Erasmus and the Age of Reformation   By: Johan Huizinga (1872-1945)

JOHAN HUIZINGA

with a selection from the letters of Erasmus

HARPER TORCHBOOKS / The Cloister Library

HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS

NEW YORK, EVANSTON, AND LONDON

[Illustration: WOODCUT BY HANS HOLBEIN. 1535]

ERASMUS AND THE AGE OF REFORMATION

Printed in the United States of America

Huizinga's text was translated from the Dutch by F. Hopman and first published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1924. The section from the Letters of Erasmus was translated by Barbara Flower.

Reprinted by arrangement with Phaidon Press, Ltd., London

Originally published under the title: "Erasmus of Rotterdam"

First HARPER TORCHBOOK edition published 1957

Library of Congress catalogue card number 57 10119

CONTENTS

Preface by G. N. Clark xi

CHAP.

I CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH, 1466 88 1

II IN THE MONASTERY, 1488 95 10

III THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS, 1495 9 20

IV FIRST STAY IN ENGLAND, 1499 1500 29

V ERASMUS AS A HUMANIST 39

VI THEOLOGICAL ASPIRATIONS, 1501 47

VII YEARS OF TROUBLE LOUVAIN, PARIS, ENGLAND, 1502 6 55

VIII IN ITALY, 1506 9 62

IX THE PRAISE OF FOLLY 69

X THIRD STAY IN ENGLAND, 1509 14 79

XI A LIGHT OF THEOLOGY, 1514 16 87

XII ERASMUS'S MIND 100

XIII ERASMUS'S MIND ( continued ) 109

XIV ERASMUS'S CHARACTER 117

XV AT LOUVAIN, 1517 18 130

XVI FIRST YEARS OF THE REFORMATION 139

XVII ERASMUS AT BASLE, 1521 9 151

XVIII CONTROVERSY WITH LUTHER AND GROWING CONSERVATISM, 1524 6 161

XIX AT WAR WITH HUMANISTS AND REFORMERS, 1528 9 170

XX LAST YEARS 179

XXI CONCLUSION 188

SELECTED LETTERS OF ERASMUS 195

List of Illustrations 257

Index of Names 263

PREFACE

by G.N. Clark, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford

Rather more than twenty years ago, on a spring morning of alternate cloud and sunshine, I acted as guide to Johan Huizinga, the author of this book, when he was on a visit to Oxford. As it was not his first stay in the city, and he knew the principal buildings already, we looked at some of the less famous. Even with a man who was well known all over the world as a writer, I expected that these two or three hours would be much like the others I had spent in the same capacity with other visitors; but this proved to be a day to remember. He understood the purposes of these ancient buildings, the intentions of their founders and builders; but that was to be expected from an historian who had written upon the history of universities and learning. What surprised and delighted me was his seeing eye. He told me which of the decorative motifs on the Tower of the Four Orders were usual at the time when it was built, and which were less common. At All Souls he pointed out the seldom appreciated merits of Hawksmoor's twin towers. His eye was not merely informed but sensitive. I remembered that I had heard of his talent for drawing, and as we walked and talked I felt the influence of a strong, quiet personality deep down in which an artist's perceptiveness was fused with a determination to search for historical truth.