Erasmus of Rotterdam in Venice (1467-1536)

Erasmus of Rotterdam by Quentin Metsys in 1529

Erasmus of Rotterdam Erasmus studied in a monastery of the Augustinian friars near Gouda (Holland) and then in Paris, London and Cambridge, where he became friends with Thomas More.

He then moved to Turin, where he obtained his doctorate in theology, and to Florence.

In October 1506, he was in Venice, in Campo San Paternian, now Campo Manin, on the site of the Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia, at the home of the printer Aldo Manuzio.

It was in this famous printing house that he participated in the publication of Plato, Plutarch, Pindar, Pausanias, Plautus, Terence, Seneca...

There he met other scholars who also worked there, notably Cardinal Pietro Bembo and, above all, Marco Musuro, a Greek teacher from Crete who taught him Greek.

Erasmus and the Modern Age!

Erasmus complained about the working conditions at this institution, where the pace of work was such that "one could not even scratch one's head!

Erasmus of Rotterdam He also complained about his boss's stinginess, who served them wine mixed with water and overly frugal food...

Let's not forget that Erasmus was Dutch and probably had an appetite to match his size!

The Adages printed in Venice in 3,000 copies!

Although, according to him, he was insufficiently fed and poorly paid in relation to the quantity and quality of the work he did, he at least had the satisfaction of seeing his own works published, including a new edition of the Adages in over 3,000 copies, compared to only 800 for the first edition.

It was during this period that he wrote the famous Eloge de la Folie (In Praise of Folly), dedicated to his friend Thomas More. And "The Institution of Christian Kingship" for Charles V.

Erasmus expanded the boundaries of human intelligence

This is how Aretino, though always quick to criticise, expressed himself in one of his letters to one of Erasmus' disciples:

« Erasmus expanded the boundaries of human intelligence and, in imitating himself, remained in the memory of men as a unique example.

He is unrivalled, a powerful source of words, an inexhaustible river of intelligence, an immense ocean of writing.

His merits are so great that no reflection can do them justice. »
l'Arétin

Portrait of Erasmus by Dürer in 1520

Erasmus leaves Venice in 1508