Biography

Erasmus's almost 70 years may be divided into quarters. ^{[note 1]}

• First was his medieval Dutch childhood, ending with his being orphaned and impoverished;
• Second, his struggling years as a canon (a kind of semi-monk), a clerk, a priest, a failing and sickly university student, a would-be poet, and a tutor;
• Third, his flourishing but peripatetic years of increasing focus and literary productivity following his 1499 contact with a reformist English circle, then with radical French Franciscan Jean Vitrier (or Voirier) and later with the Greek-speaking Aldine New Academy in Venice; and
• Fourth, his final more secure and settled years near the Black Forest: as a prime influencer of European thought through his New Testament and increasing public opposition to aspects of Lutheranism, in Basel and as a religious refugee in Freiburg.

Early life

Desiderius Erasmus is reported to have been born in Rotterdam on 27 or 28 October ("the vigil of Simon and Jude") ^[2] in the late 1460s. He was named ^{[note 2]} after Erasmus of Formiae, whom Erasmus' father Gerard (Gerardus Helye) ^[3] personally favored. ^{[4] [5]} 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. ^{[6] [7]: 8} (This article currently gives 1466 as the birth year. ^{[8] [9]} To handle this disagreement, ages are given first based on 1469, then in parentheses based on 1466: e.g., "20 (or 23)".) Furthermore, many details of his early life must be gleaned from a fictionalized third-person account he wrote in 1516 (published in 1529) in a letter to a fictitious Papal secretary, Lambertus Grunnius ("Mr. Grunt"). ^[10]

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. ^[7] There were legal and social restrictions on the careers and opportunities open to the children of unwed parents.

Erasmus' own story, in the possibly forged 1524 Compendium vitae Erasmi was along the lines that his parents were engaged, with the formal marriage blocked by his relatives (presumably a young widow or unmarried mother with a child was not an advantageous match); his father went to Italy to study Latin and Greek, and the relatives 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. ^[3]

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 Pieter Winckel, ^[3] 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). ^[8] 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; then his father. Following the death of his parents, as well as 20 fellow students at his school, ^[7] he moved back to his patria (Rotterdam?) ^[3] where he was supported by Berthe de Heyden, ^[20] a compassionate widow. ^[7]

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 3]} Erasmus' Epistle to Grunnius satirizes them as the "Collationary Brethren" ^[10] who select and sort boys for monkhood. He was exposed there to the Devotio moderna movement and the Brethren's famous book The Imitation of Christ but resented the harsh rules and strict methods of the religious brothers and educators. ^[8] The two brothers made an agreement that they would resist the clergy but attend the university; ^[20] Erasmus longed to study in Italy, the birthplace of Latin, and have a degree from an Italian university. ^[6]: 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'." ^[7] He suffered Quartan fever for over a year. Eventually Erasmus moved to the same abbey as a postulant in or before 1487, ^[3] around the age of 16 (or 19.) ^{[note 4]}

Vows, ordination and canonry experience

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 5]} In 1488–1490, the surrounding region was plundered badly by armies fighting the Jonker Fransen war of succession and then suffered a famine. ^[6]: 759 Erasmus professed his vows as a Canon Regular of St. Augustine ^{[note 6]} 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." ^[28] According to one Catholic biographer, Erasmus had a spiritual awakening at the monastery. ^[29]

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 (the fictionalized account in the Letter to Grunnius calls them "victims of Dominic and Francis and Benedict"): Erasmus felt he had belonged to this class, joining "voluntarily but not freely" and so considered himself, if not morally bound by his vows, certainly legally, socially and honour- bound to keep them, yet to look for his true vocation. ^[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, ^{[note 7]} and wrote a series of love letters ^{[note 8] [31]} in which he called Rogerus "half my soul", ^{[note 9]} 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." ^{[32] [note 10]} This correspondence contrasts with the generally detached and much more restrained attitude he usually showed in his later life, though he had a capacity to form and maintain deep male friendships, ^{[note 11]} such as with More, Colet, and Ammonio. ^{[note 12]} No mentions or sexual accusations were ever made of Erasmus during his lifetime. His works notably praise moderate sexual desire in marriage between men and women. ^[33]

In 1493, his Prior arranged for him to leave the Stein house ^[36] and take up the post of Latin Secretary to the ambitious Bishop of Cambrai, Henry of Bergen, on account of his great skill in Latin and his reputation as a man of letters. ^{[37] [note 14]}

He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood either on 25 April 1492, ^[23] or 25 April 1495, at age 25 (or 28.) ^{[note 15]} Either way, he did not actively work as a choir priest for very long, ^[39] 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 16]} 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 17]} ended up with by far the largest collection of Erasmus' publications in the Gouda region. ^[40]

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 18]} the rest his life. ^[25] In 1517 Pope Leo X granted legal dispensations for Erasmus' defects of natality ^{[note 19]} and confirmed the previous dispensation, allowing the 48-(or 51-)year-old his independence ^[41] but still, as a canon, capable of holding office as a prior or abbot. ^[25] In 1525, Pope Clement VII granted, for health reasons, a dispensation to eat meat and dairy in Lent and on fast days. ^[42]: 410

Travels

Cities and Routes of Erasmus
Walsingham Oxford, Cambridge London Reading Canterbury Deventer Woerden Calais Stein, Gouda Rotterdam St Omer 's-Hertogenbosch Cambrai Brussels, Antwerp Paris Louvain Orléans Lyon Liège, Cologne Mainz Turin Strasbourg Bologna Freiburg im Breisgau Besançon, Basel † Florence, Ferrara Konstanz Sienna, Padua Rome, Venice Cumae
Green: early life Dark circles: residence Thin line: alpine crossings Red and green lines: horseback 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. ^[43]

Paris

In 1495 with Bishop Henry's consent and a stipend, Erasmus went on to study at the University of Paris in the Collège de Montaigu, a centre of reforming zeal, ^{[note 20]} under the direction of the ascetic Jan Standonck, of whose rigors he complained. ^[44] The university was then the chief seat of Scholastic learning but already coming under the influence of Renaissance humanism. ^[45] For instance, Erasmus became an intimate friend of an Italian humanist Publio Fausto Andrelini, poet and "professor of humanity" in Paris. ^[46]

During this time, Erasmus developed a deep aversion to exclusive or excessive Aristotelianism and Scholasticism ^[47] and started finding work as a tutor/chaperone to visiting English and Scottish aristocrats.

First visit to England (1499–1500)

Erasmus stayed in England at least three times. ^{[note 21]} In between he had periods studying in Paris, Orléans, Leuven and other cities.

In 1499 he was invited to England by William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, who offered to accompany him on his trip to England. ^[49] 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. ^[49] Other distinctive features of Colet's thought that may have influenced Erasmus are his pacifism, ^[50] reform-mindedness, ^[51] anti-Scholasticism and pastoral esteem for the sacrament of Confession. ^[52]: 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. ^[53]: 518

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, ^{[54] [55]} and whose intellect had been developed by his powerful patron Cardinal John Morton (d. 1500) who had famously attempted reforms of English monasteries. ^[56]

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

France and Brabant

Following his first trip to England, Erasmus returned first to poverty in Paris, where he started to compile the Adagio for his students, then to Orléans to escape the plague, and then to semi-monastic life, scholarly studies and writing in France, notably at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Bertin at St Omer (1501,1502) where he wrote the initial version of the Enchiridion ( Handbook of the Christian Knight.) A particular influence was his encounter in 1501 with Jean (Jehan) Vitrier, a radical Franciscan who consolidated Erasmus' thoughts against excessive valorization of monasticism, ^{[52]: 94, 95} ceremonialism ^{[note 22]} and fasting ^{[note 23]} in a kind of conversion experience, ^{[12]: 213, 219} and introduced him to Origen. ^[58]

In 1502, Erasmus went to Brabant, ultimately to the university at Louvain, then back to Paris in 1504.

Second visit to England (1505–1506)

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. ^[48]

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. ^[59] In England Erasmus was approached with prominent offices but he declined them all, until the King himself offered his support. ^[59] He was inclined, but eventually did not accept and longed for a stay in Italy. ^[59]

Italy

In 1506 he was able to accompany and tutor the sons of the personal physician of the English King through Italy to Bologna. ^[59]

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. ^[60]

In 1506 they passed through Turin and he arranged to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (Sacra Theologia) ^[61]: 638 from the University of Turin per saltum ^[59] 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. ^[59]

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, ^[62] and was an honorary member of the graecophone Aldine "New Academy" ( Greek: Neakadêmia (Νεακαδημία)). ^[63] 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. ^[28]

In 1507, according to his letters, he studied advanced Greek in Padua with the Venetian natural philosopher, Giulio Camillo. ^[64] He found employment tutoring and escorting Scottish nobleman Alexander Stewart, the 24-year old Archbishop of St Andrews, through Padua, Florence, and Siena ^{[note 24]} 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. ^[66] On his trip back over the Alps, down the Rhein, to England, Erasmus mentally composed The Praise of Folly.

Third visit to England (1510–1515)

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

After his glorious reception in Italy, Erasmus had returned broke and jobless, ^{[note 25]} 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 26]}

He assisted his friend John Colet by authoring Greek textbooks and securing members of staff for the newly established St Paul's School ^[69] and was in contact when Colet gave his notorious 1512 Convocation sermon which called for a reformation of ecclesiastical affairs. ^{[70]: 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. ^{[48] [note 27]}

Erasmus mainly stayed at Queens' College while lecturing at the university, ^[72] between 1511 and 1515. ^{[note 28]} Erasmus' rooms were located in the "I" staircase of Old Court. ^[73] 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. ^[74]

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. ^[75] He complained that Queens' College could not supply him with enough decent wine ^{[note 29]} (wine was the Renaissance medicine for gallstones, from which Erasmus suffered). ^[76] 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. ^[77]

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

Flanders and Brabant

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. ^[78] 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. ^[79] In 1514, he suffered a fall from his horse and injured his back.

Erasmus may have made several other short visits to England or English territory while living in Brabant. ^[48] Happily for Erasmus, More and Tunstall were posted in Brussels or Antwerp on government missions around 1516, More for six months, Tunstall for longer. Their circle include Pieter Gillis of Antwerp, in whose house Thomas More's wrote Utopia (pub. 1516) with Erasmus' encouragement, ^{[note 30]} Erasmus editing and perhaps even contributing fragments. ^[82] 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, ^[83] 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 ^{[84]: 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. ^[85]

In 1520 he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold with Guillaume Budé, probably his last meetings with Thomas More ^[86] and William Warham. His friends and former students and old correspondents were the incoming political elite, and he had risen with them. ^{[note 31]}

He stayed in various locations including Anderlecht (near Brussels) in the summer of 1521. ^[87]

Basel (1521–1529)

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, ^[89] working with expert scholar-correctors who went on to illustrious careers. ^[88]

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). ^[90] 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; ^[88]: 59 Hans Holbein (the Younger) cut several woodblock capitals for Erasmus' editions. The printing of many his books was supervised by his Alsatian friend, the Greek scholar Beatus Rhenanus. ^{[note 32]}

In 1521 he settled in Basel. ^[91] He was weary of the controversies and hostility at Louvain, and feared being dragged further into the Lutheran controversy. ^[92] He agreed to be the Froben press' literary superintendent writing dedications and prefaces ^[28] for an annuity and profit share. ^[71] Apart from Froben's production team, he had his own household ^{[note 33]}with a formidable housekeeper, stable of horses, and up to eight boarders or paid servants: who acted as assistants, correctors, amanuenses, dining companions, international couriers, and carers. ^[94] 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. ^[95]

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.

In 1522, Erasmus' compatriot, former teacher (c. 1502) and friend from University of Louvain unexpectedly became Pope Adrian VI, ^{[note 34]} 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. ^[98]

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 35]}

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. ^[99]: 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 (1529–1535)

Following sudden, violent, iconoclastic rioting in early 1529 ^{[note 36]} led by Œcolampadius his former assistant, in which elected Catholic councilmen were deposed, the city of Basel definitely adopted the Reformation—finally banning the Catholic Mass on April 1, 1529. ^[101]

Erasmus, in company with other Basel Catholic priests including Bishop Augustinus Marius, left Basel on the 13 April 1529 ^{[note 37]} 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 Erasmus wrote somewhat dramatically to Thomas More of his frail condition at the time: "I preferred to risk my life rather than appear to approve a programme like theirs. There was some hope of a return to moderation." ^[102]

In Spring early 1530 Erasmus was bedridden for three months with an intensely painful infection, likely carbunculosis, that, unusually for him, left him too ill to work. ^[103]: 411 He declined to attend the Diet of Augsburg to which both the Bishop of Augsburg and the Papal legate Campeggio had invited him, and he expressed doubt on non-theological grounds, to Campeggio and Melancthon, that reconciliation was then possible: he wrote to Campeggio "I can discern no way out of this enormous tragedy unless God suddenly appears like a deus ex machina and changes the hearts of men" ^{[103] : 331} and later "What upsets me is not so much their teaching, especially Luther’s, as the fact that, under the pre-text of the gospel, I see a class of men emerging whom I find repugnant from every point of view." ^[103]: 367

He stayed for two years on the top floor of the Whale House, ^[104] then following another rent dispute ^{[note 38]} bought and refurbished a house of his own, where he took in scholar/assistants as table-boarders ^[105] such as Cornelius Grapheus' friend Damião de Góis, some of them fleeing persecution.

Despite increasing frailty ^{[note 39]} 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, ^[99] worked on his lobbying on the plight of the Sámi in Sweden and the Ethiopian church, and stimulated ^[107]: 82 Erasmus' increasing awareness of foreign missions. ^{[note 40]}

There are no extant letters between More and Erasmus from the start of More's period as Chancellor until his resignation (1529–1533), almost to the day. Erasmus wrote several important non-political works under the surprising patronage of Thomas Bolyn: his Ennaratio triplex in Psalmum XXII or Triple Commentary on Psalm 23 (1529); his catechism to counter Luther Explanatio Symboli or A Playne and Godly Exposition or Declaration of the Commune Crede (1533) which sold out in three hours at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and Praeparatio ad mortem or Preparation for Death (1534) which would be one of Erasmus' most popular and most hijacked works. ^{[109] [note 41]}

Fates of friends

In the 1530s, life became more dangerous for Spanish Erasmians when Erasmus' protector, the Inquisitor General Alonso Manrique de Lara fell out of favour with the royal court and lost power within his own organization to friar-theologians. In 1532 Erasmus' friend, converso 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. ^[110]: 80

There was a generational change in the Catholic hierarchy. In 1530, the reforming French bishop Guillaume Briçonnet died. In 1532 his beloved long-time mentor English Primate Warham died of old age, ^{[note 42]} as did reforming cardinal Giles of Viterbo and Swiss bishop Hugo von Hohenlandenberg. In 1534 his distrusted protector Clement VII (the "inclement Clement" ^[111]: 72) died, his recent Italian ally Cardinal Cajetan (widely tipped as the next pope) died, and his old ally Cardinal Campeggio retired.

As more friends died (in 1533, his friend Pieter Gillis; in 1534, William Blount; in early 1536, Catherine of Aragon;) 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 43]}

In 1535, Erasmus' friends Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Brigittine Richard Reynolds ^{[note 44]} 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. ^[99]

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

Erasmus' friend and collaborator Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall eventually died in prison under Elizabeth I for refusing the Oath of Supremacy. Erasmus' correspondent Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who he had known as a teenaged student in Paris and Cambridge, ^[113] was later imprisoned in the Tower of London for five years under Edward VI for impeding Protestantism. ^{[note 45]} Damião de Góis was tried before the Portuguese Inquisition at age 72, ^[99] detained almost incommunicado, finally exiled to a monastery, and on release perhaps murdered. ^[115] His amanuensis Gilbert Cousin died in prison at age 66, shortly after being arrested on the personal order of Pope Pius V. ^[94]

Death in Basel

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

On July 12, 1536, he died at an attack of dysentery. ^[116] "The most famous scholar of his day died in peaceful prosperity and in the company of celebrated and responsible friends." ^[117] His last words, as recorded by his friend and biographer Beatus Rhenanus, were apparently "Lord, put an end to it" ( Latin: domine fac finem, the same last words as Melanchthon) ^[118] then "Dear God" ( Dutch: Lieve God). ^[119]

He had remained loyal to Roman Catholicism, ^[120] but biographers have disagreed whether to treat him as an insider or an outsider. ^{[note 46]} He may not have received or had the opportunity to receive the last rites of the Catholic Church; ^{[note 47]} the contemporary reports of his death do not mention whether he asked for a Catholic priest or not, ^{[note 48]} if any were secretly or privately in Basel.

He was buried with great ceremony in the Basel Minster (the former cathedral). The Protestant city authorities remarkably allowed his funeral to be an ecumenical Catholic requiem Mass. ^[122]

As his heir or executor he instated Bonifacius Amerbach to give seed money ^{[note 49]} to students and the needy; ^{[note 50]} he had received dispensations (from Ferdinand Archduke of Austria, and from Emperor Charles V in 1530) to make a will rather than have his wealth revert to his order (the Chapter of Sion), or to the state, and had long pre-sold most of his personal library of almost 500 books to Polish humanist Jan Łaski. ^{[123] [124]} 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. ^[125]

Personal

Clothing

Until Erasmus received his 1505 and 1517 Papal dispensations to wear clerical garb, Erasmus wore versions of the local habit of his order, the Canons regular of St Augustine, Chapter of Sion, which varied by region and house, unless traveling: in general, a white or perhaps black cassock with linen and lace choir rochet for liturgical contexts, or otherwise with white sarotium (scarf) (over left shoulder), or almuce (cape), perhaps with an asymmetrical black cope of cloth or sheepskin ( Latin: cacullae) or long black cloak. ^[127]

From 1505, and certainly after 1517, he dressed as a scholar-priest. ^[128] 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. ^[128]

All Erasmus' portraits show him wearing a knitted scholar's bonnet. ^[129]

Signet ring and personal motto

Erasmus chose the Roman god of borders and boundaries Terminus as a personal symbol ^[130] and had a signet ring with a herm he thought depicted Terminus carved into a carnelian. ^[130] The herm was presented to him in Rome by his student Alexander Stewart and in reality depicted the Greek god Dionysus. ^[131] The ring was also depicted in a portrait of his by the Flemish painter Quentin Matsys. ^[130]

The herm became part of the Erasmus branding at Froben, and is on his tombstone. ^[133]: 215 In the early 1530s, Erasmus was portrayed as Terminus by Hans Holbein the Younger. ^[132]

He chose Concedo Nulli (Lat. I concede to no-one) as his personal motto. ^[134] 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", ^[135] and "Contemplate the end of a long life" and Horace's "Death is the ultimate boundary of things," ^[133]: 215 which re-casts the motto as a memento mori.

Representations

Erasmus frequently gifted portraits and medals with his image to friends and patrons.

• Hans Holbein painted him at least three times and perhaps as many as seven, some of the Holbein portraits of Erasmus surviving only in copies by other artists. Holbein's three profile portraits – two (nearly identical) profile portraits and one three-quarters-view portrait – were all painted in the same year, 1523. Erasmus used the Holbein portraits as gifts for his friends in England, such as 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. ^[136] Holbein's 1532 profile woodcut was particularly lauded by those who knew Erasmus. ^[80]: 129
• 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, perhaps because around 1525 he was suffering severely from kidney stones. ^[80]: 129 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 from life in 1517 ^[137] (which had to be delayed as Erasmus' pain distorted his face) ^[80]: 131 and a medal in 1519. ^[138]
• 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. ^[139]
• In 1790, Georg Wilhelm Göbel struck commemorative medals.'
• Canterbury Cathedral, England has a statue of Erasmus on the North Face, placed in 1870.
• Actor Ken Bones portrays Erasmus in David Starkey's 2009 documentary series Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant

Endmatter

Notes

References