age." His vast number of Latin and Greek publications included translations, paraphrases, letters, textbooks, plays for schoolboys, commentary, poems, liturgies, satires, sermons, and prayers. A large number of his later works were defences of his earlier work from attacks by Catholic and Protestant theological and literary opponents. The ''Catalogue of the Works of Erasmus'' (2023) runs to 444 entries (120 pages), almost all from the latter half of his life. He usually wrote books in particular classical literary genres with their different rhetorical conventions: complaint, diatribe, dialogue, encomium, epistle, commentary, liturgy, sermon, etc. His letter to Ulrich von Hutten on

's household has been called "the first real biography in the real modern sense." From his youth, Erasmus had been a voracious writer. Erasmus wrote or answered up to 40 letters per day, usually waking early in the morning and writing them in his own hand. He did not work after dinner. His writing method (recommended in ''De copia'' and ''De ratione studii'') was to make notes on whatever he was reading, categorised by theme: he carted these commonplaces in boxes that accompanied him. When assembling a new book, he would go through the topics and cross out commonplace notes as he used them. This catalogue of research notes allowed him to rapidly create books, though woven from the same topics. Towards the end of his life, as he lost dexterity, he employed secretaries or amanuenses who performed the assembly or transcription, re-wrote his writing, and in his last decade, recorded his dictation; letters were usually in his own hand, unless formal. For much of his career he wrote standing at a desk, as shown in Dürer's portrait.

New Testament editions

In the second half of his life, Erasmus worked on New Testament studies in a project that eventually saw his intended detailed Annotations on the New Testament (modeled on a work by

) expand into a new Latin translation, an accompanying Greek text, material justifying his approach, and lengthy Paraphrases of almost the entire New Testament. These went through multiple revisions and editions, and progressively involved many leading scholars and introduced several readings which were taken up by Protestant and Catholic reformers. Other publishers, such as Erasmus' earlier collaborator

in Venice, immediately brought out their own editions, sometimes with their own corrections, and sometimes without the Annotations, or the Latin, or the Greek. Up to 300,000 copies of the various editions appear to have been printed in Erasmus' lifetime. This body of work formed the basis for the majority of ''

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

'' Protestant translations of the New Testament in the 16th–19th centuries, including those of

and the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

Notable writings

Erasmus wrote for educated audiences both * on subjects of humanist interest: "Three areas preoccupied Erasmus as a writer: language arts, education, and biblical studies. ..ll of his works served as models of style. ..e pioneered the principles of textual criticism." and * on pastoral subjects: "to Christians in the various stages of lives: ..or the young, for married couples, for widows," the dying, clergy, theologians, religious, princes, partakers of sacraments, etc. He is noted for his extensive scholarly editions of the

in Latin and Greek, and the complete works of numerous

. These formed the basis of the so-called

Protestant bibles. The only works with enduring popularity in modern time are his satires and semi-satires: ''

'', ''

Julius Excluded from Heaven ''Julius Excluded from Heaven'' (, ''IE'') is a dialogue that was written in 1514, commonly attributed to the Dutch humanist and theologian Desiderius Erasmus. It involves Pope Julius II, who died a year earlier, trying to persuade Saint Pet ...

'' and '' The Complaint of Peace''. However, his other works, such as his several thousand letters, continue to be a vital source of information to historians of numerous disciplines.

Legacy and evaluations

Erasmus was given the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". He has also been called "the most illustrious rhetorician and educationalist of the Renaissance". However, at times he has been viciously criticised, his works suppressed, his expertise corralled, his writings misinterpreted, his thought demonised, and his legacy marginalised. He was never judged and declared a heretic by the Catholic Church, during his lifetime or

after After may refer to: Literature * ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar * ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose * ''After'' (Chalifour book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis ...

: a semi-secret trial in Vallodolid Spain, in 1527 found him not to be a heretic, and he was sponsored and protected by Popes and Bishops.

Personal

Health

Erasmus was a quite sickly man and frequently worked from his sickbed. As a teenager he contracted Quartan fever, a non-lethal type of Malaria which recurred numerous times for the rest of his life: he attributed his survival to the intercession of St Genevieve. His digestion gave him trouble: he was intolerant of fish, beer and some wines, which were the standard diet for members of religious orders; he eventually died following an attack of dysentery. In Cambridge he was ill, possibly with the English

. He suffered kidney stones from his time in Venice and, in late life, with gout In 1514, he suffered a fall from his horse and injured his back. In 1528 he suffered recurrent episodes of the stone, "from which he almost died." In 1529 his self-removal from Basel was delayed because of headcold and fever. In 1530 while travelling he suffered some near-fatal illness which several doctors diagnosed as the plague (which had killed his parents) but several others diagnosed as not the plague. Various illnesses have been diagnosed of the skeletons claimed to be his, including pustulotic arthro-osteitis,

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

or yaws. Other doctors have diagnosed from his written descriptions ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis, enteric rheumatism and spondylarthritis.

Clothing

Memorial Tablet by the Master of the Spes Notra before the 2006 restoration

Until Erasmus received his 1505 and 1517 Papal dispensations to wear clerical garb, Erasmus wore versions of the local habit of his order, the Canons regular of St Augustine, Chapter of Sion, which varied by region and house, unless travelling: in general, a white or perhaps black

cassock The cassock, or soutane, is a Christian clerical clothing, clerical coat used by the clergy and Consecrated life, male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in ...

with linen and lace choir rochet for liturgical contexts, or otherwise with white ' (scarf) (over left shoulder), or almuce (cape), perhaps with an asymmetrical black cope of cloth or sheepskin (') or long black cloak. From 1505, and certainly after 1517, he dressed as a scholar-priest.Treu, Erwin (1959). pp.20–21 He preferred warm and soft garments: according to one source, he arranged for his clothing to be stuffed with fur to protect him against the cold, and his habit counted with a collar of fur which usually covered his nape. All Erasmus' portraits show him wearing a knitted scholar's bonnet.

Signet ring and personal motto

Petschaft Erasmus von Rotterdam Amerbach Kabinett HMB 1893-364 c7499

Erasmus chose the Roman god of borders and boundaries Terminus as a personal symbol and had a signet ring with a

herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...

he thought depicted Terminus carved into a carnelian. The herm was presented to him in Rome by his student Alexander Stewart and in reality depicted the Greek god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

. The ring was also depicted in a portrait of his by the Flemish painter Quentin Matsys. The herm became part of the Erasmus branding at Froben, and is on his tombstone. In the early 1530s, Erasmus was portrayed as Terminus by Hans Holbein the Younger. The diamond ring Erasmus wears in the famous Holbein portrait was a gift from his long-time friend and corespondent, Cardinal

, as a "memorial of our friendship" ("''amicitiae nostrae'' noμνημόσυνον"). He chose ' (Lat. ''I concede to no-one'') as his personal motto. The obverse of the medal by Quintin Matsys featured the Terminus herm. Mottoes on medals, along the circumference, included "A better picture of Erasmus is shown in his writing", and "Contemplate the end of a long life" and

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

's "Death is the ultimate boundary of things," which re-casts the motto as a ''

memento mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")

''. There were anachronistic claims that his motto was a favourable nod to Luther's " Here I stand" which Erasmus denied.

Visual representations

Erasmus frequently gifted portraits and medals with his image to friends and patrons. * Hans Holbein painted him at least three times and perhaps as many as seven, some of the Holbein portraits of Erasmus surviving only in copies by other artists. Holbein's three profile portraits – two (nearly identical) profile portraits and one three-quarters-view portrait – were all painted in the same year, 1523. Erasmus used the Holbein portraits as gifts for his friends in England, such as

, the Archbishop of Canterbury. (Writing in a letter to Warham regarding the gift portrait, Erasmus quipped that "he might have something of Erasmus should God call him from this place.") Erasmus spoke favourably of Holbein as an artist and person but was later critical, accusing him of sponging off various patrons whom Erasmus had recommended, for purposes more of monetary gain than artistic endeavour. There were scores of copies of these portraits made in Erasmus' time. Holbein's 1532 profile woodcut was particularly lauded by those who knew Erasmus. *

also produced portraits of Erasmus, whom he met three times, in the form of an

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

of 1526 and a preliminary charcoal sketch. Concerning the former Erasmus was unimpressed, declaring it an unfavorable likeness of him, perhaps because around 1525 he was suffering severely from kidney stones. in Nevertheless, Erasmus and Dürer maintained a close friendship, with Dürer going so far as to solicit Erasmus's support for the Lutheran cause, which Erasmus politely declined. Erasmus wrote a glowing

encomium ''Encomium'' (: ''encomia'') is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is '' laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the ...

about the artist, likening him to famous Greek painter of antiquity

Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...

. Erasmus was deeply affected by his death in 1528. * Quentin Matsys produced the earliest known portraits of Erasmus, including an oil painting from life in 1517 (which had to be delayed as Erasmus' pain distorted his face) and a medal in 1519. * In 1622, Hendrick de Keyser cast a statue of Erasmus in (gilt) bronze replacing an earlier stone version from 1557, itself replacing a wooden one of 1549, possibly a gift from the City of Basel. This was set up in the public square in Rotterdam, and today may be found outside the St. Lawrence Church. It is the oldest bronze statue in the Netherlands. * In 1790, Georg Wilhelm Göbel struck commemorative medals.' * Canterbury Cathedral, England has a statue of Erasmus on the North Face, placed in 1870. * The Whitechapel Gallery in London has a weathervane depicting Erasmus riding backward on a horse, by Rodney Graham in 2009. Interest in developments of visual arts or artists is notably absent in Erasmus' writing, despite moving in circles where he shared friends and patron with famous artists: for example, in Venice Erasmus' friend Giulio Camillo worked with

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. Erasmus was personal friends of Hans Holbein and Albrecht Dürer.

In literature and media

* Renaissance composer Benedictus Appenzeller wrote a five-part motet ''Plangite Pierides (Lament on the Death of Erasmus)'' over a

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect trea ...

''Cecidit corona capitis nostri'' ( Lam. 5:16), score available Open Source. Appenzeller was part of the court of dowager Queen Mary of Hungary, whose invitation in 1535 of haven in Brabant Erasmus had contingently accepted the year before his death. It has been recorded several times: by Konrad Ruhland with ''Capella Antiqua München'' and by

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

with ''La Capella Reial De Catalunya'' ** The Savall recording ''Erasmus – Praise of Folly'' is a program of 16th century music, notably la folia, and recitation of famous excerpts from Erasmus, Luther, etc. and released in multiple European languages. * Erasmus is a character in the comic Act III, scene 1, of the Elizabethan play Sir Thomas More, though not in the passages attributed to Shakespeare. ** In the play, More is just about to be made Lord Chancellor; visiting famous poet Erasmus is meeting him for the first time; judge More plays a merry trick ("I’ll see if great Erasmus can distinguish merit and outward ceremony") by disguising a rough servant as himself; he pretends to be the porter and speaks Latin to Erasmus outside; Erasmus launches into a Latin speech directed to the fake More, but repeatedly questions that this could, in fact, be More; More reveals himself; they bond over mirth and love of poetry:

More: Thus you see,
My loving learned friends, how far respect
Waits often on the ceremonious train
Of base illiterate wealth, whilst men of schools,
Shrouded in poverty, are counted fools.
Pardon, thou reverent German, I have mixed
So slight a jest to the fair entertainment
Of thy most worthy self;
...
Erasmus: Study should be the saddest time of life.
The rest a sport exempt from thought of strife.

* Actor Ken Bones portrays Erasmus in

David Starkey Dr. David Robert Starkey (born 3 January 1945) is a British historian, radio and television presenter, with views that he describes as conservative. The only child of Quaker parents, he attended Kirkbie Kendal School, Kendal Grammar School b ...

's 2009 documentary series '' Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant''

Name used

* The European Erasmus Programme of exchange students within the European Union is named after him. ** The original Erasmus Programme scholarships enable European students to spend up to a year of their university courses in a university in another European country, commemorating Erasmus' impulse to travel. ** The European Union cites the successor Erasmus+ programme as a "key achievement": "Almost 640,000 people studied, trained or volunteered abroad in 2020." ** The parallel

Erasmus Mundus The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme (named after Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar) aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students f ...

project is aimed at attracting non-European students to study in Europe. * The

Erasmus Prize The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world. I ...

is one of Europe's foremost recognitions for culture, society or social science. It was won by Wikipedia in 2015. * The Erasmus Lectures are an annual lecture on religious subjects, given by prominent Christian (mainly Catholic) and Jewish intellectuals, most notably by Joseph Ratzinger in 1988. * A peer-reviewed annual scholarly journal ''Erasmus Studies'' has been produced since 1981. * Rotterdam has the Erasmus University Rotterdam: ** It has the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE), which produces the ''Erasmus Journal of Philosophy and Economics'' ** Erasmus University College is an "international, interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science programme in Liberal Arts and Sciences." * From 1997 to 2008, the American

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

had an Erasmus Institute. * The Erasmus Building in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

was completed in 1988 as the first addition to the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...

(CJEU). The building houses the chambers of the judges of the CJEU's General Court and three courtrooms. It is next to the Thomas More Building. * Rotterdam has an Erasmus Bridge. * Queens' College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, has an Erasmus Tower, Erasmus Building and an Erasmus Room. Until the early 20th century, Queens' College used to have a corkscrew that was purported to be "Erasmus' corkscrew", which was a third of a metre long; as of 1987, the college still had what it calls "Erasmus' chair". * Several schools, faculties and universities in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

are named after him, as is Erasmus Hall High School, Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, New York, US.

Exhumation

In 1928, the site of Erasmus' grave was dug up, and a body identified in the bones and examined. In 1974, remains were dug up in a slightly different location, accompanied by an Erasmus medal. Both remains have been claimed to be Erasmus'. However, it is possible neither is. The first bones were taller than expected and syphilitic; the second fitted the reported size and age but were accidentally smashed during photography.

Notes

References

External links

* * * "
Desiderius Erasmus
'" entry in Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909 by Joseph Sauer * *

Non-English

Index of Erasmus's Opera Omnia (Latin)

(Latin Library) * * *

Media

*
In Our Time podcast
from BBC Radio 4 with Melvyn Bragg, and guests

, Eamon Duffy, and Jill Kraye. * Desiderius Erasmus: ''"War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." – Protest against Violence and War'' (Publication series: Exhibitions on the History of Nonviolent Resistance, No. 1, Editors: :de:Christian Bartolf, Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething). Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2022
PDF
* ''Sporen van Erasmus (Traces of Erasmus)'', documentary TV series, 5 episodes () {{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Desiderius Desiderius Erasmus, 1460s births 1536 deaths 15th-century Roman Catholic theologians 16th-century Christian biblical scholars 16th-century Dutch philosophers 16th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests 16th-century Roman Catholic theologians 16th-century writers in Latin Academic staff of the Old University of Leuven Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Augustinian canons Burials at Basel Münster Catholic philosophers Christian humanists Counter-Reformation Critics of the Catholic Church Deaths from dysentery Dutch educators Dutch essayists Dutch expatriates in England Dutch expatriates in France Dutch Renaissance humanists Dutch rhetoricians Dutch satirists Former members of Catholic religious institutes Greek–Latin translators Historians of the Catholic Church Lady Margaret's Professors of Divinity Natural law ethicists Old University of Leuven alumni Paremiologists People from Gouda, South Holland Philosophers from the Habsburg Netherlands Proto-Protestants Proverb scholars Roman Catholic biblical scholars Roman Catholic priests from the Habsburg Netherlands Translators of the Bible into Latin University of Paris alumni University of Turin alumni Writers from Rotterdam

Life and career

Early life

Vows, ordination and canonry experience

Disengagement

Travels

Paris

First visit to England (1499–1500)

France and Brabant

Second visit to England (1505–1506)

Italy

Third visit to England (1510–1515)

Flanders and Brabant

Basel (1521–1529)

Freiburg (1529–1535)

Fates of friends

Death in Basel

Thought and views

Manner of thinking

Manner of expression

Irony

Copiousness

Pacifism

War

Intra-Christian religious toleration

Heresy and sedition

Outsiders

=Turks

=Jews

=Slaves

Politics

Religious reform

Personal reform

=Sacraments

Catholic reform

=Institutional reforms

=Anti-fraternalism

Protestant reform

=Increasing disagreement with Luther

=Dispute on free will

= "False evangelicals"

= Other

Philosophy

Classical

Anti-scholasticism

Theology

Accommodation

Inverbation

Scopus christi

Mystical theology

Theological writings

Works

New Testament editions

Notable writings

Legacy and evaluations

Personal

Health

Clothing

Signet ring and personal motto

Visual representations

In literature and media

Name used

Exhumation

Notes

References

Further reading

Biographies

Topics

Non-English

Primary sources

External links

Non-English

Media