James M. Estes – författare

This volume contains the surviving correspondence of Erasmus for the first seven months of 1529. For nearly eight years he had lived happily and productively in Basel. In the winter of 1528-9, however, the Swiss version of the Lutheran Reformation triumphed in the city, destroying the liberal-reformist atmosphere Erasmus had found so congenial. Unwilling to live in a place where Catholic doctrine and practice were officially proscribed, Erasmus resettled in the quiet, reliably Catholic university town of Freiburg im Breisgau,

Despite the turmoil of moving, Erasmus managed to complete the new Froben editions of Seneca and St Augustine, both monumental projects that had been underway for years. He also found time to engage in controversy with his conservative Catholic critics, as well as to write a long letter lamenting the execution for heresy of his friend Louis de Berquin at Paris.

Volume 15 of the Collected Works of Erasmus series.

In the months covered by this volume, Erasmus experienced sharply deteriorating health and thoughts of approaching death, although he remained active in the promotion of good causes and the defence of his good name. The seemingly imminent threat of religious civil war in Germany affected Erasmus in two ways. First, he made up his mind to leave Germany and return to his native Brabant. However, the arrival in 1533 of a formal invitation from Queen Mary, regent of the Netherlands, coincided with the onset of chronic ill health that would last until the end of his life. Repeated postponements eventually led to an abandonment of the journey altogether. Second, Erasmus did what he could to promote the cause of religious unity. In On Mending the Peace of the Church he urged rulers to enact moderate reforms that would satisfy all parties and avoid confessional division. When Martin Luther responded to this attempt at a "middle path" between "truth and error" in his Letter Concerning Erasmus of Rotterdam (1534), denouncing Erasmus as a skeptic and not a Christian, Erasmus responded indignantly with his Purgation against the Slanderous Letter of Luther. Erasmus’ only other work published in this period turned out to be one of his most popular, On Preparing for Death.

In the months covered by this volume, Erasmus experienced sharply deteriorating health and thoughts of approaching death, although he remained active in the promotion of good causes and the defence of his good name. The seemingly imminent threat of religious civil war in Germany affected Erasmus in two ways. First, he made up his mind to leave Germany and return to his native Brabant. However, the arrival in 1533 of a formal invitation from Queen Mary, regent of the Netherlands, coincided with the onset of chronic ill health that would last until the end of his life. Repeated postponements eventually led to an abandonment of the journey altogether. Second, Erasmus did what he could to promote the cause of religious unity. In On Mending the Peace of the Church he urged rulers to enact moderate reforms that would satisfy all parties and avoid confessional division. When Martin Luther responded to this attempt at a "middle path" between "truth and error" in his Letter Concerning Erasmus of Rotterdam (1534), denouncing Erasmus as a skeptic and not a Christian, Erasmus responded indignantly with his Purgation against the Slanderous Letter of Luther. Erasmus’ only other work published in this period turned out to be one of his most popular, On Preparing for Death.

This volume comprises Erasmus'' correspondence during the final two years of his life, June 1534–August 1536. In the public sphere it was a time of dramatic events: the reconquest of the duchy Württemberg from its Austrian occupiers; the siege and destruction of the Anabaptist "kingdom" at Münster; Charles V''s great victory at Tunis; and the resumption of the Habsburg-Valois wars in Italy. In the private sphere, these were years of deteriorating health, thoughts of impending death, and the loss of close friends (including Thomas Fisher and Thomas More, both executed by Henry VIII). At the same time, however, Erasmus managed to publish his longest book, Ecclesiastes, and to make arrangements, in his final will, for his considerable wealth to be spent for charitable purposes after his death.

This volume comprises Erasmus'' correspondence during the final two years of his life, June 1534–August 1536. In the public sphere it was a time of dramatic events: the reconquest of the duchy Württemberg from its Austrian occupiers; the siege and destruction of the Anabaptist "kingdom" at Münster; Charles V''s great victory at Tunis; and the resumption of the Habsburg-Valois wars in Italy. In the private sphere, these were years of deteriorating health, thoughts of impending death, and the loss of close friends (including Thomas Fisher and Thomas More, both executed by Henry VIII). At the same time, however, Erasmus managed to publish his longest book, Ecclesiastes, and to make arrangements, in his final will, for his considerable wealth to be spent for charitable purposes after his death.