Biography of Desiderius Erasmus

Biography of Desiderius Erasmus

Considered to be one of the most important humanists and Christian scholars during the Renaissance, Gerrit Gerritszoon was born in the year 1466 in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, and passed away in the year 1536 in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Some sources suggest that he was the son of a couple who was not married. Also, the exact date of his birth is also questioned. Gerrit himself later took up the Latin name Desiderius Erasmus and would be known by it.

His parents have him a very good education. He started going to school when he was 6 years old. The school belonged to the Brothers of Common Life who followed a life of devotion. They would also help the poor and they valued education. Desiderius studied subjects like religion, reading, writing, and calculation , and would spent 9 years at the school. He was identified as one of the most gifted students at the time. This school focused on studying the Gospels, the writings of other famous Christian scholars, and the saints' lives. When his parents passed away, he joined a monastery. He continued his studies at the Augustinian College of Steyn near the town of Gouda. He became a priest when he was about 23 years old under the Augustinian religious organization. Being someone with a high intellect, he easily got accepted at the University of Paris where he studied languages and Christian scripts. He mastered Latin in a very short time and helped fellow students in Latin Grammar. He enjoyed teaching very much and considered it to be a very meaningful and worthwhile career. Desiderius was very interested in Greek and Latin literature and considered this, together with Christian morals and values as the basis of all educational teaching. On one of his journeys to England in 1498, he stayed at the University of Oxford. It was here, in one of his lectures where he met another well-known humanist, Thomas More. After his trip to England, his travels became more frequent and he visited countries like Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland. He had numerous interactions with other humanists and scholars by lecturing and tutoring them. He started lecturing as a professor at the University of Cambridge in 1511. His travels and interactions with mind liked people continued until his death at the age of 69 in the city of Basel in Switzerland.

In my opinion Desiderius' greatest contributions to the Renaissance would be that he was the first European scholar who used the printed word to its full extent, that he wrote many books and articles on the abuses in the church and in European society, one of these books being the critical satire The Praise of Folly, and that he was the first editor of the first Greek New Testament.

Desiderius wrote many works not only in his mother tongue Dutch, but also in Latin and Greek. Many of his works have been translated in other languages.