Exploiting Erasmusexamines the legacy of Erasmus in England from the mid-sixteenth century to the overthrow of James II in 1688 and studies the various ways in which his works were received, ...manipulated, and used in religious controversies that threatened both church and state.
When post-Reformation English authors sought to describe pre-Reformation Catholicism, they turned to the writings of Desiderius Erasmus for historical evidence to back up their arguments justifying ...the break from Rome. For many later English schoolboys, Erasmus was one of the only Catholic authors they read and the depictions of Catholicism found in the Praise of Folly and, especially, in the Colloquies, became their picture of Catholic clergy, as well as foundational imprints for their mental image of relics, pilgrimages, and other Catholic practices. References to Erasmus as a historical authority for his times appear in dozens, if not hundreds, of texts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Ignoring the literary and fictitious nature of Erasmus's satirical texts, they used Erasmus to justify their depictions of Catholic corruption, superstition, and irrationality. Over time, these descriptions became an almost uncritically accepted portrayal of the Catholic world prior to the rise of Protestantism. This constructed reality thus became the worldview of English speaking Protestants from the mid-sixteenth century up to nearly the present. Examining how later English authors used Erasmus helps us understand the subsequent nature of English historical consciousness and the development of English and Protestant narratives of Church history.
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When Elizabeth I died and James I began his journey south to accept the English crown, many English Puritans were optimistic that there finally would be a complete reformation of the English church. ...Their hopes derived from James’ personal Calvinist faith and assumptions that since the Scottish church was Presbyterian, James would support at least some ecclesiastical reform of the English episcopacy.¹ James raised expectations even higher when he agreed to hold a theological conference to discuss further reform of the English church at Hampton Court in 1604. The new king, however, proved rather disappointing to the zealous godly, whom
In 1559 Thomas Paynell publishedThe Complaint of Peace, a translation of Erasmus’Querela Pacis. In the introduction, Paynell wrote that ‘Erasimus Roterodamus, one of the excelenste Clerkes of oure ...tyme, perceyvynge and felynge the worlde to be waueryng, troublesome, unquiet, and euery where bended and inclined to warre and myscheyfe, coulde not temper hymselfe, nor yet his penne, but neades he must write unto the worlde this true and eloquent complaint the whiche I haue translated and dedicated unto youre Lorshyp, as unto a father and a supporter of peace, & quietnes, intytuled the complaynte of Peace.’¹ The world
Erasmus’Paraphrases on the New Testamentwere unique texts in Elizabethan England. As outlined in the previous chapter, theParaphraseswent through a large print run, were widely distributed, and were ...mandated for churches and clergy by numerous Edwardian and Elizabethan injunctions. There is no doubt that they were eventually of lesser consequence in Elizabeth’s England than Foxe’sActs and Monuments,Calvin’sInstitutes,and ultimately, William Perkins’ theological treatises. Yet, on a second tier, Erasmus’ writings remained quite popular throughout the sixteenth century and it is particularly problematic to overlook the significance of the English translation of hisParaphrases,as
Following the execution of Charles I and the advent of Cromwell’s rule, many in England expected that the English people would unite around a Reformed vision of English Protestantism. But reality ...turned out to be far different from what Presbyterians had envisioned. Although Cromwell first attempted to control Parliament and then ruled without it altogether, he did not have the power or, perhaps, the inclination to create and enforce religious uniformity. The result was an explosion of sects and a wider application of tolerance than all but a few wanted. Presbyterians such as Thomas Edwards were horrified.¹ Even though there
