Erasmus and Northern Humanism
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466–1536) was the greatest of the Northern humanists and one of the most influential scholars of the Renaissance. His edition of the New Testament in Greek, his satirical masterpiece The Praise of Folly, his educational writings, and his vast correspondence made him the intellectual leader of a continent. Erasmus is one of the more useful entry points into the [humanist](, and the literature on it is unusually good./renaissance-philosophy-and-humanism.md) movement in Northern Europe and its profound influence on the religious transformations of the 16th century. The humanist tradition that Erasmus exemplified had its Italian roots in the work of Petrarch, but Erasmus adapted it to the specific conditions of Northern Europe, especially the religious controversies of the age.
Early Life and Education
Erasmus was born in Rotterdam, probably in 1466. His father was a priest and his mother a physician’s daughter, and he was given the unusual name “Desiderius” (Latin for “the desired one”), to which he later added the Greek equivalent “Erasmus.” After his parents died of the plague, the young Erasmus was sent to a school of the Brethren of the Common Life at Deventer, where he received a solid foundation in Latin and classical learning.
The Brethren of the Common Life were a religious movement that combined deep piety with a practical commitment to education. They were devoted to the devotio moderna (modern devotion), a spiritual movement that emphasized the inner life of the soul and the imitation of Christ. The movement had a profound influence on Erasmus, who would later combine humanist learning with the Brethren’s emphasis on personal piety.
Erasmus was eventually ordained a priest, but he was not well suited to monastic life. He obtained a position as secretary to the Bishop of Cambrai, which gave him time for study and writing. He also spent time in Paris, where he supported himself as a private tutor, and in England, where he became friends with the humanist John Colet and the statesman Thomas More. These friendships were decisive for Erasmus’s intellectual development.
The Adagia and the New Learning
Erasmus’s first major work was the Adagia (1500, with expanded editions in 1508 and later), a vast collection of proverbs and sayings from classical authors. The work, which grew over the course of Erasmus’s life to include thousands of entries, was a goldmine of classical wisdom, a demonstration of the relevance of ancient learning to contemporary life, and a model of elegant Latin prose.
The Adagia was an immediate success. It was reprinted many times and translated into several languages. It helped to establish Erasmus as the leading Northern humanist and to spread the new learning across Europe. The work, more than any other, made Erasmus famous.
The Praise of Folly
Erasmus’s most famous work is the Moriae Encomium (The Praise of Folly), published in 1511. Written in Latin but with a lively, ironic style, the work is a satirical defense of folly, in which the goddess Folly praises herself and the human follies she represents. The work is a sustained attack on the corruption of the Church, the foolishness of kings, the vanity of scholars, and the blindness of human beings in general.
The Praise of Folly was dedicated to Thomas More, the English humanist and Lord Chancellor, whose name (Morus) was a Greek pun with moria (folly). The work was a sensation, widely read and discussed across Europe. It was eventually placed on the Index of Forbidden Books, but it remained one of the most influential works of the Northern Renaissance.
The Praise of Folly is not just a satire. It is also a serious work of Christian humanism. Folly, in Erasmus’s hands, is not just stupidity or vice. It is the foolishness of the cross, the willingness to follow Christ in a world that values power and wealth. The work is a call for Christians to embrace the humility and the foolishness of the gospel.
The New Testament in Greek
Erasmus’s most enduring scholarly achievement was his edition of the New Testament in Greek, the Novum Instrumentum omne (1516). The work was the first published Greek New Testament, and it was a landmark in the history of biblical scholarship. The project wouldn’t have been possible without the printing press, which made it possible to produce such a work in a way that the manuscript era had not.
Erasmus had been working on the New Testament for years, comparing the Vulgate (the standard Latin translation) with several Greek manuscripts. The Novum Instrumentum included the Greek text, a new Latin translation, and extensive notes on the differences between the Vulgate and the Greek original. The work made it clear that the Vulgate contained errors, and it gave scholars and theologians the tools to study the New Testament in its original language.
Erasmus’s New Testament was enormously influential. It was used by Martin Luther in his German translation of the Bible, by William Tyndale in his English translation, and by countless other scholars and translators. The work laid the intellectual foundation for the Protestant Reformation, even though Erasmus himself didn’t approve of the break with Rome.
Erasmus published three further editions of the New Testament, in 1519, 1522, and 1527, each incorporating new manuscript evidence and corrections. The third edition, in particular, became the standard text for Protestant translations. The Textus Receptus (Received Text), the basis of most Protestant Bibles for the next three centuries, was ultimately derived from Erasmus’s third edition.
The Religious Writings
Erasmus was also an important writer on Christian life and devotion. His Enchiridion militis christiani (Handbook of the Christian Soldier, 1503) was a guide to Christian living, written in a simple, accessible style. The work, which combined humanist learning with practical piety, was widely read and translated into many languages.
His Paraclesis (1516), the prefatory essay to his Greek New Testament, was a passionate call for the Bible to be available to all Christians, in their own languages, and for a Christianity of the heart rather than of external observance. The Paraclesis laid out Erasmus’s vision of reform — a return to the sources of the faith, a simplification of theology, a renewal of Christian life — and the vision was deeply sympathetic to the Protestant reformers, even if Erasmus himself stopped short of breaking with Rome.
The Controversy with Luther
Erasmus’s publication of the Greek New Testament and his calls for reform placed him in a difficult position when Martin Luther’s Reformation erupted in 1517. Erasmus agreed with much of what Luther said about the corruption of the Church, but he disagreed with Luther’s approach. Erasmus believed in reform from within, through education, persuasion, and the patient work of scholarship. Luther believed in reform through confrontation and the assertion of biblical authority.
In 1524, Erasmus published the De libero arbitrio (On Free Will), a defense of the human capacity to choose between good and evil. Luther responded in 1525 with the De servo arbitrio (On the Bondage of the Will), a vigorous attack on Erasmus’s position. The exchange, conducted with the rhetorical skills of two of the great writers of the age, marked a decisive break between Erasmus and the Reformation. Erasmus never supported Luther, and Luther never forgave Erasmus for what he saw as a betrayal of the cause of reform.
The controversy with Luther was painful for Erasmus, who had hoped to be a mediator in the religious struggles of the age. He continued to call for moderation and reform, but he was increasingly caught between the Catholics, who saw him as a Protestant sympathizer, and the Protestants, who saw him as a half-hearted reformer. The Council of Trent, which began in 1545, eventually condemned several of his writings, even as it incorporated some of his suggestions for reform. The wider story of the Northern Renaissance is incomplete without Erasmus, and the religious upheavals of the 16th century can’t be understood without reference to his work.
Erasmus and the Republic of Letters
Erasmus was at the center of an enormous correspondence that constituted what he called the respublica litteraria (republic of letters). His correspondents included the leading humanists, scholars, printers, and statesmen of Europe, from Thomas More and John Colet in England to Guillaume Budé in France, from Johann Reuchlin in Germany to the pope in Rome. The letters, which number in the thousands, are a record of the intellectual life of the era, and they demonstrate the extent to which Erasmus was the center of a vast network of scholarship and friendship.
Erasmus also played a crucial role in the publication and dissemination of humanist works. He edited the writings of classical and Christian authors, including Cicero, Seneca, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome. He corresponded with the leading printers of Europe, especially Johann Froben of Basel, who published many of his works. He advised young scholars and corresponded with them throughout their careers. He was, in a real sense, the leader of a movement that extended across Europe.
Erasmus and Education
Erasmus was deeply interested in education, both in the content of what was taught and in the methods of teaching. His De pueris instituendis (On the Education of Children, 1529) was a guide to the education of the young, with practical advice on how to teach Latin, how to form moral character, and how to instill Christian piety. The humanist curriculum that Erasmus championed was closely related to the Italian Renaissance humanism developed a generation earlier, but with an emphasis on Christian piety and the reform of Christian life that was distinctive to the Northern tradition.
Erasmus’s own education, especially his early years with the Brethren of the Common Life, profoundly shaped his views. He believed that the study of Latin and Greek, combined with the study of the Bible and the Church Fathers, was the best preparation for Christian life. He also believed that education should be joyful, that students should be treated with respect, and that learning should be a pleasure rather than a punishment.
The Last Years
Erasmus spent his last years in Basel, Freiburg, and finally again in Basel, where he died in 1536. The last years were marked by ill health, by the deepening religious controversy, and by Erasmus’s determination to keep working. He continued to write, to correspond, and to advise, even as the Europe he had known was being torn apart by religious conflict.
Erasmus died as he had lived, a defender of learning, of moderation, and of Christian humanism. He was mourned by both Catholics and Protestants, who recognized the greatness of his scholarship and the tragedy of his times. His tomb in the Basel Minster, with its appropriate Latin inscription (Opus Erasmi), is a fitting memorial to one of the great minds of the Renaissance.
The Legacy of Erasmus
Erasmus was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance. His New Testament laid the foundation for the Protestant Reformation, even if he himself didn’t approve of the break with Rome. His satirical writings shaped the moral conscience of Europe. His educational works helped to reform the teaching of Latin and the study of the classics. His vast correspondence made him the center of the European intellectual community.
The humanist tradition that Erasmus represented — the combination of classical learning and Christian piety, the commitment to returning to the sources, the conviction that education and persuasion could change the world — has been an important resource in every subsequent age. In the Enlightenment, the Victorian era, and the modern world, the example of Erasmus has been invoked by those who believed that learning and tolerance could overcome prejudice and violence.
The sources listed below are not exhaustive. They are the ones I would actually hand to a student who wanted to keep going on their own.
An honest gap. The standard accounts of this period are, in many ways, the accounts of the literate, the urban, and the relatively well-off. The picture you get from the literature is necessarily a partial one, and any responsible overview has to flag the parts it is leaving out.
Sources & further reading
For non-specialists, the most accessible single book on this topic is usually the first in the list. The other two are denser but more thorough.
- Cecil H. Clough, Erasmus of Rotterdam (biographical essays)
- Bruce Mansfield, Erasmus in the Twentieth Century: Interpretations 1896-1922 (older but useful)
- The CWE (Collected Works of Erasmus) is the scholarly edition; many individual works are translated in the Toronto press series
If you want to go further, the bibliographies at the back of any of these books will lead you to the scholarly literature. The standard journal for the field is Renaissance Quarterly (English-language) and, for the Italian period, Rinascimento (Italian).