1 fuerit] Either (1) fut. perf. indic., for which erit might equally well stand; or (2) perf. subj. of qualified statement. Cf. crediderim, 'I am inclined to believe.'
2 profana dicione onustis] At the time when Erasmus was ordained the diocese of Utrecht had been torn for more than twenty years with civil war; in the course of which the Bishop had at one time been a prisoner.
3 ii quibus, &c.] The officials to whom fees were payable by successful candidates.
4 Hieronymos] Jerome (d. 420) was one of the Latin Fathers of the Church.

1 S.D.] salutem dicit, the common form of greeting at the head of letters; often occurring as S.P.D., salutem plurimam dicit.
2 mel Atticum] An endearing mode of address.
3 Ne roga] Ne with the imperative is ante-classical (Plaut. and Ter.), and poetical.
4 pyxidem] One of the munera mentioned at the end of the letter.
5 Pandorae] Pandora was the first woman created, according to Greek mythology. She brought down from heaven a box, which she was forbidden to open; but in curiosity she raised the lid, and at once all the evils to which mankind is subject flew out and spread over the earth. Epimetheus was her husband.
6 togata . . . palliata] The classical distinction between two kinds of Roman drama, according as the scene was laid in Roman or in Greek surroundings. In the former the toga was worn by the principal characters; in the latter the Greek pallium.
7 planipedia] Acted by a planipes, a kind of pantomime; so-called because he used neither the soccus of comedy nor the cothurnus of tragedy in his performances.
8 epitasis] A Greek technical term, for the crisis of a play.
9 catastrophen] Also a Greek technical term; the point at which a play turns, leading to the conclusion.
10 optasse] Dependent on a verb of statement understood from laudo. A common idiom.
11 Caroli regis] Charles VIII, King of France, 1483-98.
12 Gentil Gerson] Evidently gentil garcon, 'fine gentleman'.
13 flammeum] sc. velum. A flame-colored veil, properly worn by brides.
14 surdae cecinisse] A proverbial phrase of laboring without result; 'to waste one's breath.' 'Ortum videtur a ridiculo casu, quo saepe fit ut hospes incidat in surdum, quem percontetur multa, ridentibus iis qui surdum noverunt.' Erasmus, Adagia.
15 alienis manibus] by getting a friend to write his Latin letter for him.
16 frontis] 'Frons habita est antiquitus pudori sacra, et facies item. Inde frontem aut faciem proverbio perfricuisse dicuntur, qui pudorem omnem dedidicerunt, velut absterso manu a vultu pudore.' Erasmus, Adagia.
17 Patroclus] Patroclus was the friend of Achilles. When Achilles refused to fight against Troy, Patroclus borrowed his arms, and was killed in the battle.
18 Quid simile?] sc. inter nos.

III

1 Guilhelmo] This form of the name William represents the German Wilhelm; Gulielmus is more akin to the Italian Guglielmo; Guielmus, which also occurs, to the French Guillaume.
2 Aeolum] The king of the winds, whom Juno had persuaded to oppose the Trojan fleet under Aeneas as it sailed from Troy to Italy. See Verg. Aen.1.50 seq.
3 Vidisses] sc. si adfuisses.
4 Bellerophon] Bellerophon, after having vanquished the Chimaera on Pegasus, wished to fly with his winged steed to heaven. But Pegasus threw him off and ascended alone, to become a constellation in the sky.
5 credas . . . accidisset] The slight irregularity of tense is easily intelligible.
6 Luciani] Lucian, fl. 160 A.D., was a Syrian citizen of the Roman Empire. His writings, which are mostly satirical, are in Greek. One of them is entitled Vera Historia.
7 allevare] 'to exaggerate', opp. to elevare, 'to disparage.' Allevare can also mean 'to understate', but the sequence of thought is not so natural.
8 scribebam] The epistolary imperfect, representing the time of the action when the words would be read by the recipient of the letter.
9 patriam] Holland.
10 convictu] Evidently it had been proposed that Erasmus should come and live with Lord Mountjoy in Paris as his tutor.

IV

1 invita Minerva] 'refragante ingenio, repugnante natura, non favente coelo.' Erasmus, Adagia. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom.
2 merdas] It has been well pointed out that the use of so coarse a word is foreign to Erasmus, whose writings, though often free, are marked by a delicacy unusual in his age; and that he is therefore probably alluding to the compositions of his correspondent, who knew no such restrictions, e.g. in his Querela Parrhisiensis pavimenti.
3 ut . . . pereat] A wish.
4 alatis] Like Mercury, the messenger of the gods, who for his journeys attached winged sandals to his feet.
5 Daedalum] Daedalus was a mythical artificer who constructed the labyrinth for Minos, king of Crete; but being detained there against his will, he made wings for himself and his son Icarus and flew away to Sicily.
6 Est praeterea mos] The reality of this practice in England may be illustrated from Erasmus' Christiani matrimonii Institutio, 1526, where he describes unseemly wedding festivities. 'Mox a prandio lascivae saltationes usque ad cenam, in quibus tenera puella non potest cuiquam recusare, sed patet domus civitati. Cogitur ibi misera virgo cum ebriis, cum scelerosis....iungere dextram, apud Britannos etiam oscula'. The Lady of Crequi, between Amiens and Montdidier, welcoming Wolsey's gentleman, George Cavendish, in July 1527, said: 'Forasmuch as ye be an Englishman, whose custom is in your country to kiss all ladies and gentlewomen without offence, and although it be not so here in this realm, yet will I be so bold to kiss you, and so shall my maidens'. So, too, Cavendish writes of Wolsey's meeting with the Countess of Shrewsbury at Sheffield Park, after his fall: 'Whom my lord kissed bareheaded, and all her gentlewomen.'
7 Solon] Solon (c. 638-558), the Athenian lawgiver, is said to have bound the people with an oath to observe his laws until he returned; and then to have absented himself from Athens for ten years.
8 propediem] Erasmus was expecting to return to Paris in the summer of 1499. His visit to Oxford was only undertaken to fill an interval during which he was detained in England.

1 animi causa] Relaxation to the mind rather than exercise for the body was the object of the walk.
2 novem] Henry was little more than 8, having been born on 2 June 1491; Margaret was born on 29 Nov. 1489 and was therefore not yet 11. The other ages given are correct. Inaccuracy in such trifling matters need not surprise us, seeing that Erasmus was writing more than twenty years after the visit.
3 Iacobo] James IV of Scotland, who was killed at Flodden, 9 Sept. 1513.
4 Maria] Mary afterwards became Queen of France by her marriage with Louis XII in 1514.
5 vel] vel here intensifies the word that follows. It is often so used with superlatives.

1 Coleti] John Colet (c. 1466-1519) was now lecturing in Oxford. For his influence on Erasmus see X.
2 Horatius] Ep. 2. 1. 63: Interdum vulgus rectum videt, est ubi peccat.
3 cuius] sc. vulgi.
4 nostro illo ingressu] Erasmus' arrival at Oxford; which for some reason seems to have been discouraging.
5 tum . . . tum] A post-Augustan construction, for which Cicero uses cum . . . tum.

1 Domino] The title of a Bachelor of Arts.
2 convivio] 'Bene maiores nostri accubitionem epularem amicorum, quia vitae coniunctionem haberet, convivium nominarunt, melius quam Graeci qui hoc idem compotationem vocant.' Cic. Sen. 13.45.
3 Epicurum] Epicurus (342-270) was a Greek philosopher, who is traditionally but wrongly regarded as having taught that pleasure is the end of life.
4 conditum] From condio, not condo.
5 Pythagoram] Pythagoras (sixth cent. B.C.) was one of the greatest Greek philosophers.
6 laevum latus clausimus] The left side was regarded as more exposed to attack than the right, which had the sword-arm. It was therefore a compliment to place oneself to the left of a friend, as though to protect him in case of need. Here nothing more is meant than that Erasmus sat on the Theologian's left.
7 poculentum] connected with the wine-cups.
8 Aliud] sc. quam solebat.
9 maiorque videri] cf. Verg. Aen. 6. 49-51, of the Sibyl:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 'maiorque videri,
Nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quando
Iam propiore dei.'

1 in ea . . . regione] Italy was at this time regarded as being, and in fact was, more advanced than the rest of Europe in classical learning and refinement. In consequence to visit Italy was the ambition of every scholar.
2 sis] In classical Latin when two reasons are given, of which one is denied and the other affirmed, the verb in the affirmation is usually in the indicative.
3 Grocino] Wm. Grocin (c. 1416-1519) was one of the first to teach Greek in Oxford. He was now resident in London.
4 Linacri] Thos. Linacre (c.1460-1524) was an Oxford scholar who had recently returned from Italy and was now in London. He afterwards became one of the first physicians of his age.

1 vigilias] Writings, composed doubtless by the 'midnight oil'; in which Erasmus rightly considered his wealth to lie.
2 lusimus] 'met'.
3 Cretizavimus] 'We behaved like a Cretan.' Cf. the English saying 'to give tit for tat'. Erasmus means that he gave the messenger full measure of conversation in return.
4 Anglica fata] When preparing to leave England Erasmus had 20 pounds in his pocket. But a law of Edward III, re-enacted by Henry VII, forbade the exportation of silver and gold; and in consequence all but 2 pounds was taken from him in the Dover custom-house. This very real calamity he had of course related to Batt at Tournehem.
5 Aeolum] The king of the winds, whom Juno had persuaded to oppose the Trojan fleet under Aeneas as it sailed from Troy to Italy. See Verg. Aen.1.50 seq.
6 Mercurium] Mercury was the god of traders and thieves. Cf. Ovid, Fasti 5. 673 seq.
7 quoque] The adjective and not the adverb.
8 divo Iuliano] There is no village of St. Julien which satisfies the required conditions. Juilly (Iuliacum) between Damartin and Meaux is perhaps intended.
9 iugulos] iugulum, neuter, is the common form.
10 victimae] Predicative Dative of purpose.
11 mecum] sc. reputo.
12 Ciceronianum] Brut. 80. 278.
13 quasnam] Money of what country or of what coinage. The common difficulty of travellers was then increased by the variety of coinages within the same country. A further trouble was that through use or 'clipping' one coin might differ from another of the same value; and 'light' coins were always liable to be weighed and refused.
14 postulatum] A particular kind of florin. Mr. Shilleto suggests that the name is connected with pistolet (or pistole), a French coin of this period.
15 scutatum] A crown, Fr. ecu.
16 Accedebant] At this point the narrative reverts to 31 Jan. It is resumed again two paragraphs below.
17 coronati aurei] gold crowns.
18 vacuam] A ruse to pretend that the purse was hardly worth keeping.
19 religioni] 31 Jan. 1500 was a Friday; a day commonly observed by fasting.
20 sibilis] 'in whispers.'
21 ad laevam] sc. manum.
22 Sicut meus, &c.] Hor. Sat. 1. 9. 1-2.
23 huc] Apparently not the house previously mentioned.
24 quod . . . acceptus fuissem] me acceptum fuisse would be more usual.
25 cedo] The irregular imperative, and not from cedo, cedere.
26 Virginis matris purgatio] The Feast of the Purification; 2 Feb.
27 Quid multa?] sc. dicam.
28 Gallice] sc. loqui.
29 donec] lit. 'until'; here marks the final action to be taken, when any suspicions on the part of their companions had been allayed.
30 indusiati] Strictly 'wearing an under-garment' (indusium); so here 'partially dressed'.
31 hora noctis undecima] About 5 a.m.; according to the Roman reckoning, in which the day began at sunrise.
32 Quid multis?] sc. verbis opus est.
33 existimaret] An example of 'contamination', i.e. the combination, through confusion of thought, of two constructions, either of which would be correct. The idea in the robber's mind here could be expressed equally well by 'nisi quod nos quam pecuniosissimi essemus', the subjunctive indicating not a fact but only his opinion; or by 'nisi quod nos quam pecuniosissimos esse existimabat', where the opinion is definitely stated. By 'contamination' with essemus, existimabat is put in the subjunctive. Cf. Cic. Off. 1. 13 'Rediit paulo post, quod se oblitum nescio quid diceret'.
34 Minusculum] 'Just too small a sum.'
35 duodenarios] Coins worth 12 pence; douzains.
36 divum Dionysium] St. Denis, 4 1/2 miles from Paris: which seems to have been regarded as practically the end of the journey.
37 ponderi] The weight used in the scales.
38 in his] 'in these modern coins.'
39 nimis quam] quam strengthens nimis, as freq. in Plautus.
40 ad sacrum] To mass, in the monastery opposite.

1 nihil dum] 'nothing as yet.' Cf. nondum.
2 tuarum commentationum] Colet had been lecturing on the Epistles of St. Paul, at the time of Erasmus' visit to Oxford.
3 Doctoris titulo] The precise date of Colet's D.D. is not known. He was now administering the Deanery of St. Paul's, though he did not actually receive it until May 1505.
4 velis equisque] 'id est summa vi summoque studio.' Erasmus, Adagia.
5 ad Romanos] Never completed.
6 Origenis] Origen (fl. 230 A.D.) was one of the Greek Fathers of the Church. Erasmus was engaged on an edition of his works at the time of his death in 1536.
7 evolvi] evolvere, to unroll, is the classical word for opening and reading a book; belonging to the days when books were rolls (volumina) of papyrus.
8 Lucubratiunculas] Erasmus published a volume with this title in 1503 or 1504. Its contents are sufficiently indicated here. One of them was the Enchiridion Militis Christiani, which was a manual of practical Christianity; its title, which may mean either 'dagger' or 'handbook', being perhaps intentionally ambiguous.
9 Panegyrico] Erasmus had recently published a Panegyric, which he had delivered at Brussels on 6 Jan. 1504 in the presence of Philip, Archduke of Austria, the son of the Emperor Maximilian, congratulating the Archduke on the success of his recent journey to Spain; to the thrones of which he was, through his wife, the heir apparent.
10 inscriptum] The Adagia were dedicated to Mountjoy.
11 studio] 'intentionally.'
12 Fischero] Christopher Fisher was an English lawyer in the service of the Papal Court: who was at this time resident in Paris.

1 Lovanii] During the years 1502-4.
2 Philelphus] Francesco Filelfo (1398-1481), an Italian humanist. Erasmus was incited to attempt the translation by Filelfo's example, not by any direct communication.
3 Paludanus] John Desmarais (?), Public Orator of Louvain University.
4 montibus . . . aureis] 'Proverbialis hyperbole de iis qui immensa promittunt spesque amplissimas ostentant,' Erasmus, Adagia.
5 Cantuariensi] Warham.
6 redimus] From Lambeth to London.
7 nostrae farinae] 'nostri gregis, nostrae conditionis.' Erasmus, Adagia. Farina is lit. 'meal'; so 'substance'; so 'quality'.
8 Badio] Josse Bade, a Paris printer.
9 Iphigenia Aulidensi] The Iphigenia in Aulis is another play by Euripides.
10 unam] sc. fabulam.

1 utrique] Greek and Latin.
2 volitaturus] Cf. Ennius in Cic. Tusc. 1. 15. 34:

Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? Volito vivu' per ora virum.

1 tum abhorrebam] This clause is explanatory of tandem.
2 musca] A figurative expression, meaning 'the slightest sign'. Cf. 'as big as a bee's knees', of something small.
3 eram relicturus] = reliquissem. An idiomatic use with the future participle. Cf. Livy 1. 40 'Gravior ultor caedis, si superesset, rex futurus erat.'

1 magistros] sc. artium.
2 nos reliquimus] Matt. 19. 27.

1 immortalitati] By dedicating a book to him.
2 cultu profano] In the dress of a layman; instead of in his proper ecclesiastical garb.
3 persuasus] An anti-classical use.
4 praesedit] 'took precedence of me in sitting down'.
5 Itali] There were many Italian merchants and agents resident in London at this time.
6 dirimit] Cuts the house off from neighbouring buildings, i.e. surrounds it.
7 officii causa] As a polite attention.
8 redire] to London.
9 aperit . . . fabulae scenam] Draws the curtain, i.e. discloses the facts.
10 surdo canebat fabulam] A proverbial phrase of laboring without result; 'to waste one's breath.' 'Ortum videtur a ridiculo casu, quo saepe fit ut hospes incidat in surdum, quem percontetur multa, ridentibus iis qui surdum noverunt.' Erasmus, Adagia.

XVI

1 Cornelii Woerdeni] Cornelius, of Woerden, to the north of Gouda, was a school friend of Erasmus. He had entered the monastery of Steyn and persuaded Erasmus to follow his example.
2 quarum istic nullus usus] This must not be taken to mean that good learning was unknown to the monastery; for Erasmus read a great deal in the classics at Steyn; but that a monastery was not a suitable home for a scholar.
3 annum probationis] The constitutions of the Augustinian Order provided that a novice could not make his profession as a Canon until he had completed his sixteenth year and had passed at least a year and a day in probation.
4 calculo] Stone in the bladder.
5 confratres] Brothers belonging to the same order.
6 concanonicos] fellow-canons. The word is appropriate here as Steyn was a house of Augustinian canons.
7 Solonis Pythagorae Platonisque] Solon (c. 638-558), the Athenian lawgiver, is said to have bound the people with an oath to observe his laws until he returned; and then to have absented himself from Athens for ten years. Pythagoras travelled in Egypt and the East in search of knowledge, and ultimately settled in Magna Graecia. By birth he was a native of Samos. Plato (c. 429-347) after the death of Socrates in 399 travelled in Egypt, Sicily, and Magna Graecia.
8 hic ipse] Leo X, who was Pope 1513-21.
9 eleemosynario] almoner. Wolsey (c.1475-1530) now held this post, and was also Bishop of Lincoln.
10 Regina] Catherine of Aragon.
11 sacerdotium] The living of Aldington in Kent was given to Erasmus by Warham in March 1512. It was worth 33 pounds yearly; but after a few months Erasmus was allowed to resign, an annual pension of 20 pounds being charged on the living and paid to him.
12 De rerum verborumque copia] Erasmus' De Copia, first published in July 1512, was a treatise designed to assist the beginner in Latin composition by supplying him with a variety of words and abundance of phrases.
13 castigavi] 'I have produced a critical edition of.'
14 obelis] The critical marks used to denote suspected passages in texts.
15 iugalavi] 'I have disposed of', lit. 'have cut their throats'.
16 cultu canonicorum] The proper dress of an Augustinian canon consisted of a 'tunica candida cum linea toga sub nigro pallio. Tegumentum a scapulis impositum cervicem totumque contegit caput'.
17 Thesaurarii filios] Matthias and Mark Lauweryn, sons of the Archduke Philip's Treasurer; who were studying at Bologna in 1507. Mark afterwards became an intimate friend of Erasmus.
18 Pontifice Iulio] Julius II was Pope, 1503-13.
19 admonitus sum] is followed here first by a statement and then by a piece of advice.
20 apud monachas aliquas] Convents of nuns require a resident priest to conduct their services. These posts, the work of which was light, were usually given to monks advanced in years. Servatius himself in later life retired in this way to a convent of Augustinian nuns near Leiden.
21 nihil moror] The technical formula of dismissal, either of persons receiving an audience, or of an accused person when the charge against him is withdrawn. Then, by transference, 'I do not detain to make inquiries about', 'I do not care about'.
22 Pascha] Easter, 16 April 1514. In calculating dates the Romans reckoned inclusively, so that tertius dies is Tuesday.

XVII

1 cantharos] casks.
2 Ioannes Sapidus] John Sapidus (a Latinized form of Witz) was headmaster of the Latin school at Schlettstadt, which was one of the most important in South Germany.
3 Beatus Rhenanus] Beatus Rhenanus (1485-1547) became a most faithful friend to Erasmus, working as his coadjutor in many of his publications.
4 de eodem . . . oleo] A proverbial phrase for an uninterrupted effort. For the combination cf. oleum et operam perdere, to lose time (literally, light) and trouble.
5 liceat] represents a slight change of mental attitude as to the condition being fulfilled.
6 circumferunt, &c.] The subjunctive would be more usual.

XVIII

1 Roffensis] John Fisher (c. 1459-1535) had been a constant patron to Erasmus. He had been confessor to the Lady Margaret Tudor, mother of Henry VII; and through his influence she had used her wealth to endow learning, founding Professorships of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge, and two colleges -- Christ's in 1506 and St. John's which was opened in 1516 -- at Cambridge. Fisher became Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge in 1504, and was President of Queens' College, Cambridge, 1505-8.
2 proque mea virili] sc. parte.
3 venantur] It was evidently considered quite decorous for a bishop to hunt. Warham's abstinence from the chase, which is commended in XXII and XXIII, was clearly exceptional.
4 calamorum Niloticorum] pens made from the reeds that grow on the banks of the Nile. Reed-pens from Cyprus were also in demand at this time.
5 possis] Si . . . sunt is not the protasis.
6 ad meam epistolam] in which Erasmus asked permission to dedicate his edition of Jerome to the Pope. It was dated 21 May 1515 from London; and Leo's reply 10 July 1515 from Rome.
7 uterque Cardinalis] Grimani and another, to whom Erasmus had written on the same subject.
8 Paceum] Pace (c. 1482-1536), a scholar and diplomatist, who succeeded Colet as Dean of St. Paul's in 1519, and was now ambassador (oratorem gerere).
9 et Hieronymum] as well as the New Testament. Jerome was dedicated to Warham.
10 Carolus] The young prince Charles, who afterwards succeeded his grandfather Ferdinand as king of Spain in 1517, and his grandfather Maximilian as the Emperor Charles V in 1519. He was now governing the Netherlands.
11 praebendam] A canonry at Courtray.
12 Archiepiscopus] Warham.
13 Philippum] Probably Melanchthon (1497-1560), who was Reuchlin's great-nephew. Erasmus evidently wished that he should be sent to St. John's.

XIX

1 distentus] from distineo.
2 illi] sc. caupones.
3 Gallinarium] Gallinarius was the parish-priest of Breisach and an old friend of Erasmus.
4 Minoritam] A name for a Franciscan; formed from the humble style adopted by the Order, 'Fratres Minores.'
5 Scoticam] worthy of Scotus.
6 horam decimam] Erasmus is here using the modern, and not the Roman reckoning.
7 ad illorum clepsydras] sc. usque ad multam noctem: not being allowed to rise from table, to go to bed.
8 sodalitatis] The Literary Society over which Wimpfeling presided. Cf. XVII introduction.
9 Anglus equus] A horse given him by an English friend.
10 Maternum] Maternus Hatten was precentor of the cathedral at Spires.
11 Caesaris] The Emperor Maximilian.
12 professus est] taught, was professor.
13 officialis] legal adviser, chancellor.
14 die Dominico] Sunday: Ital. Domani, Fr. Dimanche.
15 Comitem Novae aquilae] Hermann, Count of Neuenahr (Germ. Aar, a poetical name for an eagle).
16 Homerus] Il. 3. 214.
17 Hesiodus] I have not been able to find this phrase in Hesiod. Erasmus is perhaps unconsiously contaminating Sc. 149 with Hom. Od. 17. 322-3.
18 quantus, &c.] Hor. Epod. 10. 7-8.
19 periodus] 'a round'; apparently the canons dined with one another in turn.
20 vel manu contacta] 'with a mere touch of my hand.'
21 cubiculum] Erasmus had a room in the College du Lis at Louvain.
22 Hebraeum] A Jewish physician.
23 poetae] Cf. Hor. C. 3. 24. 31-2.

XX

1 Wintoniensem] Richard Foxe (c. 1448-1528), a powerful statesman and ecclesiastic. He founded Corpus Christi College at Oxford in 1516 to be the home of the Renaissance.
2 Eboracensis] In 1518 Wolsey, who was now Archbishop of York and Cardinal, founded six public Lectureships in Oxford, Theology, Humanity, Rhetoric and Canon Law being among the subjects on which lectures were provided.
3 tuae celsitudini] as we should say, 'your Lordship.'
4 conflictandum] in repelling attacks made on his edition of the New Testament.
5 Homerica] Cf. Il. 1. 194 seq.

XXI

1 Africa] An allusion to the proverb, 'Semper Africa novi aliquid apportat.' Erasmus' Africa here is the city of Basel, where religious innovations were already beginning.
2 gigantum moles] When they tried to scale the heights of heaven by piling Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa.
3 Salmonea et Ixionem] Salmoneus was a presumptuous Thessalian who invented thunder and lightning of his own, and was killed by Jupiter as punishment. Ixion was the king of the Lapithae who was bound upon an ever-revolving wheel as punishment for having affronted Juno.
4 Florentiae] When the bellicose Pope Julius II was attacking Bologna in the autumn of 1506, Erasmus took refuge in Florence.
5 tonabat] Impersonal.
6 pulveris bombardici] 'gunpowder.'
7 rimas . . . speculatorias] 'loopholes.'
8 esset oneri ferendo] Dative of Purpose; cf. solvendo esse, to be solvent.
9 lateris] sc. turris.
10 medium unguem] The middle finger was regarded as 'the finger of scorn'.
11 Corybantes] The priests of Cybele, the mother of the gods, whose worship was conducted with a great noise of musical instruments.
12 nostra tympana] This playful protest indicates that there was a growing fashion of celebrating festive occasions with a din of drums and trumpets. It doubtless embodies also the dislike of the scholar for anything that disturbed his quiet.
13 anapaestis] The rataplan and rat-tat of the drum are compared to the metric feet, the anapaest (short-short-long) and the pyrrhic (short-short).
14 celebritas] abstract for concrete.
15 tonitrui] This form occurs in the Vulgate; but in classical Latin the singular follows the fourth declension.

XXII

William Warham (c. 1450-1532) was an eminent lawyer before he received ecclesiastical preferment. He was Master of the Rolls 1494-1502, Bishop of London 1501, Archbishop of Canterbury 1503, Lord Chancellor of England 1504-15, and Chancellor of Oxford University from 1506 until his death. In the severance of the English Church from Rome he was an unwilling agent to Henry VIII.]

1 iuris utriusque] The two branches of law, civil and canon (or church).
2 A cenis] It was a recognized form of abstinence, to take no food after the midday prandium. In the colloquy Ichthyophagia, first printed in Feb. 1526, Erasmus states that in England supper was prohibited by custom on alternate days in Lent and on Fridays throughout the year. Of the Emperor Ferdinand, when he visited Nuremberg in 1540, an observer wrote, 'Sobrius rex cena abstinuit'; and Busbecq records that it was his master's practice to work in the afternoon, 'donec cenae tempus sit -- cenae, dico, non suae sed consiliariorum; nam ipse perpetuo cena abstinet, neque amplius quam semel die cibum sumit, et quidem parce'.
3 ibi] in England.
4 fuit . . . est] The subjunctive would be grammatically regular, but in both cases the indicative is used to express a fact independent of any condition.
5 esset] The subjunctive expresses the ground of the refusal.
6 cui resignaram] John Thornton, Suffragan Bishop of Dover, who was appointed to succeed Erasmus on 31 July 1512.
7 a suffragiis] A suffragan. This form was common in late Latin for the designation of an office; cf. ab epistolis, a secretary; a libellis, a notary; a cubiculis, a poculis.
8 iuvenem] Richard Masters, appointed in Nov. 1514. He was afterwards involved in the affair of the 'Holy Maid of Kent' and was deprived in 1534.
9 metropolitanus] The title of an archbishop as head of an ecclesiastical province. All the bishops in his province are suffragans to him.

XXIII

1 chartis] 'playing-cards.' An Act of 1463 forbade the importation of them into England; Foxe's statutes for C.C.C. Oxford, dated 1517, prohibit the use 'chartarum pictarum (cardas nuncupant)'.
2 pro more regionis] The following extracts from Erasmus' writings show the reputation of the English at this time in the matter of entertainment: 'Angli ostentatores': 'miramur si quis videat frugalem Anglum': 'asscribo Anglis lautas mensas et formam.'
3 vulgaribus] sc. cibis.
4 holosericis] sc. vestibus. Similarly byssinis ac damascenis below.
5 conventum] This took place in July 1520, shortly after Henry's meeting with Francis I at Ardres, known as the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold'.
6 undecim] Erasmus' memory for dates was uncertain.
7 Eboracensis] Woolsey.

XXIV

1 paucis] sc. verbis.
2 ordinis Franciscani] The order of friars founded by St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226).
3 adolescens inciderat] Here and later in this letter Erasmus is clearly thinking of the circumstances under which he himself had embraced the monastic life. His strong bias against monasticism, which is very evident throughout this piece, often makes him unjust in his representations of it.
4 Scoticas argutias] An unflattering allusion to the philosophy of Duns Scotus (the Scot), who was one of the leaders of mediaeval thought; fl. 1300.
5 Ambrosium] Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (d. 397) was -- with Jerome, Leo, and Gregory -- one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church. Cyprian (d. 257) was also one of the Latin Fathers.
6 offendiculo] Cf. 1. Cor. 8. 9.
7 ungues] Cf. Juv. 7. 232.
8 Dedisses] A conditional clause; the condition being expressed by placing the verb first, without si. Cf Verg. 6. 31 'Partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes'; or in English such forms as 'Give him an inch, he will take an ell'.
9 dividebat] Mr. Lupton, who has edited this letter, gives an example of this chilling method of division and subdivision, from a sermon on the Son of the Widow of Nain. 'Death is first divided into (1) the natural, (2) the sinful, (3) the spiritual, (4) the eternal. Of these 1 is further classified as (a) general, (b) dreadful, (c) fearful, (d) terrible. 2 is next compared to 1 in respect of four common instruments of natural death, that is to say, (e) the sword, (f) fire, (g) missiles, (h) water; and so on, to the end. This is no exaggerated specimen.'
10 Thoma, Durando] Thomas of Aquino (1225-1274) was, like Duns Scotus, one of the leading mediaeval philosophers. Durandus (c. 1230-1296) was a French writer on canon law and liturgical questions.
11 iuris utriusque] The two branches of law, civil and canon.
12 centones] cento is lit. a patchwork, such as a quilt. The term is then applied to a kind of composition which came into fashion in later classical times and was very popular in the Middle Ages. It was made by stringing together detached lines and parts of lines from an author into a complete whole with a definite subject. Such centos were often made from Vergil and on Christian themes; but the term is probably used here for collections of texts from the Bible or the Fathers.
13 Ghisbertus] was town-physician of St. Omer and a friend of Erasmus.
14 utriusque scholae] 'of each party, or class.'
15 virtutes] The Vulgate word, which in the English Bible is regularly translated 'mighty works'.
16 sodali] As a safeguard against scandal the Franciscan rule prescribed that no brother should go outside the monastery without another brother as companion.
17 hilari datore] Cf. 2 Cor. 9. 7.
18 Antonium a Bergis] Antony of Bergen, Abbot of St. Bertin's at St. Omer, was brother of the Bishop of Cambray, Henry of Bergen, to whom Erasmus had been secretary on leaving Steyn. This incident occurred in 1502, the only year in which Erasmus was at St. Bertin's in Lent.
19 quadragesimae] Lent, the first day of which was roughly the fortieth before Easter. Cf. Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays; where the calculation is only approximate.
20 omitteres] Si must be understood from nisi faceres.
21 Iubilaeo] The faithful were encouraged to make pilgrimage to Rome in years of Jubilee, those that did so receiving the Jubilee Indulgence. The offerings made in return for these became so fruitful a source of revenue that successive Popes were tempted to reduce the interval at which Jubilees recurred from a hundred years to fifty, then to thirty-three, and finally Paul II (1464-1471) to twenty-five. Erasmus' statement may be an incorrect attribution to Alexander VI (1493-1503) of the action of Paul II in halving the period of fifty years; or it may be an allusion to the custom of celebrating the Jubilee outside Rome in the second year. In any case the Jubilee of 1500 is referred to here. The practice also grew up of the selling the Jubilee Indulgence away from Rome; and bishops used to purchase the rights in their own dioceses for a fixed sum, afterwards reimbursing themselves by collecting what they could through their own agents.
22 sortem] principal; the sum given by the bishop for the right to sell indulgences.
23 Simoniaci] Cf. Acts 8. 18 seq. The sin of selling spiritual privileges was called simony.
24 affixa est] to the doors of the principal church, or to some equally public place.
25 Episcopum Morinensem] The Bishop of Terouenne, whose title, Morinensis, was derived from the coincidence of his diocese with the territory of the Morini in classical times.
26 auri sacra fames] Cf. Verg. Aen. 3. 56-7.
27 collegerant] sc. accusatores.
28 thynnum] a tunny-fish caught in their net, i.e. a rich person from whom gifts might be extracted.
29 Guardianum] Warden; the regular title of the head of a Franciscan community.
30 hunc] The new warden; qui cupiebant being his former companions.
31 subolesceret] 'grew up'; i.e. came to be.
32 gemmeum] Probably an allusion to the resemblance between Vitrarius and Vitrum. The vernacular form of his name is not known. Mr Lupton conjectures Vitrier; or perhaps it was Vitre.
33 Stoicum] used to denote a morose fellow. The Stoics were a school of Greek philosophers, founded by Zeno in the third century B.C. They practiced great austerity of life.
34 pater] Sir Henry Colet, Kt., was Lord Mayor of London in 1486 and again in 1495.
35 scholasticae] of the 'schoolmen', Scotus, Aquinas, &c., who taught philosophy in the mediaeval universities.
36 septem artium] A course of education introduced in the sixth century. It was divided into the trivium, grammar, logic, and rhetoric; and the quadrivium, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
37 Plotinique] Plotinus (d. 262) was the Founder of Neo-Platonism; which he taught in Rome.
38 Dionysio] The reference here is to some philosophical writings, which in the Middle Ages were regarded as the work of Dionysius the Areopagite, who is mentioned in Acts 17. 34 as a pupil of St. Paul. They are now attributed to an unknown writer in the fifth century A.D.
39 Dantes ac Petrarcha] Dante (1265-1321) and Petrarch (1304-1374) are evidently mentioned here as masters of Italian poetry, not for their work as forerunners of the Renaissance. Mr. Lupton conjectures with probability that Gower (c. 1325-1408) and Chaucer (c. 1340-1400) are the English poets intended.
40 enarravit] 'lectured on.'
41 codicibus] manuscripts or printed copies of the Epistles referred to.
42 collegio] Chapter.
43 symbolum fidei] the Creed.
44 peregrinationis] Erasmus describes a visit with Colet to Canterbury in the Peregrinatio religionis ergo, one of the Colloquia.
45 novam scholam] St. Paul's School was founded in 1510-1.
46 Primus ingressus] The portion of the room first entered.
47 catechumenos] A Greek word denoting candidates for admission to the Christian religion, who were undergoing instruction before baptism; here, pupils just entered.
48 rem divinam] Divine service, with the mass.
49 paradoxis] 'unusual.'
50 puero] probably here 'a servant'.
51 sumpto . . . pusillo] This substantival use of a neuter adjective is confined in classical Latin to the nominative and accusative cases.
52 alteram . . . partem] sc. epistolae; i.e. the sketch of Colet.
53 hunc] The person intended here must be not Scotus but Aquinas, who is the author of the Catena Aurea, a continuous commentary on the Gospels. This violation of the ordinary rule that hic refers to the nearer of two persons mentioned is necessitated by the appropriation of ille to Colet.
54 affectuum] Mr. Lupton translates 'unction'.
55 decidit] 'settled', 'left.'
56 apud Italos] Mr. Seebohm, Oxford Reformers, 3rd ed. p. 22, conjectures that these Italian monks may have been Savonarola and his companions.
57 Germanos] Mr. Lupton conjectures that the Order of the Brethren of the Common Life, founded at Deventer by Gerard Groot in 1384, may be here intended. If this is correct, there is significance in the use of residerent, marking Colet's opinion, instead of resident, which would make the statement Erasmus' own: for Erasmus had been for two years at a school kept by the Brethren in Hertogenbosch and had not a high opinion of them.
58 Collegia] Colet's censure of the colleges in the English universities must apply to the older institutions founded before the Renaissance. Erasmus is probably recalling here some utterance of the days before the foundation of Christ's (1506) and St. John's (1516) at Cambridge, and Corpus Christi (1516) at Oxford.
59 scholis publicis] Mr. Lupton rightly interprets this of the 'schools' at the universities, in which public lectures were given; and shows that as the lecturer had to hire the 'school' for his lecture, the competition for fees would necessarily have been keen. The term is also used at this period for a school maintained by a town.
60 ansis omnibus] Like a vessel made with handles on all sides, i.e. more than are necessary: 'at all points.'
61 ad terniones] into groups of three, in a Breviloquium dictorum Christi. Mr. Lupton instances the three words to Mary Magdalene in John 20. 15-17.
62 cultum ecclesiasticum] public celebration of Divine Service.
63 Episcopo] Rich. Fitzjames, Bp. of London, 1506-22.
64 collegii] The canons and other ecclesiastical officers together constituted St. Paul's a 'collegiate church'.
65 quiritabantur] 'lamented.' the verb is commonly active; but the deponent form is cited by a grammarian from Varro.
66 orientale monasterium] Mr. Lupton shows that St. Paul's was in old times a monastery; and suggests that Erasmus, whose information probably came from Colet, was thinking of a king of the East Saxons, who took the religious habit there. The name Eastminster seems, however, to have been applied not to St. Paul's, but to an abbey near the Tower.
67 Cantuariensem] Warham.
68 illud ex Evangelio] John 21. 15-7.
69 pacem] Cf. Cic. Fam. 6. 6. 5.
70 Id . . . temporis] This attack on Colet may be dated in Lent of either 1512 or 1513; for in each year preparations were being made for a war with France. It is not clear what interval of time is meant by Erasmus to have elapsed between this and the attack mentioned below around the time of Easter 1513.
71 Minoritae duo] Edmund Birkhead, Bishop of St. Asaph (15 April 1513 - April 1518) and Henry Standish who succeeded him in the see.
72 in poetas] because Colet allowed classical Latin poetry to be read in his new school. The Church had always discouraged the study of the poets of antiquity, on the ground of the immoral character of many of their writings.
73 Pascha] Easter, 27 March 1513. This incident can only be placed in 1513: because the expedition of 1512 started in the summer.
74 Parasceves] Good Friday: Gk. paraskeue, the day of preparation before the sabbath of the Passover.
75 consisteret] consistere means 'to take a stand with a person', 'to agree.' This impersonal use is not classical.
76 Iulios] As Mr. Lupton points out, there can hardly fail to be an allusion here, not only to Julius Caesar, but also to the warlike Pope Julius II (1503-1513); whom Erasmus had seen entering Bologna as a conqueror in 1506. Similarly the name Alexander suggests not only 'the great Emathian conqueror', but Pope Alexander VI.
77 velut ad bubonem] sc. aves. Owls are frequently teased by flocks of small birds.
78 praebibit] A compliment in days when poisoned cups were not unknown.
79 lupi . . . hiantes] 'Dicebatur si quis re multum sperata multumque appetita frustratus discederet. Aiunt enim lupum praedae inhiantem rictu late diducto accurrere: qua si frustretur, obambulare hiantem.' Erasmus, Adagia.
80 in eo genere] As a friar.
81 in canonem] into the catalogue of martyrs and saints, i.e. to canonize.

XXV

1 de lana caprina] Cf. Hor. Ep. 1. 18. 15-16:

Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina,
Propugnat nugis armatus.

XXVI

Thomas More (1477 or 1478-1535) was the son of Sir John More (c. 1453-1530), knight and afterwards Judge of the King's Bench. He was a friend of Erasmus' earliest months in England. Henry VIII attached him to his court and sent him on many embassies, and he afterwards filled numerous offices; being Under-sheriff of London, Privy Councillor, Treasurer of the Exchequer, Speaker of the House of Commons, and in 1529 Lord Chancellor in succession to Wolsey. This office he resigned in 1532, feeling himself in opposition to Henry's ecclesiastical policy; and this opposition cost him his life.

He married in 1505 Jane Colt; and shortly after her death, probably in 1511, Alice Middleton.]

1 Apellis] Apelles was a Greek painter of the fourth century B.C. Alexander the Great thought so highly of him that he would allow no one else to paint his portrait.
2 Fulvii Rutubaeque] The names of gladiators (cf. Hor. Sat. 2. 7. 96); who are taken here as types of the unskilled.
3 legatio] i.e. if either More or Hutten should be sent on an embassy, which would bring them together.
4 Ovidius] A.A. 1. 509 seq.
5 e culmo] 'e culmo perspicitur spica demessa: etiam in sene apparet cuiusmodi fuerit iuvenis.' Erasmus, Adagia.
6 mos] The custom of the loving cup.
7 Hesiodo] Op. 713.
8 Adolescens comoediolas &c.] 'Though he was young of years, yet would he at Christmastide suddenly sometimes step in among the players, and, never studying for the matter, make a part of his own there presently among them, which made the lookers-on more sport than all the players beside.' Life of More, by W. Roper, his son-in-law.
9 Morias Encomium] The Praise of Folly.
10 camelus saltarem] 'Ubi quis indecore quippiam facere conatur, camelum saltare dicebant: veluti si quis natura severus ac tetricus affectet elegans ac festivus videri, naturae genioque suo vim faciens.' Erasmus, Adagia.
11 Democritum] Democritus of Abdera (c. 460-361), 'the laughing philosopher,' who is famed for having maintained his cheerfulness in spite of being blind.
12 absolvi] to be finished, fully trained.
13 Augustini] Augustine (d. 430), Bishop of Hippo, was one of the Latin Fathers of the Church.
14 professus est] 'lectured on.'
15 puellae tres] tres is a correction, made in 1521, when this letter was printed a second time, for quatuor, which was doubtless a mistake. The names of the children were not added till 1529, in a third edition. Margaret (1504-1544) married about 1520 William Roper, who wrote a Life of More. She was her father's favorite and friend, the ties between them being very close. She corresponded in Latin with Erasmus; and one of her letters to him is extant. The other children, born in 1506, 1507, and 1509, were less distinguished. The name of Aloysia is usually given as Elizabeth. Erasmus perhaps made a confusion with the name of More's second wife.
16 severitudine] ante- and post-classical for severitate.
17 rem] 'household business.'
18 pater iam alteram] This passage implies that Sir John More was already married to his third wife; and in the edition of 1521 Erasmus speaks of a 'tertia noverca'. Only three wives are mentioned in the Dict. of National Biography. Erasmus is perhaps in error.
19 advocationibus] 'his practice as a barrister.'
20 die Iovis] Thursday; Fr. Jeudi.
21 drachmas] shillings.
22 legationem] On one of these, in 1515, he wrote the Utopia.
23 Felices res publicas] An exclamatory accusative.
24 exprobrat] sc. beneficium; i.e. casts up against a man a benefit conferred.
25 communitatem] 'communism.'
26 antagonistam] Erasmus accepted this challenge; and both wrote declamations in reply to Lucian.
27 Utopiam] The Utopia (i.e. Nowhere, Gk. ou topos, sometimes called Nusquama) is a description, written in Latin, of an ideal commonwealth; in which More develops a number of very novel political ideas. The first book, which was written last, deals with the conditions of England in his day; the description of Utopia occupying the second.
28 in numerato] 'in readiness.'
29 torquatis] an epithet regularly used by Erasmus for the inhabitants of courts with their chains of office (torques) round their necks.
30 Midis] Midas was a king of Phrygia renowned for his riches.
31 officiis] officials. The concrete use is late Latin.
32 aliam aulam] Hutten had written a satire entitled Aula. He was now living in the household of Albert Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz.
33 Stocschleii] John Stokesley (c. 1475-1539), ecclesiastic and diplomatist. He was now chaplain to the king, and in 1530 was made Bishop of London in succession to Tunstall.
34 Clerici] John Clerk (d. 1541), ecclesiastic and diplomatist. He was now chaplain to Wolsey; and subsequently became Dean of Windsor and in 1523 Bp. of Bath and Wells.

XXVII

1 Quid multis] sc. verbis opus est.
2 Germano] Their standards of honesty were then high, and they were in consequence apt to be imposed upon. England on the contrary was already 'perfide Albion'; as Erasmus writes in a letter of 1521, 'Britannia vulgo male audit, quoties de fide agitur'.
3 tuissas] tuissare: to address as 'thou'. Cf. Fr. tutoyer, Germ dutzen.
4 quae nulla] a condensed expression exquivalent to quae, quamvis multa, non tamen.

XXVIII

1 sudore letali] The sweating-sickness. Ammonius fell a victim to it in 1517.
2 habent] sc. Angli.
3 Galenus] Claudius Galenus (130-200) was a Greek physician, who practised at Rome in the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
4 colatam] a medical technical term; lit. 'filtered'. So here 'fine draughts' of air coming in round the small window panes. Erasmus' idea seems to have been that when the winds were blowing, the air would be fresh and the windows should be opened; but that when the air was still, it was likely to be unwholesome and should be kept out.
5 salsamentis] Much of the leprosy which was prevalent at the time has been ascribed to the consumption of salt fish.
6 conferret] 'It would be useful'; cf. conducere.
7 otium meum] 'at my spending my time in this way.'

XXIX

1 Mare] Erasmus had visited Fisher at Rochester in 1516 and clearly had vivid recollections of the mud-flats of the Medway.
2 parietibus vitreis] i.e. with continuous windows, as in the stern galleries of old sailing ships.