Early life

Statue of Erasmus in Rotterdam. Gilded bronze statue by Hendrick de Keyser (1622), replacing a stone (1557), and a wooden (1549).

Desiderius Erasmus is reported to have been born in Rotterdam on 28 October in the late-1460s. He was named^{[note 1]} after Erasmus of Formiae, whom Erasmus' father Gerard (Gerardus Helye)^[4] personally favored.^[5][6] Although associated closely with Rotterdam, he lived there for only four years, never to return afterwards.

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.^[7][8]: 8 (This article currently gives 1466 as the birth year.^[9][10] To handle this disagreement, ages are given first based on 1469, then in parentheses based on 1466: e.g., "20 (or 23)".)

His parents could not be legally married: his father, Gerard, was a Catholic priest^[11] who may have spent up to six years in the 1450s or 60s in Italy as a scribe and scholar.^[12]: 196 His mother was Margaretha Rogerius (Latinized form of Dutch surname Rutgers),^[13] the daughter of a doctor from Zevenbergen. She may have been Gerard's housekeeper.^[11][14] 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 side called him his brother.^[8] There were legal and social restrictions on the careers and opportunities open to the children of unwed parents.

Erasmus' own story, in his 1524 Compendium vitae Erasmi was along the lines that his (teenage?) 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 mislead 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.^[15]: 89

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 the vice-curate of Gouda.^[4]

Erasmus was given the highest education available to a young man of his day, in a series of 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 Mr Pieter Winckel,^[4] who later became his guardian (and, perhaps, diverted Erasmus and Peter's inheritance.) (Historians who date his birth in 1466 have Erasmus in Utrecht at the choir school at this period.^[16])

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 and owned by the chapter clergy of the Lebuïnuskerk (St. Lebuin's Church).^[9] 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^[17] and this is where he began learning it.^[18] His education there ended when plague struck the city about 1483,^[19] and his mother, who had moved to provide a home for her sons, died from the infection. Following the death of his parents and 20 students at his school^[8] he moved back to his patria (Rotterdam?)^[4] where he was supported by Berthe de Heyden,^[20] a compassionate widow.^[8]

Hieronymous Bosch, Temptation of St Anthony, tryptich (c. 1501), painted in 's-Hertogenbosch, later owned by friend Damião de Gois

In 1484, around the age 14 (or 17), he and his brother went to a cheaper^[21] grammar school or seminary at 's-Hertogenbosch run by the Brethren of the Common Life.^{[22][note 2]} 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.^[9] The two brothers made an agreement that they would resist the clergy but attend the university;^[20] Erasmus longed to study in Italy.^[7]: 804 Instead, Peter left for the Augustinian canonry in Stein, which left Erasmus feeling betrayed.^[20] Around this time he wrote forlornly to his friend Elizabeth de Heyden "Shipwrecked am I, and lost, 'mid waters chill'."^[8] He suffered Quartan fever for over a year. Eventually Erasmus moved to the same abbey as a postulant in or before 1487,^[4] around the age of 16 (or 19.)^{[note 3]}

Vows, ordination and canonry experience

Bust by Hildo Krop (1950) in Gouda, where Erasmus spent his youth

Poverty^[23] had forced Erasmus into the consecrated life, entering the novitiate in 1487^[24] at the canonry at rural Stein, very near Gouda, South Holland: the Chapter of Sion community largely borrowed its rule from the larger monkish Congregation of Windesheim.^{[note 4]} In 1488-1490, the surrounding region was plundered badly by armies fighting the Jonker Fransen war of succession and then suffered a famine.^[7]: 759 Erasmus professed his vows as a Canon Regular of St. Augustine^{[note 5]} there in late 1488 at age 19 (or 22).^[24] 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 unmistakeably."^[27] According to one Catholic biographer, Erasmus had a spiritual awakening at the monastery.^[28]

Certain abuses in religious orders were among the chief objects of his later calls to reform the Western Church from within, particularly coerced or tricked recruitment of immature boys (as "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.^[25]: 439

While at Stein, 18-(or 21-)year-old Erasmus fell in unrequited love, forming what he called a "passionate attachment" (Latin: fervidos amores), with a fellow canon, Servatius Rogerus,^[29] and wrote a series of love letters^{[30][note 6]} in which he called Rogerus "half my soul",^{[note 7]} 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."^{[31][note 8]} This correspondence contrasts^{[note 9]} with the generally detached and much more restrained attitude he usually showed in his later life,^{[note 10]} though he had a capacity to form and maintain deep male friendships, such as with More, Colet, and Ammonio.^{[note 11]} No mentions or sexual accusations were ever made of Erasmus during his lifetime.^{[note 12]} His works praise moderate sexual desire in marriage between men and women.^[32]

In 1493 he was permitted^[33] to leave the canonry when offered 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.^{[34][note 13]}

He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood either on 25 April 1492,^[23] or 25 April 1495, at age 25 (or 28.)^{[note 14]} Either way, he did not actively work as a choir priest for very long,^[35] though his many works on confession and penance suggests experience of dispensing them.

From 1500, he avoided returning to the canonry at Stein even insisting the diet and hours would kill him,^{[note 15]} 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 canonry^{[note 16]} ended up with by far the largest collection of Erasmus' publications in the Gouda region.^[36]

In 1505 Pope Julius II granted a dispensation from the vow of poverty to the extent of allowing Erasmus to hold certain benefices, and from the control and habit of his order, though he remained a priest and, formally, an Augustinian canon regular^{[note 17]} the rest his life.^[25] In 1517 Pope Leo X granted legal dispensations for Erasmus' defects of natality^{[note 18]} and confirmed the previous dispensation, allowing the 48-(or 51-)year-old his independence^[37] but still, as a canon, capable of holding office as a prior or abbot.^[25]

Many of Erasmus' convictions seem to spring from his early biography: esteem for the married state and appropriate marriages, support for priestly marriage, concern for improving marriage prospects for females, 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 in the 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, etc.

Travels

Cities and Routes of Erasmus
Oxford, Cambridge London Reading Canterbury Deventer Woerden Calais Stein, Gouda Rotterdam St Omer 's-Hertogenbosch Paris, Cambrai Brussels, Antwerp Orléans Louvain Turin Cologne Bologna Mainz Strasbourg Florence Freiburg im Breisgau Sienna, Padua Basel Rome, Venice Konstanz Cumae
Green: early life Dark circles: residence Thin line: Alpine crossing Blue lines: Rhine and English Channel

Erasmus traveled widely and regularly, for reasons of poverty, "escape" from his Stein canonry (to Cambrai), education (to Paris, Turin), escape from the sweating sickness plague (to Orléans), employment (to England), searching libraries for manuscripts, writing (Brabant), royal counsel (Cologne), patronage, tutoring and chaperoning (North Italy), networking (Rome), seeing books through printing in person (Paris, Venice, Louvain, Basel), and avoiding the persecution of religious fanatics (to Freiburg.) He enjoyed horseback riding^[38]

England

English circle.^[43]

Thomas More • John Colet • Thomas Linacre • William Grocyn • William Lily • Andrea Ammonio • Juan Luis Vives • Cuthbert Tunstall  • Henry Bullock • Thomas Lupset • Richard Foxe • Christopher Urswick • Robert Aldrich • Richard Whitford

Patrons: William Blount • William Warham • John Fisher • John Longland • Margaret Beaufort • Catherine of Aragon

"I can truly say that no place in the world has given me so many friends—true, learned, helpful, and illustrious friends—as the single city of London." Letter to Colet, 1509^[27]

Erasmus stayed in England at least three times.^{[note 20]} In between he had periods studying in Paris, Orléans, Leuven and other cities.

Erasmus by Hans Holbein the Younger. Louvre, Paris.

First visit - 1499-1500

In 1499 he was invited to England by William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, who offered to accompany him on his trip to England.^[44] His time in England was fruitful in the making of lifelong friendships with the leaders of English thought in the days of King Henry VIII.

During his first visit to England in 1499, he studied or taught at the University of Oxford. Erasmus was particularly impressed by the Bible teaching of John Colet, who pursued a style more akin to the church fathers than the Scholastics. Through the influence of the humanist John Colet, his interests turned towards theology.^[44] Other distinctive features of Colet's thought that may have influenced Erasmus are his pacifism,^[45] reform-mindedness,^[46] anti-Scholasticism and pastoral esteem for the sacrament of Confession.^[47]: 94

This prompted him, upon his return from England to Paris, to intensively study the Greek language, which would enable him to study theology on a more profound level.

Erasmus also became fast friends with Thomas More, 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.^[48][49]

Erasmus left London with a full purse from his generous friends, to allow him to complete his studies. However, the English Customs officials confiscated all gold and silver, leaving him with nothing except a night fever that lasted several months.

Second visit - 1505-1506

Sir Thomas More, by Hans Holbein the Younger

For Erasmus' second visit, he spent over a year staying at recently-married Thomas More's house, now a lawyer and Member of Parliament, honing his translation skills.^[43]

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.^[50] In England Erasmus was approached with prominent offices but he declined them all, until the King himself offered his support.^[50] He was inclined, but eventually did not accept and longed for a stay in Italy.^[50]

Third visit - 1510-1515

In 1510, Erasmus arrived at More's bustling house, was parked in 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 of the City of London.

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;^{[note 12]} he shared lodgings with his friend Andrea Ammonio (Latin secretary to Mountjoy, and the next year, to Henry VIII) provided at the London Austin Friars' compound, skipping out after a disagreement with the friars over rent that caused bad blood.^{[note 21]}

He assisted his friend John Colet by authoring Greek textbooks and securing members of staff for the newly established St Paul's School^[51] and was in contact when Colet gave his notorious 1512 Convocation sermon which called for a reformation of ecclesiastical affairs.^{[52]: 230–250} At Colet's instigation, Erasmus started work on De copia.

In 1511, the University of Cambridge's Chancellor John Fisher arranged for Erasmus to be the Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, though Erasmus turned down the option of spending the rest of his life as a professor there. He studied and taught Greek and researched and lectured on Jerome.^{[43][note 22]}

Erasmus mainly stayed at Queens' College while lecturing at the university,^[54] between 1511 and 1515.^{[note 23]} Erasmus' rooms were located in the "I" staircase of Old Court.^[55] 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.^[56]

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.^[57] He complained that Queens' College could not supply him with enough decent wine^{[note 24]} (wine was the Renaissance medicine for gallstones, from which Erasmus suffered).^[58] 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.^[59]

During this time, Erasmus encouraged Thomas More's book Utopia (pub. 1516),^{[note 25]} perhaps even contributing fragments.^[61] By this time More was a judge on the poorman's equity court (Master of Requests) and a Privy Counsellor.

Italy

Italian circle

Aldus Manutius • Giulio Camillo • Alexander Stewart • Pietro Bembo • Bombasius • Marcus Musurus • Janus Lascaris • Giles of Viterbo • Egnazio • Germain de Brie • Carteromachus

Opponents: Aleander, Alberto Pío, Sepúlveda

Patrons: Popes Leo X, Adrian VI, Clement VII, Paul III, King James IV

In 1506 he was able to accompany and tutor the sons of the personal physician of the English King through Italy to Bologna.^[50]

His discovery en route of Lorenzo Valla's New Testament Notes was a major event in his career and prompted Erasmus to study the New Testament using philology.^[63]

In 1506 they passed through Turin and he arranged to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (Sacra Theologia)^[64]: 638 from the University of Turin per saltum^[50] at age 37 (or 40.) Erasmus stayed tutoring in Bologna for a year; in the Winter, Erasmus was present when Pope Julius II entered victorious into the conquered Bologna which he had besieged before.^[50]

Book printed and illuminated at Aldine press, Venice (1501), Horace, Works

Erasmus traveled on to Venice, working on an expanded version of his Adagia at the Aldine Press of the famous printer Aldus Manutius, advised him which manuscripts to publish,^[65] and was an honorary member of the graecophone Aldine "New Academy" (Greek: Neakadêmia (Νεακαδημία)).^[66] 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.^[27]

In 1507, according to his letters, he studied advanced Greek in Padua with the Venetian natural philosopher, Giulio Camillo.^[67] He found employment tutoring and escorting Scottish nobleman Alexander Stewart, the 24-year old Archbishop of St Andrews, through Padua, Florence, and Siena^{[note 26]} Erasmus made it to Rome in 1509, visiting some notable libraries and cardinals, but having a less active association with Italian scholars than might have been expected.

In 1510, William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Mountjoy lured him back to England, now under its new humanist king, paying £10 journey money.^[69] On his trip back over the Alps, down the Rhein, to England, Erasmus mentally composed The Praise of Folly.

Brabant (Flanders)

Burgundy/Louvain circle

Adrian of Utrecht • Pieter Gillis • Martin Dorp • Hieronymus van Busleyden • Albrecht Dürer • Dirk Martens • Nicolas Cleynaerts

Opponents: Latomus • Edward Lee • Ulrich von Hutten

Patrons: Charles V

His residence at Leuven, where he lectured at the University, exposed Erasmus to much criticism from those ascetics, academics and clerics hostile to the principles of literary and religious reform to which he was devoting his life.^[70] 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.^[71]

Erasmus may have made several other short visits to England or English territory while living in Brabant.^[43] Happily for Erasmus, More and Tunstall were posted in Brussels or Antwerp on government missions around 1516, More for six months, Tunstall for longer. However, in 1517, his great friend Ammonio died in England of the Sweating Sickness.

Erasmus had accepted an honorary position as a Councillor to Charles V with an annuity of 200 guilders,^[72] and tutored his brother, the teenage future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand of Hapsburg. At this time he wrote The Education of a Christian Prince (Institutio principis Christiani).

In 1517, he supported the foundation at the university of the Collegium Trilingue for the study of Hebrew, Latin, and Greek^{[73]: s1.14.14}—after the model of Cisneros' College of the Three Languages at the University of Alcalá—financed by his late friend Hieronymus van Busleyden's will.^[74]

Field of the Cloth of Gold, w. Henry VIII (British - prev. attrib. Hans Holbein the Younger)

In 1520 he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold with Guillaume Budé, his last meetings with Thomas More^[75] and William Warham. His friends and former students and old correspondents were the incoming political elite, and he had risen with them.^{[note 27]}

He stayed in various locations including Anderlecht (near Brussels) in the Summer of 1521.^[76]

Basel

Swiss circle^{[77]: 56, 63}

Johannes Froben • Hieronymus Froben • Beatus Rhenanus • Bonifacius Amerbach • Bruno Amerbach • Hans Holbein the Younger • Simon Grynaeus • Sebastian Brandt • Wolfgang Capito • Damião de Góis • Gilbert Cousin • Jakob Näf

Opponents: Œcolampadius

Patrons: Antoine I. de Vergy, Christoph von Utenheim

Desiderius Erasmus dictating to his ammenuensis Gilbert Cousin or Cognatus. From a book by Cousin, and itself claimed to be based on fresco in Cousin's house in Nozeroy, Burgundy. Engraving possibly by fr:Claude Luc.

From 1514, Erasmus regularly traveled to Basel to coordinate the printing of his books with Froben. He developed a lasting association with the great Basel publisher Johann Froben and later his son Hieronymus Froben (Eramus' godson) who together published over 200 works with Erasmus,^[78] working with expert scholar-correcters who went on to illustrious careers.^[77] His initial interest in Froben's operation was aroused by his discovery of the printer's folio edition of the Adagiorum Chiliades tres (Adagia) (1513).^[79] Froben's work was notable for using the new Roman type (rather than blackletter) and Aldine-like Italic and Greek fonts, as well as elegant layouts using borders and fancy capitals;^[77]: 59 Hans Holbein (the Younger) cut several woodblock capitals for Erasmus' editions.

In 1521 he settled in Basel.^[80] He was weary of the controversies and hostility at Louvain, and feared being dragged further into the Lutheran controversy.^[81] He agreed to be the Froben press' literary superintendent writing dedications and prefaces^[27] for an annuity and profit share.^[53] Apart from Froben's production team, he had his own household^{[note 28]}with a formidable housekeeper, stable of horses, and up to eight boarders or paid servants: who acted as assistants, correcters, amanuenses, dining companions, international couriers, and carers.^[83] 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.^[84]

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 Novum testamentum omne and pirated individually throughout Europe— then finally his amplified Paraphrases.

Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523

In 1522, Erasmus' compatriot, former teacher (c. 1502) and friend from University of Louvain unexpectedly became Pope Adrian VI,^{[note 29]} 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 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.^[86]

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 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).^{[note 30]}

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.^[87]: 558 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

Portrait of Damião de Góis by Albrecht Dürer

Following iconoclastic rioting in 1529 lead by Œcolampadius his former assistant,^{[note 31]} the city of Basel definitely adopted the Reformation, and banned the Catholic mass on April 1, 1529.^[88] Erasmus left Basel on the 13 April 1529 and departed by ship to the Catholic university town of Freiburg im Breisgau to be under the protection of his former student, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria,^[12]: 210 staying for two years on the top floor of the Whale House,^[89] then buying and refurbishing a house of his own,^{[note 32]} where he took in scholar/assistants as table-boarders^[90] such as Damião de Góis, some of them fleeing persecution.

Despite increasing frailty^{[note 33]} Erasmus continued to work productively, notably on a new magnum opus, his manual on preaching Ecclesiastes, and his small book on preparing for death. His boarder for five months, the Portuguese scholar/diplomat Damião de Góis,^[87] worked on his lobbying on the plight of the Sámi in Sweden and the Ethopian church, and stimulated^[92]: 82 Erasmus' increasing awareness of foreign missions.^{[note 34]}

Fates of Friends

William Warham, after Hans Holbein

Cuthbert Tunstall (1474–1559), Bishop of Durham

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 organization to friar-theologians. In 1532 Erasmus' friend, conversos 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 from them.^[94]: 80

There was a generational change in the Catholic hierarchy. In 1533 his long-time patron English Primate Warham died of old age. In 1534 his distrusted protector Clement IV died, his recent Italian ally Cardinal Cajetan died, and his old ally Cardinal Campeggio retired.

As more friends died (in 1533, his friend Pieter Gilles) 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.^{[note 35]}

In 1535, Erasmus' friends Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher were executed as pro-Rome traitors by Henry VIII, who Erasmus and More had first met as a boy. 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.^[87]

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, Mary Tudor, Michael Servetus. Others, such as Charles V's Latin secretary Juan de Valdés, fled and died in self-exile. Erasmus' friend Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall died in prison under Elizabeth I for refusing the Oath of Supremacy. His correspondent Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who Erasmus had known as a teenaged student in Paris and Cambridge,^[95] was later imprisoned in the Tower of London for five years under Edward VI for impeding Protestantism.^{[note 36]} Damião de Góis was tried before the Portuguese Inquisition at age 72,^[87] detained almost incommunicado, finally exiled to a monastery, and on release perhaps murdered.^[97] His amanuensis Gilbert Cousin died in prison at age 66, shortly after being arrested on the personal order of Pope Pius V.^[83]

Death in Basel

Epitaph for Erasmus in the Basel Minster

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 Basel in preparation (Œcolampadius having died, and private practice of his religion now possible) and saw his last major works such as Ecclesiastes through publication, though he grew more frail. In 1536, he died at an attack of dysentery.^[98]

He had remained loyal to Roman Catholicism,^[99] but biographers have disagreed whether to treat him as him as an insider or an outsider.^{[note 37]}

He may not have received or had the opportunity to receive the last rites of the Catholic Church;^{[note 38]} the contemporary reports of his death do not mention whether he asked for a Catholic priest or not, if any were in Basel.^{[note 39]}

His last words, as recorded by his friend and biographer Beatus Rhenanus, were apparently "Dear God" (Dutch: Lieve God).^[101] 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.^[102]

As his heir he instated Bonifacius Amerbach to give seed money^{[note 40]} to the poor and needy:^[103] he had received a dispensation to make a will rather than his wealth reverting to his order, the Chapter of Sion, and had pre-sold his personal library to Jan Łaski.^[104] 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 Christianity in its Catholic, Anabaptist, and Protestant branches.^[105]

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:^[111] "the sum and summary of our religion is peace and unanimity" ^{[note 43][note 44]} At the Nativity of Jesus "the angels sang not the glories of war, nor a song of triumph, but a hymn of peace.":^[112]

He (Christ) conquered by gentleness; He conquered by kindness; he conquered by truth itself

— Method of True Theology, 4 ^{[note 45]: 570}

Erasmus was not an absolute Pacifist but promoted political Pacificism and religious Irenicism.^[113] Notable writings on irenicism include de Concordia, 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,^{[note 46]} 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:

I give you my peace, I leave you my peace" (John 14:27). You hear what he leaves his people? Not horses, bodyguards, empire or riches – none of these. What then? He gives peace, leaves peace – peace with friends, peace with enemies.

— The Complaint of Peace^[114]

A historian has called him "The 16th Century's Pioneer of Peace Education and a Culture of Peace".^{[note 47]}

Christian religious toleration

Portrait of Erasmus, after Quinten Massijs (1517)

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 adiaphora from what was uncontentiously explicit in the New Testament or absolutely mandated by Church teaching.^[119] Concord demanded unity and assent: Erasmus was anti-sectarian^{[note 51]} as well as non-sectarian.^[120] To follow the law of love, our intellects must be humble and friendly when making any assertions: he called contention "earthly, beastly, demonic"^[121]: 739 and a good-enough reason to reject a teacher or their followers. In Melancthon's view, Erasmus taught charity not faith.^[122]: 10

Certain works of Erasmus laid a foundation for religious toleration of private opinions and ecumenism. For example, in De libero arbitrio, opposing certain 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, Erasmus concludes that truth is furthered by a more harmonious relationship between interlocutors."^[123]

Erasmus' pacificism included a particular dislike for sedition, which caused warfare:

It was the duty of the leaders of this (reforming) movement, if Christ was their goal, to refrain not only from vice, but even from every appearance of evil; and to offer not the slightest stumbling block to the Gospel, studiously avoiding even practices which, although allowed, are yet not expedient. Above all they should have guarded against all sedition.

— Letter to Martin Bucer^[124]

Erasmus had been involved in early attempts to protect Luther and his sympathisers from charges of heresy. Erasmus wrote Inquisitio de fide to limit what should be considered heresy to fractiously agitating against essential doctrines (e.g., those of the Creed), with malice and persistence. As with St Theodore the Studite,^[125] 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."^[126] The Church has the duty to protect believers and convert or heal heretics; he invoked Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares.^[12]: 200

Nevertheless, he 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 fr:Noël Béda) that Augustine had been against the execution of even violent Donatists: 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 not because of their heretical views on baptism.^[127] Despite these concessions to state power, he suggested that religious persecution could still be challenged as inexpedient (ineffective).^[128]

In a letter to Cardial Lorenzo Campeggio, 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."

Jews and Turks

While the focus of most of his writing was about peace within Christendom with a sole focus on Europe until his last decade, he was involved in the public policy debate on war with the Ottoman Empire, which was then invading Western Europe, notably in his book On the war against the Turks (1530), with Pope Leo X promoting going on the offensive with a new crusade.^{[note 52]}

Juan Luis Vives

In common with his times,^[129] Erasmus regarded the Jewish and Islamic religions as Christian heresies 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-Moslem prejudice in his writings: Erasmus scholar Shimon Markish wrote that the charge of antisemitism could not be sustained in Erasmus' public writings,^[130] however historian Nathan Ron has found his writing to be harsh and racial in its implications, with contempt and hostility to Islam.^[131] Biographer James Tracy sees an anti-semitic edge in Erasmus' comments against Pferfferkorn in the Ruechlin affair, which expresses Erasmus' general "suspicion of those who, behind the scenes, manipulate influence and opinion for nefarious ends."^{[note 53]}

Erasmus was not vehemently antisemitic in the way of the later post-Catholic Martin Luther; it was not a topic or theme of his public writing. Erasmus claimed not to be personally xenophobic: "For I am of such a nature that I could love even a Jew, were he a pleasant companion and did not spew out blasphemy against Christ"^[132] however Markish suggests that it is probable Erasmus never actually encountered a (practicing) Jew.^{[133][note 54]}

Unusually for a Christian theologian of any time, he perceived and championed strong Hellenistic rather than exclusively Hebraic influences on the intellectual milieux of Jesus, Paul and the early church.^{[note 55]}

Interpretation caveats: analogy, irony, foils

• The picture is complicated because when Erasmus wrote of Judaism, he frequently was not referring to contemporary Jews but, by analogy with Second Temple Judaism, to Christians of his time who mistakenly promoted external ritualism over interior piety,^{[note 56]} notably in the monastic lifestyle.^{[note 57]} 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, a general human characteristic.^{[note 58]}
• Erasmus often wrote in a highly ironical idiom,^[106] especially in his letters,^{[note 59]} which makes them prone to different interpretations when taken literally rather than ironically.^{[note 60]} Erasmus chided Ulrich von Hutten's claims that Erasmus was a Lutheran, saying that von Hutten had not detected the irony in Erasmus' public letters enough.^[84]: 27
• Terence J. Martin identifies an "Erasmian pattern" that the supposed (by the reader) otherness (of Jews, Turks, Lapplanders, Indians, and even women and heretics) "provides a foil against which the failures of Christian culture can be exposed and criticized."^{[135] [note 61]} Erasmus wrote: we should "kill the 'Turk' (in us), not the man."^[92]

On the subject of slavery, Erasmus characteristically treated it in passing when dealing with tyranny: Christians were not allowed to be tyrants, which slave-owning required, but especially not to be the masters of other Christians.^[136] Erasmus had various other piecemeal arguments against slavery: for example, that it was not legitimate to have slaves taken in an unjust war, but it was not a subject that occupied him.

Religious reform

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Erasmus expressed much of his reform program in terms of the proper attitude towards the sacraments, and their ramifications:^[139] 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 (writing On the Preparation for Death),^{[note 62]} and the pastoral Holy Orders (see Ecclesiastes.)^[140] Historians have noted that Erasmus commended the benefits of immersive, docile scripture-reading in sacramental terms.^{[note 63]}

Catholic reform

Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Erasmus, sketch: black chalk on paper, 1520.

The Protestant Reformation began in the year following the publication of his pathbreaking edition of the New Testament in Latin and Greek (1516). The issues between the reforming and reactionary tendencies of the church, from which Protestantism 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 criticized church failings but questioned many of his Church's basic teachings;^{[note 64]} however, according to biographer Erika Rummel, "Erasmus was aiming at the correction of abuses rather than at doctrinal innovation or institutional change."^{[note 65]}

Erasmus, at the height of his literary fame, was called upon to take one side, but partisanship was foreign to his nature and his 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.^[99]

"I have constantly declared, in countless letters, booklets, and personal statements, that I do not want to be involved with either party."

— Erasmus, Spongia (1523)

The world had laughed at his satire, The Praise of Folly, but few had interfered with his activities. He believed that his work so far had commended itself to the best minds and also to the dominant powers in the religious world. Erasmus chose to write in Latin (and Greek), the languages of scholars. He did not build a large body of supporters in the unlettered; his critiques reached a small but elite audience.^[145]

Disagreement with Luther

Cranach (1520), Portraits of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon

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.

The early reformers built their theology by generalizing 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,^[146] human transformation over reformation, congregation over church, mystery over sacrament, etc. In Erasmus' view, they went too far and irresponsibly fomented bloodshed.

Noting Luther's criticism of corruption in the Church, Erasmus at one time described him as "a mighty trumpet of gospel truth" while agreeing, "It is clear that many of the reforms for which Luther calls" (e.g., the sale of indulgences) "are urgently needed."^[147] Behind the scenes Erasmus forbade his publisher Froben from handling the works of Luther^[77]: 64 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."^[148]

Luther hoped for his cooperation in a work which seemed only the natural outcome of Erasmus' own,^{[note 66]} 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 Latin: bonae litterae^{[note 67][149]} 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:

I know nothing of your church; at the very least it contains people who will, I fear, overturn the whole system and drive the princes into using force to restrain good men and bad alike. The gospel, the word of God, faith, Christ, and Holy Spirit – these words are always on their lips; look at their lives and they speak quite another language.^[150]

Though he sought to remain firmly neutral 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,^{[note 68]} which he regarded as peacemaking accommodation:

I detest dissension because it goes both against the teachings of Christ and against a secret inclination of nature. I doubt that either side in the dispute can be suppressed without grave loss.

— "On Free Will"^[147]

Dispute on free will

Main article: De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio

Further information: § On Free Will (1524)

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 strategized with friends and correspondents^[151] on how to respond with proper moderation^[152] 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" ^[153] which still has ramifications today.^[154] They bypassed discussion on reforms which they both agreed on in general, and instead dealt with authority and biblical justifications of synergism versus monergism in relation to salvation.

Luther responded with On the Bondage of the Will (De servo arbitrio) (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:

We are dealing with this: Would a stable mind depart from the opinion handed down by so many men famous for holiness and miracles, depart from the decisions of the Church, and commit our souls to the faith of someone like you who has sprung up just now with a few followers, although the leading men of your flock do not agree either with you or among themselves – indeed though you do not even agree with yourself, since in this same Assertion^[155] you say one thing in the beginning and something else later on, recanting what you said before.

— Hyperaspistes I^[156]

Continuing his chastisement of Luther – and undoubtedly put off by the notion of there being "no pure interpretation of Scripture anywhere but in Wittenberg"^[157] – Erasmus touches upon another important point of the controversy:

You stipulate that we should not ask for or accept anything but Holy Scripture, but you do it in such a way as to require that we permit you to be its sole interpreter, renouncing all others. Thus the victory will be yours if we allow you to be not the steward but the lord of Holy Scripture.

— Hyperaspistes, Book I^[158]

Philosophy and Erasmus

Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger and workshop

Erasmus has a problematic standing in the history of philosophy: whether he should be called a philosopher at all,^{[note 70]} (as, indeed, some question whether he should be considered a theologian either.^[12]: 205) Erasmus deemed himself to be a rhetorician or grammarian rather than a philosopher.^[166]: 66 He was particularly influenced by satirist and rhetorician Lucian.^{[note 71]} Erasmus' writings shifted "an intellectual culture from logical disputation about things to quarrels about texts, contexts, and words."^[167]

An important concept to Erasmus was "the Folly of the Cross"^[12]: 119 (which The Praise of Folly explored): the view that Truth belongs to the exuberant, perhaps ecstatic,^[12]: 140 world of what is foolish, strange and unexpected to us,^[168] rather than the cold worlds that intricate scholastic dialectical and syllogistic philosophical argument generate; this produced in Erasmus a profound disinterest in hyper-rationality,^{[note 72]} and an emphasis on verbal, rhetorical, mystical, pastoral and personal/political moral concerns instead.

Adages (1500-1520)

Entry in Adagia mentioning honorificabilitudinitatibus

With the collaboration of Publio Fausto Andrelini, he made a collection of Latin proverbs and adages, commonly known as the Adagia. It includes the adage "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." He coined the adage "Pandora's box", arising through an error in his translation of Hesiod's Pandora in which he confused pithos (storage jar) with pyxis (box).^[192]

Examples of Adages are: more haste, less speed; a dung beetle hunting an eagle.

Erasmus later spent nine months in Venice at the Aldine Press expanding the Adagia to over three thousand entries;^[193] in the course of 27 editions, it expanded to over four thousand entries in Basel at the Froben press. It "introduced a fairly wide audience to the actual words and thoughts of the ancients."^[194]: 81

Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1501)

His more serious writings begin early with the Enchiridion militis Christiani, the "Handbook of the Christian Soldier" (1501 and re-issued in 1518 with an expanded preface – translated into English in 1533 by the young William Tyndale). (A more literal translation of enchiridion – "dagger" – has been likened to "the spiritual equivalent of the modern Swiss Army knife.")^[195] In this short work, Erasmus outlines the views of the normal Christian life, which he was to spend the rest of his days elaborating. He has been described as "evangelical in his beliefs and pietistic in his practise."^{[note 87]: 82}

A Scholar Treads on a Market Woman's Basket of Eggs, marginal drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger in The Praise of Folly: Erasmus is foolishly distracted by a woman.

The Praise of Folly (1511)

Erasmus's best-known work is The Praise of Folly, written in 1509, published in 1511 under the double title Moriae encomium (Greek, Latinised) and Laus stultitiae (Latin). It is inspired by De triumpho stultitiae written by Italian humanist Faustino Perisauli.^[196] A satirical attack on superstitions and other traditions of European society in general and in the Western Church in particular, it was dedicated to Sir Thomas More, whose name the title puns.^[197][198]

de Copia (1512)

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De Copia (or Foundations of the Abundant Style or On Copiousness) is a textbook designed to teach aspects of classical rhetoric: having a large supply of words, phrases and grammatical forms is a gateway to formulating and expressing thoughts, especially for "forensic oratory", with mastery and freshness. Perhaps as a joke, its full title is "The twofold copia of words and arguments in a double commentary" (Latin: De duplici copia verborum ac rerum commentarii duo).^{[199]: 118, 119} It was "the most often printed rhetoric textbook written in the renaissance, with 168 editions between 1512 and 1580."^[200]

The first part of the book is about verborum (words). It famously includes 147 variations on "Your letter pleased me very much",^[201] and 203 variations on "Always, as long as I live, I shall remember you."^{[note 88][199]: 119}

The second part of the book is about rerum (arguments) to learn critical thinking and advocacy. Erasmus advised students to practice the rhetorical techniques of copiousness by writing letters to each other arguing both side of an issue (Latin: in utramque parte).

Opuscula plutarchi (1514), and Apophthegmatum opus (1531)

Handwriting of Erasmus of Rotterdam: Plutarch's How to profit from one's enemies

In a similar vein to the Adages was his translation of Plutarch's Moralia: parts were published from 1512 onwards and collected as the Opuscula plutarchi^[202] (c1514).

This was the basis of 1531's Apophthegmatum opus (Apophthegms), which ultimately contained over 3,000 aphophthegms: "certainly the fullest and most influential Renaissance collection of Cynic sayings and anecdotes",^[173] particular of Diogenes (from Diogenes Laertius.)

One of these was published independently, as How to tell a Flatterer from a Friend, dedicated to England's Henry VIII.

Julius exclusus e coelis (1514) attrib.

Julius excluded from Heaven is a biting satire usually attributed to Erasmus^[203] perhaps for private circulation, though he publicly denied writing it, calling its author a fool. The recently deceased Pope Julius arrives at the gates of heaven in his armour with his dead army, demanding from St Peter to be let in based on his glory and exploits. St Peter turns him away.

Sileni Alcibiadis (1515)

Statue of Silenus in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Hern of Alcibiades, Musei Capitolini

Erasmus's Sileni Alcibiadis is one of his most direct assessments of the need for Church reform.^[204]: 105 It started as a small entry in the 1508 Adagia citing Plato's Symposium and expanded to several hundred sentences.^[186] Johann Froben published it first within a revised edition of the Adagia in 1515, then as a stand-alone work in 1517.

Sileni is the plural (Latin) form of Silenus, a creature often related to the Roman wine god Bacchus and represented in pictorial art as inebriated, merry revellers, variously mounted on donkeys, singing, dancing, playing flutes, etc. In particular, the Sileni that Erasmus referred to were small, coarse, ugly or distasteful carved figures which opened up to reveal a beautiful deity or valuables inside.^[205]

Alcibiades was a Greek politician in the 5th century BCE and a general in the Peloponnesian War; he figures here more as a character written into some of Plato's dialogues – an externally-attractive, young, debauched playboy whom Socrates tries to convince to seek truth instead of pleasure, wisdom instead of pomp and splendor.^[206]

The term Sileni – especially when juxtaposed with the character of Alcibiades – can therefore be understood as an evocation of the notion that something on the inside is more expressive of a person's character than what one sees on the outside. For instance, something or someone ugly on the outside can be beautiful on the inside, which is one of the main points of Plato's dialogues featuring Alcibiades and in the Symposium, in which Alcibiades also appears.^{[note 89]}

On the other hand, Erasmus lists several Sileni and then controversially questions whether Christ is the most noticeable Silenus of them all. The Apostles were Sileni since they were ridiculed by others. The scriptures are a Silenus too.^[204]: 105

The work then launches into a biting endorsement of the need for high church officials (especially the Pope) to follow the evangelical counsel of poverty (simplicity): this condemnation of wealth and power was a full two years before the notional start of the Reformation; the church must be able to act as a moderating influence on the ambition and selfishness of princes.^{[note 90]}

The Education of a Christian Prince (1516)

Entry of Francis of France, Emperor Charles V, and Cardinal Farnese (later Pope Paul III) into Paris - 1540 (detail)

The Institutio principis Christiani or "Education of a Christian Prince" (Basel, 1516) was written as advice to the young king Charles of Spain (later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), to whom the Preface is addressed.^[207] Erasmus applies the general principles of honor and sincerity to the special functions of the Prince, whom he represents throughout as the servant of the people.

Latin and Greek New Testaments

First page of Preface, Annotations of the New Testament (1521), with characteristic Froben decoration

Erasmus produced this first edition of his corrected Latin and Greek New Testament in 1516, in Basel at the print of Johann Froben, and took it through multiple revisions and editions.^[208][209] An integral and motivating part was the substantial philological annotations. Erasmus independently brought out Paraphrases of the books of the New Testament, suited for a less academic readership.

Erasmus had, for his time, relatively little interest in the Old Testament, apart from the Psalms.^{[note 55]}
"To Erasmus, Judaism was obsolete. To Reuchlin, something of Judaism remained of continuing value to Christianity."^[134]</ref> Similarly, he was relatively disinterested in the Book of Revelation, which he did not produce a paraphrase for, and he provocatively reported the doubts in the early Greek church about its status in the canon:^[210] Erasmus had none of the apocalypticism of his times which so animated Savonarolan and Protestant rhetoric:^[211] only one percent of his Annotations on the New Testament concerned the Book of Revelation.^[212]

New Latin translation

Title page of Erasmus' Novum instrumentum omne

Erasmus had been working for years on two related projects to help theologians: philological notes on the Latin and Greek texts^{[note 91]} and a fresh Latin New Testament. He examined all the Latin versions he could find to create a critical text. Then he polished the language. He declared, "It is only fair that Paul should address the Romans in somewhat better Latin."^[214] In the earlier phases of the project, he never mentioned a Greek text.

While his intentions for publishing a fresh Latin translation are clear,^{[note 92]} it is less clear why he included the Greek text. Though some speculate that he long intended to produce a critical Greek text or that he wanted to beat the Complutensian Polyglot into print, there is no evidence to support this. He wrote, "There remains the New Testament translated by me, with the Greek facing, and notes on it by me."^[215] He further demonstrated the reason for the inclusion of the Greek text when defending his work:

But one thing the facts cry out, and it can be clear, as they say, even to a blind man, that often through the translator's clumsiness or inattention the Greek has been wrongly rendered; often the true and genuine reading has been corrupted by ignorant scribes, which we see happen every day, or altered by scribes who are half-taught and half-asleep.

— Epistle 337^[216]

So he included the Greek text to permit qualified readers to verify the quality of his Latin version.^[217] But by first calling the final product Novum Instrumentum omne ("All of the New Teaching") and later Novum Testamentum omne ("All of the New Testament") he also indicated clearly that he considered a text in which the Greek and the Latin versions were consistently comparable to be the essential core of the church's New Testament tradition.

Publication and editions

Portrait of Johannes Froben by Holbein^[218]

First page of Gospel according to Matthew, Froben (1521)

Erasmus said the printing^[219]: 105 of the first edition was "precipitated rather than published",^[220] resulting in a number of transcription errors. After comparing what writings he could find, Erasmus wrote corrections between the lines of the manuscripts he was using (among which was Minuscule 2) and sent them as proofs to Froben.^[221] His access to Greek manuscripts was limited compared to modern scholars and he had to rely on Jerome's late-4th century Vulgate to fill in the blanks.^[222]

His effort was hurriedly published by his friend Johann Froben of Basel in 1516 and thence became the first published Greek New Testament, the Novum Instrumentum omne, diligenter ab Erasmo Rot. Recognitum et Emendatum. Erasmus used several Greek manuscript sources because he did not have access to a single complete manuscript. Most of the manuscripts were, however, late Greek manuscripts of the Byzantine textual family and Erasmus used the oldest manuscript the least because "he was afraid of its supposedly erratic text."^[223] He also ignored some manuscripts that were at his disposal which are now deemed older and better.^[224]

In the second (1519) edition, the more familiar term Testamentum was used instead of Instrumentum. Together, the first and second editions sold 3,300 copies.^[225] By comparison, only 600 copies of the Complutensian Polyglot were ever printed. This edition was used by Martin Luther in his German translation of the Bible, written for people who could not understand Latin. The first and second edition texts did not include the passage (1 John 5:7–8) that has become known as the Comma Johanneum.^[226] Erasmus had been unable to find those verses in any Greek manuscript, but one was supplied to him during production of the third edition. ^{[note 93]}

The third edition of 1522 was probably used by William Tyndale for the first English New Testament (Worms, 1526) and was the basis for the 1550 Robert Stephanus edition used by the translators of the Geneva Bible and King James Version of the English Bible. Erasmus published a fourth edition in 1527 containing parallel columns of Greek, Latin Vulgate and Erasmus's Latin texts. In this edition Erasmus also supplied the Greek text of the last six verses of Revelation (which he had translated from Latin back into Greek in his first edition) from Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros's Biblia Complutensis.^{[note 94]} In 1535 Erasmus published the fifth (and final) edition which dropped the Latin Vulgate column but was otherwise similar to the fourth edition. Later versions of the Greek New Testament by others, but based on Erasmus's Greek New Testament, became known as the Textus Receptus.^[228]

Erasmus dedicated his work to Pope Leo X as a patron of learning and regarded this work as his chief service to the cause of Christianity. Immediately afterwards, he began the publication of his Paraphrases of the New Testament, a popular presentation of the contents of the several books. These, like all of his writings, were published in Latin but were quickly translated into other languages with his encouragement.

The Complaint of Peace (1517)

Erasmus by Holbein

Lady Peace complains about warmongering. This book was written at the request of the Burgundian Chancellor, who was then seeking a peace deal with France, to influence the zeitgeist.^[113]

On the use of battle standards featuring crosses:^{[note 95]}

That cross is the standard of him who conquered, not by fighting, but by dying; who came, not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. It is a standard, the very sight of which might teach you what sort of enemies you have to war against, if you are a christian, and how you may be sure to gain the victory. I see you, while the standard of salvation is in one hand, rushing on with a sword in the other, to the murder of your brother; and, under the banner of the cross, destroying the life of one who to the cross owes his salvation.

— The Complaint of Peace^[114]

The final paragraph of The Complaint of Peace finishes with the command Latin: resipiscite, meaning a voluntary return from madness and unconsiousness:

At last! Enough and more than enough blood has been spilled, human blood, and if that were little, even Christian blood. Enough has been squandered in mutual destruction, enough already sacrificed to Orcus and the Furies and to nourish the eyes of the Turks. The comedy is at an end. Finally, after tolerating far too long the miseries of war, repent!^[229]

However, the subsequent European wars of religion which accompanied the Reformation resulted in the deaths of between 7 and 18 million Europeans, including up to one third of the population of Germany.

Paraphrases of the New Testament (1517-1524, 1532, 1534)

Title page of Paraphrase of Pauline Epistles(1520) Abraham and Isaac lower right, the goat lower left, God the Father top left, the printer's mark top right

Paraphrase (1520s), with initial capital woodcut by Hans Holbein

Erasmus described his editorial intent with the Paraphrases of the New Testament as philological rather than theological: "to fill in the gaps, to soften the abrupt ones, to digest the confused ones, to develop the developed ones, to explain the knotty ones, to add light to the dark ones, to give (Paul's) Hebraicisms a Roman polish ... and thus to moderate παραφρασιννε παραφρόνησις: that is, 'to say otherwise so as not to say otherwise.'"^{[note 96]}

He brought out the Paraphrases progressively: Romans (1517), Corinthians (1519), the rest of the Epistles throughout 1520 and 1521, and the four Gospels and Acts from 1522 to 1524. He did not put out a paraphrase of the Book of Revelation.^[181]

According to Erasmus: "A paraphrase is not a translation but something looser, a kind of commentary in which the writer and his author retain separate roles."^[230]: 557

The Paraphrases allowed Erasmus to amplify the text of the New Testament by integrating philological and theological points from his scholarly Annotations, allowing more of a role for his personal opinions or angles, but in a less scholarly format. Unusually, Erasmus gives paraphrases of the speech of Christ in the persona of Christ in the Gospels, and for each Epistle uses the voice of the Apostle, not Erasmus or a neutral third person as is conventional.^[231] Unlike traditional medieval exegesis, which for some authors treated the whole the scriptures as a single unified document of propositions which, because they had the same divine author, could be mixed and matched as necessary, Erasmus treated each individual book as the literary unit that limited intertextual combination.^{[231]: 24–38}

Erasmus wrote his paraphrases of the Gospels at the same time as his study of Luther's work in preparation for 1524's On Free Will, On the Immense Mercy of God, etc. Some scholars see an increased explicit promotion of faith and grace in these paraphrases, with Erasmus attempting to accommodate some of Luther's exegesis, and Protestant thematic requirements, though not their theology.^[148]

The Paraphrases were very well-received, particularly in England, by most^[232] parties.

Biographer Roland Bainton nominated this passage as "the essence of Erasmus"^[121] (its positivity to natural affection has none of the Lutheran total depravity doctrine, and it accords with the Catholic analogia entis pattern):

"Now in the natural love of this father for his son behold the goodness of God, who is far more clement to sinful man, if only he repents and despises himself, than any father to his son, however tenderly he may love him."

— Erasmus, Paraphrase of St Matthew

Familiar Colloquies (1518-1533)

The Colloquia familiaria began as simple spoken Latin exercises for schoolboys to encourage fluency in colloquial Latin interaction, but expanded in number, ambition and audience. The sensational nature of many of the Colloquies made it a prime target for censorship.^[233]

Notable Colloquies include the exciting Naufragium (Shipwreck), the philosophical and path-forging The Epicurean, and the zany catalogue of fantastic animal stories Friendship.

For example, A Religious Pilgrimage^[234] deals with many serious subjects humorously, and scandalously includes a letter supposedly written by a Statue of the Virgin Mary, in which, while it first thanks a reformer for following Luther against needlessly invoking saints (where the listed invocations are all for sinful or wordly things), becomes a warning against iconoclasm^{[note 97]} and stripping altars.

Amicitia (Friendship) can be considered a sweet companion piece to the vinegary Spongia of the same year.

A Sponge to wipe away the Spray of Hutten (1523)

As a result of his reformatory activities, Erasmus found himself at odds with some reformers and some Catholic churchmen. His last years were made difficult by controversies with men toward whom he was sympathetic.^{[note 98]}

Ulrich von Hutten (1988)

Notable among these was Ulrich von Hutten, once a friend, a brilliant but erratic genius who had thrown himself into the Lutheran cause (and militant German nationalism.^[235]) Erasmus claimed that von Hutten, who had a long history of adventure, violence and manslaughter, and had proposed a literal war against the clergy, had extorted money from a Carthusian monastery, highway robbed three Abbots, and cut the ears off two Benedictines.^[84]

Von Hutten declared that Erasmus, if he had a spark of honesty, would throw himself into Luther's cause and help to subdue the Pope. Hutten published a book in 1523 Ulrichi ab Hutten cum Erasmo Rotirodamo, Presbytero, Theologo, Expostulatio. In his reply in the same year, Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni, Erasmus accused von Hutten of having misinterpreted his utterances about reform and reiterates his determination never to break with the Catholic Church.^[236]

Erasmus returns multiple times to the issue that old friendships should be maintained (not betrayed) and that scholarly expertise should be acknowledged, but that neither of these should imply agreement or endorsement in total or in part with each other's views. Nor should the acknowledgement of a strained relationship or the absence of some polite title be construed as necessarily an avowal of an opposing view. Erasmus advocated being a moderating friend and a constructive voice of sanity, even to sincere but civil partisans of either side.

Historian Francis Aidan Gasquet regarded this book as necessary for understanding Erasmus' true position on Rome, quoting:

"I have never approved of (the Roman See's) tyranny, rapacity, and other vices about which of old common complaints were heard from good men. Neither do I sweepingly condemn ‘Indulgences,’ though I have always disliked any barefaced traffic in them. What I think about ceremonies, many places in my works plainly show.… What it may mean ‘to reduce the Pope to order’ I do not rightly understand. First, I think it must be allowed that Rome is a Church, for no number of evils can make it cease to be a Church, otherwise we should have no Churches whatever. Moreover, I hold it to be an orthodox Church; and this Church, it must be admitted, has a Bishop. Let him be allowed also to be Metropolitan, seeing there are very many archbishops in countries where there has been no apostle, and Rome, without controversy, had certainly SS. Peter and Paul, the two chief apostles. Then how is it absurd that among Metropolitans the chief place be granted to the Roman Pontiff?"

— Erasmus, Spongia trans, Gasquet^[27]

Erasmus noted that he would not renounce old friends because they took sides for or against Luther, noting that several had changed their minds again.^[27]

The paradoxes of Luther are not worth dying for. “There is no question of articles of faith, but of such matters as ‘Whether the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff was established by Christ:’ ‘whether cardinals are necessary to the Christian Church:’ ‘whether confession is de jure divino:’ ‘whether bishops can make their laws binding under pain of mortal sin:’ ‘whether free will is necessary for salvation:’ ‘whether faith alone assures salvation,’ &c. If Christ gave him grace,” Erasmus hopes that “he would be a martyr for His truth, but he has no desire whatever to be one for Luther.”

— Gasquet, The Eve of the Reformation quoting Erasmus, Spongia

Erasmus' break with the endangering Lutheran poet-scholar-knight von Hutten was complete, even refusing (or making it too difficult) to see him when von Hutten, homeless and dying of syphilis, passed through Basel in 1523 and found refuge with humanists there.^{[note 99]}

On Free Will (1524)

Erasmus wrote On Free Will (De libero arbitrio) (1524) against Luther's view on free will: that everything happens by strict necessity.^{[note 100]}

Erasmus lays down both sides of the argument impartially. In this controversy Erasmus lets it be seen that, from the thrust of Scripture, he would like to claim more for free will than St. Paul and St. Augustine seem to allow according to Luther's interpretation.^[238] For Erasmus the essential point is that humans have the freedom of choice,^[239] when responding to prior grace (synergism).

In response, Luther wrote his De servo arbitrio (On the Bondage of the Will) (1525), which attacked "On Free Will" and Erasmus himself, going so far as to claim that Erasmus was not a Christian. "Free will does not exist", according to Luther in that sin makes human beings completely incapable of bringing themselves to God (monergism).

Erasmus responded with a lengthy, two-part book Hyperaspistes (1526–27).^{[note 101]}

On the same day as publishing De libero arbitrio diatribe sive Erasmus also published Concio de immensa Dei misericordia (Sermon on the Immense Mercy of God) which presented his positive alternative to Lutheranism.^[240]

Liturgy of the Virgin Mother venerated at Loreto (1525)

The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto, anonymous, Italian (1510)

Editions: 1523, 1525, 1529^[240]

This liturgy for a Catholic Mass, with sequences and a homily teaching that for Mary, and the Saints, imitation should be the chief part of veneration.^[241]

The liturgy re-framed the existing Marian devotions: as a substitute for mentioning the Holy House of Loreto,^[243] he used the meaning of Loreto as 'laurel', as in the champion's laurel wreath. The work also may have been intended to demonstrate the proper application of indulgences, as it came with one from the archbishop of Besançon.^[242]

The Tongue (or Language) (1525)

The writings of Erasmus exhibit a continuing concern with language, and in 1525 he devoted an entire treatise to the subject, Lingua. This and several of his other works are said to have provided a starting point for a philosophy of language, though Erasmus did not produce a completely elaborated system.^[244]

On the Institution of Christian Marriage (1526)

The Institutio matrimonii was published in 1526 as treatise about marriage,^[245] and dedicated to Catherine of Aragon, who had befriended Erasmus and More. He did not follow the contemporary mainstream which saw the woman as a subject to the man, but suggested the man was to love the woman similar as he would Christ, who also descended to earth to serve.^[245] He saw the role of the woman as a socia (partner) to the man.^[245]

The relationship should be of amicitia^{[note 102]} (sweet and mutual fondness).^[246] Erasmus suggested that true marriage between devout Christians required a true friendship (contrary to contemporary legal theories that required community consensus or consummation); and because true friendship never dies, divorce of a true marriage was impossible; the seeking of a divorce was a sign that the true friendship (and so the true marriage) never existed and so the divorce should be allowed, after investigation and protecting the individuals.^[247]

As far as sex in marriage is concerned, Erasmus' gentle, gradualist asceticism promoted that a mutually-agreed celibate marriage, if God had made this doable by the partners, could be the ideal: in theory it allowed more opportunity for spiritual pursuits. But he controversially noted

Since everything else has been designed for a purpose, it hardly seems probable that in this one matter alone nature was asleep. I have no patience with those who say that sexual excitement is shameful and that venereal stimuli have their origin not in nature, but in sin.^[248]

The Ciceronians (1528)

The Ciceronianus came out in 1528, attacking the style of Latin that was based exclusively and fanatically on Cicero's writings. Étienne Dolet wrote a riposte titled Erasmianus in 1535.^[249] Erasmus' own Latin style^[250] was late classical (i.e., from Terence to Jerome) as far as syntax and grammar, but freely used medievalisms in its vocabulary.^{[251]: 164, 164}

Explanation of the Apostles' Creed (1530)

In his catechism (entitled Explanation of the Apostles' Creed) (1530), Erasmus took a stand against Luther's recent Catechisms by asserting the unwritten Sacred Tradition as just as valid a source of revelation as the Bible, by enumerating the Deuterocanonical books in the canon of the Bible and by acknowledging seven sacraments.^[252] He identified anyone who questioned the perpetual virginity of Mary as blasphemous.^[253] However, he supported lay access to the Bible.^[253]

In a letter to Nikolaus von Amsdorf, Luther objected to Erasmus's catechism and called Erasmus a "viper", "liar", and "the very mouth and organ of Satan".^[254]

The Preacher (1536)

Erasmus's last major work, published the year of his death, is the Ecclesiastes or "Gospel Preacher" (Basel, 1536), a massive manual for preachers of around a thousand pages. Though somewhat unwieldy because Erasmus was unable to edit it properly in his old age, it is in some ways the culmination of all of Erasmus's literary and theological learning and indeed, according to some scholars, the culmination of the previous millennium of preaching manuals since Augustine. It offered prospective preachers advice on important aspects of their vocation with abundant reference to classical and biblical sources.^[255]

It is also notable for calling for a mission program to outside Christendom to usefully occupy friars, castigating that commercial exploitation was prioritized over the Gospel. It called out the practice of taking criminal religious convicts and transferring them to the New World as missionaries.^[92]

Patristic Editions

According to Ernest Barker, "Besides his work on the New Testament, Erasmus laboured also, and even more arduously, on the early Fathers. Among the Latin Fathers he edited the works of St Jerome, St Hilary, and St Augustine;^[256] among the Greeks he worked on Irenaeus, Origen and Chrysostom."^[257]

Erasmianism

Erasmians: Erasmus frequently mentioned that he did not want office^[264] nor to be the founder or figurehead of a sect or movement, despite his vigorous branding and self-promotion.^[265] Nevertheless, historians do identify de facto "Erasmians" (ranging from the early Jesuits^{[note 104]} to the early reformers,^[266] and both Thomas More and William Tyndale)—Christian humanists who picked up on some or other aspects of Erasmus' agenda.^{[note 105]}

Erasmianism: This has been described as a "more intellectual form of spiritualized Christianity"^[268] that is "an undercurrent of religious thought between Catholicism and Lutheranism."^[269] It had a notable influence in Spain.^{[270] : 39} The near election of Reginald Pole as pope in 1546 has been attributed to Erasmianism in the electors.^[271] However, a precise definition is not possible;^{[note 106]} it is not, for example, a set of systematic doctrinal propositions.

French historian Jean-Claude Margolin has noted an Erasmian stream in French culture putting "the concrete before the abstract and the ethical before the speculative", though not without noting that it is not clear whether Erasmus influenced the French or vice versa.^[12]: 213

Erasmian Reformation: Some historians such as Edward Gibbon and Hugh Trevor-Roper have even claimed an "'Erasmianism after Erasmus,' a secret stream which meandered to and fro across the Catholic/Protestant divide, creating oases of rational thought impartially on either side." For some, this amounted to a third church: or even that "Luther's and Calvin's Reformations were minor affairs" compared to the Reformation of Erasmus and the humanists' which swept away the Middle Ages.^[12]: 149

Erasmian liberalism: This has had an enduring run: described by philosopher Edwin Curley^[272] that "the spirit of Erasmian liberalism was to emphasize the ethical aspects of Christianity at the expense of the doctrinal, to suspend judgment on many theological issues, and to insist that the faith actually required for salvation was a simple and uncontroversial one."^[273]

Erasmus has frequently been described as "proto-liberal"^{[73]: s.3.12} (both, e.g., in the UK "Lloyd George" sense of liberalism as a form of conservatism that wants moderate but real reform to prevent immoderate and destructive revolution, or the ethical sense of socio-economic Socinianism^[274]: 70)

Protestant historian Roland Bainton is quoted "no-one did more than Erasmus to break down the theory and practice of the medieval variety of intolerance."^[273]: 4 Other popular or scholarly writers have suggested that Erasmus' tolerant but idealistic agenda failed,^[275][276] certainly at the political level, evidenced by the wars and persecutions of the Protestant Reformation.

Educationalist

Erasmus is the greatest man we come across in the history of education! (R.R. Bolger) … with greater confidence it can be claimed that Erasmus is the greatest man we come across in the history of education in the sixteenth century. …It may also be claimed that Erasmus was one of the most important champions of women's rights in his century.

— J.K. Sowards ^[75]

According to scholar Gerald J. Luhrman, "the system of secondary education, as developed in a number of European countries, is inconceivable without the efforts of humanist educationalists, particularly Erasmus. His ideas in the field of language acquisition were systematized and realized to a large extent in the schools founded by the Jesuits..."^{[277][note 107]}

In England, he wrote the first curriculum for St Paul's School and his Latin grammar (written with Lily and Colet) "continued to be used, in adapted form, into the Twentieth Century."^[279]

His system of pronouncing ancient Greek was adopted for teaching in the major Western European nations.

Erasmus "tried to realize a practical goal: a modern education as preparation for administrators from the higher estates."^[169]

Erasmus was a key part of the humanist program to get Greek and Hebrew taught at the major Universities, inspired by Cardinal Cisneros' Trilingual College of San Ildefonso/Alcalá (1499/1509) and Bishop John Fisher's establishment of Greek and Hebrew lectures at Cambridge: the Trilingual Colleges at Louvain (1517) and Paris (1530) (where students included Loyola and Calvin)^[280] spawned programs in Zurich, Rome, Strasbourg and Oxford (c.1566).^[281]

Historian and Germanist Fritz Caspari saw education as the core of Erasmus' program:

"Erasmus hoped that the education of all individuals, especially of princes and nobles, in the spirit and disciplines of antiquity and Christianity would bring the rational element in them to full fruition. Ratio, reason, was in his mind almost synonymous with "goodness" and "kindness." The rule of reason, achieved through education,would therefore result in men's living together in universal peace and harmony in accord with the lessons of Christ's Sermon on the Mount."

— Frtz Caspari (1941)^[179]

Writer

The popularity of his books is reflected in the number of editions and translations that have appeared since the sixteenth century. Ten columns of the catalogue of the British Library are taken up with the enumeration of the works and their subsequent reprints. The greatest names of the classical and patristic world are among those translated, edited, or annotated by Erasmus, including Ambrose, Aristotle, Augustine,^[256] Basil, John Chrysostom, Cicero and Jerome.^[282]

Unveiling of a Dutch statue of Erasmus (1964)

In the Netherlands

In his native Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus Bridge, Erasmus MC and Gymnasium Erasmianum have been named in his honor. Between 1997 and 2009, one of the main metro lines of the city was named Erasmuslijn. The Foundation Erasmus House (Rotterdam),^[283] is dedicated to celebrating Erasmus's legacy. Three moments in Erasmus's life are celebrated annually. On 1 April, the city celebrates the publication of his best-known book The Praise of Folly. On 11 July, the Night of Erasmus celebrates the lasting influence of his work. His birthday is celebrated on 28 October.^[284]

In Spain

Enquiridio o manual del caballero Christiano, translation by Alonso Fernandez, published by Miguel de Eguía (1528) into Spanish of Erasmus' Enchiridion

Erasmus became extraordinarily popular and influential in Spain, including in and around the talent pool (often from converso families) that formed the early Jesuits. There were at least 120 translations, editions, or adaptations of Erasmus' writings between 1520 and 1552,^[285] though not The Praise of Folly. Erasmians and their associates faced, at times, extraordinary pushback from the theologians at Salamanca and Vallodolid, for being associated with the alumbrado and illuminist tendencies, with many (notably Ignatius of Loyola, who had lived in the house of publisher Miguel de Eguía at the time the Spanish edition of the Enchiridion was being published)^{[286]: 175 [note 108]} resorting to exile rather than facing the Inquisition, house arrest, imprisonment or worse. However, at times the heads of the Inquisition were themselves Erasmians.

Erasmus faced a notable semi-secret trial in Vallodolid in 1527, attended by numerous bishops, abbots and theologians. Its records still exist. It disbanded without condemning Erasmus as a heretic, as most of his contentious beliefs were regarded as respectable by at least some important bishops, and the fanciful interpretations of the accusers did not stand up to scrutiny.^[287]

From the 1530s, historians note the start of a widespread disenchantment with these ideas: however his ideas and works were circulating enough that even fifty years later Miguel Cervantes' Erasmianism may not have required him to have read any Erasmus.^{[288]: 37, 38}

In England

English translation Paraphrase of Erasmus, 1548

Statue (1870), Canterbury Cathedral

Erasmus' grammar, Adages, Copia, and other books continued as the core Latin educational material in England for the following centuries. His works and editions (in translation) are regularly connected with William Shakespeare, to Shakespeare's education, inspirations and sources (such as the shipwreck scene in The Tempest.)^{[289][290][291]}

His translated Gospel paraphrases were legally required to be chained for public access^[292] in every church, in the reign of Edward VI.

After reading Erasmus' 1516 New Testament, Thomas Bilney "felt a marvellous comfort and quietness," and won over his Cambridge friends, future notable bishops, Matthew Parker and Hugh Latimer to reformist biblicism.^[293] One of William Tyndale's earliest works was his translation of Erasmus' Enchiridion (1522,1533).^[294] Both Lutheran Tyndale and his Catholic theological opponent Thomas More are considered Erasmians.^[295]: 16 Following their deaths in 1536, Tyndale's English New Testament and anti-Catholic Preface was often printed in diglot editions paired with Erasmus' Latin translation and Paraclecis or Preface to the Paraphrase of St Matthew, sometimes omitting Tyndale's name.^{[267]: 156–168}

Historian Lucy Wooding argues (in Christopher Haigh's paraphrases) that "England nearly had a Catholic Reformation along Erasmian lines –but it was cut short by (Queen) Mary’s death and finally torpedoed by the Council of Trent."^{[note 109]}

The initial Henrican closure of smaller monasteries followed the Erasmian agenda, which was also shared by Catholic humanists such as Reginald Pole;^[143]: 155 however the later violent closures and iconoclasm were far from Erasmus' program.

Historian of literature Cathy Schrank has written that Erasmus' reputation and status changed over the course of the English "Long Reformation" from "being presented as a proto-Reformer, to problematically orthodox, to irenic martyr."^{[note 110]} For some Restoration Anglicans, both those promoting enforced anti-extremism and latitudinarians, and into the Age of Enlightenment, Erasmus' moderation represented "an alternative to the belligerent Protestantism that characterized English political and social discourse".^[297] It has been claimed that William of Orange's Toleration Act owed to Erasmus' inspiration.^[12]: 186

For Edward Gibbon, Erasmus was "the father of rational theology."^[298]: 157

By 1929, G.K. Chesterton could write "I doubt if any thinking person, of any belief or unbelief, does not wish in his heart that the end of mediaevalism had meant the triumph of the Humanists like Erasmus and More, rather than of the rabid Puritans like Calvin and Knox."^[299]: 84

Catholic

Thomas Aquinas inspiring himself on Free Will from the writings of previous theologians such as Augustine. (1652)

Erasmus's reputation and the interpretations of his work have varied over time. Moderate Catholics recognized him as a leading figure in attempts to reform the Church, while Protestants recognized his initial support for (and, in part, inspiration of) Luther's ideas and the groundwork he laid for the future Reformation, especially in biblical scholarship.

Erasmus was continually protected by popes,^{[note 111]} bishops, inquisitors-general, and kings^{[note 27]} during his lifetime.^{[note 112]} The following generation of saints and scholars included many influenced by Erasmian humanism or spirituality, notably Ignatius of Loyola,^{[note 113][301][302][303]} Teresa of Ávila,^{[304][note 114]} and John of Ávila.^{[306][note 115]}

However, Erasmus attracted enemies in contemporary theologians in Paris, Louvain, Valladolid, Salamanca and Rome, notably Sepúlveda, Stúñica, Edward Lee,^{[note 116]} Noël Beda (who Erasmus had known in France in the 1490s, but who opposed Greek and Hebrew),^[307] as well as Alberto Pío, Prince of Carpi, who read his work with dedicated suspicion. These were theologians, usually from the mendicant orders that were Erasmus' particular target (such as Dominicans, Carmelites and Franciscans), who held a positive "linear view of history" for theology ^{[note 117]} that privileged recent late-medieval theology^[308] and rejected the ad fontes methodology. Erasmus believed the vehemence of the attacks on Luther was a strategem to blacken humanism (and himself) by association, part of the centuries-long power struggle at the universities between scholastic "theologians" and humanist "poets".^{[308]: 724  [note 118]}

A particularly powerful opponent of Erasmus was Italian humanist Aleander, Erasmus' former close friend and bedmate in Venice at the Aldine Press and future cardinal. They fell out over Aleander's violent speech against Luther at the Diet of Worms, and with Aleander's identification of Erasmus as "the great cornerstone of the Lutheran heresy."^{[164][note 119]} They periodically reconciled in warm personal meetings, only to fall into mutual suspicion again when distant.

Erasmus spent considerable effort defending himself in writing, which he could not do after his death.^[311]

The Council of Trent addressed many of the controversies Erasmus had been involved with: including free will, accumulated errors in the Vulgate, and priestly training,^{[note 120]} and followed his call for a renewed positive focus on the Creed.

Prohibitions

A work of Erasmus censored, perhaps following the inclusion of some works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum

By the 1560s, there was a marked downturn in reception: at various times and durations, some of Erasmus' works, especially in Protestantized editions, were placed on the various Roman, Dutch, French, Spanish and Mexican^[313] Indexes of Prohibited Books, either to not be read, or to be censored and expurgated: each area had different censorship considerations and severity.^[314]

Erasmus' work had been translated or reprinted throughout Europe, often with Protestantizing revisions and sectarian prefaces. Sometimes the works of Martin Luther were sold with the name of Erasmus on the cover.

Erasmus' works were prohibited in England under Queen Mary I, from 1555.

For the Roman Index as it emerged at the close of the Council of Trent, Erasmus' works were completely banned (1559), mostly unbanned (1564), completely banned again (1590), and then mostly unbanned again with strategic revisions (1596) by the Indexes of successive Popes.^[315] In the 1559 Index, Erasmus was classed as a heretic. The Colloquies were especially but not universally frowned on for school use, and many of Erasmus' tendentious prefaces and notes to his scholarly editions required adjustment.^[316] In Spain's Index, the translation of the Enchiridion only needed the phrase "Monkishness is not piety" removed to become acceptable.

By 1896, the Roman Index still listed Erasmus' Colloquia, The Praise of Folly, The Tongue, The Institution of Christian Marriage, and one other as banned, plus particular editions of the Adagia and Paraphrase of Matthew. All other works could be read in suitable expurgated versions.^[317]

Because Erasmus' scholarly editions were frequently the only sources of Patristic information in print, the strict bans were often impractical, so theologians worked to produce replacement editions building on, or copying, Erasmus' editions.

The Jesuits received a dispensation from the Roman Inquisitor General to read and use Erasmus' work^[165] (not kept on the open shelves of their libraries),^[318] as did priests working near Protestant areas such as Francis de Sales.

Twentieth Century

A historian has written that "a number of Erasmus' modern Catholic critics do not display an accurate knowledge of his writings but misrepresent him, often by relying upon hostile secondary sources," naming Yves Congar as an example.^[184]: 39

A major turning point in the popular Catholic appraisal of Erasmus occurred in 1900 with rosy Benedictine historian (and, later, Cardinal) Francis Aidan Gasquet's The Eve of the Reformation which included a whole chapter on Erasmus based on a re-reading of his books and letters. Gasquet wrote "Erasmus, like many of his contemporaries, is often perhaps injudicious in the manner in which he advocated reforms. But when the matter is sifted to the bottom, it will commonly be found that his ideas are just."^{[note 129]}

Over the last century, Erasmus has been un-cancelled and his Catholic reputation has gradually started to be rehabilitated: favourable factors may include:

• the increasingly active modern historical and theological scholarship on Erasmus suggested chinks in the traditional partisan characterzations of Erasmus;
• the retirement of the Roman Index librorum prohibitorum in 1966;

John Fisher, after Hans Holbein

• increased support for a view of Erasmus that portrays him as a conservative^{[note 130]} endorsed by and responsive to the hierarchy^{[note 131]} as much as a maverick, with him voicing and crystalizing mainstream and respectable Catholic thought of his time as much as innovating;^{[note 132]}
• his deep friendships and interactions with two Saint-Martyrs Thomas More^{[note 133]} and John Fisher,^{[note 134]}
• his acknowledged or retro-fitted influence on perhaps five Doctors of the Church (Ignatius, Theresa of Ávila, John of Ávila, Canisius, de Sales), the positive normalization of his views in influential new orders such as the Jesuits, Oratorians, Redemptorists and Salesians,^{[note 135]} and an increasing list of exemplary Catholics whose views channel or parallel Erasmus', such as Bartolomé de las Casas' De unico vocationis modo (1537);^[332]
• the acceptance of St John Henry Cardinal Newman's "development of doctrine", to some extent a chick hatched from the egg of Erasmus' theological historicism^{[note 136]} and his appeal to tradition (sensus fidei fidelium) on the Eucharist;^[12]: 129
• the reinvigouration of patristic ad fontes and a re-surfacing of several ideas associated with Erasmus (but ideas sometimes with a longer, forgotten patrimony, and sometimes from an even more problematic figure than Erasmus)^{[note 137]} by ressourcement and Communio theologians, such as
  • Henri de Lubac^{[note 138]}
  • Hans Urs von Balthasar, who ranked Erasmus with Augustine, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas as the great theologians/exegetes;^[334]
  • Oratorian Louis Bouyer, who wrote that the Method of True Theology (or Ratio) of Erasmus "represents, for the first time and in admirable fashion, the use of principles and methods entirely adequate to effect a really fruitful renewal of Catholic faith and theology;"^[335]
  • Joseph Ratzinger, whose famous Regensberg Address emphasized the fundamental influence of Hellenic philosophy on primitive Christianity.^{[note 139]}
• his promotion of the recognition of adiaphora and toleration within bounds was taken up, to an extent, by Pope John XXIII: In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.^{[336][note 140]}

His instrumentalist approach to Christian humanism has been compared to that of John Henry Newman and the personalism of John Paul II,^{[note 141]: 151–164} but also has been criticized as treating the Church's doctrines merely as aids to piety.^{[note 142]}

The Catholic scholar Thomas Cummings saw parallels between Erasmus' vision of Church reform and the vision of Church reform that succeeded at the Second Vatican Council.^[271] Theologian J. Coppens noted the "Erasmian themes" of Lumen Gentium (e.g. para 12), such as the sensus fidei fidelium and the dignity of all the baptized.^{[12]: 130, 138, 150} Another scholar writes "in our days, especially after Vatican II, Erasmus is more and more regarded as an important defender of the Christian religion."^[337] John O'Malley has commented on connections between Erasmus and Dei Verbum.^{[note 143]}

In 1963, Thomas Merton suggested "If there had been no Luther, Erasmus would now be regarded by everyone as one of the great Doctors of the Catholic Church. I like his directness, his simplicity, and his courage."^[338]: 146

Notably, since the 1950s, the Roman Catholic Easter Vigil mass has included a Renewal of Baptismal Promises,^{[339]: 3, 4} an innovation^[340] first proposed^[341] by Erasmus in his Paraphrases.

In his 1987 collection The Spirituality of Erasmus of Rotterdam historian Richard deMolen, later a Catholic priest, called for Erasmus' canonization.^[28]

Protestant

Commemorative coins or medals of Erasmus by Göbel, Georg Wilhelm (1790)

Protestant views on Erasmus fluctuated depending on region and period, with continual support in his native Netherlands and in cities of the Upper Rhine area. However, following his death and in the late sixteenth century, many Reformation supporters saw Erasmus's critiques of Luther and lifelong support for the universal Catholic Church as damning, and second-generation Protestants were less vocal in their debts to the great humanist.

There was a tendency to downplay that many of the usages fundamental to Luther, Melancthon and Calvin, such as the forensic imputation of righteousness, grace as divine favour or mercy (rather than a medicine-like substance or habit), faith as trust (rather than a persuasion only), "repentance" over "doing penance" (as used by Luther in the first theses of the 95 Theses), owed to Erasmus.^{[note 144]}

Luther had attempted a Biblical analogy to justify his dismissal of Erasmus' thought: "He has done what he was ordained to do: he has introduced the ancient languages, in the place of injurious scholastic studies. He will probably die like Moses in the land of Moab…I would rather he would entirely abstain from explaining and paraphrasing the Scriptures, for he is not up to this work…to lead into the land of promise, is not his business…" ^[342] "Erasmus of Rotterdam is the vilest miscreant that ever disgraced the earth…He is a very Caiaphas."^{[note 145]} However Erasmus corresponded cordially with Melancthon until the end.^[146]

Some historians have even said that "the spread of Lutheranism was checked by Luther’s antagonizing (of) Erasmus and the humanists."^[343]: 7

Erasmus' reception is also demonstrable among Swiss Protestants in the sixteenth century: he had an indelible influence on the biblical commentaries of, for example, Konrad Pellikan, Heinrich Bullinger, and John Calvin, all of whom used both his annotations on the New Testament and his paraphrases of same in their own New Testament commentaries.^[344] Huldrych Zwingli, the founder of the Reformed tradition, had a conversion experience after reading Erasmus' poem, 'Jesus' Lament to Mankind.' Zwingli's moralism, hermeneutics and attitude to patristic authority owe to Erasmus, and contrast with Luther's.^[345]

Anabaptist scholars have suggested an 'intellectual dependence'^[346] of Anabaptists on Erasmus.^[347]

For evangelical Christianity, Erasmus had a strong influence^[348] on Arminius.

Erasmus' promotion of the recognition of adiaphora and toleration within bounds was taken up by many kinds of Protestants.

Erasmus' Greek New Testament was the basis of the Textus Receptus bibles, which were used for all Protestant bible translations from 1600 to 1900, notably including the Luther Bible and the King James Version.

Character attacks

Writers have often explained Erasmus' failure to adopt their favoured position as manifesting some deep character flaw.^{[note 146]} In historian Bruce Mansfield's words, "a smallness of character in Erasmus stood in the way of his greatness of mind."^{[12]: 6–10}

Luther's antipathy to Erasmus has continued to more recent times in some Lutheran teachers:

Oh how Erasmus placed honor above truth! To seek honor is a human frailty. To ever permit it to go to the point of placing honor and for that matter friendship, expediency, or anything else, above truth is to be blinded by the devil himself and to set a snare for others to be entrapped in his delusions. Such delusions Erasmus would support in pride, weakness, vacillation, and false love for peace and harmony." "Erasmus, the Judas of the Reformation" "this cultured and eloquent theological midget

— Otto J. Eckert (1955)^{[343]: 27, 28, 31}

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1917) explained "His inborn vanity and self-complacency were thereby increased almost to the point of becoming a disease; at the same time he sought, often by the grossest flattery, to obtain the favour and material support of patrons or to secure the continuance of such benefits."^[350] According to Catholic historian Joseph Lortz (1962) "Erasmus remained in the church…but as a half Catholic…indecisive, hesitating, suspended in the middle."^[351]: 299

A 1920s American historian wrote "Erasmus's ambitions, fed by an innate vanity which at times repels by its frank self-seeking, included both fame and fortune" yet pulls back on another historian's view that his "irritable self-conceit, shameless importunity,…may lead one to a sense of contempt for the scholar", pointing out the reality of Erasmus' dire poverty in Paris.^[352] An inter-war Anglican historian judges "He is a worm, a pigmy, a sheep able only to bleat when the gospel is destroyed ... Erasmus was a book-man and an invalid.”^[267]: 143 A Victorian Scottish biographer of Tyndale contrasted Erasmus' weak constitution with the "more masculine energy" of Luther and Tyndale.^[267]: 143

In the 20th century, various pyschoanalyses were made of Erasmus by practitioners: these diagnosed him variously as "supremely egotistic, neurasthenic, morbidly sensitive, volatile, variable, and vacillating, injudicious, irritable, and querulous, yet always ... a baffling but interesting chararacter"; a "volatile neurotic, latent homosexual, hypochondriac, and psychasthenic"; having "a form of narcissistic character disorder," a spiritualized, vengeful, "paranoid disposition" driven by "injured narcissism", "repeated persecutory preoccupations...(with) delusional states of paranoia toward the end of his life", repressed anger directed "father figures such as prelates and teachers," needing a "sense of victimization" ^{[353]: 598–624}

Huizinga's biography (1924) treats him more sympathically, with phrases such as: a great and sincere need for concord and affection, profoundly in need of (physical and spiritual) purity, a delicate soul (with a delicate constitution), fated to an immoderate love of liberty,^{[note 147]} having a dangerous fusion between inclination and conviction, restless but precipitate, a continual intermingling of explosion and reserve, fastidious, bashful, coquettish, a white-lier, evasive, suspicious, and feline.^[354] Yet "compared with most of his contemporaries he remains moderate and refined."^{[124]: Ch.xiv}

Name used

• The European Erasmus Programme of exchange students within the European Union is named after him. The Erasmus Programme scholarships enable students to spend up to a year of their university courses in a university in another European country, commemorating Erasmus' impulse to travel.
• The Erasmus Journal of Philosophy and Economics^[355] is produced at the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE)^[356] at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Rotterdam also an Erasmus Bridge.
• A peer-reviewed annual scholarly journal Erasmus Studies has been produced since 1981.^[357]
• The Erasmus Prize 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,^[358] most notably by Joseph Ratzinger in 1988.^[359]
• The Erasmus Building in Luxembourg was completed in 1988 as the first addition to the headquarters of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).^[360] The building houses the chambers of the judges of the CJEU's General Court and three courtrooms.^[360]
• Several schools, faculties and universities in the Netherlands and Belgium are named after him, as is Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
• Queens' College, Cambridge, has an Erasmus Tower,^[361] Erasmus Building^[362] and an Erasmus Room.^[363] 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".^[364]
• From 1997 to 2008, the American University of Notre Dame had an Erasmus Institute.^[365]

Intellectual

• Literary theorist Hans Urs von Balthasar listed Erasmus in one of three key intellectual "events" in the Germanic age:^[366]
  • Duns Scotus-William of Ockham-Francisco Suárez and Meister Eckhart-Nicholas of Cusa-Ignatius of Loyola
  • Martin Luther-Erasmus-Shakespeare
  • Kant-Hegel-Marx
• Political journalist Michael Massing has written of the Luther-Erasmus free will debate as creating a fault line in Western thinking: Europe adopted a form of Erasmian humanism while America has been shaped by Luther-inspired individualism.^[154]
• By the coming of the Age of Enlightenment, Erasmus increasingly again became a more widely respected cultural symbol and was hailed as an important figure by increasingly broad groups.
• In a letter to a friend, Erasmus once had written: "That you are patriotic will be praised by many and easily forgiven by everyone; but in my opinion it is wiser to treat men and things as though we held this world the common fatherland of all."^[367] Thus, the universalist ideals of Erasmus are sometimes claimed to be important for fixing global governance.^[368]
• Catholic historian Dom David Knowles wrote that a just appreciation of traditional Catholic doctrine was a necessary condition for appreciating Erasmus, "without which many otherwise gifted writers have repeated meaningless platitudes."^[143]
• According to two Dutch historians, "his legacy irreversibly inspired researchers to a hermeneutical approach that in the end could not but result in irrefutable attacks on the self-evident complete inerrancy of Holy Writ."^[189]: 632

Quotes

Erasmus is credited with numerous quotes; many of them are not exactly original to him but are taken from his collections of sayings such as Adages or Apophthegmata.^{[note 148]}

• In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Adages
• The most disadvantageous peace is better than the justest war. Adages
• Bidden or unbidden, God is always there. Adages
• "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes."^[369]
• "Monkishness is not piety" Enchiridion
• "Christ said (to St Peter) 'Feed my sheep', not 'Devour my sheep'."
• "All the ups and downs of comedy usually end in marriage. It looks as though the Lutheran tragedy will end the same way."^[370]
• Martin Luther is "a snake without a snakecharmer" Hyperaspistes II
• "If I have my way, the farmer, the smith, the stone-cutter will read him (Christ), prostitutes and pimps will read him, even the Turks will read him. …If it be the ploughman guiding his plough, let him chant in his own language the mystic psalms." Paraphrase of St Matthew

He is also blamed for the mistranslation from Greek of "to call a bowl a bowl" as "to call a spade a spade",^[371] and the rendering of Pandora's "jar" as "box".^[372]

Clothing

Visitation Momento mori, painter unknown, c.1500, juxtaposing pregnancy and death, with four Augustinan canons regular of the Chapter (Abbey) of Sion. Left, with little lion, is St Jerome; right, holding a heart, is St Augustine. Rijksmuseum^[373]

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, which varied by region and house, unless traveling: in general, a white or perhaps black cassock with linen and lace choir rochet for liturgical contexts or sarotium (scarf), almuce (cape), perhaps with an asymmetrical black cope of cloth or sheepskin (cacullae) or long black cloak.^[374]

From 1505, and certainly after 1517, he dressed as a scholar-priest.^[375] 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.^[375]

All Erasmus' portraits show him wearing a knitted scholar's bonnet.^[376]

Signet ring and personal motto

Signet rings of Erasmus of Rotterdam: Amerbach Kabinett

Erasmus chose the Roman god of borders and boundaries Terminus as a personal symbol^[377] and had a signet ring with a herm he thought depicted Terminus carved into a carnelian.^[377] The herm was presented to him in Rome by his student Alexander Stewart and in reality depicted the Greek god Dionysus.^[378] The ring was also depicted in a portrait of his by the Flemish painter Quentin Matsys.^[377]

Painting of Erasmus as Terminus by Hans Holbein the Younger^[379]

The herm became part of the Erasmus branding at Froben, and is on his tombstone.^[380]: 215 In the early 1530s, Erasmus was portrayed as Terminus by Hans Holbein the Younger.^[379]

Quinten Metsys (Massijs), medal commissioned by Desiderius Erasmus. 1519, bronze, 105 mm

He chose Concedo Nulli (Lat. I concede to no-one) as his personal motto.^[381] 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",^[382] and "Contemplate the end of a long life" and Horace's "Death is the ultimate boundary of things,"^[380]: 215 which re-casts the motto as a memento mori.

Representations

Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus by Albrecht Dürer, 1526, engraved in Nuremberg, Germany

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 William Warham, 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 endeavor. There were scores of copies of these portraits made in Erasmus' time.^[383]
• Albrecht Dürer also produced portraits of Erasmus, whom he met three times, in the form of an engraving of 1526 and a preliminary charcoal sketch. Concerning the former Erasmus was unimpressed, declaring it an unfavorable likeness of him. 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 about the artist, likening him to famous Greek painter of antiquity Apelles. Erasmus was deeply affected by his death in 1528.
• Quentin Matsys produced the earliest known portraits of Erasmus, including an oil painting in 1517^[384] and a medal in 1519.^[385]
• 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.
• Actor Ken Bones portrays Erasmus in David Starkey's 2009 documentary series Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant
• Canterbury Cathedral, England has a statue of Erasmus on the North Face, placed in 1870.

Exhumation

In 1928, the site of Erasmus' grave was dug up, and a body identified in the bones and examined.^[375] In 1974, a body was dug up in a slightly different location, accompanied by an Erasmus medal. Both bodies have been claimed to be Erasmus'. However, it is possible neither is.^[386]

Complete editions

The Collected Works of Erasmus (or CWE) is an 84 volume set of English translations and commentary from the University of Toronto Press. As of May 2023, 66 of 84 volumes have been released. The Erasmi opera omni, known as the Amsterdam Edition or ASD, is a 65 volume set of the original Latin works. As of 2022, 59 volumes have been released.

Letters

Erasmus, Letter to George, Duke of Saxony, (1524) giving Erasmus' view of Luther and the Reformation

The best sources for the world of European Renaissance Humanism in the early sixteenth century is the correspondence of Erasmus.

— Froude, "Preface", Life and Letters of Erasmus

Erasmus wrote or answered up to 40 letters per day,^[27] usually waking early in the morning and writing them in his own hand. Over 3,000 letters exist for a 52-year period, including to and from most Western popes, emperors, kings and their staff, as well as to leading intellectuals, bishops, reformers, fans, friends, and enemies.

His letters have been published in translation in the Complete Works of Erasmus. This has been accompanied by a three-volume reference book Contemporaries of Erasmus giving biographies of the over 1900 individuals he corresponded with or mentioned.^[388]

His private letters were eventually written in the knowledge that they could be intercepted by hostile opponents; he revised and rewrote letters for publication; his letters have a high amount of accommodation of his correspondents' views and strong irony, and a tendency to muddy the waters where danger is involve.

"I have never censured anything but human superstition and abuses. I only wish that I could drag the universal church to where I was struggling to lead it, so that, throwing off superstition, hypocrisy, worldly attachments, and frivolous little questions, we would all serve the Lord with pure hearts, each in his own vocation."

— Erasmus, Letter to Jean de Carondelet (1534)^[389]

Religious and political

Enchiridion militis Christiani (1503), Spanish translation

Marginal drawing of Folly by Hans Holbein in the first edition of Erasmus's Praise of Folly, 1515

A Playne and Godly Exposition or Declaration of the Commune Crede, 2nd edition, 1533, English translation of Symbolum apostolorum

• Handbook of a Christian Knight (Enchiridion militis Christiani) (1503)
• Sileni alcibiadis (1515)
• The Education of a Christian Prince (Institutio principis Christiani) (1516)
• The Quarrel of Peace (Querela pacis) (1517)
  • (English translation^[390])
• On the Immense Mercy of God (De immensa misericordia dei) (1524)
• On Free Will (De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio) (1524)
• Hyperaspistes 2 volumes (1526)
• The Institution of Christian Marriage (Institutio matrimonii) (1526)^[245]
• Consultations on the War on the Turks (Consultatio de bello turcis inferendo) (1530)
• On the Preparation for Death (De praeparatione ad mortem) (1533)
• On the Apostles' Creed (Symbolum apostolorum)
• The Preacher (Ecclesiastes) (1535)

Comedy and satire

• The Praise of Folly (Moriae encomium - Stultitiae laus) (1511)
  • (English translations^[391])
• Preface to Plutarch's How to tell a Flatterer from a Friend (1514) (Dedication to Henry VIII)
• Julius Excluded from Heaven (1514) (attrib.)
• Colloquies (Colloquia) (1518)
  • (English translation ^[392])
• Ciceronianus (1528)

Culture and education

• Adages (Adagiorum collectanea) (1500) all editions usually called Adagia
  • Three Thousand Adages (Adagiorum chilliades tres) (1508)
  • Four Thousand Adages (Adagiorum ciliades quatuor) (1520)
• Foundations of the Abundant Style (De utraque verborum ac rerum copia) (1512) often called De copia
• Introduction to the Eight Parts of Speech (De constructione octo partium prationis) (1515) - Erasmus' version of Lily's Grammar, sometimes called Brevissima Institutio
• Language, or the uses and abuses of language, a most useful book, (Lingua, Sive, De Linguae usu atque abusu Liber utillissimus) (1525)
• On the Correct Pronunciation of Latin and Greek (De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione) (1528)
• On Early Liberal Education for Children (De pueris statim ac liberaliter instituendis) (1529)
• On Civility in Children (De civilitate morum puerilium) (1530)
• Apophthegmatum opus (1531)
  • includes Opusculi plutarchi (c.1514)
    • includes How to tell a flatterer from a friend

New Testament

The 1516 edition had Erasmus' corrected Vulgate Latin and Greek versions.^[393] The subsequent revised editions had Erasmus' new Latin version and the Greek. The 1527 edition had both the Vulgate and Erasmus' new Latin with the Greek. These were accompanied by substantial annotations, methodological notes and paraphrases, in separate volumes.

• Novum Instrumentum omne (1516)
  • Novum Testamentum omne (1519, 1522, 1527,1536)
• In Novum Testamentum annotationes (1519, 1522, 1527,1535)
• Paraphrases of Erasmus (1517-1524)
  • The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testamente (1548)

Patristic and classical editions

The title page of the princeps edition of Irenaeus's Against heresies, which was published by Erasmus at Johannes Froben's, Basel, 1526.

Froben was keen to exploit Erasmus' name as a brand: for the patristic and classical editions that came out under his name^[394] Erasmus was variously commissioning editor, acquisitions editor, and supervising editor often working with others. He was usually the primary translator and contributed at least prefaces, notes and biographies.^[395]

• Complete Works of Jerome, nine volumes (1516) with biography, ed. ii (1526), ed. iii (1537, posthumous)
• Complete Works of Cyprian (1520)
• Commentary on the Psalms Arnobius the Younger (1522)
• Complete Works of Hilary of Poitiers (1523)
• Against Heresies, Irenaeus (1526)
• Complete Works of Ambrose (and Ambrosiaster), four volumes (1527)
• Works of Athanasius of Alexandria (1522-1527)
• On Grace (De gratia) Faustus of Riez (1528)
• Complete Works of Augustine (1528, 1529)
• Works of Lactantius (1529)
• Epiphanius (1529)
• Complete Works of John Chrysostom, five volumes (1525-1530) with biography
• Works of Basil of Caesarea (1530)
• Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus (1531)
• Complete Works of Origen, two volumes (1536) with biography (posthumous)

Late in his publishing career, Erasmus produced editions of two pre-scholastic but post-patristic writers:

• On the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood (De sacramento corporis et sanguinis Domini) Alger of Liège (1530)
• Commentary on Psalms of Haymo of Halberstadt attrib. (1533)

Classical writers whose works Erasmus translated or edited include Lucian (1506), Euripides (1508), Pseudo-Cato (1513), Curtius (1517), Suetonius (1518), Cicero (1523), Ovid and Prudentius (1524), Galen (1526), Seneca (1515, 1528), Plutarch (1512-1531), Aristotle (1531, Introduction to edition of Simon Grynaeus), Demosthenes (1532), Terence (1532), Ptolemy (1533), as well as Livy, Pliny, Libanius, Galen, Isocrates and Xenophon. Many of the Adagia translate adages from ancient and classical sources, notably from Aesop; many of Apophthegmata are from Platonists or Cynics.

Notes