Erasmus

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 : 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.

Black Forest

Erasmus often wrote in a highly ironical idiom, especially in his letters,^{[note 71]} which makes them prone to different interpretations when taken literally rather than ironically. For example, his aphoristic quote on the persecution of Reuchlin "if it is Christian to hate Jews, we are all abundantly Christians here" is taken literally by Theodor Dunkelgrün^[164]: 320 as being approving of such hatred; the alternative view would be that it was sardonic and challenging.^{[note 72]}

[129]

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 against which the failures of Christian culture can be exposed and criticized."^[167] In de bello Turcico, Erasmus metonymizes that we should "kill the Turk, not the man."^{[note 73]}

foil

Erasmus' literary theory of "copiousness" makes a virtue of utilizing a large stockpile of tropes and symbolic figures without disclaimers of their reality or cumulative impact. When Erasmus wrote of 'Judaism,' he most frequently (though not always) was not referring to Jews: instead he referred to those Catholic Christians of his time, especially in the monastic lifestyle, who mistakenly promoted excessive external ritualism over interior piety, by analogy with Second Temple Judaism. "Judaism I call not Jewish impiety, but prescriptions about external things, such as food, fasting, clothes, which to a certain degree resemble the rituals of the Jews."^{[note 75]}

[note 74]

on subjects of humanist interest: "Three areas preoccupied Erasmus as a writer: language arts, education, and biblical studies. ...All of his works served as models of style. ...He pioneered the principles of textual criticism."^[255] and

[254]

"a man of weak character whose timidity and weak will kept him from the consequences of his own premises;"

"a devotee of reason who followed this natural light through storm and stress to the very end;"

"as the forerunner of Luther, the John the Baptist of the evangelical revival;" or

"a man with his own positive reform program, in part critical, for the most part constructive."^: 26

[222]

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.^[412] Holbein's 1532 profile woodcut was particularly lauded by those who knew Erasmus.^[83]: 129

Hans Holbein

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.^[83]: 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.

Albrecht Dürer

produced the earliest known portraits of Erasmus, including an oil painting from life in 1517^[413] (which had to be delayed as Erasmus' pain distorted his face)^[83]: 131 and a medal in 1519.^[414]

Quentin Matsys

In 1622, 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.^[415]

Hendrick de Keyser

In 1790, Georg Wilhelm Göbel struck commemorative medals.'

Canterbury Cathedral, England has a statue of Erasmus on the North Face, placed in 1870.

Actor portrays Erasmus in David Starkey's 2009 documentary series Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant

Ken Bones

Augustijn, Cornelis (1995). Erasmus: his life, works, and influence (Reprinted in paperback ed.). Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press.  0802071775.

ISBN

Barker, William (2022). Erasmus of Rotterdam: The Spirit of a Scholar. Reaktion Books

Bentley-Taylor, David (2002). My dear Erasmus: the forgotton reformer. Fearn: Focus.  9781857926958.

ISBN

Christ-von Wedel, Christine (2013). Erasmus of Rotterdam: Advocate of a New Christianity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press

Dickens, A. G.; Jones, Whitney R. D. (2000). Erasmus: the reformer. London: Methuen.  0413753301.

ISBN

(1899). Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. OCLC 312661.

Emerton, Ephraim

(1894). Life and Letters of Erasmus: lectures delivered at Oxford 1893-4. Scribner's Sons.

Froude, James Anthony

(1994). Erasmus: A Critical Biography. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-631-19388-3.

Halkin, Leon E.

Huizinga, Johan

(1897). Erasmus. Cambridge University Press.

Jebb, Richard Claverhouse

Pennington, Arthur Robert (1875). , pp. 219.

The Life and Character of Erasmus

Rummel, Erika (2004). Erasmus. London: Continuum.  9780826491558.

ISBN

James D. (1997). Erasmus of the Low Countries. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London: University of California Press

Tracy

Stefan (1937). Erasmus of Rotterdam. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. Garden City Publishing Co., Inc

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