Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch theological and classical scholar and writer, born in Rotterdam, Oct. 28, 1467, died in Basel, July 12, 1536. He was the natural son of Gerard Praet and Margaret, the daughter of a physician of Sevenbergen. He himself received the name of Gerard, but afterward assumed its Latin synonyme Desiderius, the Greek translation of which furnished his surname. He was sent first to the school of Gouda, and afterward to the cathedral at Utrecht to become one of the choir boys. At the age of nine he was transferred to the monastic school at Deventer, where he studied the classics. In 1480 both his parents died, and his tutors sent him to the school of Romboldus at Bois-le-Duc, that he might fit himself for the priesthood. For some years he resisted their wishes, and neglected the studies which they arranged for him ; but in 1486 he was persuaded by a friend who had just come back from Italy to embrace a life so free from excitement and so favorable to study, and entered the convent of Stein near Gouda. The discipline was not strict. Erasmus was allowed to study other than theological treatises, and his reputation as a classical scholar was soon widely spread. In 1492 he was selected as a companion by the bishop of Cambrai, and was ordained to the priesthood. Erasmus remained with his patron at Cambrai five years, when he went to study at the college of Montaigu in Paris, where he supported himself by taking pupils. His studies were interrupted by serious sickness, which left in him the seeds of a malady from which he suffered all the rest of his life.

Among his numerous pupils was a young English nobleman, William Blount, Lord Montjoy, by whom he was promised a pension of 100 crowns if he would take up his residence in England. His two years' stay in that country was made pleasant by the attentions of the nobility and the friendship of the most eminent English scholars. He was presented at court, studied at Cambridge and Oxford, became the associate of More and Colet, and acquired a thorough knowledge of Greek. For several years after his return from England he led an unsettled life, teaching in various cities of France and Holland, translating the ancient classics, investigating the text of the Scriptures, and increasing his acquaintance with the scholars of Europe. In 1505 he again visited England, and received from Cambridge the degree of bachelor in theology. The presents received in England made it possible for him to visit Italy, where his stay lasted nearly three years. At Turin the degree of doctor of theology was conferred upon him. In Venice he resided with the famous printer Aldus Manutius while his collection of "Adages" was in press. In Rome he was treated with great regard by Pope Julius II., who gave him a dispensation from his monastic vows.

Shortly after the accession of Henry VIII. he returned to England. On the journey thither he composed his Morioe Encomium, " Praise of Folly," in many respects his most remarkable work. On his arrival he was received by his friend More, was presented with a living by the archbishop of Canterbury, which he resigned for a pension of £20, and accepted professorships of theology and Greek at Cambridge. In 1514 he returned to the continent at the invitation of the archduke Charles, afterward Charles V., from whom he received the appointment of councillor, with a small salary. This sinecure allowed him to reside where he chose, and he afterward employed his time almost wholly with literary pursuits, correspondence, theological, polemical, and satirical writing, and with edi-tions and translations of many of the less known Greek and Roman classics. With Reuch-lin, his only rival as a linguist, he carried on a spirited controversy concerning Greek pronunciation; and the theory which he maintained has until the present century been generally received in the schools of Europe. With Luther his dispute was still sharper.

The monk of Wittenberg was at first a warm friend and admirer of the great scholar; but finding that Erasmus was not ready to adopt the extreme tenets of the reformers, he at first expostulated with, then ridiculed, and then denounced his former friend as a time-server, a coward, and a foe to true religion. Erasmus was equally unfriendly to the monastic habits and to the subtleties of the scholastic divinity, and exercised his wit on both of these; but he had no love for theological quarrels, and no wish to draw upon himself unpopularity or persecution. He welcomed the reformation as a movement of free thought, but deprecated its excesses. He disliked all dogmatism, as well as all extravagance in religious rhetoric, and would have the reformers confine themselves to the open vices of the monks and clergy, leaving aside the possible errors in doctrine. His middle course in regard to the reformation brought upon him the censure of zealots in both parties. In 1521 he had taken up his residence in Basel, where he was presently called on to mediate between the Catholic magistrates and the rising Protestant party. His moderate counsels satisfied neither side.

The insurrection of February, 1529, completed the overthrow of the authorities; the Roman Catholic religion was definitely prohibited in the city, and all who had opposed the new doctrine were compelled to depart. Though Erasmus had already been condemned as a heretic by the college of the Sorbonne, he could not endure the society of the men in power, and went to Freiburg, where he remained from 1529 to 1535. In vain did the Catholic party try to win him back to full communion, and in vain did the reformers attack him by jest and sar-casm. He answered the libels of Geldenhauer by pungent rejoinders, he evaded the summons to the diet at Augsburg, and his "Retractations," though promised, were never published. He declined more than one tempting offer, and, while he was not unwilling to accept additions to his scanty income, did not care to obscure his literary fame by the more imposing dignity of a place in the sacred college. In 1535 he returned to Basel, where an attack of gout compelled him to remain, and where he died in the arms of his friends. His last days were cheered by the friendly visits and messages of distinguished men both of the Protestant and of the Catholic party.

His death was lamented as a public calamity; a long procession of magistrates and students followed his funeral; and the bequest of his whole property to the aged, the poor, and the orphan seemed to justify the monument which was erected to him in the cathedral at Basel, and which still remains the chief object of interest in that edifice. - Erasmus was small in stature, with light hair and light blue eyes. His portrait by Holbein represents his look as sickly and his face as thin and wrinkled. He was fond of luxurious living, but unable from physical weakness to gratify his appetites. His timidity was excessive. He dreaded to stay in the neighborhood of any contagious disease, and, in spite of his rationalistic tendencies, was frequently haunted by superstitious fears. He had a fine native humor, a keen enjoyment of witty discourse, and an accurate eye for every form of beauty. His taste was as refined as his knowledge was prodigious. He was versed in all the studies of his age; in most of them he excelled. His reading was various, but not desultory. His treatises were finished productions, and their style is always clear, flowing, and eloquent. Erasmus aided the reformation rather as a scholar and critic than as a thinker or reasoner.

He exposed the abuses of the convents and the inconsistencies of the scholastic theology, but he produced no new creed and argued in favor of no heretical doctrine. His defence of the right of reason against authority was weak and evasive. But he revived the study of the Scriptures in their original tongue, affirmed the superior value of early Christian testimonies, and gave an impulse to Biblical and patristic investigations. He was the most gifted and industrious pioneer of modern scholarship. - Erasmus published in 1516 the first printed edition of the Greek Testament from manuscripts, which has been regarded as his greatest work. His complete works, with a biography, were published after his death by Beatus Rhenanus (9 vols. fol., Basel, 1540-'41). Another more complete edition was published at Leyden by Le Clerc (10 vols. fol., 1703-'6). Of the Colloquia, his most famous work, a great number of editions have been published; the best is that of Amsterdam (1650). The Morioe Encomium also passed through a great number of editions; it was translated into German and illustrated by Holbein; the latest edition is that of Havre (1839). His other most important works are the Copia Verborum; the Adagiorum Collectanea; the treatise Be Libero Arbitrio, which was answered by Luther; the Paraclesis, an exhortation to the study of Christian philosophy; the volume of Epigrammata; the Anti-barbarorum Liber; Lingua, a satirical work; an explanation of the Apostles' creed; Eccle-siastoe, sive de Ratione Concinandi, in 4 books; and the immense collection of "Epistles," which show the character of the man.

Of his purely classical works, there are editions of Seneca, Suetonius, Aurelius Victor, Ammianus Marcellinus, Eutropius, Quintus Curtius, Cicero De Officiis, the "Tusculan Questions," Pliny the Elder, Livy, and Terence, who was his favorite among the Latins, as Plutarch and Lucian were among the Greeks. He also published translations from Xenophon, Isocrates, Euripides, and Libanius, and issued editions of Ptolemy, Demosthenes, and Aristotle. Among his works are also many controversial apologies, Scriptural expositions, and liturgical treatises. The life of Erasmus has been written by Beatus Rhenanus, Melchior Adam, Merula, Scriverius, and Gaye, in Latin; by Henke and Muller in German; by Levesque de Burigny, Bayle, Bullart, and Nisard, in French; and by Jortin, Knight, Charles Butler, and R. B. Drummond (2 vols., London, 1873), in English. See also Erasme, predecesseur et initiateur de l'esprit moderne, by Durand de Laur (2 vols., Paris, 1872).