In the autumn he reached London, and in Thomas More's house in
Bucklersbury wrote the witty satire which Milton found "in every one's
hands" at Cambridge in 1628, and which is read to this day. The _Moriae
encomium_ was a sign of his decision. In it kings and princes, bishops
and popes alike are shown to be in bondage to Folly; and no class of men
is spared. Its author was willing to be beholden to any one for leisure;
but he would be no man's slave. For the next eighteen months he is
entirely lost to view; when he reappears in April 1511, he is leaving
More's house and taking the _Moria_ to be printed privily in Paris.
Wherever they were spent, these must have been months of hard work, as
were the years that followed. His time was now come. The long
preparation and training, bought by privation and uncongenial toil, was
over, and he was ready to apply himself to the scientific study of
sacred letters. His English patrons were liberal. Fisher sent him in
August 1511 to teach in Cambridge; Warham gave him a benefice, Aldington
in Kent, worth _L_33, 6_s._ 8_d._ a year, and in violation of his own
rule commuted it for a pension of L20 charged on the living; and the
dedications of his books were fruitful. In Cambridge he completed his
work on the New Testament, the Letters of Jerome, and Seneca; and then
in 1514, when there seemed no prospect of ampler preferment, he
determined to transfer himself to Basel and give the results of his
labours to the world.
The origin of Erasmus's connexion with Johann Froben is not clear. In
1511 he was preparing to reprint his _Adagia_ with Jodocus Badius, who
in the following year was to have also Seneca and Jerome. But in 1513
Froben, who had just reprinted the Aldine _Adagia_, acquired through a
bookseller-agent Erasmus' amended copy which had been destined for
Badius. That the agent was acting entirely on his own responsibility may
be doubted; for within a few months Erasmus had decided to betake
himself to Basel, bearing with him Seneca and Jerome, the latter to be
incorporated in the great edition which Johannes Amerbach and Froben had
had in hand since 1510. In Germany he was widely welcomed. The
Strassburg Literary Society feted him, and Johannes Sapidus, headmaster
of the Latin school at Schlettstadt, rode with him into Basel. Froben
received him with open arms, and the presses were soon busy with his
books. Through the winter of 1514-1515 Erasmus worked with the strength
of ten; and after a brief visit to England in the spring, the New
Testament was set up. Around him was a circle of students, some young,
some already distinguished--the three sons of Froben's partner, Johannes
Amerbach, who was now dead, Beatus Rhenanus, Wilhelm Nesen, Ludwig Ber,
Heinrich Glareanus, Nikolaus Gerbell, Johannes Oecolampadius--who looked
to him as their head and were proud to do him service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account