Desiderius Erasmus - Collected Works of Desiderius Erasmus

The Collected Works of

DESIDERIUS ERASMUS

(1466-1536)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2018

Version 1

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The Collected Works of

DESIDERIUS ERASMUS

By Delphi Classics, 2018

Collected Works of Desiderius Erasmus

First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Delphi Classics.

Delphi Classics, 2018.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 118 3

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Rotterdam by Frans Hogenberg, c. 1579 Erasmus birthplace

Map of Rotterdam by Willem and Joan Blaeu, 1652

Rotterdam today

The house-shaped sculpture marking Erasmus birthplace in Rotterdam

Anonymous 1905 translation, Methuen & Company

Originally composed in Latin under the tile Enchiridion militis Christiani , this instructional manual was written in 1501 and first published in English in 1533 by William Tyndale. During a stay in Tournehem, a castle near Saint-Omer in the north of modern-day France, Erasmus encountered an uncivilised, yet friendly soldier who was an acquaintance of his close friend, Battus. On the request of the soldiers pious wife, who was affronted by her husbands behaviour, Battus asked Erasmus to write a text that would convince the soldier of the necessity of mending his ways, which he did in due course. The resulting work was eventually re-drafted by Erasmus and expanded into the extant text today. Destined to become one of Erasmus most influential works, the manual calls on Christians to act in accordance with the Christian faith, rather than merely performing the necessary rites.

Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, Rijks Museum, Amsterdam

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was an English scholar who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execution. He is well known for his translation of the Bible into English.

T O PLEASE ALL sorts of men I do not pass,

To please the good and learned is a fair thing,

Yea, and these both were more than covenant was

And more than I look for. Whoso the learning

Of Christ doth favour, if he like well all thing

I seek no further, Christ is mine Apollo,

Only strengthening me to speak this that I do.

[none]

T HE MORTAL WORLD a field is of battle

Which is the cause that strife doth never fail

Against man, by warring of the flesh

With the devil, that always fighteth fresh

The spirit to oppress by false envy;

The which conflict is continually

During his life, and like to lose the field.

But he be armed with weapon and shield

Such as behoveth to a christian knight,

Where God each one, by his Christ chooseth right

Sole captain, and his standard to bear.

Who knoweth it not, then this will teach him here

In his brevyer, poynarde, or manual

The love shewing of high Emanuell.

In giving us such harness of war

Erasmus is the only furbisher

Scouring the harness, cankered and adust

Which negligence had so sore fret with rust

Then champion receive as thine by right

The manual of the true christian knight.

E RASMUS OF R OTERDAME sendeth greeting to the reverend father in Christ (and lord) the lord Paul Wolzius, the most religious abbot of the monastery the which is commonly called Hughes court.