Secular Advice in Erasmus’s Sacred Writings

Abstract

Research into Erasmus’s political ideas, notably his pacifism, should not be based on sources like Institutio Principis Christiani, Querela Pacis, or Dulce Bellum, which are rhetorical compositions and offer clichés rather than Erasmus’s personal opinions. At the very least, these sources should be checked against Erasmus’s theological writings, in which he presents specific and cogent arguments for his views and allows us to put them into their proper context.

Acknowledgements

A version of this article was presented at the conference on “Erasmus Politicus” at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2008.

Notes

1. CWE 9, Letter 1341A:581.

2. De Copia, Amplification Method 10 (CWE 24, 600–601).

3. CWE 35, 403–4, 413.

4. CWE 24, 576.

5. Exhibita, C2 recto-verso. See Erika Rummel, “Political and Religious Propaganda at the Court of Charles V: A Newly-Identified Tract by Alfonso Valdés,” Historical Research 70 (1997): 23–33.

6. CWE 9, Letter 1341A:1455–57; cf. Dulce Bellum, CWE 35, 435.

7. CWE 71, 91; CWE 9, Letter 1301:51–52.

8. CWE 27, 183; 35, 430.

9. CWE 35, 429.

10. CWE 65, 201.

11. CWE 24, 227–29; CWE 64, 252–54.

12. CWE 64, 248.

13. CWE 64, 257, 264, 256.

14. CWE 64, 264, 257, 265–66.

15. LB 9, 843B.

16. CWE 48, 195.

17. LB 9, 1192F.

18. Viginti et Quatro Libri, fo. 184: ab imbecillitate mentis levitateque contingat.

19. LB 9, 1193A.

20. LB 9, 872E.

21. LB 9, 840 E-F, 370B, 616B, 841E-F.

22. ASD 6.5, 498.

23. See Pio’s citation in Viginti et Quatro Libri, 184 verso.

24. CWE 65, 199,197.

25. LB 9, 616A–617C.

26. Annotations, Luke 22:36, text of 1527 (ASD 6.5.594).

27. LB 9, 842.

28. ASD 5.5, 498.

29. Luther’s Works, ed. Jaroslav J. Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann, 55 vols. (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1955–86), vol. 33, 19.

30. CWE 76, 249–50.

31. CWE 65, 201.