Online Encyclopedia

enthusiasm for the religious life, sent the boys to another school at Hertogenbosch; and when they returned after two or three years, prevailed on them to enter monasteries .

Peter went to See also:

SION [Ger. Sitten]

Sion, near See also:

DELFT

Delft; Erasmus after prolonged reluctance became an Augustinian See also:

CANON

canon in St See also:

Gregory's at See also:

STEYN, MARTINUS THEUNIS (1857– )

Steyn, a See also:

house of the same See also:

CHAPTER (a shortened form of chapiter, a word still used in architecture for a capital; derived from O. Fr. chapitre, Lat. capitellum, diminutive of caput, head)

Chapter near Gouda . There he found little See also:

religion and less refinement; but no serious difficulty seems to have been made about his See also:

READING

reading the See also:

CLASSICS

classics and the Fathers with his See also:

friends to his See also:

heart's content . The monastery once entered, there was no See also:

DRAWING

drawing back; and Erasmus passed through the various stages which culminated in his ordination as See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest on the 25th of See also:

APRIL

April 1492 . But his ardent spirit could not See also:

long be content with monastic life . He brought his attainments somehow to the See also:

NOTICE

notice of See also:

Henry of See also:

BERGEN

Bergen, See also:

bishop of See also:

CAMBRAI

Cambrai, the leading See also:

PRELATE (Lat. praelatus, set above, from praefero, prefer)

prelate at the See also:

court of See also:

BRUSSELS (Fr. Bruxelles, Flem. Brussel)

Brussels; and about 1494 permission was obtained for him to leave Steyn and become Latin secretary to the bishop, who was then preparing for a visit to See also:

Rome . But the See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey was abandoned, and after some months Erasmus found that even with occasional chances to read at Groenendael, the life of a court was hardly more favourable to study than that of Steyn . At the See also:

SUGGESTION

suggestion of a friend, See also:

James Batt, he applied to his See also:

PATRON

patron for leave to go to See also:

Paris University . The bishop consented and promised a small See also:

PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension; and in See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1495 Erasmus entered the " domus pauperum " of the See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college of Montaigu, which was then under the somewhat rigid See also:

RULE

rule of the reformer See also:

Jan Standonck . He at once introduced himself to the distinguished See also:

French historian and diplomatist See also:

Robert Gaguin (1425–1502) and published a small See also:

VOLUME

volume of poems; and he became intimate with Johann Mauburnus (Mombaer), the See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader of a See also:

MISSION

mission summoned from Windesheim in 1496 to reform the See also:

abbey of See also:

CHATEAU (from Lat. castellum, fortress, through O. Fr. chastel, chasteau)

Chateau-See also:

Landon . But the life at Montaigu was too hard for him . Every See also:

LENT (0. Eng. lenclen, " spring," M. Eng. lenten, lente, lent; cf. Dut. lente, Ger. Lenz, " spring," 0. H. Ger. lenzin, lengizin, lenzo, probably from the same root as " long " and referring to " the lengthening days ")

Lent he See also:

fell See also:

ill and had to return to See also:

Holland to recover . He continued to read nevertheless for a degree in See also:

THEOLOGY

theology, and at some time completed the requirements for the B.D .

After a year or two he left Montaigu and eked out his See also:

MONEY

money from the bishop by taking pupils . One of these, a See also:

young Englishman, William See also:

Blount, 4th See also:

Baron See also:

MOUNTJOY (or MoNTJoY), BARONS AND VISCOUNTS

Mountjoy (d . 1534), persuaded him to visit See also:

England in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring of 1499 . Being without a See also:

BENEFICE (Lat. beneficium, benefit)

benefice, he had no settled income to look to, and apart from the See also:

PRECARIOUS

precarious profits of teaching and See also:

writing books, could only wait on the generosity of patrons to See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply him with the leisure he craved . The faithful Batt had sought a pension for him from his own patroness, See also:

Anne of Borsselen, the See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady of See also:

VEERE

Veere, who resided at the See also:

castle of Tournehem near See also:

CALAIS

Calais, and whose son Batt was now teaching . But as nothing promised at once, Erasmus accepted Mountjoy's offer, and thus a tie was formed which led Mountjoy then or a few years later to See also:

grant him a pension of £20 for life . Otherwise the visit to England gave no See also:

hope of preferment; and in the summer Erasmus prepared to leave . He was delayed, and used the interval to spend two or three months at See also:

Oxford, where he found See also:

John See also:

Colet lecturing on the See also:

EPISTLE

Epistle to the See also:

Romans . Discussions between them on theological questions soon convinced Colet of Erasmus' See also:

worth, and he sought to persuade him to stay and See also:

TEACH [THATCH OR THACH], EDWARD (d. 1718)

teach at Oxford . But Erasmus could not be content with the See also:

Bible in Latin . Oxford could teach him no Greek, so away he must go . In See also:

JANUARY

January 15oo he returned to Paris, which though it could• offer no Greek teacher better than See also:

George Hermonymus, was at least a better centre for buying and for See also:

PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing books .

The next few years were spent still in preparation, supported by pupils' fees and the dedications of books; the Collectanea adagiorum in See also:

JUNE

June 1500 to Mountjoy, and some devotional and moral compositions to Batt's patroness and her son . When the See also:

PLAGUE (in Gr. Xotµos; in Lat. pestis, pestilentia)

plague drove him from Paris, he went to See also:

Orleans or Tournehem or St Omer, as the way opened . From 1502 to 1504 he was at See also:

LOUVAIN (Flem. Leuven)

Louvain, still declining to teach publicly; among his friends being the future See also:

Pope See also:

Adrian VI . In January 1504 the See also:

ARCHDUKE (Lat. archidux, Ger. Erzherzog)

archduke See also:

Philip gave him fifty livres for the See also:

PANEGYRIC

Panegyric which " ung religieux de l'ordre de St Augustin " had composed on his See also:

SPANISH

Spanish journey; and in October, ten more, for the See also:

MAINTENANCE (Fr. maintenance, from maintenir, to maintain, support, Lat. manu tenere, to hold in the hand)

maintenance of his studies . He had been working hard at Greek, of which he now See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt himself See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master, at the Fathers (above all at See also:

Jerome), and at the Epistles of St See also:

Paul, fulfilling the promise made to Colet in Oxford, to give himself to sacred learning . But the See also:

bent of his reading is shown by the See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript with which he returned to Paris at the See also:

close of 1504—See also:

VALLA, LORENZO, or LAURENTIUS (c. 1406-1457)

Valla's Annotations on the New Testament, which See also:

BADIUS, JODOCUS

Badius printed for him in 1505 . Shortly afterwards See also:

Lord Mountjoy invited him again to England, and this visit was more successful . He found in See also:

LONDON

London a circle of learned friends through whom he was introduced to William See also:

WARHAM, WILLIAM (c. 1450-1532)

Warham, See also:

ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

archbishop of See also:

Canterbury, See also:

Richard See also:

FOXE, JOHN (1516-1587)

Foxe, bishop of See also:

Winchester and other dignitaries . John See also:

Fisher (bishop of See also:

Rochester), who was then superintending the See also:

FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of See also:

Christ's College for the Lady See also:

Margaret, took him down to See also:

Cambridge for the See also:

king's visit; and at length the opportunity came to fulfil his See also:

DREAM (from a root dreug, connected with Germ. trugen, to deceive)

dream of seeing See also:

Italy . Baptista Boerio, the king's physician, engaged him to accompany his two sons thither as supervisor of their studies . In See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 15o6 he set See also:

FOOT

foot on that sacred See also:

SOIL

soil, and took his D.D. at See also:

TURIN

Turin . For a year he remained with his pupils at See also:

Bologna, and then, his engagement completed, negotiated with Aldus See also:

MANUTIUS

Manutius for a new edition of his Adagia upon a very different See also:

scale .

The volume of 1500 had been jejune, written when he knew nothing of Greek; 800 adages put together with scanty elucidations . In 1508 he had conceived a See also:

WORK

work on lines more to the See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste of the learned See also:

WORLD

world, full of See also:

apt and recondite learning, and now and again relieved by telling comments or lively anecdotes . Three thousand and more collected justified a new See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title—Chiliades adagiorum; and the author's reputation was now established . So secure in public favour did the See also:

BOOK

book in time become, that the See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of See also:

Trent, unable to suppress it and not daring to overlook it, ordered the preparation of a castrated edition . To See also:

print the Adagia he had gone to See also:

Venice, where he lived with See also:

ANDREA, GIOVANNI (1275-1348)

Andrea Torresano of Asola (Asulanus) and did the work of two men, writing and correcting See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof at the same time . When it was finished, with an ample re-See also:

DEDICATION (Lat. dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim, to announce)

dedication to Mountjoy, a new pupil' presented himself, Alexander See also:

Stewart, natural son of James IV. of See also:

Scotland—perhaps through a connexion formed in early days at Paris . They went together to See also:

SIENA

Siena and Rome and then on to See also:

CAMPANIA

Campania, thirsty under the summer See also:

sun . When they returned to Rome, his pupil departed to Scotland, to fall a few years later by his father's See also:

side at See also:

FLODDEN, or FLODDEN FIELD

Flodden; Erasmus also found a See also:

SUMMONS (Fr. semonce, from semonner or semondre, Lat. summonere, summonitio)

summons to See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call him northwards . On the See also:

DEATH

death of Henry VII . Lord Mountjoy, who had been companion to See also:

Prince Henry in his studies, had become a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person of influence . He wrote tq Erasmus of a See also:

LAND

land flowing with See also:

MILK (0. Eng. meoluc; from a common Indo-European root, cf. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ?t dXyetv)

milk and See also:

HONEY (Chin. me ; Sansk. madhu, mead, honey; cf. A.S. medo, medu, mead; Gr. p Xt, in which 0 or b is changed into X; Lat. mel ; Fr. miel ; A.S. hung ; Ger. Honig)

honey under the " divine " young king, and with Warham sent him £10 for journey money . At first Erasmus hesitated .

He had been disappointed in Italy, to find that he had not much to learn from its famed scholarship; but he had made many friends in Aldus's circle—See also:

MARCUS

Marcus See also:

MUSURUS, MARCUS (c. 147o-1517)

Musurus, John See also:

Lascaris, Baptista Egnatius, Paul Bombasius, Scipio Carteromachus; and his reception had been flattering, especially in Rome, where cardinals had delighted to See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour him . But to remain in Rome was to sell himself . He might have the leisure which was so indispensable, but at See also:

price of the freedom to read, think, write what he liked . He decided, therefore, to go, though with regrets; which returned upon him sometimes in after years, when the See also:

ENGLISH

English hopes had not See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit . In the autumn he reached London, and in See also:

Thomas More's house in Bucklersbury wrote the witty See also:

SATIRE (Lat. satira, satura; see below)

satire which See also:

Milton found "in every one's hands" at Cambridge in 1628, and which is read to this See also:

day . The Moriae encomium was a sign of his decision . In it See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings and princes, bishops and popes alike are shown to be in bondage to Folly; and no class of men is spared . Its author was willing to be beholden to any one for leisure; but he would be no See also:

man's slave . For the next eighteen months he is entirely lost to view; when he reappears in April 1511, he is leaving More's house and taking the Moria to be printed privily in Paris . Wherever they were spent, these must have been months of hard work, as were the years that followed . His time was now come . The long preparation and training, bought by privation and uncongenial toil, was over, and he was ready to apply himself to the scientific study of sacred letters .

His English patrons were liberal . Fisher sent him in August 1511 to teach in Cambridge; Warham gave him a benefice, Aldington in See also:

Kent, worth £33,6s.8d. a year, and in violation of his own rule commuted it for a pension of zo charged on the living; and the dedications of his books were fruitful . In Cambridge he completed his work on the New Testament, the Letters of Jerome, and See also:

SENECA

Seneca; and then in 1514, when there seemed no prospect of ampler preferment, he determined to See also:

TRANSFER (from Lat. transferre, to bear across, carry over)

transfer himself to See also:

Basel and give the results of his labours to the world . The origin of Erasmus's connexion with Johann See also:

FROBEN [FROBEN1us], JOANNES (c. 1460—1527)

Froben is not clear . In 1511 he was preparing to reprint his Adagia with Jodocus Badius, who in the following year was to have also Seneca and Jerome . But in 1513 Froben, who had just reprinted the Aldine Adagia, acquired through a bookseller-See also:

AGENT (from Lat. agere, to act)

agent Erasmus' amended copy which had been destined for Badius . That the agent was acting entirely on his own responsibility may be doubted; for within a few months Erasmus had decided to betake himself to Basel, bearing with him Seneca and Jerome, the latter to be incorporated in the See also:

GREAT

great edition which Johannes Amerbach and Froben had had in See also:

hand since 1510 . In See also:

Germany he was widely welcomed . The See also:

STRASSBURG, or STRASBURG (French Strasbourg)

Strassburg See also:

LITERARY

Literary Society feted him, and Johannes Sapidus, headmaster of the Latin school at See also:

SCHLETTSTADT

Schlettstadt, rode with him into Basel . Froben received him with open arms, and the presses were soon busy with his books . Through the See also:

winter of 1514–1515 Erasmus worked with the strength of ten; and after a brief visit to England in the spring, the New Testament was set up . Around him was a circle of students, some young, some already distinguished—the three sons of Froben's partner, Johannes Amerbach, who was now dead, See also:

BEATUS

Beatus See also:

RHENANUS, BEATUS (1485-1547)

Rhenanus, Wilhelm Nesen, See also:

Ludwig Ber, Heinrich Glareanus, Nikolaus Gerbell, Johannes See also:

OECOLAMPADIUS, JOHN (1482-1531)

Oecolampadius—who looked to him as their See also:

head and were proud to do him service .

Though from this time forward Basel became the centre of occupation and See also:

INTEREST

interest for Erasmus, yet for the next few years he was mainly in the See also:

NETHERLANDS

Netherlands . On the completion of the New Testament in 1516 he returned to his friends in England; but his See also:

APPOINTMENT, POWER OF

appointment, then See also:

RECENT

recent, as councillor to the young king See also:

Charles, brought him back to Brussels in the autumn . In the spring of 1517 he went for the last time to England, about a See also:

DISPENSATION

dispensation from wearing his canonical See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress, obtained originally from See also:

JULIUS

Julius II. and recently confirmed by See also:

Leo X., and in May 1518 he journeyed to Basel for three months to set the second edition of the New Testament in progress . But with these exceptions he remained in proximity to the court, living much at Louvain, where he took great interest in the foundation of Hieronymus Busleiden's Collegium Trilingue . His circumstances had improved so much, by See also:

PENSIONS

pensions, the presents which were showered upon him, and the See also:

sale of his books, that he was now in a position to refuse all proposals which wouldhave interfered with his cherished See also:

independence . The See also:

general ardour for the restoration of the arts and of learning created an aristocratic public, of which Erasmus was supreme pontiff . See also:

LUTHER, MARTIN (1483-1546)

Luther spoke to the See also:

PEOPLE

people and the ignorant; Erasmus had the See also:

EAR (common Teut.; O.E. are, Ger. Ohr, Du. oor, akin to Lat. auris, Gr. ovs)

ear of the educated class . His friends and admirers were distributed over all the countries of Europe, and presents were continually arriving from small as well as great, from a donation of zoo florins, made by Pope See also:

Clement VII., down to sweetmeats and comfits contributed by the nuns of See also:

COLOGNE (Ger. Koln, or officially, since 1900, Coln)

Cologne (Ep . 666) . From England, in particular, he continued to receive supplies of money . In the last year of his life Thomas See also:

Cromwell sent him 20 angels, and Archbishop See also:

CRANMER, THOMAS (1489-1556)

Cranmer 18 . Though Erasmus led a very hard-working and far from luxurious life, and had no extravagant habits, yet he could not live upon little .

The excessive delicacy of his constitution, not pampered appetite, exacted some unusual indulgences . He could not See also:

bear the stoves of Germany, and required an open fireplace in the See also:

ROOM

room in which he worked . He was afflicted with the See also:

stone, and obliged to be particular as to what he drank . See also:

BEER

Beer he could not See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch . The See also:

white wines of See also:

Baden or the See also:

RHINE (Lat. Rhenus, Ger. Rhein, Fr. Rhin, Dutch Rhyn, or Rijn)

Rhine did not suit him; he could only drink those of See also:

BURGUNDY

Burgundy or Franche-See also:

COMTE, AUGUSTE [ISIDORE AUGUSTE MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER] (1798-1857)

Comte . He could neither eat, nor bear the See also:

SMELL (connected etymologically with " smoulder " and " smoke ")

smell of, See also:

fish . " His heart," he said, " was See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic, but his See also:

STOMACH (Gr. vrbsaxos from arbga, a mouth)

stomach was Lutheran." For his See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant journeys he required two horses, one for himself and one for his attendant' And though he was almost always found in See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse-flesh by his friends, the keep had to be paid for . For his literary labours and his extensive See also:

correspondence he required one or more amanuenses . He often had occasion, on his own business, or on that of Froben's See also:

PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press, to send See also:

SPECIAL

special couriers to a distance, employing them by the way in See also:

COLLECTING

collecting the See also:

FREE

free gifts of his tributaries . Precarious as these means of subsistence seem, he preferred the independence thus obtained to an assured position which would have involved obligations to a patron or professional duties which his weak See also:

HEALTH

health would have made onerous . The See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

BAVARIA (Ger. Bayern)

Bavaria offered to dispense with teaching, if he would only reside, and would have named him on these terms to a See also:

CHAIR (in. Mid. Eng. chcere, through O. Fr. chaire or chaiere, from Lat. cathedra, later caledra, Gr. xaOi3pa, seat, cf. "cathedral"; the modern Fr. form chaise, a chair, has been adopted in English with a particular meaning as a form of carriage; chaire

chair in his new university of See also:

INGOLSTADT

Ingolstadt, with a See also:

SALARY

salary of zoo ducats, and the reversion of one or more prebendal stalls . The archduke See also:

Ferdinand offered a pension of 400 florins, if he would only come to reside at See also:

Vienna .

Adrian VI. offered him a deanery, but the offer seems to have been of a possible and not an actual deanery . Offers, flattering but equally vague, were made from See also:

France, on the See also:

PART

part of the bishop of See also:

BAYEUX

Bayeux, and even of See also:

Francis I . " Invitor amplissimis conditionibus; offeruntur dignitates et episcopatus; See also:

PLANE

plane rex essem, si juvenis essem " (Ep. xix . 106; 735) . Erasmus declined all, and in See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1521 settled permanently at Basel, in the capacity of general editor and literary adviser of Froben's press . As a subject of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor, and attached to his court by a pension, it would have been convenient to him to have fixed his See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence in Louvain . But the bigotry of the Flemish See also:

clergy, and the monkish See also:

ATMOSPHERE (Gr. fir µ6r, vapour; orkaipa, a sphere)

atmosphere of the university of Louvain, overrun with See also:

DOMINICANS

Dominicans and See also:

FRANCISCANS (otherwise called Friars Minor, or Minorites; also the Seraphic Order ; and in England Grey Friars, from the colour of the habit, which, however, is now brown rather than grey)

Franciscans, See also:

UNITED

united for once in their enmity to the new classical learning, inclined Erasmus to seek a more congenial See also:

home in Basel . To Froben his arrival was the See also:

ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, " the coming of the Saviour ")

advent of