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=__**Desiderius Erasmus**__= =__//The Prince Of Humanists //__= The //leader// of Humanisim and a Theologian, he was a champion for the spread of learning and toleration. His belief in the need for a reformed Catholic Church evolved into what became the Protestant Revolution. =__Beliefs__= Erasmus was a humanist who believed that man was capable of great things and believed that everyone had to return to the simple pure faith of trying to act as Jesus would have and have simple virtues. He deplored the laxity and pomp of the church and disliked Catholic practices like relics, the cult of saints, and indulgences. He wanted a Church based on salvation through good deeds. =__Life of Erasmus__= Desiderius Erasmus was born on October 27, sometime in the late 1460's in Rotterdam, Netherlands. His dad, who was a priest, concieved him and his brother out of wedlock. He was well taken care of despite his status as a bastard child and at 9 he was sent off to Deventer, Netherlands were he studied in one of the best latin schools in the Netherlands. During his time at this school the renaissance was in full force, so Erasmus came into contact with new ideas like Humanism that influenced him heavily later in life. His time at the school ended when in 1483 a plague struck the city and killed his Mom and Dad. He gets put into the care of 3 guardians and is pressured into joining a monastery. He decides on the Augustinian Canons Monastery in Steyn where he continues to study humanism and theology and there also writes his first books; //The Book Against the Barbarians// and //On Contempt for the World.// Later in life he states that he had found his stay there almost unbearable and it contributed to his opposition monasticsm. He stays there for several years and at 25 he takes the vows to be ordained as a priest, but never really does any priestly duties. He leaves the monastary at 27 to work for Henry of Bergen, Bishop of Cambrai as a secretary. While working there he discovers works by saint Augustine of Hippo that inspired him to study theology. Erasmus asks and recieves permission from the Bishop to go study at the University of Paris, at the time the foremost in theological studies. Erasmus found life in the university very difficult because at the time the poorer students (like him) had to do manual labor as well as doing their studies. He wrote later of his dislike of the boredom of lectures in Latin and his dislike of the heavy use of Aristolian theory. Nevertheless his time at the university was very fruitful and it allowed him to be made aquainted with many renaissance scholars there and is fully exposed to the finer points of Humanism. After the end of his Studies at the University of Paris he began wandering throughout Europe and meeting many people including John Colet, Henry VIII, and his lifelong friend Sir Thomas More. On a trip back from England he had his money confiscated as he tried to export bullion, so to survive he wrote his first book //Adagiorum collectanea// a collection of proverbs. Erasmus at this time got interested in learning Greek. With the help of a byzantine exile and works by Homer and Plato he began a year long quest to learn it. Another interest of his was to revise the works of Saint Jerome and make for a more accurate study of theology. In order to give the typical layman rules to fight the constant temptation of sin he wrote his most famous book //Handbook of a Christian Knight// a guide for christian behavior and attitudes. Next he wrote //The Praise of Folly, a//moung the most famous of his writings and for the first time translated the bible into Greek, from which incidently allowed Luther to translate the bible into German. Martin never wrote in vernacular so most of his works were either in Greek and Latin. Aside from the Bible Erasmus translated many other Greek and latin texts to promote learning. =__The Reformation__= By the end of the 15th century people began to to question certain aspects of church doctrine like indulgences and papal infallibility and the severe corruption that plaugued the church. Amoung the would be reformers was Martin Luther, a German monk who was opposed to these corrupt practices. This is why he famously posted on a church his 95 theses in 1517 in which he stated his opposition to indulgences and other corrupt practices like simony and pluralism. At first he tried to reform the church, but after the church refused to change Mertin and his followers completly broke with the Catholic Church. They created instead Lutheranism. This new religion spread very quickly throughout Europe and soon most of northern Europe were strongly protestant. In Switzerland John Calvin advocated his own version of christianity called Calvinisim and it became very popular in France and Eastern Europe. The fracture of the Church created heavy religious strife in Euope and lead to the Thirty Years War and various peasant revolts. Europe was forever divided along religious lines and Europe ceased to be called Christendom. =__Erasmus and the Reformation__= At first Erasmus genuinely sympathized with Martin Luther and his desire to reform the church, but after Marin Luther created his own church his relations cooled with Erasmus. Erasmus was a beliver in christian unity so he opposed Luther's move. Luther ridiculed Erasmus's pacifism saying "You with your peace-loving theology, you don't care about the truth. The light is not to be put under a bushel, even if the whole world goes to smash". Erasmus disagreed with Luther on other issues like predestination and the nature of man, leading to him writing about the issue in his book //Concerning Free Will.// He did not however completely go with the Catholics, so he was vilified by both sides, losing friends and much influence. The dividing effect of the reformation greatly weakened Erasmus and was constantly ill in his final years. As a result he ended up in Basel, Switzerland where he died from dysentry on July 12, 1536 at 69 years old. =__Timeline of Reformation__= =__Major Works__= //The Book Against the Barbarians// //The Praise of Folly// //Enchiridion// //Adagia// //Discourse on Free Will// //Handbook of a Christian Knight// =__Quotes__=  "Great abundance of riches cannot be gathered and kept by any man without sin. "  "In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king."  "Prevention is better than cure.  ""Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower, when rank and running to seed."  "The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war." __ Test Questions __  What language did Erasmus take an intense interest in?  A) Latin  B) Greek   C) Hebrew   D) Aramaic   Answer- (A) Erasmus had a great interest in Greek in his quest to create a more accurate translation of the Bible Where did Erasmus attend University? A) Oxford University B) The University of Cambridge C) University of Montpellier D) The University of Paris Answer- (D) Erasmus got most of his university education in the University of Paris
 * 1469 -** Erasmus is born
 * 1503** - Writes //Handbook of a Christian Knight//
 * 1516** - Erasmus publishes a huge edition of the works of Saint Jerome and an annotated Greek and Latin New Testament[[image:isaac-reformation-project/western-europe.jpg width="284" height="317" align="right" caption="Although born in the Netherlands Erasmus travelled throughout France, Italy, England, and Switzerland"]]
 * 1517** - Martin Luther posts his 95 theses
 * 1521** - Diet of Worms
 * 1524** -Writes the //Discourse on Free Will//
 * 1530** - Augsburg confession
 * 1534** - Act of supremacy, makes Henry VII head of Anglican Church
 * 1534** - Founding of Jesuits
 * 1536** - Erasmus Dies
 * 1536** - Calvin publishes his //Institutes of the Christian Religion//
 * 1545** - Council of Trent
 * 1546** - Martin Luther dies
 * 1553** - Mary I ascends to English Throne
 * 1555** - Peace of Augsburg
 * 1558** - Mary I dies, Elizabeth I succedes her
 * 1598** - Edict of Nantes
 * 1618** - Thirty Years War begins
 * 1685** - Exodus of French Protestants (Huguenots)

Erasmus was born in__,Netherlands A) Steyn B) Amsterdam C) Rotterdam D) The Hague Answer- (C) Erasmu was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands

Why did Erasmus reject Luther's separation from the Church? Answer - Although Erasmus at first liked some of the ideas brought forth by Luther, he opposed the schism because of his belief in need for a united christiandom. Erasmus also disagreed with luther on issues like Predestination and the corruption of Man, being a humanist he believed that humans were inherently good and could use good works to achieve salvation. =__Bibliography__= []

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