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One cannot discuss the Renaissance without coming across the name of Desiderius Erasmus. He was renowned for scholarship, views on education, religion, and conduct. Erasmus found himself in the midst of the religious debate in Europe during the sixteenth century and regardless of where his path led he would find himself subject to praise and scrutiny.
Desiderius Erasmus has been a source of interest and research for many years and the scholar remains an important influence of religion and education today, but who was he?
There is nothing simple about the life of Desiderius Erasmus. His place and year of birth are just two of the issues that raise questions about his life. He has at least two places who claim the honour of his birth, Gouda and Rotterdam. His birth can be narrowed to 1466-1469, some claim Erasmus manipulated his birth year to either conceal the circumstances of his birth or claim he was too young to make life altering decisions. Even his name can sometimes be a matter of debate.
At the time of his birth it was common for children to take on the name of their father as their surname. Erasmus was the illegitimate son of Gerard Helias and Margareta Roger, therefore one may expect his name to have been Desiderius Gerard, but he was given the sole name of Erasmus, possibly after Saint Erasmus whom his father paid respects to on more than one occasion. Erasmus himself added Desiderius to his name but throughout his life he referred to himself as Erasmus.
Erasmus wrote his Compendium Vitae as an abridgement of his life, which he referred to as ‘An Iliad of Woes’. Erasmus claims his father was one of many sons and therefore was volunteered for the Church; a common practice in families with multiple children. Gerard instead left Rotterdam, and Margareta, and travelled to Rome where he worked as a scribe.
His family informed him Margareta had died which drove him to take his vows and return to Rotterdam only to find their deception, Margareta was very much alive and with a baby, Erasmus. Having taken his vows the couple remained apart.
Erasmus began his schooling at a young age and was not initially the proficient scholar we may have expected but when he moved to a school in Deventer he fell in love with the Latin language. Sadly, when he was still a boy his parents died within a year of each other and he was left at the mercy of his guardians, whom he blamed for mismanaging his inheritance leaving him penniless and with no prospects other than entering a monastery.
Erasmus dreamed of attending university but with no funds left he had no choice and instead entered a monastery at Stein, under the rule of Saint Augustine. Due to periods of il-health as a youth, Erasmus was granted leniency with some rules, including skipping some services and eating meat on fast days. He also made extensive use of the monastery library and influenced others to study.
He eventually took his vows and became a Augustinian Canon Regular but his saving grace came in 1493 when his skill in Latin were noted by Henry Bergen, Bishop of Cambrai. Bergen was chasing his own dream of obtaining a cardinal’s hat and intended to travel to Rome. He needed a Latin secretary and who better than Erasmus.
John III of Glymes and Henry of Bergen kneeling with their patron saints
Erasmus was taken into the bishops service and escaped the cloisters but this was only the beginning of his life outside the monastery.
Bergen’s plan for to travel to Rome never transpired and he was persuaded to allow Erasmus to enrol at Collège de Montaigu, Paris, and to pay for his education. This was what Erasmus had dreamed of but soon after arrival he realised it was not the experience he had imagined. Lectures bored him, conditions appalled him, and the funds promised to him to meet the costs of attendance were not received.
He was soon tutoring young men to make ends meet, specifically English men that had travelled to Paaris to further their education. Amongst those would be some of his most loyal and generous patrons, including William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy. Mountjoy would become his gateway to England and introduce him to those who would become his closest friends and allies.
His first of many trips to England took place in 1499, and on this occasion, he would meet Thomas More and John Colet, both would remain influential throughout their lives.
John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s.
Over the next decades, Erasmus would travel across Europe, staying with friends, discovering manuscripts, and seeking patronage. He would become a friend to kings, princes, popes, and cardinals but he also made enemies.
He produced a huge number of texts including a translation of the New Testament. Many of his works were praised but the New Testament was amongst those that caused controversy and a series of religious debates. The later debates between Erasmus and Martin Luther are well known but Luther was not his only critic,
Erasmus received criticism from many over the years. He was named a coward and insulted for his opinions and writing. He was bullied in attempts to make him choose sides as the Reformation began to spread but he remained a Catholic to his death.
Erasmus was anything but a coward, he stood alone in a storm that engulfed him, refusing to placate either side. Friends supported him but enemies attempted to diminish his efforts. He only wrote what he believed in and once wrote ‘I write what will live forever’, in that he was correct, but he also wrote ‘my books will be read in every country in the world’, a prophecy that he would no doubt be proud came true.
Having spent many months researching Erasmus I find him a fascinating man who was not afraid to write about what he believed in. He held strong opinions about education which brought him into the confines of the humanist circle, but in doing so he also angered many with his views on education and religion.
Erasmus was much more than a scholar, he published extensively, many works are still printed today and some of his quotes have passed through the ages so that today, many are repeated without the knowledge they originated with him.
My aim of writing about Erasmus was to show that although he receives conflicting commentary, both during his life and after, he was steadfast in his beliefs and I hope to have done the greatest scholar of all time justice in my book, Desiderius Erasmus: The Folly or Far Sightedness of Renaissance Europe’s Greatest Mind.
Amy McElroy
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About the Author
Amy McElroy was born in Liverpool and lived there until she moved to the Midlands for university where she studied Criminal Justice followed by Post-Grad Law. Amy is currently a civil servant, working full-time alongside her writing. She also has a blog where she reviews historical fiction and non-fiction. Amy’s first book, Educating the Tudors, was published in January 2023 and focuses on the education of all classes, the subjects they learned and who taught them. Her second book, Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era is out February 2024 and she is currently writing her third book, Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Amy also has a fourth, Desiderius Erasmus, in the pipeline, with a few more ideas up her sleeves for the future. You can find out more about Amy at her blog - https://amymcelroy.blog/ and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @AmyMc_Book
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