Part 13 (1/2)

The _Colloquia_ gave rise to much more hatred and contest than the _Moria_, and not without reason, for in them Erasmus attacked persons

He allowed hionists

Lee had already been introduced as a sycophant and braggart into the edition of 1519, and when the quarrel was assuaged, in 1522, the reference was expunged Vincent Dirks was caricatured in _The Funeral_ (1526) as a covetous friar, who extorts fro testaments in favour of his order He remained Later sarcastic observations were added about Beda and nuure with a long nose in the _Colloquies_ for their leader: 'Oh, no,' replied Erasmus, 'it is meant for quite another person'

Henceforth all those ere at loggerheads with Eras pilloried in the _Colloquia_ It was no wonder that this work, especially with its scourging mockery of the monastic orders, becaed from his polemics He was, no doubt, serious when he said that, in his heart, he abhorred and had never desired theot the better of his heart, and having once begun to quarrel he undoubtedly enjoyed giving hishis facile dialectic pen For understanding his personality it is unnecessary here to deal at large with all those fights on paper

Only the most important ones need befor Eraso Lopez Zuniga, or, in Latin, Stunica, had been preparing Annotations to the edition of the New Testament: 'a second Lee', said Erasmus At first Cardinal Ximenes had prohibited the publication, but in 1520, after his death, the stor Erasreat vexation; at last there followed a _rapprochement_, probably as Erasmus became more conservative, and a kindly attitude on the part of Stunica

No less long and violent was the quarrel with the syndic of the Sorbonne, Noel Bedier or Beda, which began in 1522 The Sorbonne was prevailed upon to condemn several of Erasmus's dicta as heretical in 1526 The effort of Beda to implicate Erasmus in the trial of Louis de Berquin, who had translated the condes and as eventually burned at the stake for faith's sake in 1529, reeable for Erash that both at Paris and at Louvain in the circles of the theological faculties the chief cause of exasperation was in the _Colloquia_ Egive Eras acridly censured their station and their personalities

More courteous than the aforeh-born Italian, Alberto Pio, prince of Carpi; acrid and bitter was one with a group of Spanish ht the Inquisition to bear upon him In Spain 'Erasmistas' was the name of those who inclined to more liberal conceptions of the creed

In this way the matter accumulated for the volu to his own arrangeiae_: not 'excuses', but 'vindications' 'Miserable man that I am; they just fill a volume,' exclaimed Erasmus

Two of his polemics merit a somewhat closer examination: that with Ulrich von Hutten and that with Luther

[Illustration: XXI MARTIN LUTHER AS A MONK]

[Illustration: XXII ULRICH VON HUTTEN]

Hutten, knight and humanist, the enthusiastic herald of a national German uplift, the ardent hater of papacy and supporter of Luther, was certainly a hot-head and perhaps somewhat of a muddle-head He had applauded Eras ht him to take Luther's side Erasht compromise him Had not one of Hutten's rash satires been ascribed to hier abide Erashtly instinct reacted on the very weaknesses of Eras himself and the inclination to repudiate a supporter in tier

Erash for martyrdom,' he writes to Richard Pace in 1521 'I fear that I shall, in case it results in a tuee hi at hie in 1523 In this quarrel Erasmus's own fame pays the penalty of his fault For nowhere does he show hiainst Hutten's mire', which the latter did not live to read Hutten, disillusioned and forsaken, died at an early age in 1523, and Erasainst his fored upon Eras One of his adherents, Henry of Eppendorff, inherited Hutten's bitter disgust with Eras hold of one of Erasmus's letters in which he was denounced, he continually threatened him with an action for defahly exasperated Erasmus that he fancied he could detect his machinations and spies everywhere even after the actual persecution had long ceased

FOOTNOTES:

[18] Melanchthon, _Opera, Corpus Reformatorum_, XII 266, where he refers to _Querela pacis_, which, however, was not written before 1517; _vide_ A 603 and I p 3710

CHAPTER XVIII

CONTROVERSY WITH LUTHER AND GROWING CONSERVATISM

1524-6

Erasainst Luther--_De Libero Arbitrio_: 1524--Luther's answer: _De Servo Arbitrio_--Erasour--Erasmus henceforth on the side of conservatism--The Bishop of Basle and Oecolamatics: confession, ceremonies, worshi+p of the Saints, Eucharist--_Institutio Christiani Matrith Erasmus was led, in spite of all, to do what he had always tried to avoid: he wrote against Luther But it did not in the least reseeste_ Erasmus at one time contemplated, in the cause of peace in Christendom and uniformity of faith, to call a halt to the impetuous Luther, and thereby to recall the world to its senses In the great act of the Reformation their polemics were merely an after-play

Not Erasmus alone was disillusioned and tired--Luther too was past his heroic prime, circumscribed by conditions, forced into the world of affairs, a disappointed man

Erasmus had wished to persevere in his resolution to reedy 'If, as appears from the wonderful success of Luther's cause, God wills all this'--thus did Eraseon as Luther necessary for the corruption of these times, then it is not my business to withstand him'

But he was not left in peace While he went on protesting that he had nothing to do with Luther and differed widely from him, the defenders of the old Church adhered to the standpoint urged as early as 1520 by Nicholas of Eg as he refuses to write against Luther, we take him to be a Lutheran' So matters stood 'That you are looked upon as a Lutheran here is certain,' Vives writes to hier becaainst Luther From Henry VIII came a call, coe of Saxony, froed hiht he could refuse no longer He tried soet on with them; and probably they would not have pleased those ere desirous of enlisting his services Between Luther and Erasmus himself there had been no personal correspondence, since the former had promised him, in 1520; 'Well then, Erasain' Now that Erasmus had prepared to attack Luther, however, there came an epistle from the latter, written on 15 April 1524, in which the reformer, in his turn, requested Erasmus in his oords: 'Please remain nohat you have always professed yourself desirous of being: aof ironical contempt in Luther's words, but Erase to reply with equal humanity, because of the sycophants'

In order to be able to combat Luther with a clear conscience Erasmus had naturally to choose a point on which he differed from Luther in his heart It was not one of the more superficial parts of the Church's structure For these he either, with Luther, cordially rejected, such as cereh more moderately than Luther, he had his doubts about them, as the sacraments or the primacy of St Peter So he naturally caulf yawned between their natures, between their conceptions of the essence of faith, and thus to the central and eternal problee, God and man Luther confessed in his reply that here indeed the vital point had been touched

_De libero arbitrio diatribe_ (_A Disquisition upon Free Will_) appeared in September 1524 Was Erasmus qualified to write about such a subject?