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Erasmus from an Italian Perspective*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Paul Oskar Kristeller
Paul Oskar Kristeller*
Affiliation:
Columbia University
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Extract

Erasmus’ attitudes towards Italy and the Italians and the extent of his dependence on Italian sources have been the subject of several competent studies. The prevalent view, however, tends to minimize Erasmus’ debt to Italy. The great representative of Northern humanism, it is argued, surpassed in scholarly stature his Italian contemporaries and hence had nothing to learn from them. As a moral and religious thinker deeply rooted in the traditions of the Devotio Moderna, he was far removed from the secular and even pagan tendencies of Italian humanism. He spent most of his life, apart from his native Holland, in Paris and Louvain, London, Oxford and Cambridge, Basel and Freiburg, all of them important intellectual centers in their own right and with their own traditions. The three years of his Italian journey, undertaken when he was around forty years of age, do not seem to occupy a very large place in his intellectual biography.

Type
Research Article
Information
Renaissance Quarterly , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , Spring 1970 , pp. 1 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1970

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Footnotes

*

This paper is based on a lecture delivered at the Erasmus Quinquecentennial at Grand Valley State College, Allendale, Michigan, on February 24, 1967, and subsequently repeated at several other universities.

References

1 de Nolhac, P., Érasme en Italie(Paris, 1898);Google Scholar Renaudet, A., Érasme et I'ltalie(Geneva, 1954).Google Scholar Cf. also Mestwerdt, P., Die Anfaenge des Erasmus(Leipzig, 1917);Google Scholar Kaegi, W., ‘Hutten und Erasmus,’ Historische Vierteljahrschrift 22 (1924-25), pp. 200–278;Google Scholar de Nolhac, P., Erastne et V Italie(Paris, 1925);Google Scholar Hyma, A., The Youth of Erasmus(Ann Arbor, 1930, 2nd ed. New York, 1968);Google Scholar Borghi, L., Umanesimo e concezione religiosa in Erasmo da Rotterdam (Florence, 1935);Google Scholar Cantimori, D., ‘Note su Erasmo e l'ltalia,’ Studi Germanici 2 (1937), 145–170;Google Scholar Eugene F., Rice, ‘Erasmus and the Religious Tradition,’ Journal of the History of Ideas 11 (1950), 387–411 Google Scholar (reprinted in Renaissance Essays ,ed. Paul O. Kristeller and Philip P. Wiener, New York, 1968, pp. 162-186); Nulli, S. A., Erasmo e il Rinascimento(Turin, 1955);Google Scholar Deno John, Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice(Cambridge, Mass., 1962), pp. 256–278;Google Scholar Roland H., Bainton, Erasmus of Christendom(New York, 1969)Google Scholar and ‘Erasmo, e l'ltalia,’ Rivista storica italiana 79 (1967), 944–951.Google ScholarI am indebted for several references to Roland H. Bainton.

2 See especially Renaudet and Bainton.

3 See De Nolhac and Renaudet; Marc, G. ‘hadour, L'univers de Thomas More(Paris, 1963). PP.140–167;Google Scholar Opus Epistolarum Desiderii Erasmi ,ed. P. S. Allen, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1906); cf. Kristeller, P. O., ‘Two Unpublished Letters to Erasmus,’ Renaissance News 14 (1961), 6–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 See Geanakoplos, pp. 256-278.

5 Opus Epistolarum ,vol. 12 (Indices, by E. Rosenbaum, Oxford, 1958).

6 Erasmus lists Petrarch, Blondus, Boccaccio, Tortelli, Filelfo, Bruni, Guarino, Lapo (da Castiglionchio), Donato Acciaiuoli (Accioialum), Antonio Beccaria, Francesco Barbara (Barbatium), Antonius Tudertinus, Leonardo Giustiniani, Achille Bocchi, Poggio, Valla, Ermolao Barbaro, Giovanni and Giovan Francesco Pico, Bembo, Poliziano, Ficino, Codrus Urceus, Georgius Trapezuntius, Theodore Gaza, Janus Lascaris, Giorgio Merula, Marcus Musurus, Marullus, Laetus, Platina, Philippus Beroaldus the elder and the younger, Giorgio Valla, Cristoforo Landino, Ant. Mancinelli, Petrus Marsus, Johannes Baptista Pius, Cornelius Vitellius, Nicolaus Leonicenus, Nicolaus Leonicus Thomaeus, Bartholomaeus Scala, Paulus Cortesius, Petrus Crinitus, Jacobus Antiquarius, Domitius Calderinus, Scipio Carteromachus, Hieronymus Donatus, Marcus Antonius Sabellicus, Paulus Aemilius, Baptista Egnatius, Paulus Bombasius, Andreas Alciatus, Hieronymus Aleander, Albertus Pius, Caelius Rhodiginus, Caelius, Calcagninus (Opera,ed. Clericus, J., vol. I, Leyden, 1703, col. 1008-1011;Google Scholar Il Ciceroniano ,ed. A. Gambaro, Brescia, 1965, pp. 212-228). The sequence is rather arbitrary and shows diat Erasmus had seen their books but did not know their biographies. In the case of Merula, it is evident that Erasmus knew of him only by hearsay, for he says: Georgium Maerulam Alexandrinum esse scio, an Graecus fuerit nescio, vir in reddendis Graecis splendidus (col. 1010; ed. Gambaro, p. 220). Merula was from Alessandria, and he was mainly a Latin rather than a Greek scholar. The Ciceronianus appeared first in 1528.

7 Nam aliquot aetatibus videtur fuisse sepulta prorsus eloquentia quae non ita pridem reviviscere coepit apud Italos, apud nos multo etiam serius. Itaque reflorescentis eloquentiae princeps apud Italos videtur fuisse Franciscus Petrarcha (col. 1008; ed. Gambaro, p. 212).

8 Opus Epistoiarum 11 (1947), pp. 176-177.

9 De Nolhac, pp. 47-48.

10 Renaudet, pp. 15, 63 and passim; Bainton, pp. 47 and 65. The edition of the Annotations appeared in 1505. Erasmus also composed a Paraphrasis in Elegantias Laurentii Vallae which appeared first in 1529.

11 Opera 1, col. 1009; Opus Epistolarum II , 177.

12 Opera 1, col. 1009; Opus Epistolarum 3 (1913), 384.

13 See below.

14 The manuscript library of Raphael de Marcatel, Abbot of St. Bavo in Gent, which contained many works of Italian scholars, is being reconstructed by Dr. K. A. van Acker (see Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek 2, Brussels 1966, cols. 507-512). Brugge, Groote Seminarie MS. 15/76 (from the Abbaye des Dunes) contains a Latin translation of John Chrysostom by Franciscus Aretinus. Cuyk, MS. 50 contains another translation of Chrysostom by Lilius Tifernas copied in Cuyk in 1465. A Ficino manuscript owned by Marchesa Serlupi in Florence was copied in Bruges in 1475 (Kristeller, , Studies in Renaissance Thought and Letters,Rome, 1956, repr. 1969, p. 165).Google Scholar A manuscript of the letters of Phalaris was copied in Bruges, 1461, by an Italian scribe (Kristeller, , Iter Italicum 2, Leyden, 1967, p. 43).Google Scholar Francesco Tedaldi, a friend and pupil of Marsilio Ficino, died in Bruges after 1484 (Kristeller, , ‘Una novella latina e il suo autore Francesco Tedaldi…', Studi Letterari, Miscellanea in onore di Emilio Santini,Palermo, 1956, pp. 158–180).Google Scholar Ermolao Barbaro came to Bruges in i486 as a Venetian ambassador to the Emperor Frederick III and his son Maximilian. The oration he delivered on that occasion was printed in the same year in Alost ( Ermolao, Barbaro, Epistolae, orationes et carmina,ed. Branca, V., Florence, 1943, I, XXIX-XXX-XCIX; 2, 110–117;Google Scholar Ermolao, Barbaro, De coelibatu,ed. Branca, V., Florence, 1969, pp. 230–235)Google Scholar. Ermolao's correspondence with Arnoldus Bostius, an older friend of Erasmus (Epistolae ,ed. Branca, I, 91-93, 95-96), also falls in the period 1485-86, but apparently they did not meet.

For the printing of Italian humanist authors in the Low Countries, see: Campbell, M. F. A. G., Annales de la typographie néerlandaise au XVe siécle(Hague, 1874, and supple- ments 1878-90);Google Scholar NijhofFand, W. and Kronenberg, M. E., Nederlandsche bibliographie van 1500 tot 1540(3 vols., Hague, 1919-43, and supplements 1925-51);Google Scholar Catalogue of Books Printed in the XVth Century now in the British Museum ,Part 9 (London, 1962); Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in the Netherlands and Belgium and of Dutch and Flemish Books Printed in Other Countries from 1470 to 1600 now in the British Museum (London, 1965).

15 Renaudet, A., Préréforme et humanisme à Paris pendant les premières guerres d'ltalie (Paris, 1916, repr. 1953);Google Scholar Weiss, R., Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century(2nd ed., Oxford, 1957; 3rd ed., 1967);Google Scholar Luchsinger, F., Der Easier Buchdruck als Vermittler italienischen Geistes 1470-1529(Basel, 1953);Google Scholar Bietenholz, P., Der italienische Humanismus und die Bluetezeit des Buchdrucks in Basel(Basel, 1959);Google Scholar Kisch, G., Gestalten und Probleme aus Humanismus undJurisprudenz(Berlin, 1969).Google Scholar

16 De Nolhac, p. 93.

17 See above, note 9.

18 Geanakoplos, pp. 256-278.

19 See above, note 7.

20 For a bibliographical list of Erasmus’ writings, see van der Haeghen, F., Bibliotheca Erasmiana(Gent, 1893, repr. Nieuwkoop, 1961).Google Scholar

21 Erasmus edited Aristotle, Johannes Chrysostomus, Josephus, Ptolemaus (Geographia) , and the New Testament, as well as Ambrose, Augustine, Ausonius, Catonis disticha , Cicero, Curtius, Cyprian, Eucherius, Jerome, Hilarius Pictaviensis, Historiae Augustae Scriptores ,Irenaeus, Lactantius, Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, Publilius Syrus and Terence; he translated Aesop, Basil, Euripides, Galen, Isocrates, Johannes Chrysostomus, Libanius, Lucian, Origen, Plutarch, Xenophon; he annotated Horace, Ovid, Persius, Plautus, Prudentius. See Van der Haeghen.

22 Thorndike, L. (A History of Magic and Experimental Science,Vols. 5-6, New York, 1941)Google Scholar mentions Erasmus repeatedly but has no coherent treatment of him.

23 Bainton (p. 39) insists that Erasmus had some knowledge and appreciation of the scholastics.

24 Cf. Gorce, D., ‘La patristique dans la réforme d'Erasme,’ in Festgabe Joseph Lortz (Baden-Baden, 1958), I, 233–276;Google Scholar Peters, R., ‘Erasmus and The Fathers,’ Church History 36 (1967), 254–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

25 It would be easy to compile a list of non-Italian humanists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who wrote little or nothing on religious subjects.

26 See above, note 10.

27 Laurentius, Valla, Opera(Basel, 1540, repr. Turin, 1962), p. 340.Google Scholar

28 There are seven manuscripts in the Vatican, one in Florence, and one in Brussels (Bibliothèque Royale, MS. 10745, from the Jesuit College of Brussels). Cf., Kristeller, 'Renaissance Research in Vatican Manuscripts,’ Manuscripta I (1957), 67–80, at 70 and 77.Google Scholar

29 Garin, E., La cultura filosofica del Rinascimento Italiano(Florence, 1961), pp. 241–253;Google Scholar Kristeller, , ‘Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and His Sources,’ in L'opera e il pensiero di Giovanni Pico nella storia dell ‘Umanesitno(Florence, 1965), I, 35–133, at 72 and 108-118.Google Scholar

30 For an example, see Kristeller, , Iter Italicum 1 (1963), 135 (Filelfo).Google Scholar

31 Kristeller, Studies (1956), pp. 360 and 365.

32 Sister Agnes Clare Way, ‘Gregorius Nazianzenus,’ in Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum ,Vol. 2, ed. P. O. Kristeller and F. E. Cranz (forthcoming).

33 For Traversari's patristic translations, see Mehus, L., Vita Atnbrosii Travcrsarii(Florence, 1759);Google Scholar he translated Aeneas Gazaeus, Athanasius, Basil, Diogenes Laertius, Dionysius Areopagita, Ephrem Syrus, Johannes Chrysostomus, Manuel Calecas, Palladius, Johannes CKmacus and others. Cf. Sister Agnes, Clare Way, ‘The Lost Translations made by Ambrosius Traversarius of the Orations of Gregory Nazianzene,’ Renaissance News 14 (1961), 91–96.Google Scholar For Pietro Balbo, see A. Pratesi in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 5 (1963). 378-379.

34 See above, note 14.

35 See above, note 6.

36 Thomas More translated into English several short works of Pico along with his life written by his nephew Giovanni Francesco (ed. J. M. Rigg, London, 1890). Pusino, I., 'Der Einfluss Picos auf Erasmus,’ Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte(46 [1928], 75–96)Google Scholar discusses mainly the Enchiridion and its dependence on some of Pico's shorter religious works.

37 Sears, Jayne, John Colet and Marsilio Ficino(Oxford, 1963).Google Scholar

38 A History of Western Philosophy (New York, 1945), p . 517.

39 We might add that Erasmus also exploits the medieval connotation of the word miles as ‘knight.'

40 Desiderius, Erasmus Roterodamus, Ausgewaehlte Werke,ed. Hajo, and Annemarie, Holborn (Munich, 1933), p. 32.Google Scholar Similar statements about the Platonists are repeatedly found in Augustine.

41 Ibid. ,41-42: contemnit ea, quae videntur; scit enim esse caduca, quaerit, quae vere, quae semper sunt. Immortalis amat immortalia… .

42 Ibid. ,42-48.

43 Ibid. ,67. The notion of man as a third world is characteristic of Pico's Heptaphs. Cf. Pusino, p. 90.

44 In his preface to Thomas, More, Erasmus lists these and other ancient models, Stultitiae Laus,ed. Kan, I. B. (Hague, 1898), pp. III-IV.Google Scholar

45 Ch. 66, p. 183.

46 Ch. 7 (pp. 8-10). Folly has the same father as Plato's Eros, that is, Plutos.

47 Ch. 66-67 (PP. 182-187): Etenim qui vehementer amat iam non in se vivit, sed in eo quod amat… . Cf., Ficinus, Commentaire sur le Banquet de Platon,ed. Marcel, R. (Paris, 1956), P. 155:Google Scholar Ille … amator animus est proprio in corpore mortuus, in alieno corpore vivens.

48 Opus epistolarum 9 (1938), 208.

49 Ibid. ,2 (1910), 358.

50 Ibid. ,2, 90-114, at 103: At hunc Plato furorem vocat, cum quis extra se raptus in eo est quod amat eoque fruitur.

51 Ibid. ,4 (1922), 289. Erasmus cites Corinthians II 4:18 from the Vulgate: non contemplantibus nobis quae videntur, sed quae non videntur. Quae enim videntur, temporalia sunt; quae autem non videntur, aeterna sunt. St. Paul's Greek terminology sounds here much less Platonic than the Latin of the Vulgate.