The New Student's Reference Work/Erasmus, Desiderius

Eras′mus, Desiderius, a Dutch scholar and philosopher, was born at Rotterdam, according to the date on his statue, in 1467. His guardians tried to induce him to enter a monastery, in order to obtain his property, and Erasmus, to please them, agreed to attend the Augustinian College of Sion, near Delft, where for six years he led the life of a monk. This life probably made him the bitter and sarcastic enemy of the monks that he was during the remainder of his life. He studied and taught in Paris till 1498. Among his pupils was Lord Mountjoy, at whose invitation, probably, he made his first visit to England, in 1498. He spent his time there mostly at Oxford. Six years spent in Paris give us the Adagia, a collection of Greek and Latin proverbs, and the Christian Soldier's Dagger. Another visit to England was made at the accession of Henry VIII, and on this journey he planned his Praise of Folly, a satire on kings and monks. He was professor of divinity and also of Greek, at Cambridge, for the next few years. In 1519 appeared his most famous work, the Colloquia, a series of talks on everyday subjects, the sharpness and boldness of which did much to prepare the minds of the people for the work of Luther. In 1516 his edition of the New Testament in Greek, the first published Greek text, appeared. He also edited scores of Greek and Latin texts. When the Reformation came, Erasmus stood between the two parties, and the last years of his life were spent in a long dispute and struggle with the friends and foes of the new religion, neither of whom he satisfied. In spite of these troubles, he enjoyed fame and consideration beyond that of any man-of-letters before or since. He died at Basel, Switzerland, July 12, 1536. See Essays by Milman, Life by Drummond, Letters edited by Froude and Life by Emerton.