Erasmus09

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Desiderius Erasmus was the illegitament son a monk and young vagabond. He was born in 1466 in Rotterdam England. His father was Roger Gerhard and he was named Gerrit Gerritszoon, which meant Gerard Gerardson in Dutch. Much later he changed his name to Erasmus which was the German Gerard then took the additional name of Desiderius, the latin form of Erasmus. Both names meant "longed-for."

As a young child, both of his parents died and he and his brother, Peter, were sent to The Brother of the Common Life monastery by their new guardian, their uncle. There they studied deep into the Catholic faith and were to become priests. Erasmus didn't see it like his brother did. His brother was ordained and he was dismissed because of his many disputes with his piers and church officials. After, he went to Steyn, a more libral monastery where he was able to practice his beliefs freely. He was eventually ordained in 1492.

His first adventure was to the College of Montaigu in Paris. After he gratuated, he moved back to England and started teaching pupils the belief of free literary expression. While in England, he had time to get to know powerful men including King Henry VIII, Thomas Moore, John Colet, and William Grocyn. He was offered many powerful postions in the academic world but declined them all for the love of literary independence. Much later, he and many other scholars were placed in the same residence for 3 years, but Erasmus left because of many quarrels between the other men. He moved to Basil and escaped his "persecution." There he was welcomed by the Swiss and practice more religious and literary freedom.

In their early discussions, Martin Luther and Erasmus agreed on most aspects of religion and therefore were colleagues. But eventually when Luther asked Erasmus to commit himself to the Lutheran party, Erasmus could not, for he did not see the reasoning in choosing sides when it came to religion. Erasmus did not disagree with everything the church stood for and soon Luther saw him as a traitor. Although they had their disagreements they did not lash out at each other, but stayed civilized at their meetings.

Erasmus's last few years were spent in Basel, under the neutrality of Catholic and Protestant conditions. He still practiced his literary activities and was not ridiculed in Basel unlike in England. He died among his friends in 1536. His works were translated into many different languages at the time and were famous in Catholic banned books.


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Early Life:** Desiderius Erasmus Roterdamus (officially) was born illegitimately in 1466 in Rotterdam, England. He and his brother were born to Roger Gerhard and his lover, Margret. Not long after Erasmus was born, Gerhard left his sons and Margret to become a monk. Erasmus and his older brother, Peter, were left to live with their mom until they were both old enough to enter into the school “The Brother of the Common Life.”While there, the plague had hit England and his mother had died. When Erasmus returned home in, his guardians immediately forced him into the monastery. There, he clashed with monastic officials and claimed that the monks were immoral and the rules were unfair. Besides, it wasn’t his dream to be a member of the clergy like his brother; he wanted to become a scholar. In 1488 after being forced to leave the monastery, he couldn’t afford a university education, so he enrolled in Steyn, a more liberal Augustinian monastery. He was eventually ordained in 1492.


 * Travels:**

Almost immediately after his consecration, he left to study at the University of Paris or Collège Montaigu. After he finished his studies, he found refuge in teaching pupils. " From this time on Erasumus led the life of an independent scholar, independent of country, of academic ties, of religious allegiance, of everything that could interfere with the free development of his intellect and the freedom of his literary expression." His home in England allowed him to come in contact with powerful men, one of whom being King Henry VIII. Also among these influential people was John Colet, Thomas More, Thomas Linacre, and William Grocyn. At Cambridge he was honored and held in high regard by the “professor of divinity,” Lady Margaret. He was offered many positions of honor and profit in the academic world, but declined them all on account of enthusiasm for independent literary activity. In Italy he spent three years (1506 - 1509), part of the time in the publishing house of Aldus Manutius at Venice, but otherwise with far less active association with Italian scholars than might have been expected. In the residence of Louvain, his colleagues were hostile to the principles of literary and religious progress, which he was devoting his life to. From this lack of sympathy, which he considered “persecution,” he moved to Basel. There he was welcomed by the Swiss, who admired his beliefs and allowed him to express freely.

In their early communication Luther expressed in vast terms his admiration for all Erasmus had done in the cause of a sound and reasonable Christianity, and exhorted him now to put the seal upon his work by combining with the Lutheran party. Erasmus replied with high regard for Lutheran, but declined to commit himself to any party. His argument was that, “to do so would endanger his position as a leader in the movement for pure scholarship which he regarded as his real work in life. Only through that position as an independent scholar could he hope to influence the reform of religion.” The good work that Luther had done was only starting a new doctrinal base for the past attempts to reform in reviving the half forgotten principle of the Augustinian theology. Luther had given the needed urge to that private awareness in religion which is the core of Protestantism. Erasmus could not approve. He dreaded any change in the doctrine of the Church and believed that there was enough room within existing methods for the kind of reform he valued most. Twice in the course of this great discussion, he allowed himself to enter the field of doctrinal debate, a field unfamiliar alike to his nature and his previous practice. One of the topics formally treated by him was the freedom of the will, the critical point in the whole Augustinian system. In his //De libero arbitrio sive collatio// (1524), he questions the Lutheran statement of the limits upon human freedom. His position was the position had the Church had always taken in dealing with the problem of sin: “that Man was bound to sin, but that he had a right to the forgiving mercy of God, if only he would seek this through the means offered by the Church.”
 * Views of the Religion/ Conflicts with Luther:**

His last years were resentful by disagreements with men toward whom only cared for their own sakes. Among them was his pupil Ulrich von Hutten who had his heart and mind into the Lutheran cause and had said that it would be smart for Erasmus to do the same. In his reply, //Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni//, he accuses Hutton of having misinterpreted Erasmus’s thoughts about reform and talks about how it is in his mind to never take sides. When the city of Basel was definitely and officially “reformed” in 1529, Erasmus gave up his home and settled in the imperial town of Freiburg-im-Breiagau. It seemed like he found it easier to maintain his neutrality under Roman Catholic than under Protestant conditions. His literary activity continued, mainly on the appearance of religious and useful work. For unknown reasons Erasmus once more decided to return Basel, and returned in 1535 after he had been gone for six years. While in Basel, he was among his Protestant friends and was happy. After his death in 1536, his writings were honored with a place on the index of banned books, and his name has generally had an evil sound in Roman Catholic ears. The popularity of his book has been shown in the number of translations of his books.
 * Erasmus's Last Few Years:**


 * Bibliography:**

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[McConica,%20JM%20(1991).%20Erasmus.%20Oxford:%20Oxford%20University%20Press. |http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/erasmus.htm]

[McConica,%20JM%20(1991).%20Erasmus.%20Oxford:%20Oxford%20University%20Press. |Augustijn, CA (1991). //Erasmus: His Life, Works, and Influence//. Toronto: Toronto Press.McConica, JM (1991). //Erasmus//. Oxford: Oxford University Press.]