Erasmus 1466 – 1536

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and one of the most influential European intellectuals of the early 16th century. His critical edition of the Greek New Testament, published in 1516, was foundational for Renaissance and Reformation biblical scholarship. His satirical work In Praise of Folly, published in 1511, is one of the masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance, lampooning the corruption of the Church and the pretensions of scholastic philosophy in equal measure. His Adages, a collection of classical proverbs with extensive commentary, transmitted ancient wisdom to a wide European audience and went through many editions in his lifetime. Although a sharp critic of clerical abuses, he refused to break with the Catholic Church during the Reformation, taking issue with both Luther's doctrines and the Church's resistance to reform.

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466–1536) was the central figure of Northern Renaissance humanism and the most influential European Christian philosopher of the early sixteenth century. Born out of wedlock to a priest, educated at the Brethren of the Common Life and ordained an Augustinian canon, he was released from monastic obligations and spent his career as an itinerant scholar between England, France, the Low Countries, and Italy.

Erasmus's most influential single work, In Praise of Folly (1511), is a satirical declamation in the voice of Folly herself — a comprehensive and gentle skewering of every social, ecclesiastical, and academic pretension of his age. His critical edition of the Greek New Testament (1516) was the foundational document of Reformation biblical scholarship, supplying both Luther and the Reformation translators with the textual basis for their work. The Adages — a vast commented collection of classical proverbs — and the Colloquies — Latin dialogues used as schoolbooks across Europe for two centuries — were enormously influential in shaping early modern educated culture.

Erasmus famously refused to commit to either side of the Reformation. His public exchange with Luther over free will (1524–1525) — Erasmus defending the Catholic position with characteristic moderation, Luther replying with the Bondage of the Will — captured the moment at which the irenic humanist program was overtaken by confessional polarization. He died in Basel in 1536, ranked among the most-read writers in Europe.