Erasmus of Rotterdam
Erasmus of Rotterdam (Dutch: Desiderius Erasmus van Rotterdam; Latin: Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus; Rotterdam or Gouda, 28 October 1466 - Basel, July 12, 1536), also known in Spanish as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Christian humanist philosopher, philologist and theologian, considered one of the greatest scholars of the Nordic Renaissance.
As a Catholic priest, Erasmus was a major figure in classical scholarship who wrote new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament that raised issues that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. He lived in the context of the growing European religious reform. Although he criticized abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he stayed away from Luther, Henry VIII and John Calvin and continued to acknowledge the authority of the Pope.
His work, much broader and more complex, includes essays and treatises on a very wide range of topics. He remains best known today for his work Elogio a la locura (1511) and to a lesser extent, for his Adagios (1500), an anthology of more than four thousand Greek citations. and glossed Latinas, Colloquies (1522), a collection of didactic essays on various subjects, and De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio (1524), a response to the teachings on the Luther's free will.
Name
Desiderius Erasmus was called Erasmus from his birth. He owes his name to the fact that his father Gerard was a devotee of Saint Erasmus, very popular in the XV century. At an early age, he left his hometown of Rotterdam, the name of his hometown becoming part of his own name. He himself defined his name in Latin as Desiderius Erasmus Roteradamus in 1506, with variations from the typical spelling of those years. His name can be found with a vast variation in his spelling: Desiderius we can find it as Desyderius or in Spanish as Desiderio ; Erasmus can be found with the variations of Herasmus, Erasmi, or in Latin and Spanish as Erasmus; and in the case of Roteradamus we can find variants such as Rotteradamus, Roterdamus, Rotterdammus, Rotterdammensis, or in Latin Rotterdami or Rotterdamo, or in Spanish Rotterdam or Rotterdam or the use of the name of the city preceded by the particle "von" or "van" or "of" or "de", depending on the language in which it is referred to; plus the possible combinations between these variations.
In the 17th century a legend arose that he would have been known in his youth as Geert Geertsen (meaning "Gerardo, son of Gerardo", as his father was called), with the variants of Gerhard Garhards or Gerrit Gerritsz.
Biography
Origin and formation
Although there is no official record of his birth year, it is known that he was born at dawn on October 28. His statue in Rotterdam shows the year of birth 1467, but after research carried out by Harry Vredeveld in 1993, today 1466 is considered the most acceptable year. He was the bastard son of Gerard, a priest from Gouda, and his servant Margaretha Rogerius (Rutgers), something narrated by Charles Reade in his famous historical novel The cloister and hearth (1861). At the age of nine he was sent to the Deventer school of the Brothers of the Common Life, where he had his first contacts with the spiritual movement of devotio moderna and learned Latin and some Greek with the revolutionaries. educational methods of its director and teacher, the humanist Alexander Hegius von Heek.
At the age of eighteen he entered the monastery of Emmaus de Steyn (near Gouda) of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, a monastery that also participated in the spirituality of devotio moderna. In 1488 he made his religious profession and four years later he was ordained a priest. Shortly after his ordination, he obtained permission from his superiors to work as secretary to the Bishop of Cambrai, Henry of Bergen, who gave him a scholarship, around 1495, to study theology at the University of Paris, an institution that was then located living with great force the Renaissance of the culture of Greece and Rome. There he made friends with the famous ascetic Juan Momber and with one of the first humanists in Paris, Roberto Gaguin. Possibly at this stage are the beginnings of Erasmus's humanist thought, which turned the young man into a free thinker and teacher of independent ideas.
Erasmus never returned to monastic life although the Church regularized his status in 1517 when he was already a famous author and public figure.
Trip to England: Teaching and the x#34;Adagios#34;
Between 1499 and 1500 he traveled to London, where he had the opportunity to hear John Colet give a major lecture on the life of Saint Paul at Oxford University. Once it was finished, Erasmus approached John Colet and had a long conversation with him on how to carry out a truly humanist reading of the Bible that deeply marked his thinking. Such was his admiration for Colet that "Erasmus, who recognized no other teacher than himself, gave him only the title of praeceptor unicus ".
In that same year of 1500, and with the collaboration of Publio Fausto Andrelini, Erasmus wrote his Adagios, which are more than 690 proverbs and morals from the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome, together with with comments on its origin and meaning. Some of those sayings are still used today. He worked on the Adagios for the rest of his life, to such an extent that the collection had grown and already contained 3,400 in 1521, being 4,500 at the time of his death. The book sold successfully and went on to have more than 60 editions.
He began lecturing as a tenured professor of theology at the University of Cambridge in England, during the reign of Henry VIII, where he made lifelong friendships: the aforementioned John Colet, Thomas More, Thomas Linacre, and John Fisher, "men of great Christian humanism and a theology founded on the Bible and the fathers of the Church". He was offered a lifetime job at Queen's College, Cambridge University and may have He could have spent the rest of his life teaching sacred sciences to the best of English royalty and nobility if he wanted to. However, his restless and traveling nature and his curious spirit, together with an uncontrollable rejection of anything that meant routine, made him decline that position and all those that were subsequently offered to him.
Trip to Italy
Between 1506 and 1509 he lived in Italy, most of the time working in a printing press. In 1506 he received the title of doctor of theology. Several more times he was offered serious and well-paid jobs, especially as a professor, to which he replied that he preferred not to accept them, because what he earned in printing, although it was not much It was enough for him.
From these connections with universities and with writers who went to print, Erasmus began to surround himself with those who thought like him and rejected the abuses of the clergy and ignorant monks. His fame gradually spread throughout Italy, and his ideas on intellectual and religious elevation began to be known and discussed; However, not everyone sympathized with Erasmus, as there were those who rejected his ideas, and these opponents began to criticize him both in public and in private. Although he enjoyed the admiration of cardinals Giovanni de Medici, later Pope Leo X, and Domenico Grimani, they "could not persuade him to take up residence in Rome and he refused offers of ecclesiastical promotions", returning to England.
The fight against discipline and institutions
We do not know which of the three educational institutions in which Erasmus was interned was the cause of the deep rejection that he felt all his life towards the authoritarianism that prevented him from thinking freely.[citation required] It could have been elementary school (ages 8 to 13), the Augustinian convent (ages 16 to 22), or the University of Paris (mid-1490s), when she was over 24 years.
As a result of his stay in one of them, or in all three, Erasmus developed a feeling of rejection towards the institution and came to the conclusion that both schools and universities and, in general, many times the same Church, prevented free thinking. From then on he opposed any kind of authority [citation needed ] and sought greater freedom by reading classical Greek and Latin writers. Perhaps it was the discipline methods applied to the students in the three schools,[citation needed] that led him to distance himself from the authorities. What no one could foresee was that Erasmo's will would resist being "broken"; until the very day of his death. On the other hand, he was enraged to see the discipline that was applied to the students. [citation needed ]
At the university, he realized that instead of teaching new ideas, scholastic discussion continued to be practiced with great importance, demanding a return to genuine sources, through the rigorous application of the critical historical method.
Erasmus soon decided that he could do something to reverse the situation: with the ideas of his friends from the Augustinian monasteries and some other ideas of John Colet, he began to carefully analyze the most important books of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, trying to modernize their contents and trying to apply them to the life of the society in which he lived, trying to extract the most significant of them, so that anyone could understand them and penetrate their meaning.
He never stopped fighting the spiritual jail he observed everywhere, in all educational, intellectual, political and social institutions of his time. This would carry numerous problems throughout his career.
FAMA AND LITERARY PRODUCTIVITY
When returning to England around 1509, Erasmus wrote one of his most famous works, praise of madness that in a short time reached seven editions. The idea was to distribute it only in private circles, "for its criticisms of the abuses and follies of the various kinds of society, especially the Church." His fame would be known throughout Europe, from everywhere he would correspond to the intention of being advised by him.
It was there that perhaps its greatest literary productivity reached. He did it at an age already /Sup> That's why he first worried about becoming a true teacher in the use of prose in Latin language. It was the clearest language he found, the most appropriate to convey complex ideas, and the most useful to convey their ideas to all of Europe.
While in the imperial city of Basel, where he was forced to retire due to the untenable situation of Leuven in Flemish Brabant, his former home as an employee of Emperor Charles V, Erasmus felt the warmth of the place, which made him he received with hospitality and cordial attention, and once again surrounded himself with friends and followers who had begun to believe in him and his ideas. There he dedicated himself to the critical edition of the New Testament, around 1516. He found in John Froben a competent printer and editor for his work, which he will call Novum Instrumentum .
If it is considered that Erasmus's conviction was to educate, so that the student could doubt the administration and public affairs of the Church and the government, his apparent contradictions disappear and the enormous coherence of his work begins to be clearly visualized, firmly maintained through the years and decades.[citation needed]
Erasmus and Martin Luther
Erasmus did not know Martin Luther personally, nor did he adhere to the Protestant Reformation; however, Luther said on many occasions that one of his sources of inspiration was Erasmus's translation of the New Testament; that translation had immediately come to the attention of the great reformer, and he studied it in detail until the end of his life. Luther's love for this version unleashed a flood of translations, which for the first time made the New Testament available to people who could not read Latin. In 1522, six years after Erasmus's publication, Luther translated the Bible for the first time into German. In turn, Luther's German version was the basis for William Tyndale's first English translation in 1526.
Followers of Martin Luther spread across Europe a year after the publication of the New Testament in Greek by Erasmus of Rotterdam, putting the translator in a difficult position of public exposure. Luther cried out from the four winds that the work of Erasmus had helped him to see the truth, so the eyes of the Church began to fall on Erasmus, who supposedly had taken the initial step of the Reformation that would end up dividing Christianity. This situation was not easy for Erasmus, given his character and the little sympathy he felt for the Church and for the Pope. The conflict between the Church and the Lutherans became apparent to the whole world, and both sides immediately demanded that those who had not taken sides choose sides. What neither Luther nor the Pope understood was that, in the individualistic mind of the sage, siding with Catholics or Protestants was equally repugnant to him. He was not willing to collaborate with either side, because he cared more about his freedom of thought and his individual and intellectual independence, he believed that this freedom would be lost if he joined either side, so he refused to take sides.
The religious conflict
Throughout his life, Erasmus had been consistent in his criticism of the established powers and the abuses that religious evildoers made of them. Finding himself involved in the trap of taking sides, he had to explain himself and say publicly that his attacks had never been directed against the Church as an institution, much less against God as a source of intelligence and justice, but only against the bad bishops and friars who won money selling paradise and committed other religious crimes such as simony.
Erasmus was able to get away with it and was believed, mainly because his work with the Bible confirmed his faith and his enormous public outreach had made him a beloved and admired character by Catholics and Protestants alike. However, Erasmus agreed with some of Luther's ideas, especially his criticisms of the way the Church was administered. The German reformer, for his part, always defended the ideas of Erasmus, arguing that they were the result of clean work and a superior mind.
Martin Luther soon began to pressure Erasmus to present himself as the visible face of the reformists, to which the Dutchman completely refused. For its part, the papacy also pressured Erasmus to write against the Protestants. The refusal to work for one side or the other was interpreted by both as cowardice and disloyalty. The Church accused him with a famous phrase: "You laid the egg and Luther hatched it", to which the theologian responded with the no less well-known irony: "Yes, but I expected a chicken from another class".
The doctrinal discussion
Unintentionally, Erasmus' support for the development of Lutheranism had an effect on religion contrary to what he wanted. By reviving the ideals of the saintly founder of the Augustinian order, Protestantism gave great impetus to the interest and personal commitment of the faithful in religion.
But Erasmus had always fought to change the abuses that monks, churchmen and princes made of Christian ideas, but not the ideas themselves. He affirmed that the reform could be carried out perfectly without resorting to doctrinal changes. Only twice in his life did he allow himself to be involved in polemics on matters of doctrine, since he considered them alien to his real life task. One of the themes that he dealt with in great depth was that of freedom, which was closer to the ideas of Luther's reform than to the rigor characteristic of Catholic spirituality of the time. In 1524, Erasmus recognized and attacked the exaggerations of Luther about human freedom in the text De libero arbitrio diatribe [Discussion on free will].
With the yearning for scientific truth that guided his work and the desire to pacify the factions, Erasmus analyzes the contrary arguments of the Catholics and ends up concluding that both positions contain parts of the truth. Erasmus affirms that, in truth, man is born tied to sin, but that he also has the appropriate ways to ask God to allow him to untie himself and it is up to the sinner to know how to take advantage of them. To this work De libero arbitrio diatribe [Discussion on free will] Martin Luther responded with another book entitled De servo arbitrio [De slave freedom]; and Erasmus in turn responded with his two-volume work entitled Hyperaspistes .
Last years
Erasmus spent the last years of his life hounded by Catholics and Reformers. Those were bitter times due to the harsh disputes with men whom Erasmus had loved and respected in the past, but who did not forgive him for the fact that he had not wanted to take sides and tried to discredit him in his old age.
The most notable verbal dispute was with Ulrich von Hutten, a brilliant scholar but with an unstable character, who had turned to Lutheranism with all the strength of his heart. Hutten said that "Erasmus, if he has any decency left, he has to do the same." In his book "Spongia adversus adspergines Hutteni" from 1523, he accuses Hutten of having misunderstood him about his support for the Reformation and reaffirms his iron determination not to take sides in the dispute, whatever arguments the disputing parties tried to use to convince him.
The Swiss city of Basel, where Erasmus lived since 1521, officially adhered to the Protestant Reformation in 1529, so he moved away from there and established his residence in the imperial city of Freiburg im Breisgau, where he continued his activity literary, reaching the conclusion of the most important work of this period: the Ecclesiasticus, a paraphrase of the biblical book of the same name, where the author affirms that the work of preaching is the only truly important office of the faith catholic. In 1521 he met Johannes a Lasco, the future Frisian reformer, who became one of his favorite students. The thinker's latest work, entitled Preparation for Death, ensures that having led a full, probable and honest life is the only condition for achieving a "happy death".
Pope Paul III granted him an income in the Deventer priory in 1534, so he decided to return to his homeland with the intention of spending the last years of his life there. However, for work reasons —Johann Froben continued to publish his works— he moved once more to Basel in 1535 shortly after the publication of the book of Ecclesiasticus, but due to severe gout, who did not allow him to undertake the journey, he was forced to stay in the city.
He died in Basel on the night of July 11-12, 1536. He enjoyed considerable respect among Protestant communities and for this reason, despite being a Catholic priest, he was buried in Basel Cathedral. Part of his legacy is on display at the Basel History Museum.
His lifelong motto was[citation required]:
"When I have some money, I buy books. If there's anything left, I buy clothes and food. »
Thought
Reform of the Christian life
Erasmus wanted to use his university education and his ability to convey ideas, to clarify Catholic doctrines and make the Church allow more freedom of thought. But these goals were not shared by many bishops of the 16th century century. It is important to note that his & # 34; war & # 34; It was not against the dogmas of the Church, but against the moral life and external pious practices of people, often inconsistent, especially ecclesiastics.
From his work as an academic versed in both doctrine and monastic life, Erasmus believed that his obligation was to free the Church from the paralysis to which the rigidity of thought and the institutions of the Middle Ages condemned it, since he believed that the Renaissance was a fundamentally new way of thinking. He sought to purify Christianity of the accessory and catchiness that had been attached to it over time, through an authentic and non-formal spirituality, stripped of oppressive rites. In short, for him, the practice of religion must be illuminated with the original sources: the Word of God and the Fathers of the Church. On this basis he redirected, at least theoretically, the Christian's spiritual life to baptism, "which introduces man to a horizon of freedom and love."
For Erasmus, the consecrated life does not add anything to the Christian, it does not represent a higher degree of life, because it is not the place (monastery or convent) that changes the condition of man, but the condition of the baptized.
Theology Reform
For the humanist from Rotterdam, the purpose of theology is to discover Christ, hence his fight against scholasticism based, according to him, on "empty discussions that contribute nothing to the conversion of man." For this reason, the gospel must be accessible to all people and in all languages, with the aim of helping Christians to return to an interior religion, centered on the imitation of Christ.
Legacy
Works
In 1503 he published the first of his most important books: the Enchiridion militiis christiani (Manual of the Christian Knight, sometimes called The Dagger of Christ). In this small volume Erasmus explains the main aspects of the Christian life, which he would later spend the rest of his life developing and deepening.
The key to everything, he says in the book, is sincerity. Evil is hidden within formalism, within blind respect for tradition, within unnecessary consumption, within organizations that refuse to change, but never in the teaching of Christ.
During his stay in England he began an in-depth study of the books of the New Testament, to prepare a new edition in Latin translation and his New Testament in Greek. Published by Johann Froben in Basel in 1516, the Erasmian version of these books deepened Biblical studies during the process of the Protestant Reformation. In fact, Martin Luther based his transcendental scientific study of the Bible on this new translation, from which he would draw the foundation for his later ideas. That is why Erasmus' work had historical consequences that continue to this day and can be found at the very genesis of Protestantism and the new Christian churches.
Erasmus's Greek version of the New Testament is the basis for the English version, known as the King James Bible (lit. "of King James", for James I of England, sometimes called King James's). It has the virtue of representing the first approach since the time of an academic's version of the Vulgate to accurately translate the content of the Bible. In a gesture often interpreted as profound irony, Erasmus dedicated his version of the Bible to Pope Leo X, who represented everything the writer hated in Church and State.
As soon as the text was published, Erasmus immediately undertook the writing of his surprising "Paraphrase of the New Testament," which in several volumes and in a simple and popular language makes it available to anyone who knows how to read the texts. complete contents of the Gospels, delving precisely into even its most complex ideas. The impact of Erasmus's work, despite being written in Latin, was enormous in Renaissance society and, therefore, it was immediately translated into all the vernacular languages of European countries. Erasmus liked and appreciated these translations, because he understood that they would make his work available to many people, something that he could never achieve in the original in the Latin language.
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Among the main works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, without being an exhaustive list, are the following:
- Adagios (first edition in 1500; edited and increased by the author in 1508, 1518, 1520, 1523, 1526, 1528, 1533 and 1536)
- Enchiridion militis Christiani (Manual of the Christian Knight(1503)
- De ratione studii (About the study method(1511)
- Enchomion moriae seu laus stultitiae (The praise of madness(1511)
- Institutio principis christiani (Education of the Christian Prince(1516) dedicated to Carlos V
- Novum Instrumentum (New Testament in Greek—called Textus Receptus— and their translation into Latin” (1516) [1]
- New Testament Paraphrase (1516)
- Colloquia (1517), unauthorized edition. Successive edits corrected and increased by the author in 1519, 1522, 1526, 1530
- Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni (1523)
- De libero arbitrio diatribe ("Discussion on Free Will") (1524) that triggered Luther's response with his "De servo arbitrio"
- First volume Hyperaspistes (Superscudo) (1526), replica Of servo arbitrio of Luther
- Second volume Hyperaspistes (1527)
- De pueris statim ac liberaliter instituendis (On the firm but kind teaching of children(1528)
- Ciceronianus, sive of optimo saydi genere (The Ciceronian(1528)
- Utilissima consultationtio of beautiful turcis inferendo (Useful consultation on whether the war on the Turks is to be waged(1530)
- Ecclesiastes (treatment of preaching) and Prepartio ad mortem (Preparation for death(1534)
Letters
Erasmus's letters are interesting: they contain 500 of the most prominent men in the world of politics and thought who wrote to him to ask for his help, support or advice. Many of them respected Erasmus's word, but not all.
Despite its magnificent variety, quantity, and quality, the most interesting thing about Erasmus's correspondence is his endless exchange with the Protestant leader Martin Luther.
From the very beginning of their relationship, Erasmus and Luther exchanged a multitude of letters, which have survived and shed important light on their characters and the type of relationship that united them.
In the first messages, the reformer never tires of exaggeratingly praising the work carried out by Erasmus in favor of a greater and better Christianity, but without mentioning the Reformation that he himself intended to undertake. Later, he begins begging and then demanding that Erasmus abandon Catholicism and join the newly formed Protestant faction.
Erasmus responds with words of understanding, respect, and sympathy for the reformist cause, but—as was his custom—graciously refused to commit to any kind of partisan attitude. He explains to Luther that becoming a religious leader at his side would destroy his reputation as a scholar and jeopardize his works of pure thought, a job that had taken him decades and was his only interest and the goal of his existence..
Luther replies that, contrary to what Erasmus believes, the only way to effect a real and complete reform of the Church is to abandon the books and actually become a spiritual leader of the people.
Erasmus recognizes that Luther's great contribution has been to gather and organize the hitherto scattered attempts at reform, thanks him for his efforts and courage but definitely refuses to join him in his task.
Censorship
All of Erasmus's works were censored and included in the "Index of Prohibited Works" by the Council of Trent. They were similarly denounced by most Protestant thinkers.[citation needed]
Influence in Spain
Erasmus was, in a time, more influential in Spain than in any other country. Erasmus's influence in Spain was studied by Marcel Batailon in Erasme et l, like Albert Sicroff; But during Franco, like so many other books, it could not be edited or sold in Spain.
posthumous tributes
Erasmus has been tribute countless times. There are many schools, colleges and universities that are named after the University of Róterdam.
The European Community network for academic exchanges also bears the name of the Erasmus program in tribute to the multinational and European character of the humanistic philosopher.
erasmus in art
Erasmus was represented in portraits by various painters; some got to know him but others had to resort to other people's images. Early portrait painters of him include Quentin Metsys; an effigy painted by him was taken as a model by Dürer for an engraved portrait of Erasmus, not true to his features as he himself judged.
Hans Holbein the Younger was the main portraitist of Erasmus; he painted various versions of the effigy of him and in return Erasmus gave him letters of recommendation for a good job in London. Around 1630, Anton van Dyck drew on one of these portraits, from 1530, for an engraving for his Iconography series. Although he did not complete the engraving due to technical deficiencies, the plate was printed in several editions that are now highly valued. Another engraving was made in the near future by Lucas Vorsterman I.