Erasmus of Rotterdam: Religious Reformer, Revolutionary or Reactionary?

Abstract

Erasmus’s great erudition in classical and Christian writing, his civility, and his stress on reform of the Catholic Church as well as a network of contacts made him a respected and admired figure in progressive circles of his age. Erasmus’s fame was great as long as Church reform was a dream rather than reality. However, his moderate, “liberal” attitude did not serve him well when the time had come to take side in a mortal struggle between the reformers and the defenders of the Church. He then became a hated figure for the Protestants and the Catholics.