Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1523) by Hans Holbein the Younger resting his hands on a Greek The Labours of Hercules,[1] "arguably…the most important portrait in England"
Born
c. 28 October 1466
Rotterdam or Gouda, Burgundian Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire
Died
12 July 1536(1536-07-12) (aged 69)
Basel, Old Swiss Confederacy
Other names
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Known for
New Testament translations and exegesis, satire, pacificism, letters, best-selling author and editor, and influencer
Awards
Counsellor to Charles V. (hon.)
Academic background
Education
University of Paris
Queens' College, Cambridge
University of Turin (STD, 1506)
Influences
Jerome
Origen
Lorenzo Valla
John Colet
Thomas More
Jean Vitrier
John Fisher
Thomas Linacre
William Grocyn
Aldus Manutius
Cicero
Socrates
Augustine of Hippo
Thomas Aquinas
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Academic work
Era
Northern Renaissance
School or tradition
Renaissance humanism
Institutions
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
University of Leuven
Main interests
Bonae litterae
Philology
Pastoral theology
Patristics
Catholic theology
Political philosophy
Philosophy of education
Criticism of Protestantism
Notable works
The Praise of Folly
Handbook of a Christian Knight
On Civility in Children
Julius Excluded
The Education of a Christian Prince
Novum Instrumentum omne
On Free Will
Notable ideas
Philosophia Christi
Biblical ad fontes
Erasmian pronunciation
Critique of just war theory
accommodation
Lectio difficilior potior
Influenced
Thomas More
John Fisher
John Colet
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples
Martin Luther
Philip Melanchthon
Huldrych Zwingli
Johannes Oecolampadius
William Tyndale
John Calvin
Jacob Milich
Wolfgang Capito
Damião de Góis
Rabelais
Miguel de Cervantes
William Shakespeare
John Milton
Pius V
Peter Canisius
Robert Bellarmine
Ignatius of Loyola
Francis Xavier
Charles Borromeo
John of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila
Francis De Sales
John Henry Newman
Henri de Lubac
Ecclesiastical career
Religion
Christianity
Church
Catholic Church
Ordained
25 April 1492
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (/ˌdɛzɪˈdɪəriəsɪˈræzməs/; Dutch:[ˌdeːziˈdeːriʏseˈrɑsmʏs]; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus; 28 October c.1466 – 12 July 1536) was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic theologian, educationalist, satirist, and philosopher. Through his vast number of translations, books, essays, prayers and letters, he is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Northern Renaissance and one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture.[2][3]
He was an important figure in classical scholarship who wrote in a spontaneous, copious and natural Latin style. As a Catholic priest developing humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will,The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style and many other works.
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation. He developed a biblical humanistic theology in which he advocated tolerance, concord and free thinking on matters of indifference. He remained a member of the Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church from within. He promoted the traditional doctrine of synergism, which some prominent Reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin rejected in favor of the doctrine of monergism. His middle-road approach disappointed, and even angered, partisans in both camps.
^Bacchi, Elisa (2019). "Hercules, silenus and the fly : Lucian's rhetorical paradoxes in Erasmus' ethics". Philosophical Readings. 11 (2): 120–130. doi:10.5281/zenodo.2554134. ISSN 2036-4989.
^Tracy, James D. "Desiderius Erasmus Biography & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
^Sauer, J. (1909). Desiderius Erasmus Archived 13 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 10 August 2019 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05510b.htm
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