Desiderius+Erasmus

=media type="file" key="world civ mp3.mp3"[|world civ mp3.mp3]= =Desiderius Erasmus: Research Paper= = = The Dutch humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, was born at Rotterdam, apparently on October 28, 1466, the illegitimate son of a physician's daughter by a man who afterwards turned monk. He was called Gerrit Gerritszoon (Dutch for Gerard Gerardson) but himself adopted the tautalogical double name by which he is known. He attended the school of the "Brothers of the Common Life" at Deventer. On his parents' death his guardians insisted on his entering a monastery and in the Augustinian college of Stein near Gouda he spent six years -- it was certainly this personal experience of the ways of the monks that made Erasmus their relentless enemy. At length the Bishop of Cambrai made him his private secretary. After taking priest's orders Erasmus went to Paris, where he studied at the Collège Montaigu. He resided in Paris until 1498, gaining a livelihood by teaching. Among his pupils was Lord Mountjoy, on whose invitation probably Erasmus made his first visit to England in 1498. He lived chiefly at Oxford, and through the influence of John Colet his contempt for the Schoolmen was intensified. In 1500 he was again in France, and for the next six years lived chiefly at Paris. To this period belong his //Adagia// and //Enchiridion Militis Christiani//. In 1506 he made a short visit to England, carried out a long-desired journey to Italy, and at Padua acted as tutor to Alexander, Archbishop of St. Andrews, natural son of James IV of Scotland. His visit closed with a short stay in Rome, whence he carried away a far more friendly impression than did Luther when he made his visit. The accession of Henry VIII, and the invitation of Lord Mountjoy, induced Erasmus once more to make England his home. In his satire, //Encomium Moriae// (1509), we have him in his happiest vein, as the man of letters and the critic of kings and churchmen. Erasmus resided chiefly at Cambridge, where he acted as Margaret professor of Divinity and professor of Greek. After 1514 he lived alternatively in Basel and England, and from 1517 to 1521 at Louvain. In 1519 appeared the first edition of his //Colloquia//, usually regarded as his masterpiece. The audacity and incisiveness with which it handles the abuses of the Church prepared men's minds for the subsequent work of Martin Luther. In 1516 was published his annotated New Testament, virtually the first Greek text, and in 1519 his edition on St. Jerome in nine folio volumes. In both of these works the aim of Erasmus was to introduce a more rational conception of Christian doctrine, and to emancipate men's minds from the frivolous and pedantic methods of the Scholastic theologians. But when the Lutheran revolution came he found himself in the most embarrassing position. Those of the old order fell upon him as the author of all the new troubles. The Lutherans assailed him for his cowardice and inconsistency in refusing to follow up his opinions to their legitimate conclusions. In 1521 he left Louvain, where the champions of the old faith had made his stay unendurable and with the exception of six years in Freiburg, he spent the rest of his life at Basel. He edited a long succession of classical and patristic writers, and was engaged in continual controversies. The most important of these were with Ulrich von Hutten, Luther, and the Sorbonne, Hutten judged Erasmus harshly for not taking his place by the side of Luther; and with Luther himself Erasmus, after long hesitation, crossed swords in his //De Libero Arbitrio// (1523). Attacked by men like Hutten on the one side, he was as fiercely assailed on the other by the Sorbonne. By his //Ciceroniansus// he raised against himself new adversaries -- those humanists, namely, who set style above matter. Yet during his last years Erasmus enjoyed great fame and consideration. He died July 12, 1536. Erasmus stands as the supreme type of cultivated common sense applied to human affairs. He rescued theology from the pedantries of the Schoolmen, exposed the abuses of the Church, and did more than any other single person to advance the Revival of Learning. The accession of Henry VIII, and the invitation of Lord Mountjoy, induced Erasmus once more to make England his home. In his satire, //Encomium Moriae// (1509), we have him in his happiest vein, as the man of letters and the critic of kings and churchmen. Erasmus resided chiefly at Cambridge, where he acted as Margaret professor of Divinity and professor of Greek. After 1514 he lived alternatively in Basel and England, and from 1517 to 1521 at Louvain. In 1519 appeared the first edition of his //Colloquia//, usually regarded as his masterpiece. The audacity and incisiveness with which it handles the abuses of the Church prepared men's minds for the subsequent work of Martin Luther. In 1516 was published his annotated New Testament, virtually the first Greek text, and in 1519 his edition on St. Jerome in nine folio volumes. In both of these works the aim of Erasmus was to introduce a more rational conception of Christian doctrine, and to emancipate men's minds from the frivolous and pedantic methods of the Scholastic theologians. But when the Lutheran revolution came he found himself in the most embarrassing position. Those of the old order fell upon him as the author of all the new troubles. The Lutherans assailed him for his cowardice and inconsistency in refusing to follow up his opinions to their legitimate conclusions. In 1521 he left Louvain, where the champions of the old faith had made his stay unendurable and with the exception of six years in Freiburg, he spent the rest of his life at Basel. He edited a long succession of classical and patristic writers, and was engaged in continual controversies. The most important of these were with Ulrich von Hutten, Luther, and the Sorbonne, Hutten judged Erasmus harshly for not taking his place by the side of Luther; and with Luther himself Erasmus, after long hesitation, crossed swords in his //De Libero Arbitrio// (1523). Attacked by men like Hutten on the one side, he was as fiercely assailed on the other by the Sorbonne. By his //Ciceroniansus// he raised against himself new adversaries -- those humanists, namely, who set style above matter. Yet during his last years Erasmus enjoyed great fame and consideration. He died July 12, 1536. Erasmus stands as the supreme type of cultivated common sense applied to human affairs. He rescued theology from the pedantries of the Schoolmen, exposed the abuses of the Church, and did more than any other single person to advance the Revival of Learning. His last years were embittered by controversies with men toward whom be was drawn by many ties of taste and sympathy. Notable among them was his passage at arms with Ulrich von Hutten, a brilliant, but erratic genius, who had thrown himself with all his heart into the Lutheran cause and had declared that Erasmus, if he had a spark of honesty about him, would do the same. In his reply, //Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni// (1523), he displays, better than almost anywhere else, his skill in twisting words and phrases to suit the purpose of the moment. He accuses Hutton of having misinterpreted his utterances about reform and reiterates his determination never to take sides in the division of parties. When the city of Basel was definitely and officially " reformed " in 1529, Erasmus gave up his residence there and settled in the imperial town of Freiburg-im-Breiagau. It would seem as if he found it easier to maintain his neutrality under Roman Catholic than under Protestant conditions. His literary activity continued without much abatement, chiefly on the lines of religious and didactic composition. The most important work of this last period is the //Ecclesiastes// or "Gospel Preacher" (Basel, 1535), in which he brings out the function of preaching as the most important office of the Christian priest, an emphasis which shows how essentially Protestant his inner thought of Christianity was. The same impression comes from his little tract of 1533 on "Preparation for Death," in which the emphasis throughout is on the importance of a good life as the essential condition of a happy death. For unknown reasons Erasmus found himself drawn once more to the happiest of his homes, at Basel, and returned thither in 1535 after an absence of six years. Here, in the midst of the group of Protestant scholars who had long been his truest friends, and, so far as is known, without relations of any sort with the Roman Catholic Church, he died. So long as he lived he had never been called to account for his opinions by any official authority of the dominant Church. The attacks upon him were by private persons, and his protectors had always been men of the highest standing. After his death, in the zeal of the Roman Catholic reaction, his writings were honored with a distinguished place on the Index of prohibited books, and his name has generally had an evil sound in Roman Catholic ears. The extraordinary popularity of his books, however, has been shown in the immense number of editions and translations that have appeared from the sixteenth century until now, and in the undiminished interest excited by his elusive but fascinating personality.

Desiderius Erasmus was a famous Dutch Renaissance Humanist and Catholic Christian theologian. Erasmus lived in a time where there were many critics of the various clerical abuses in the Church. Although a Catholic priest, Erasmus was among the many reformers to criticize popular Christian beliefs, abuses and practices. He also remained committed to a Catholic belief of free will, which many Protestant Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. Even though Erasmus rejected and attacked many Church abuses, Erasmus never sided with Protestantism and remained a faithful Catholic. Erasmus, whose Dutch name was Gerrit Gerritszoon, was born in Rotterdam on October 27 in either 1466 or 1469. Information on his early life and family comes mostly from references in his writings. His father, Roger Gerard, was a priest, and the only knowledge of his mother is that her name was Margaret and she was the daughter of a physician. Erasmus was cared for by his parents until both died as a result of the plague in 1483. After his parents death, he was given the best education available in a series of monastic or semi-monastic schools. In 1487, Erasmus entered the Augustinian monastery at Steyn and took monastic vows in 1488. In 1492, he was officially ordained a priest but found Steyn crude and rustic. Shortly after being ordained his intellectual talent was rewarded when the bishop of Cambrai employed Erasmus as his secretary in 1493. After two years as the Bishop’s secretary his work was rewarded with a salary for study in Paris, France. With the move to Paris, Erasmus met many new people and scholars. He moved from subject to subject, writing poetry and experimenting with the styles of educational writing. This led Erasmus to the publication of Adagia, and Colloquia. In 1499 Erasmus met a student who took him to England. Erasmus’s trip to England was life changing. While in England, Erasmus found that English humanists were studying scripture, Church leaders, and they were also working towards the reformation of the Catholic Church. In England, Erasmus developed friendships with John Colet and Sir Thomas More who inspired Erasmus’s interest in religious studies, and turned him to the Greek language as the key for his research. In 1506 Erasmus traveled to Italy. While in Italy Erasmus anonymously published Julius Exclusus. In Julius Exclusus St. Peter bars Julius from heaven and harshly speaks against his wars and treasures. Erasmus polished his Greek in Italy and formed a relationship with the printing house of Aldus Manutius in Venice, the first link to publishing his writings that secured his financial and professional independence. After three years in Italy, Erasmus returned to England in 1509. When Erasmus returned he was disappointed with the Church’s wars and its clergy’s weaknesses. This inspired him to write Encomium Moriae (The Praise of Folly). The Praise of Folly was a commentary of the obstacles restricting the fulfillment of Christ’s teaching. In 1516 Erasmus published an annotated version of the New Testament which was the first Greek text. Then in 1519 he published his edition on St. Jerome in nine folio volumes. Erasmus spent the last years of his life in multiple controversies between Ulrich von Hutten, Luther, and Sorbonne. In 1536 he died in Basel where he spent most of his final years. During his last years, Erasmus enjoyed great fame and consideration. In his time Erasmus published many famous books and writings and was also known for taking a stand against the Catholic Church. That is why he is still considered one of the most famous humanist writers.
 * Desiderius Erasmus: Script**

//Desiderius Erasmus (C. 1466-1536).// Retrieved September 27, 2008, from http://www.tlogical.net/bioerasmus.htm //Desiderius Erasmus Biography.// Retrieved September 28, 2008, from http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Erasmus-Desiderius.html //Desiderius Erasmus.// Retreived September 27, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus //Desiderius Erasmus, 1466-1536.// Retrieved September 27, 2008, from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/erasmus.html
 * References**