Hello Hivers and Book Clubbers,
High time for another book review. As you might know, I'm mostly a non-fiction reader, and in this review that trend will continue. The book in question is simply titled 'Erasmus', and its chapers are written by 9 different Flemish (northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) writers. Published in Flanders as well, my copy was released in 1971.
I will attempt to structure this article not in a chronological way, but by naming some aspects about Erasmus that are common motifs throughout the book. This way, I hope to be able to sketch a good overall view of his life. Let's just get into it.
Erasmus: the Renaissance Man
While the name is well-known in the Netherlands, or at least recognized, there are probably many who have not heard of Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536). He was, however, perhaps the most important Dutch follower of the ideals of the Renaissance. The Renaissance came out of Italy during the early and middle of the 15th century. It was the rebirth (literal translation of renaissance) of interest in the civilizations of the Classical era, mostly Rome and Greece. Many works of these times had been preserved, and they were once again being read widely, no matter the specific subject.
One of Erasmus' foremost skills was his ability to read Latin, and write and speak it very fluently as well. Normally this meant a Church-career in the late 15th century, but Erasmus was opposed to doing this, even though he had received a part of his education in the church-environment. This would serve him well in his writing: all his written works, both books and letters, ar written in Latin. Not a single work is done in Dutch, remarkably enough.
Erasmus the Traveler
Perhaps this lack of writing in Dutch was due to Erasmus's love-hate-relationship with Holland, his place of birth. Though well-known as being born in Rotterdam, he never lived there. Most of his time in Dutch-speaking areas was spent in Leuven (Flanders) and Antwerpen (Flanders again). He would see large parts of Europe: his travels took him to England, Germany, France and Switzerland. In the end, Switzerland would be his final stay, but not after traveling thousands of miles throughout Europe.
Erasmus the Translator
His most influential work would be a book everyone is familiar with: the Bible, and more specifically the New Testament. One might wonder at this point why this would be even necessary. Of course Erasmus didn't write the bible. There were many bibles in circulation in Europe. So why?
The vulgata bible in circulation, written in Latin, was full of errors compared to the classic texts in Greek (and also Hebrew). These had crept in over the centuries, and were slowly stacked on top of each other. One of the creeds of humanism was 'ad fontes!', which means 'back to the source'. So that is what Erasmus did in 1516: he made a direct translation of the New Testament, from the old Greek source into Latin.
Erasmus the fence-sitter
A year later, the religious face of Europe would start to change drastically: Martin Luther's critiques of the Catholic Church were spread from Wittenberg in 1517, which is often cited as the starting date of the Protestant Reformation. One of the central tenets (if you could call it that) of Protestantism is that the bible is the ultimate authority when it comes to Christianity, above that of any worldly authority, written or otherwise. This included, for example, the Pope, and also many edicts and bulls issued from the Vatican.
Erasmus' translation of the New Testament would prove a significant boon to the Protestant cause. Erasmus himself was also a critic of the Catholic Church, and harboured reformist tendencies, even before the ascendancy of Martin Luther. He was also regularly accused of being a heretic by more orthodox Catholics, especially during his stay at the university of Leuven, a Catholic stronghold.
This is where the 'fence-sitter' part comes in: although he was critical of many aspects of the Catholic Church, which were not reconciled or recanted during his lifetime, he did not become a Protestant either. He got into many heated arguments (through letters) with Luther, though the two never met. Erasmus' position has often been labeled as cowardice, and I can understand why. One of the authors posits a simple reason for the fence-sitting: Erasmus was not willing to end up on a burning pyre, as was the fate of many Protestants in the early days of the Reformation.
Conclusion
Irony has it that Erasmus would find his health failing in the Swiss city of Basel, which had definitively turned towards Protestantism during the 1530s. His legacy as a grand intellectual and active writer would remain, however, and his total oeuvre is massive: it is estimated that Erasmus wrote 35 million words during his lifetime, and this is in the time of quills, ink and paper, not laptops or even typing machines.
I hope I've been able to peak your interest for this subject, and have learned something during the read. It's hard to do an almost 300-page book justice in not too many words, but I hope this at least whets the appetite. I'll be back with more reviews in the future. Until the next one,
*-Pieter Nijmeijer
(Top image: self-made photo of book cover)