Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (ˌdɛzɪˈdɪəriəs_ɪˈræzməs; ˌdeːziˈdeːriʏs eˈrɑsmʏs; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus; 28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536) was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic theologian, educationalist, satirist and philosopher. Through his vast number of translations, books, essays and letters, he is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Northern Renaissance and one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture. A Catholic priest, he was an important figure in classical scholarship who wrote in a spontaneous and natural Latin style. Developing humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, In Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style and many other works. Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation. He developed a biblical humanistic theology in which he advocated tolerance, concord and free thinking on matters of indifference. He remained a member of the Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church from within. He promoted the traditional doctrine of synergism, which some Reformers (Martin Luther, Calvinists) rejected in favor of the doctrine of monergism. His middle-road (via media) approach disappointed, and even angered, partisans in both camps. Desiderius Erasmus is reported to have been born in Rotterdam on 28 October in the mid-1460s, probably 1466. He was named after Erasmus of Formiae, whom Erasmus' father Gerard personally favored. Although associated closely with Rotterdam, he lived there for only four years, never to return afterwards. Information on his family and early life comes mainly from vague references in his writings. His parents could not be legally married: his father, Gerard, was a Catholic priest and curate in Gouda.