The complicated sixteenth century: Difference between revisions
→Erasmus' influence upon Loyolla
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This article, [https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/desiderius-erasmus Desiderius Erasmus | Catholic Answers Encyclopedia], offers a critical view of Erasmus and his humanism, which aligned him with Martin Luther in many respects. Erasmus never rejected the Church and, by the end of his life, he had distanced himself from Luther. Erasmus's close friend, (Saint) Thomas More shared 16th century humanistic views, but never strayed from Church orthodoxy. We may assume that Erasmus' friendship with More grounded him more firmly in the Catholic faith, as many of his contemporaries such as William Tyndale<ref>Tyndale was an English protestant reformer who translated the Bible into English based on the earlier work of John Wycliff, whose anti-Catholic followers were called "Lollards."</ref>, Martin Luther, and others were not. | This article, [https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/desiderius-erasmus Desiderius Erasmus | Catholic Answers Encyclopedia], offers a critical view of Erasmus and his humanism, which aligned him with Martin Luther in many respects. Erasmus never rejected the Church and, by the end of his life, he had distanced himself from Luther. Erasmus's close friend, (Saint) Thomas More shared 16th century humanistic views, but never strayed from Church orthodoxy. We may assume that Erasmus' friendship with More grounded him more firmly in the Catholic faith, as many of his contemporaries such as William Tyndale<ref>Tyndale was an English protestant reformer who translated the Bible into English based on the earlier work of John Wycliff, whose anti-Catholic followers were called "Lollards."</ref>, Martin Luther, and others were not. | ||
=== | === ''Enchiridion militis Christiani'' === | ||
In 1501, Erasmus published, ''Enchiridion militis Christiani'', or "Handbook<ref>The word "handbook" may be an incomplete translation of ''Enchiridion'', which suggests a more complete "manual" or set of instructions rather than a "handbook".</ref> of the Christian Soldier." The work was at the quest of the wife of an errant soldier who begged a friend of Erasmus to help change her husband's behavior. The medieval notion of "chivalry<ref>From French "''chevalerie''" for horseman and ''chevaler'' for knight; the English term, ''cavalier'', is drawn from the same Latin root, ''caballarius'' for horseman. A warrior who owned a horse was of a higher social and economic class from regular soldiers, thus its conneciton with nobility.</ref>" arose in the 12th century as a code of conduct for knights and noblemen and inspired a literary genre (such as the legend of King Arthur) as well as formal codes of behavior for military orders and for court life, generally. Chivarly was deeply intwined with Christianity, perhaps best seen in the Teutonic Knights who venerated the Vigin Mary as patroness. By the time of Erasmus, and with the avent of gunpowder and large state armies, chivalry had morphed into ritualistic expressions of knighthood such as jousting, hunting, and heraldry, which consisted of displays of rank and pedigree through emblems, flags, and banners. | In 1501, Erasmus published, ''Enchiridion militis Christiani'', or "Handbook<ref>The word "handbook" may be an incomplete translation of ''Enchiridion'', which suggests a more complete "manual" or set of instructions rather than a "handbook".</ref> of the Christian Soldier." The work was at the quest of the wife of an errant soldier who begged a friend of Erasmus to help change her husband's behavior. The medieval notion of "chivalry<ref>From French "''chevalerie''" for horseman and ''chevaler'' for knight; the English term, ''cavalier'', is drawn from the same Latin root, ''caballarius'' for horseman. A warrior who owned a horse was of a higher social and economic class from regular soldiers, thus its conneciton with nobility.</ref>" arose in the 12th century as a code of conduct for knights and noblemen and inspired a literary genre (such as the legend of King Arthur) as well as formal codes of behavior for military orders and for court life, generally. Chivarly was deeply intwined with Christianity, perhaps best seen in the Teutonic Knights who venerated the Vigin Mary as patroness. By the time of Erasmus, and with the avent of gunpowder and large state armies, chivalry had morphed into ritualistic expressions of knighthood such as jousting, hunting, and heraldry, which consisted of displays of rank and pedigree through emblems, flags, and banners. | ||
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Clearly, war and violence persisted, but the power of the ''Pax Dei'' and ''Treuga Dei'' was such that doctrine and practice required harmony when the one didn't conform to the other. As such, two centuries later, St. Thomas Aquinas studied the problem and argued that warfare in self-defense is justifiable even on feast days. | Clearly, war and violence persisted, but the power of the ''Pax Dei'' and ''Treuga Dei'' was such that doctrine and practice required harmony when the one didn't conform to the other. As such, two centuries later, St. Thomas Aquinas studied the problem and argued that warfare in self-defense is justifiable even on feast days. | ||
Technologies, trade, and, especially, state formation changed the nature of war to its more modern impersonal forms of destruction justified by "reasons of state," or, more precisely, war justifying itself. By the time of Erasmus, war and chivalry yet persisted on horseback, but gunpowder was already beginning to defeat personal armor.<ref>Czech national hero and military genius, Jan Žižka, a Hussite leader (anti-Catholic revolutionaries), in the Hussite Wars (or Crusades) of the 1402s, used ''píšťala'', or handguns, to great effect against mounted, armored knights. Žižka taught common farmers to use the pistols, which required little training, hiding them behind attached farm carts to stop calvary charges. See [[wikipedia:Jan_Žižka#Gunpowder_weapons|Jan Žižka - Wikipedia]]</ref> War was back | Technologies, trade, and, especially, state formation changed the nature of war to its more modern impersonal forms of destruction justified by "reasons of state," or, more precisely, war justifying itself. By the time of Erasmus, war and chivalry yet persisted on horseback, but gunpowder behind fortifications was already beginning to defeat personal armor and horse-driven mobilty.<ref>Czech national hero and military genius, Jan Žižka, a Hussite leader (anti-Catholic revolutionaries), in the Hussite Wars (or Crusades) of the 1402s, used ''píšťala'', or handguns, to great effect against mounted, armored knights. Žižka taught common farmers to use the pistols, which required little training, hiding them behind attached farm carts to stop calvary charges. See [[wikipedia:Jan_Žižka#Gunpowder_weapons|Jan Žižka - Wikipedia]]</ref> | ||
War was back on as a full-time business, and for its own justification, prompting Erasmus to observe, | |||
“It seems to be cause enough to commence a just and necessary war that a neighboring land is in a more prosperous, flourishing and free condition than your own.”<ref>Erasmus, [https://archive.org/details/complaintofpeace00eras/page/66/mode/2up?q=prosperous "The Complaint of Peace" (Internet Archive)], p. 66. </ref> | “It seems to be cause enough to commence a just and necessary war that a neighboring land is in a more prosperous, flourishing and free condition than your own.”<ref>Erasmus, [https://archive.org/details/complaintofpeace00eras/page/66/mode/2up?q=prosperous "The Complaint of Peace" (Internet Archive)], p. 66. </ref> | ||
Erasmus continues, | Erasmus continues, | ||
"God made man unarmed. But anger and re- venge have mended the work of God, and furnished his hands with weapons invented in hell. | "God made man unarmed. But anger and re- venge have mended the work of God, and furnished his hands with weapons invented in hell. Christians attack christians with engines of destruction, fabricated by the devil, A cannon ! a mortar! no human being could have devised them originally; they must have been suggested by the evil one."<ref>Erasmus, [https://archive.org/details/complaintofpeace00eras/page/66/mode/2up?q=prosperous "The Complaint of Peace" (Internet Archive)], p. 66. </ref> | ||
By then, chilvary, had become a lifestyle or status measure more than a military strategy, with armies coming to be run by professional strategists using trained soldiers in wars between states. | By then, chilvary, had become a lifestyle or status measure more than a military strategy, with armies coming to be run by professional strategists using trained soldiers in wars between states. | ||
Yet, there was, as ever, plenty of opportunity for mischief, such as that carried on by the husband of the woman who pleaded for help from Erasmus through his friend. | Yet, there was, as ever, plenty of opportunity for mischief, such as that carried on by the husband of the woman who pleaded for help from Erasmus through his friend. | ||
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* [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23961674 ERASMUS, IGNATIUS LOYOLA, AND ORTHODOXY on JSTOR] | * [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23961674 ERASMUS, IGNATIUS LOYOLA, AND ORTHODOXY on JSTOR] | ||
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==== Don Quixote by Cervantes ==== | ==== Don Quixote by Cervantes ==== | ||
=== Erasmus' influence upon Loyolla === | |||
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which gave him, according to scholar Terence O'Reilly, "enormously popularity in Spain durng the 1520 not, primarily, as a satirsist, nor as a scholar, but as the author of ''Enchiridion militis christiani."''<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23961674 ERASMUS, IGNATIUS LOYOLA, AND ORTHODOXY], Terence O'Reilly, The Journal of Theological Studies, NEW SERIES, Vol. 30, No. 1 (APRIL 1979), pp. 115-127 (13 pages) Published By: Oxford University Press; </ref> | |||
----References | ----References | ||
[[Category:Church History]] | [[Category:Church History]] | ||