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HEROES OF THE REFORMATION.


   I.--Martin Luther (1483-1546). THE HERO OF THE REFORMATION. By
   Henry Eyster Jacobs, D.D., LL.D.

   II.--Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). THE PROTESTANT PRECEPTOR
   OF GERMANY. By James William Richard, D.D.

   III.--Desiderius Erasmus (1467-1536). THE HUMANIST IN THE
   SERVICE OF THE REFORMATION. By Ephraim Emerton, Ph.D.

   G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
   NEW YORK AND LONDON




    _Heroes of the Reformation_

    EDITED BY
    Samuel Macauley Jackson
    PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY, NEW YORK
    UNIVERSITY

    Διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα.
    DIVERSITIES OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT.


DESIDERIUS ERASMUS




  [Illustration]




  [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS BY HOLBEIN.
  ORIGINAL IN THE LOUVRE.]




    DESIDERIUS ERASMUS
    OF ROTTERDAM


    BY
    EPHRAIM EMERTON, PH.D.
    WINN PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY


    O Erasme Roterodame, wo wiltu bleiben? Sieh, was vermag die
    ungerecht tyranney der weltlichen gewahlt, der macht der
    finsternuss? Hör, du ritter Christi, reith hervor neben den
    herrn Christum, beschüz die wahrheit, erlang der martärer cron.
                                         A. DÜRER'S DIARY, 1521.


    G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
    NEW YORK AND LONDON
    The Knickerbocker Press
    1899




    COPYRIGHT, 1899
    BY
    G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
    Entered at Stationers' Hall, London


    The Knickerbocker Press, New York




PREFACE


A complete and satisfactory life of Erasmus of Rotterdam still
remains to be written. Its author will have to be a thorough student
of the classic literatures, a theologian familiar with every form
of Christian speculation, a historian, to whom the complicated
movement of the Reformation is altogether intelligible, an educator,
a moralist, and a man of humour. Only to such a person--if such there
ever were--could the writing of this life be a wholly congenial task.
The subject has been approached by different writers from all the
points of view indicated, but no biography has yet shown the whole
range or value of Erasmus' varied activities.

The limitations of the present volume have fortunately been clearly
defined by the title of the series in which it forms a part. Its
function is to deal with Erasmus as a factor in the Protestant
Reformation of the sixteenth century. With the very peculiar and
often elusive personality of the man it has to do only in so far
as it serves to suggest an explanation of his attitude towards the
world-movement of his time. I say "suggest an explanation" rather
than "explain," because, with all diligence, I cannot hope to have
made clear all of the many problems involved in the inquiry. At
every stage of the study of Erasmus one has to ask first what he
believed himself to be doing, then what he wished others to believe
he was doing, then what others did think he was doing, and finally
what the man actually _was_ doing. And all this has to be learned
chiefly from his own words and from his reports of the words of
others.

His life was full of strange incongruities, and any story of his life
which should seek to cover these incongruities by any fictitious
theory of consistency would but ill reflect the truth. And yet,
with all its pettinesses and weaknesses, its contradictions and its
comings-short of natural demands upon it, this life has, after all,
an element of the heroic. If there be a heroism of persistent work
and cheerful endurance, of steady exclusion of all distractions, of
refusal to commit oneself to anything or anybody which might impede
one's chosen line of duty, then we may gladly admit Erasmus into the
choice company of the Heroes of the Reformation.

Such a distinction would vastly have amused him. He would have seized
his pen and dashed off to some friend, who would spread the word,
some such disclaimer as this: "Well, of all things in the world, now
they are calling me a hero! If you never laughed before, laugh now to
your heart's content. I a hero! a man afraid of my shadow,--a man of
books, a hater of conflict, a man, who, if he were put to the test
would, I fear, follow the example of Peter and deny his Lord. And,
not content with this, they add 'of the Reformation.' I, who never,
by word or deed, drunk or sober, gave so much as a hint of belonging
to any of their accursed'movements'! Well, no man can strive against
the Fates."

I have chosen the chronological method because it serves best to
illustrate the development of the man in his relation to his time.
Such selections from Erasmus' writings have been chosen for detailed
examination as bear most directly upon the main objects of the book.
It has seemed wiser to make them long enough to show their true
meaning rather than to use a greater number of mere scraps, which
might in almost every case be contradicted by other scraps. So far as
possible the merely controversial has been avoided. For example, I
have barely alluded to the prolonged discussions with Archbishop Lee,
the Frenchman Bedda, the Spaniard Stunica, and the Italian prince of
Carpi. The detail of these controversies tends rather to confuse than
to illuminate the point of chief interest to us. Yet no treatment of
Erasmus could escape entirely the tone of controversy. He set that
tone himself and the student of his writings inevitably falls into it.

The translations have been kept as close to the originals as was
consistent with a freedom of style somewhat corresponding to Erasmus'
own. It would be hopeless to attempt, by any paraphrasing whatever,
to improve upon the freshness and vivacity of the author.

My thanks are due to many friends for kind assistance and suggestion,
but especially to my colleague, Professor Albert A. Howard of the
Latin department of Harvard University, to whose careful revision
the accuracy of the translations is chiefly due.

References to the Leyden edition of Erasmus' works in 1703-1706 are
given simply by volume, page (column), and division of the column,
as, _e. g._, iii.¹, 157-B.




CONTENTS


                                                         PAGE

    PREFACE                                               iii

    INTRODUCTION                                         xiii

    BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE                                xxiii


    CHAPTER I.

    SCHOOL AND MONASTERY.  1467-1490                        1


    CHAPTER II.

    PARIS AND HOLLAND.  1492-1498                          26


    CHAPTER III.

    FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND.  1498-1500                     62


    CHAPTER IV.

    PARIS--THE "ADAGIA"--THE "ENCHIRIDION MILITIS
    CHRISTIANI"--PANEGYRIC ON PHILIP OF BURGUNDY.
    1500-1506                                              87


    CHAPTER V.

    RESIDENCE IN ITALY--THE "PRAISE OF FOLLY." 1506-1509  122


    CHAPTER VI.

    ENGLAND (1509-1514)--THE NEW TESTAMENT--THE "DE
    COPIA VERBORUM ET RERUM."                             179


    CHAPTER VII.

    BASEL AND LOUVAIN--THE "INSTITUTIO PRINCIPIS
    CHRISTIANI."  1515-1518                               218


    CHAPTER VIII.

    BEGINNINGS OF THE REFORMATION--CORRESPONDENCE OF
    1518-1519                                             268


    CHAPTER IX.

    DEFINITE BREACH WITH THE REFORMING PARTIES--HUTTEN'S
    "EXPOSTULATIO" AND ERASMUS' "SPONGIA." 1520-1523      336


    CHAPTER X.

    DOCTRINAL OPPOSITION TO THE REFORMATION--FREEDOM
    OF THE WILL--THE EUCHARIST--THE "SPIRIT." 1523-1527   380


    CHAPTER XI.

    FAMILIAR COLLOQUIES--NEW TESTAMENT PARAPHRASES--
    CONTROVERSIAL AND DIDACTIC WRITINGS--REMOVAL TO
    FREIBURG--LAST REFORMATORY TREATISES--RETURN TO
    BASEL--DEATH. 1523-1536                               420


    INDEX                                                 465




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                         PAGE

    ERASMUS                               _Frontispiece_
      From the portrait by Holbein in the Louvre.

    STATUE OF ERASMUS AT ROTTERDAM                          2

    HOUSE AT ROTTERDAM IN WHICH ERASMUS WAS BORN            4
      From Knight's "Life of Erasmus."

    PARISH CHURCH AT ALDINGTON, KENT                       20
      From Knight's "Life of Erasmus."

    HOLBEIN'S STUDIES FOR THE HANDS OF ERASMUS             48

    THOMAS MORE                                            64
      From the drawing by Holbein in Windsor Castle.

    JOHN COLET                                             70
      From the drawing by Holbein in Windsor Castle.

    HENRY VIII. AND HENRY VII.                             77
      Fragment of a cartoon by Holbein in possession of
      the Duke of Devonshire.

    FRONTISPIECE AND TITLE-PAGE FROM "L'ÉLOGE DE LA
    FOLIE," PUBLISHED AT LEYDEN IN 1715                   124

    ALDUS P. MANUTIUS                                     134
      From an old print.

    CARDINAL REGINALD POLE                                146
      From "Erasmi Opera," published at Leyden, 1703.

    CARDINAL PETER BEMBO                                  154
      From "Erasmi Opera," published at Leyden, 1703.

    ERASMUS.--"FOLLY" AS PROFESSOR.                       158
      Holbein's illustrations to the "Praise of Folly"

    A THEOLOGIAN.--A COUNCIL OF THEOLOGIANS.              162
      Holbein's illustrations to the "Praise of Folly"

    EVERYONE HAS HIS HOBBY.--PILGRIM FOLLY.--"FOLLY"
    CONCLUDES HER LECTURE.                                166
      Holbein's illustrations to the "Praise of Folly"

    TITLE-PAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 1519                 180

    WILLIAM WARHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY              184
      From a painting by Holbein in the Louvre.

    QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE                            190
      From Knight's "Life of Erasmus."

    JOHN FISHER, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER                      195
      From the drawing by Holbein in Windsor Castle.

    CARDINAL XIMENES                                      200
      From a portrait by C. E. Wagstaff, in the Florence
      Gallery.

    DEVICE OF THE HOUSE OF FROBEN                         205

    DEVICE OF FROBEN                                      207

    PORTRAIT OF FROBEN BY HOLBEIN. EPITAPH BY
    ERASMUS--FACSIMILE OF HANDWRITING                     232
      From Knight's "Life of Erasmus."

    BONIFACE AMERBACH OF BASEL                            236
      From "Erasmi Opera," published at Leyden, 1703.

    CHARLES V.                                            262
      From an engraving by Bartel Beham, 1531.

    PHILIP MELANCHTHON                                    280
      From the drawing by Holbein in Windsor Castle.

    FRONTISPIECE (ERASMUS SEATED) TO "ERASMI OPERA,"
    PUBLISHED AT LEYDEN, 1703                             296

    ERASMUS WITH "TERMINUS"                               315
      From a woodcut by Holbein in the Basel Museum.

    ERASMUS                                               334
      From a copper engraving by Albert Dürer.

    FACSIMILE OF LETTER OF ERASMUS TO JOHANNES LANGE      342

    ULRICH VON HUTTEN                                     364
      From a contemporary woodcut.

    BILIBALD PIRKHEIMER OF NUREMBERG                      415
      From an engraving by Albrecht Dürer, in "Erasmi
      Opera," published at Leyden, 1703.

    TITLE-PAGE TO THE "COLLOQUIES OF ERASMUS," PUBLISHED
    AT AMSTERDAM, 1693                                    424
      Portrait of Erasmus and others.

    TITLE-PAGE TO THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF THE
    "APOPHTHEGMS OF ERASMUS," TRANSLATED BY UDALL, 1542   450

    INSCRIPTION ON THE TOMB OF ERASMUS, AT BASEL          460
      From Knight's "Life of Erasmus."




INTRODUCTION


The student of Erasmus is at first overwhelmed by the abundance of
the material before him. A man who has left to posterity enough
to fill eleven folio volumes would seem to have made a biographer
unnecessary. Especially when two of these volumes are filled with
personal letters, more than eighteen hundred in number, and addressed
to some five hundred correspondents, it might well seem that the best
biography would be a faithful transcript of what the man himself has
given us. And, in fact, almost all that we know about Erasmus comes
through himself. The singular thing is that with this great mass of
material we know so little that is definite about him.

He lived in one of the most eventful periods of the world's history,
and was in some kind of personal relation with its leading actors;
and yet his life, from beginning to end, has not one event more
important or stirring than a journey in winter, an attack of illness,
a quarrel with some fellow scholar, or a change of residence. Our
whole knowledge of his early life up to the period of production is
derived from a very brief record made by himself many years afterward
and made obviously with both a literary and a practical purpose.

His letters were largely collected and published by himself long
after they were written, and were, so he himself tells us, freely
altered for publication. Their chronology is hopelessly confused.
Erasmus says that he supplied many of them with the day and year
when he came to edit them. He was himself at all times curiously
indifferent to the merely historical. It was always subordinate in
his mind to the broadly human and philosophical. The letters must
therefore be read with constant reference to their immediate purpose,
and few of them are without purpose, though it would require a bold
man indeed to be always sure just what it is. Luther's judgment
upon them was unjustly severe: "In the epistles of Erasmus you find
nothing of any account, except praise for his friends, scolding and
abuse for his enemies, and that's all there is to it." The principles
which governed Erasmus as editor of his own correspondence are
indicated in a letter[1] of 1520 to Beatus Rhenanus.

  [1] iii.¹, 552.

He represents himself as driven to edit them in order to check the
publication of unauthorised editions, of which several had certainly
appeared before 1519. He determined to make at least a selection and
judiciously to modify the contents. "With this purpose I revised
the collection. Some things I explained, which certain persons had
interpreted unfavourably. Some, which I found had offended the
oversensitive and irritable tempers of certain persons, I struck out.
Some things I softened." But, after all, he says, as time went on, he
repented him of his plan and urged Froben, to whom he had sent the
"copy," to suppress it entirely or put it off to a more fitting time.
But the work was so far along that Froben declared he would not throw
away all that expense, and Erasmus just had to humour him. "I had to
give way to him and incur myself perhaps the risk of my reputation in
order to save him the risk of his money."[2]

  [2] See also the long treatise, _de conscribendis epistolis_, i.,
  341-483.

Erasmus shared with most scholars of the Renaissance the _cacoethes
scribendi_. He says of himself that his words were rather poured out
than written. When he took his pen in hand it became an independent
force, against which he had to contend lest it run away with him
altogether, and it is one of his claims to greatness as a writer that
on the whole he kept the mastery over it. This essentially literary
quality must be constantly borne in mind by the historian and he must
always be striving to fix the line where history ends and literature
begins.

Again,--and here also Erasmus was eminently a Renaissance man,--he
felt himself to be the centre of the world. In a sense that is,
of course, true of every thinking man; but in Erasmus this newly
awakened individual consciousness took on a form of acute personal
sensitiveness which affected his relation to all persons and all
things about him. Especially it reacted upon his writing. He could
not be objective upon any question into which his personality entered
ever so slightly. Whatever touched him as a man, as a scholar, a
theologian, a churchman, or a citizen, began at once to lose its
true perspective. He saw it only in its relation to himself, or
at best to the