• Lived 1466-1536, one of the most influential of all Christian Humanists
• Educated at one of the Schools of Brothers of the Common Life.
• Wandered between many countries
  • France, Germany, Switzerland, England, and Italy
• Wrote Handbook of the Christian Knight
  • This reflected his preoccupation with religion
• Believed that the current translations of the bible contained errors, so he wrote a new translation based on the earliest available manuscripts and published Greek and Latin versions in 1516.
• Wrote Annotations, a detailed commentary on the Vulgate Bible
• His work on the New Testament was considered one of his greatest achievements, formed the basis for Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament
• Wrote The Praise of Folly, a criticism of the corrupt practices of society.
• Never achieved the reform he aimed for, his moderate views were overtaken by the passions of the Reformation
• Often said that “Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched”
• Didn’t want to destroy the unity of the Church; he aimed for reform within the Church itself
  • To him, reform meant spreading the understanding of the Philosophy of Jesus, providing education in the sources of Early Christianity, and common-sense criticisms of the Church.