Desiderius Erasmus (1466/69–1536)

Life Dates

Erasmus was born in Rotterdam most probably in 1467 (1466 and 1469 are also possible) to unmarried parents, Roger, a priest, and Margaret, daughter of a physician. Educated at a school that was progressive for the time, Erasmus became an Augustinian canon. He was later dispensed from his duties as a priest to devote himself to philology, scriptural exegesis, and reform in Church and society. His enthusiasm for reform did not extend to Luther’s Reformation. While there were many points of agreement between him and the Reformers, the harshness of Luther’s approach was foreign to Erasmus’ moderate style of thought and conduct. He died of dysentery in Basel in 1536.

Contribution(s) to the Field of Learning

Erasmus was the most considerable scholar of northern Renaissance Europe, writing many influential books and leaving an unrivaled collection of correspondence with early sixteenth-century humanists, such as Thomas More and Guillaume Budé. Humanists were devotees of classical...