Erasmus Rotterdam report for grade 7 briefly about the Dutch scientist, humanist, theologian, and writer is presented in this article.
"Erasmus of Rotterdam" short message
Erasmus of Rotterdam- is the largest figure in the Northern Renaissance and for his services rightfully received the nickname "Prince of the Humanists". The scientist was the first to study the texts of the scriptures from a scientific-critical point of view.
The future thinker was born on October 28, 1469 in the town of Gouda, near Rotterdam. He was the illegitimate son of a priest and his maidservant. At birth he was named Gergard. At first, the boy studied at a local school, then continued his studies in Nertogenbosch, the community "Brothers of Common Life".
At the age of 13, he lost his parents. And because of his status of "illegitimate" he decides to retire to a monastery. He decides to become a priest of the Augustinian monastery.
Rotterdam had excellent intellectual abilities, a wide range of knowledge, thoroughly knew Latin. This knowledge attracted influential people to him, and thanks to them, Erasmus leaves the walls of the monastery. He was hired by the Bishop of Cambrai as secretary. The patron sent the former priest to the University of Paris in 1495 to study theology. For several years, Rotterdam lived in France, and in 1499 he visited England, where he lectured at the University of Oxford.
The views of Erasmus of Rotterdam are reflected in his works. The first significant work was called "Adagi", which were published in 1500. The scientist combined and combined the ideas of early Christianity and antiquity. By the way, "Adagi" brought him worldwide fame. He did not live in one place for a long time, but traveled, mainly, in the cities of France.
In 1504, the book "The Weapon of the Christian Warrior" was published, in which the author laid the foundations of his heavenly philosophy. Despite the fact that he was Catholic, Erasmus is the forerunner of the Reformation.
After another trip to England, the fate of Erasmus of Rotterdam threw him to Italy in 1505. Here he lived for 2 years, receiving a doctorate in theology from the University of Turin. The humanist made his third trip to England, which was marked by the writing of his outstanding satirical work - "Praise of Foolishness." The pamphlet was published in 1509, and from that moment Erasmus of Rotterdam became one of the most authoritative theologians. For a long time, the scientist taught at the University of Cambridge.
In 1513, the theologian left for Germany for 2 years, traveling through its cities. But in 1515 he returned to his beloved England. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles of Spain, made him an advisor to the king.
- Erasmus was known as a gentle, delicate, easily vulnerable nature, in need of harmony and friendship, which hated strife. He quickly and easily found a common language with different people. But at the same time, the theologian was touchy, rancorous, distrustful, quarrelsome. Closer to old age, these qualities became simply manic.
- He was in poor health. He was fortunate enough to be cured of gout and kidney disease with the most famous healer of that period - Paracelsus.
- Erasmus did not attach much importance to what nationality a person belongs to.
- He was friends with Thomas More, loved to argue with them.
- He lived most of his life in England.
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Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (lat. Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, Dutch. Gerrit Gerritszoon; October 28, 1469 Gouda, a suburb of Rotterdam, Burgundy Netherlands - July 12, 1536, Basel, Swiss Union) - the largest scientist of the Northern Renaissance, nicknamed "the prince of the humanists".
Prepared the first edition of the Greek original of the New Testament with commentary, laid the foundation for a critical study of the text of the Scriptures. He contributed to the return to cultural use of the literary heritage of antiquity. He wrote mainly in Latin.
Having won pan-European fame with freedom-loving views, Erasmus did not accept the Reformation and at the end of his life sharply polemicized with Luther over the doctrine of free will (which many Protestants questioned).
Born October 28, 1469 (according to other versions of 1467), in Gouda (20 km from Rotterdam) in the present Netherlands. His father, who belonged to one of the burgher families of the town of Gouda (at the intersection of the roads Rotterdam-Amsterdam and The Hague-Utrecht), was carried away in his youth by a girl who reciprocated him. The parents, who had predetermined their son for a spiritual career, strongly opposed his marriage. The lovers, nevertheless, became close, and the fruit of their relationship was a son, whom his parents gave the name Gergard, that is, the desired one, a name from which, through the usual Romanization and Greekization at that time, his double literary pseudonym Desiderius Erasmus was subsequently formed, who made him forget his real name.
He received his primary education first at a local elementary school; from there he moved to Deventer, where he entered one of the schools founded by the "communal fraternities", the programs of which included the study of the ancient classics.
At the age of 13, he lost his parents. This, aggravated by the seal of the illegitimate, predetermined some of his character traits - shyness, sometimes bordering on cowardice, a certain amount of secrecy.
He understood - with such an inheritance, a public career would be inaccessible to him. Therefore, soon, after some hesitation, he decides to retire to a monastery.
He spent several years in the monastery walls. He devoted the bulk of his free time to reading his favorite classical authors and to improving his knowledge of Latin and Greek, the monastic life was alien to him.
Soon the attention of influential philanthropists attracts the attention of outstanding knowledge, brilliant mind and extraordinary art of mastering elegant Latin speech. The Bishop of Cambrai took him to his secretary to conduct correspondence in Latin.
Thanks to such ecclesiastical patrons, Erasmus was able to leave the monastery, give scope to his long-standing attraction to humanistic science and visit all the main centers of the then humanism. From Cambrai, he moved to Paris, which at that time was still the center of scholastic scholarship.
In Paris, Erasmus published his first major work - Adagia, a collection of sayings and anecdotes extracted from the works of various ancient writers. This book made the name of Erasmus famous in humanist circles throughout Europe. After several years in France, he traveled to England, where he was greeted with warm hospitality and honor, as a renowned humanist.
Here he became friends with many humanists, especially with the author of the novel "Utopia", John Colet, and later with John Fischer and Prince Henry, the future King Henry VIII. Returning from England in 1499, Erasmus leads a nomadic life for some time - he consistently visits Paris, Orleans, Leuven, Rotterdam. After a new trip to England, in 1505-1506, Erasmus finally got the opportunity to visit Italy, where he had long been attracted.
In Italy, Erasmus received an honorable, sometimes enthusiastic reception. The University of Turin presented him with an honorary doctorate in theology; Pope, as a sign of his special favor to Erasmus, gave him permission to lead a lifestyle and dress in accordance with the customs of each country where he had to live.
After two years of traveling in Italy, he successively visited Turin, Bologna, Florence, Venice, Padua, Rome, for the third time he went to England, where he was urged by his local friends, and where shortly before he ascended the throne his great admirer, Henry VIII. During this journey, according to Erasmus himself, he wrote the famous satire "Praise of Foolishness". Oxford and Cambridge universities offered him a professorship.
Erasmus chose Cambridge, where one of his close acquaintances, Bishop Fischer, was the "Chancellor of the University". Here Erasmus taught the Greek language for several years, as one of the rare experts of this language at that time, and gave theological courses, which were based on the original text of the New Testament. This was a great innovation at that time, since most theologians of that time continued to follow in their courses the medieval, scholastic method, which reduced all theological science to the study of the treatises of Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas and several other favorite medieval authorities.
Erasmus devoted several pages to the characterization of these adepts of scholastic theology in his Praise of Folly:
“They are so preoccupied with their delightful nonsense that, spending days and nights behind them, they do not find even a minute of time to flip through the Gospel or the Epistles of the Apostle Paul at least once. But, doing their scholarly nonsense, they are quite sure that on their syllogisms the universal church rests as well as heaven on the shoulders of Atlas, and that without them the church would not have lasted even a minute "
In 1511, Erasmus was honored to become Lady Margaret's Professor of Theology at the University of Cambridge.
Two years later, referring to the inhospitable and unhealthy climate of England, in 1513 Erasmus went to Germany. The two years he spent here were two years of a new journey throughout Germany. Here he met Ulrich Tsaziy.
But soon he was drawn to England, where he went again in 1515.
The next year, he again migrated to the continent, and already forever.
This time, Erasmus found himself a powerful philanthropist in the person of Charles of Spain (the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). The latter granted him the rank of "royal advisor", not associated with any real functions, not even with the duty of staying at court, but gave him a salary of 400 florins. This created a completely secure position for Erasmus, relieving him of all material worries, and provided an opportunity to completely surrender to his passion for scientific pursuits. Since then, indeed, the scientific and literary productivity of Erasmus has increased. The new appointment, however, did not force Erasmus to abandon his restlessness - he visited Brussels, Louvain, Antwerp, Freiburg, Basel. Only in the last years of his life did he finally establish his settled life in the last of the named cities, where he ended his days; he died on the night of 12 July 1536.
Erasmus belongs to the older generation of Anglo-Germanic humanists, the “Reuchlin” generation, although he was one of the older representatives of the latter (he was 12 years younger than Reuchlin); but by the nature of his literary activity, by its satirical connotation, he already to a large extent adjoins the humanists of the younger, "Gutten" generation. However, he cannot be completely attributed to any specific group of humanists: he was "a man in himself", as he is characterized in "Letters of Dark People" (see Gutten).
Germanic by his belonging to the empire, Dutch by blood and place of birth, Erasmus least of all resembled a Dutchman in his mobile, lively, sanguine temperament, and perhaps that is why he so soon fought off his homeland, to which he never found no particular attraction. Germany, with which he was bound by citizenship to the "emperor", and in which he spent most of his wandering life, did not become a second home for him; German patriotism, which inspired the majority of German humanists, remained completely alien to Erasmus, like any patriotism in general. Germany was in his eyes his homeland no more than France, where he spent some of the best years of his life.
Erasmus himself was completely indifferent to his ethnicity. “They call me Batav,” he says in one of his letters; - but personally, I'm not quite sure about that; it may very well be that I am Dutch, but we must not forget that I was born in that part of Holland, which is much closer to France than to Germany. " Elsewhere, he expresses himself about himself in a no less characteristic way: "I do not want to assert that I am French, but I do not find it necessary to deny it." We can say that the real spiritual home of Erasmus was the ancient world, where he really felt at home.
It is also characteristic that at the end of his life, Erasmus, after long wanderings around the world, chose the imperial city of Basel as a place of permanent settlement, which, in its geographical and political position and the composition of its population, had an international, cosmopolitan character.
Erasmus occupies a completely special place in the history of German humanism also for that unprecedentedly honorable and influential position in society, which - for the first time in European history - received in his person a man of science and literature.
Before Erasmus, history does not know a single such phenomenon, and this could not have been before the spread of printing, which gave thought to people an unprecedentedly powerful instrument of influence.
After Erasmus, for the entire continuation of modern history, only one similar fact can be indicated: that completely exceptional position that fell to Voltaire's lot at the apogee of his literary glory, in the second half of the 18th century. "From England to Italy," says one contemporary of Erasmus, "and from Poland to Hungary, his glory resounded." The most powerful sovereigns of Europe at that time, Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, popes, cardinals, prelates, statesmen and the most famous scientists considered it an honor to be in correspondence with him. The papal curia offered him the cardinal; the Bavarian government expressed its readiness to grant him a large pension just so that he chose Nuremberg as his place of permanent residence. During the trips of Erasmus, some cities arranged solemn receptions for him, as a sovereign. He was called "the oracle of Europe", not only people of science - on various scientific and philosophical issues, but also statesmen, even sovereigns - on various political issues turned to him for advice. As a humanist, Erasmus is closest to Reuchlin: both are outstanding carriers of that scientific spirit, the spirit of research and precise knowledge, which is one of the most essential features in the characterization of humanism in general.
Erasmus, along with Johann Reuchlin, was called by his contemporaries "the two eyes of Germany." Like Reuchlin, Erasmus - who spoke Latin as well as his own language - worked extensively on collecting the manuscripts of classical authors and on the critical edition of their writings. Along with Reuchlin, Erasmus was one of the few experts in the Greek language and literature at that time. The authority enjoyed by Erasmus in the field of Greek philology can be judged, for example, by the fact that his opinion regarding the way of pronouncing some vowels of the Greek alphabet (eta and diphthongs) received universal recognition both in Germany and in some other countries, contrary to ingrained tradition, supported by the authority of Greek teachers.
Of the satirical works, thanks to which his scientific and literary activity gained wide public significance and determined his prominent place not only in literary history, but also in general history, the Praise of Folly (Moriæ-Encomium, sive Stultitiæ Laus) is especially outstanding. This small essay was written by Erasmus - in his own words, with nothing to do - during his long, with the then communication routes, his move from Italy to England in 1509. Erasmus himself looked at this work of his as a literary trinket, but he owes his literary celebrity and his place in history to this trinket, at least to no less extent than to his multivolume scholarly works.
Published for the first time in Paris in 1511, Erasmus' satire withstood in several months up to seven editions; in all, during his lifetime, it was reprinted in different places at least 40 times. Published in 1898 by the Directorate of the University Library in Ghent (Belgium), the "preliminary" and, therefore, subject to supplement list of editions of Erasmus's works totals more than two hundred editions for "Praise of Folly" (including translations).
This unparalleled success is explained by many circumstances, between which the already loud name of the author played an important role even then. But its main conditions lay in the work itself, in a successful concept and its brilliant execution. Erasmus had a good idea - to look at the modern reality surrounding him, as well as at all of humanity, at the whole world from the point of view of stupidity.
This point of view, proceeding from such a universal, inherent in "all times and peoples" properties, as stupidity, gave the author the opportunity, touching upon a lot of burning issues of our time, at the same time to give his observations of the surrounding reality the character of universality and adherence to principles, to illuminate the particular and individual , random and temporary from the point of view of the universal, permanent, natural, draw a satirical portrait of all mankind. This universal human character, being one of the attractive aspects of the work for contemporary readers to the author, at the same time protected it from oblivion in the future. Thanks to him, "Praise of Foolishness" took its place among the ageless works of the human word - not because of the artistic beauty of the form, but due to the presence of that common human element that makes it understandable and interesting for every person, at any time, to which nation , to whatever stratum of society he belongs to.
The dominant tone of Erasmus' satire is humorous, not sarcastic. His laughter is permeated mainly with complacent humor, often with subtle irony, almost never with scourging sarcasm. In the satirist, one feels not so much an indignant moralist with a frowning brow and a pessimistic outlook on his surroundings, as a cheerful humanist who looks at life with optimistic complacency and sees in its negative aspects mainly an excuse to laugh and pamper heartily.
In its form, Praise of Foolishness is a parody of a panegyric, a form that was very popular at the time; what is original here is only that the eulogy in this case is not pronounced on behalf of the author or another outside speaker, but is put into the mouth of the most personified stupidity.
Prominent figures of the Renaissance, theologian, philologist, philosopher, teacher - all this belongs to the name Erasmus of Rotterdam. He despised scholastic philosophy, condemned the Protestant schism, defended church reforms, with all this, Erasmus had a literary talent and an excellent sense of humor.
His most famous "Praise of Foolishness" is a recognized masterpiece of satire, published more than 200 times around the world. The love story of the parents of Erasmus of Rotterdam deserves special attention. Father Erasmus gave up his career as a priest for the sake of love. He resisted the will of his parents and joined his fate with a girl who in the future became the mother of the famous philosopher. They gave their first child, born November 28, 1469, the name Gergard, which means coveted.
Gergard-Erasmus's parents were not married, and little Erasmus spent the first years of his life with his mother. Soon, both parents die of the plague - first the mother, then the father. His guardians understand that with the seal of "born out of wedlock" Erasmus cannot claim good public office. That is why from an early age he was sent to a monastery. From 1486 to 1492, in the brotherhood of the Augustinian canons, Rotterdam studied ancient languages (Latin and Greek), the works of ancient writers and philosophers.
Erasmus is improving in rhetoric, mastering knowledge in various sciences and he is noticed. After a short service with the Bishop of Cambrai, he leaves for Paris. From 1493 to 1499 in Paris, Erasmus studied theology and ancient literature. In 1498 he met Lord Mountjoy, who later took Erasmus to London. He spent less than a year in London, but during this short time he meets Thomas More (author of Utopia) and John Colet. In the future, Erasmus was connected with Moru by a sincere and strong friendship.
In 1500, Erasmus returns to Paris. Here he publishes a collection of 818 anecdotes and sayings of ancient writers "Adagia". In 1502, a plague came to Paris, fleeing from infection, Erasmus wanders from city to city: Orleans, Leuven, Rotterdam, Paris, London and finally, Italy, the city of Turin. At the University of Turin he was presented with an honorary diploma for the title of Doctor of Theology. And in Italy, Erasmus does not sit still: he visits Bologna, Florence, Venice - complements the collection of antique anecdotes and sayings.
In 1507, the collection "Adagia" was republished, now it is "Three Chiliads (thousands) and about the same number of hundreds of sayings." In 1509, Henry VIII came to the throne of England, in connection with this event, Erasmus of Rotterdam returned to London. On the way to England, he composes the satire "Praise of Foolishness", this ironic work was published only in 1511. At the University of Cambridge from 1511 to 1513, Erasmus taught Greek and theology. Due to frequent illnesses associated with the English weather, Erasmus left for Germany in 1513.
From 1517 to 1521, living in Louvain, Erasmus of Rotterdam is bathed in the rays of glory: he is the brightest star of theology and secular science. A huge number of visitors want to see him, thousands of letters from his admirers are waiting for an answer. But the sun did not shine for long - in connection with the split of the church and some connection between the philosophy of Erasmus and the philosophy of Martin Luther, the clergy begin to persecute Rotterdam. This forced him to move to Basel in 1521. Here he writes half of Easy Conversations.
In 1529-1535 Erasmus of Rotterdam lives in Freiburg, from 1535 - in Basel. During this time, a large number of his works were published: "On the early education of children", "Discourse on the war with the Turks", "Interpretation of the Creed", "On preparation for death" and others. In July 1535, Thomas More was executed. Erasmus is completely absorbed by the longing for his best friend: he realizes that his life is nearing the end. On July 12, 1536, Erasmus of Rotterdam died.
The main idea, permeating with a thick thread all the literary creations of Erasmus, is the construction of a human ideal close to the personality of Christ himself. Erasmus of Rotterdam was critical of both politics and society of the then Europe. He condemned the remoteness of the church from the apostolic teaching. In different time periods, his works were perceived differently by the church, science and society, and so far there is no unequivocal assessment of his work.
How Erasmus of Rotterdam, a philosopher, teacher, theologian, philologist and the main representative of "Christian humanism" glorified his era, you will learn from this article.
What did Erasmus of Rotterdam do?
Erasmus The achievement of Rotterdam and its significance is that he laid the foundation for the development of European humanism during the Renaissance.
The first edition of "Adagy" in 1500 is that what made Erasmus of Rotterdam famous... The book was a collection of winged words, sayings of early Christian and ancient writers, in which he saw relics of relics of ancient wisdom and instruction for posterity.
In 1501 he wrote a treatise "The Weapons of the Christian Warrior", in which the principles of his heavenly philosophy were formulated for the first time in history. In addition, Erasmus of Rotterdam performed translations and prepared for publication the works of the famous tragedian of Ancient Greece Euripides and the satirist writer, the first science fiction writer in the history of literature, Lucian. In parallel with this, the scientist is writing works on the ancient Greek language: he examines the phonetic side of this language. Most of his findings in the course of the study are still relevant today.
Without knowing it, Erasmus laid the foundation for the emergence and development of Protestantism in the Christian religion itself. He boldly interpreted and scientifically examined the messages of the Saints and tests from the Gospel.
Another direction of the scientist who made him famous was pedagogy. It is the founder of humanistic pedagogy.
What did Erasmus of Rotterdam write?
"Adagi", "The Weapon of the Christian Warrior", "The Philosophy of Christ", "Praise of Foolishness", "Instruction of the Christian Sovereign", "Complaint of the World", the publication of the Greek text of the "New Testament", "Vulgate", "On Free Will", " On the bondage of the will "," Conversations easily "," On the desired church consent ", On the initial upbringing of children", "On the good manners of children", "Conversations", "Method of teaching", "The way to write letters."
It is worth noting that with his works, Erasmus paved the way for the Reformation.
Erasmus of Rotterdam: to quick reference
The future scientist was born on October 28, 1467 in Rotterdam in the family of a priest. Erasmus received his primary education in an educational institution, the so-called school of “brothers of common life”. In 1486, having become a monk, he joined the Brotherhood of Regular Augustinian Canons. For 6 years, Erasmus stayed in the monastery, studying ancient languages, early Christian and ancient writers. He received further education in Paris. In France, he became acquainted with the humanistic trend in culture. Visit England in 1499, makes acquaintance and friendship with Thomas More.
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), famous Western writer and scientist, was born on October 27, 1466 in Rotterdam; he was a bastard son; his father and mother died when he was still 13 years old. He studied at Deventer school, and even then Agricola surprised at his extraordinary abilities. On the advice of his guardians and one of his friends, Erasmus entered the Emmaus Monastery (near Gouda) in the year 20. He lived there for five years (until 1491). But by nature he was averse to monasticism, and what he saw in Emmaus developed this aversion in him. Until the end of his life, he spoke with indignation about the dryness of the heart of the Emmaus monks, about the vulgarity of their conversations, about their gluttony and drunkenness. Erasmus gladly accepted the invitation of the bishop of Cambrai to go with him to Rome. But before the bishop got ready for his journey, Erasmus, ordained a priest, received permission and allowance from the monastery authorities to go to Paris to study theology.
Erasmus did not like the scholastic character of teaching at the University of Paris; he spoke of the Parisian theologians: their reason is corrupted, their language is barbaric, their manner of address is rude, life is hypocritical, words are poisonous, their heart is insidious. Erasmus hoped to live by his own labor, abandoned a monastic career, began to earn his living by private lessons and literary work; that was news then. In his writings, Erasmus of Rotterdam caustically ridiculed the hypocrites and obscurantists, whom he retained for the rest of his life.
His name was already well known when he went to England with a young nobleman, whose tutor he was; there he found himself friends and patrons in the humanists Kolete and Thomas More. For some time Erasmus lived in Oxford and improved his title of the Greek language. After spending a year in England, he returned to the continent in 1499 and lived now in France, now in the Netherlands, doing scholarly works on classical literature and theology. At this time, Erasmus of Rotterdam published his famous "Proverbs" (Adagia). Then he went to Italy, lived there for several years; humanists everywhere received him with honor, as a famous comrade. By invitation King HenryVIII, Erasmus again went to England and on the way there wrote the beginning of his famous satirical treatise “ Praise for stupidity", Encomium moriae. He contrasts common sense in it with scientific absurdities and ridicules vices. This little book by Erasmus of Rotterdam, published with drawings Holbein, was a huge success and was translated into all languages of the Western peoples.
Foolishness, a powerful goddess, makes a speech from Erasmus in praise of herself, describes her kingdom, lists her subjects. She is served by sovereigns and beggars, poets and orators, lawyers and philosophers. But her most faithful servants are monks, scholastic theologians, church dignitaries. Monks consider ignorance to be piety, dirt and begging as great virtues, and because of important questions about the number of knots on the belt, about the color of the mantle, about the size of the hood, they forget the commandments of Christianity. Christ at the Last Judgment will say: “Where do these new Jews come from? I promised the kingdom of heaven not to those who walk in a monastic dress, read prayers, fingering beads, but to those who perform deeds of faith and love. " From the monks, the speech of Foolishness goes to the bishops who forget about the welfare of their flock, thinking only about money, property, luxury, pleasures, and to the popes, who take their share of luxury and pleasure, leaving the work and cares to the lot of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
Lifetime (1515) edition of "Praise of Foolishness" by Erasmus of Rotterdam with drawings by Holbein
Erasmus of Rotterdam and now did not live long in England (until 1513). He did not want to hold any position; he liked freedom and scholarly leisure; for some time he traveled to different cities of the continent, without stopping anywhere for a long time; but from 1516 he lived for the most part in Basel. There Erasmus published his edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, which constituted an era in theology. He reconstructed the text by comparing many manuscripts with deep knowledge of the language and ingenious critical insight; the comparison of the variants and the explanatory notes of this edition provided the basis for all further theological research. Erasmus of Rotterdam was then deeply respected by scholars throughout Western Europe, and conducted extensive correspondence. Of his literary works of this time, especially important are "Conversations" (Colloquia), written in excellent Latin in the tone of a famous ancient skeptic Lucian... This book is intended to be a guide to learning good Latin, especially the spoken language; but it also explains many ecclesiastical, scientific, and social issues. Erasmus then wrote many philological and theological articles, published many classical writers with notes, wrote notes to the editions of the works of the church fathers.
With his labors, Erasmus of Rotterdam prepared the Reformation. Then they even said that "Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther hatched it." But scientific interest for Erasmus was higher than religious, philological higher than dogmatic, and he did not like abrupt upheavals, therefore, with the beginning of the church reform, he moved away from Luther.
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam. Painter Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523
A man of short stature, weak build, usually keeping his eyes down, listening and speaking with a smile, fearful, flinching at the word "death", Erasmus of Rotterdam was not created for the role of the leader of popular movements. During Reuchlin's dispute with the obscurantists, he already behaved more silently than a defender of science should have. Luther did not like Erasmus at all, who considered it useless to quarrel over dogmas, expecting the benefits of the scientific enlightenment of the upper classes. He advised opponents of ecclesiastical abuses to act in moderation and hoped that the ecclesiastical hierarchy would itself make the necessary improvements. Erasmus of Rotterdam shied away from relations with the reformers, did not accept Gutten, who fled to Basel, and was sharply reproached by him. But the opponents of the Reformation reproached Erasmus for his coldness in their struggle with the reformers, they said that he had forged weapons for Luther. To show that he was alien to the cause of the Reformation, Erasmus wrote against Luther's acceptance of Augustine's doctrine of predestination. Both parties at war with each other were hostile to Erasmus; but the Catholics still considered him theirs.
Erasmus of Rotterdam died on July 12, 1536. The mood of his thoughts was philosophical-pagan, not Christian. He led an impeccable life; his mind was free from religious superstition. He considered an honest life sufficient for peace of mind. There was no piety in Erasmus at all.