Chapter 53 Chapter Four: Erasmus and More

In the northern countries the Renaissance began later than in Italy, and soon became mingled with the Reformation.But there was also a brief period at the beginning of the sixteenth century, when new learning in France, England, and Germany was not involved in the vortex of theological controversy, but was vigorously diffused.This Northern Renaissance movement is very different from the Italian Renaissance in many ways.It is neither chaotic nor detached from morality; on the contrary, it is inseparable from piety and public morality.The Northern Renaissance paid great attention to applying academic standards to the Bible to obtain a more accurate version of the Bible than the Latin Popular Version.The movement was less brilliant than its Italian predecessor, but more solid;

Less concerned with individual display of learning than more eager to spread it as widely as possible. Erasmus and Sir Thomas More can be regarded as typical representatives of the Northern Renaissance.They are close friends and have a lot in common.Both were learned, though More was less learned than Erasmus; both despised scholasticism; both aspired to reform the church from within, but both lamented the Protestant schism when it occurred; Both write witty, humorous and deeply sophisticated prose.Before Luther's apostasy, they were the intellectual leaders; but after that, the old and the new worlds became too violent for men of their type.

More died in martyrdom, and Erasmus fell into poverty. Neither Erasmore nor More are philosophers in the strict sense.The reason I treat these two men is that they exemplify the character of pre-revolutionary times, when demands for moderate reforms prevailed, and cowards had not yet frightened the radicals into reaction.They also display the characteristic of rebellion against scholasticism, that is, their aversion to everything systematic in theology or philosophy. Erasmus (1466-1536) was born in Rotterdam.He was an illegitimate child, and therefore concocted a set of romantic lies about his birth.Actually, his father was a priest, a man of some learning who knew Greek.Erasmus's natural parents died when he was a teenager, and his guardians (apparently embezzled from him) coaxed him to become a monk at the monastery of Steyn, a step he regretted all his life. .One of the guardians was a schoolteacher, but he knew less Latin than Erasmus had known as a schoolboy.In reply to a Latin letter from the boy, the teacher said:

"In case you write such an elegant letter again, please add an annotation." In 1493 Erasmus became secretary to the local bishop of Cambray, Grand Master of the Order of the Golden Fleece.This gave him a good opportunity to leave the monastery and travel, but not to Italy as he had always wanted.His knowledge of Greek was then rudimentary, but he was highly educated in Latin; Erasmus especially admired Lorenzo Valla for his book on the elegance of Latin.He thinks that using Latin and true faith are completely compatible, and he also cited Augustine and Jerome as examples—it seems that he has clearly forgotten the dream of Jerome: in the dream, my lord scolded him for reading Cicero's works.

Erasmus entered the Sorbonne for a time, but could find nothing useful to him there.The University had had its golden age from the beginnings of Scholasticism to Gessen and the Synod, but now the old controversies were dry and dry.The Thomists and the Scotus were originally collectively called the Ancient School, and this faction argued against the Occamists, who were called the Nominalist School, also known as the Modern School.Finally in 1482 the two factions reconciled and united against the Humanists, who were flourishing in Paris outside the university circles.Erasmus loathed the scholastics, seeing them as obsolete and obsolete.He mentioned in a letter that he tried not to say anything elegant or subtle because he wanted to get a doctorate.He did not really like any school of philosophy, not even Plato and Aristotle; it was only that the two, being ancient, had to be spoken of with respect.

In 1499, Erasmus visited England for the first time and liked the British custom of kissing girls.He made friends with Coletter and Moore in England, and they advised him not to play with the trivial skills of writing and ink, but to start serious work.Coletter taught the Bible course, but did not know Greek; Erasmus felt that he would like to work hard on the Bible, and believed that knowledge of Greek was indispensable.After he left England in early 1500, although he was too poor to hire a teacher, he began to learn Greek; But let him learn.He resolved to compile the works of St. Jerome, and to publish a Greek New Testament with a new Latin translation, both of which were completed in 1516.He discovered errors in the Latin Popular Version, a discovery that would later prove beneficial to Protestants in religious controversies.Erasmus also intended to learn Hebrew, but dropped it.

The only book written by Erasmus that is still read is "The Praise of the Fool God" (The PraiseoeEolly).The idea of ​​this book was born when he was crossing the Alps on his way from Italy to England in 1509.He wrote it quickly at Sir Thomas More's house in London; the title was dedicated to More, with a joking insinuation that since "Moros" meant "fools", the title was appropriate.The Fool confesses in person; she is boastful and exuberant, and her words are enhanced by Holban's illustrations.The Confessions of a Foolish God touches all aspects of life, all classes and occupations.If it weren't for her, human beings would be extinct, because who is not stupid enough to get married?As an antidote to wisdom, she advises "take a wife—an animal so foolish and harmless, yet so convenient and useful, that it softens and assuages ​​man's rigidity and gloom." Selfishness, who will be happy?

Yet such happiness is folly.The happiest people are those who are most brutish and have abandoned reason.The highest happiness is the happiness founded on fantasy, because it costs the least: it is easier to imagine oneself to be king than to be king.Erasmus then came to make fun of national pride and professional conceit: almost all the professors and gentlemen in various disciplines were so conceited that they couldn't speak, and they sought happiness from their conceits. There are passages in which the irony turns into invective, and the Fool utters the solemn opinions of Erasmus; these passages deal with various ecclesiastical abuses.Pardons and coupons used by priests "to count the time of each soul's stay in purgatory"; worship of saints, and even of Saint Mary, "whose blind devotees considered it ceremonial to place the Virgin before the Son" ; disputes among theologians concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation; Incarnation; schools of scholasticism; popes, cardinals, and bishops—

All this was met with violent ridicule.Especially violent were the attacks on the monks, who were "deranged fools," who were hardly religious, yet "deeply in love with themselves, and connoisseurs of personal happiness." As they put it, From the perspective of behavior, it seems that all beliefs lie in trivial ritual details: "How many knots to tie sandals exactly; what specific colors and materials are used for various clothes; how wide and how long is the belt," and so on. "It must have been wonderful to hear their arguments before the Last Judgment Seat: one would boast of how he had eaten nothing but fish, and had extinguished his carnal desires; . . . and another insists that he has never touched a penny in sixty years, except to grope through thick gloves." But Christ would snap: " Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, . . . I leave you only one lesson, to love one another, which I have not heard a single one say that he has faithfully fulfilled.” Yet in the world everyone is afraid of these people , because they know many private things from Shengong Pavilion, and they often leak them when they are drunk.

The pope was not spared either.Popes should imitate their Master in humility and poverty. "Their only weapon should be the weapon of the Holy Spirit; indeed, in the use of this weapon they have been generous, as in their bans, suspensions, reprimands, excommunications, excommunications, and excommunications, and Their roaring edicts, which struck at those whom they rebuked; but these most holy priests, could do nothing but deal with that devil-inspired, godless, vicious plot to detract from St. Peter's hereditary property. Except for those who are responsible, they will never issue edicts frequently.”

From such passages one might think that Erasmus must have welcomed the Reformation, but he did not. At the end of the book, it is solemnly stated that true faith is a kind of ignorance.There are two kinds of folly throughout the text, the one lauded ironically, the other lauded with sincerity; and the follies which are lauded are those which manifest themselves in the simplicity of the Christian character.This eulogy goes hand in hand with Erasmus' distaste for scholasticism and for scholars and doctors who spoke non-classical Latin.But it has a deeper side.As far as I know, this is the first time in the literature that Rousseau's "Savoyard Vicar" (Savoyard Vicar) developed the idea that true religious belief does not come from knowledge but from emotion, carefully tempered theology All are redundant.This view has grown in popularity and is now almost universally accepted among Protestants. In essence, it is the rejection of Greek sensualism by the northern sensualism. Erasmus visited England twice, staying for five years (1509-14), partly in London and partly in Cambridge.He had no small influence in inspiring humanism in England.An English public school education had until recently remained almost exactly what he had hoped it would be: a thorough grounding in Greek and Latin, not only in translation but also in verse and prose writing.Science, though from the seventeenth century onwards the preeminence in knowledge, was not considered worthy of the attention of gentlemen or theologians; Plato should be learned, but the subjects which Plato thought worthy of study were another matter.All this is in the direction of Erasmus' influence. Renaissance man had a boundless curiosity; Heisingha says: "Emotional changes, interesting details, anecdotes, and strange things are never enough to satisfy these people's desires." However, they were not in the real world at first, but they were looking for such things in the pile of old papers.Although Erasmus was interested in the world situation, he could not digest it raw. He had to process it in Latin or Greek before he could assimilate it.The traveler's experience and knowledge should be discounted, but the miracles and wonders contained in Pliny's book are firmly believed.However, people's curiosity gradually shifted from books to the real world; people no longer paid attention to the wild men and strange beasts described by classical writers, but became interested in the wild men and strange beasts actually discovered.Galiban is derived from Montaigne, and Montaigne's cannibals are derived from travelers. "Cannibals and men with heads below the shoulders," Othello has seen, not words handed down from antiquity. In this way, the curiosity of people in the Renaissance era gradually changed from a literary one to a scientific one.What a torrent of new facts is coming, and at first one can only let this torrent carry him forward.Those old systems of thought were clearly wrong; Aristotle's physics, Ptolemy's astronomy, and Gaelan's medicine could hardly be extended to include the discoveries that had already been made.Montaigne and Shakespeare were content with chaos: discovery is a joy, and system is the enemy of discovery.It was not until the seventeenth century that man's ability to construct systems of thought caught up with new knowledge of facts.But all this talk was far from Erasmus, to whom Columbus was less interesting than the Argo Voyagers. Erasmus's literacy was hopelessly deep and shameless.He wrote a book called Enchiridion militis christiani, in which he told uneducated soldiers that they should read the Bible, as well as Plato, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine.He compiled a rich collection of Latin aphorisms, and added many Greek aphorisms in later editions; his main purpose was to enable people to write Latin in accordance with Latin usage.He wrote a very successful book, Colloguies, which taught people how to talk about everyday things like cricket games in Latin.This may have been more useful then than it appears now.At that time Latin was the only international language; students at the University of Paris came from all over Western Europe, and it may often happen that the only language with which two students can converse is Latin. After the Reformation, Erasmus lived first at Louvain, which was still fully Orthodoxy, and later at Basel, which had been converted to Protestantism.Both parties try their best to recruit him, but the win-win has been fruitless for a long time.As mentioned above, he once expressed fierce opinions on the abuses of the church and the crimes of the Pope; in 1518, the year of Luther's apostasy, he also published a "Julius Exclusus who was rejected" (Ju-lius Exclusus) )'s satirical works, only writing about Julius II's entry into the kingdom of heaven failed.But Luther's tyranny disgusted him, and he hated strife; at last he threw himself on the side of the Old Church. In 1524, he wrote a book defending free will, while Luther believed in Augustine's views, exaggerating and denying free will.Luther's reply was brutal and fierce, forcing Erasmus to go further into reaction.From then until his death of old age, his prestige and position declined.He had always been a coward, and the times were no longer for cowards.For the righteous, the only paths of honor to choose are martyrdom or victory.His friend Sir Thomas More was forced to choose martyrdom. Erasmus said: "If More hadn't caused that dangerous thing at all, it would be better to leave theological issues to the theologians." Living too long, entering an age of new good and new evil - heroism and intolerance - neither of which he could learn. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) was much more admired than Erasmus in character, but far less in status in terms of influence.More is a humanist, but also a man of humility and sincerity.While at Oxford, he undertook to study Greek, which was unusual at the time, and he was therefore seen as showing affection for Italian infidels.The school authorities and his father were very dissatisfied, and he was expelled from Oxford University. Then he became fascinated by the Cultus Order, practiced the extreme ascetic life, and thought about joining this order.At this time, he met Erasmus for the first time, obviously because of Erasmus' influence, he hesitated to take this step.Moore's father was a lawyer, and he decided to pursue his father's profession as well. In 1504 he became a member of the House of Commons and took the lead in opposing Henry VII's demand for new taxes.In this he succeeded, but the king was furious; he threw More's father into the Tower of London, but released him on payment of a hundred pounds. After the death of the King of England in 1509, More practiced law again and gained the favor of Henry VIII.He was knighted in 1514 and was appointed to various diplomatic missions.Henry VIII repeatedly invited him to court, but More would not go; at last the king dined with him at his home in Chelsea without waiting for the invitation.More had no illusions about Henry VIII; when he was once congratulated on the king's favour, he replied: "If my head of More's will really give him a French city, it will fall." When Wuerzi fell, the king appointed More as praetor to replace him.Contrary to usual practice, Moore declined all gifts to litigants.He soon fell out of favor, because Henry VIII decided to leave Catherineoe Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn, a divorce that More firmly opposed.He then resigned in 1532.After More resigned, he only had one hundred pounds a year, which shows that he was upright and clean when he was in office.Despite More's disagreement with the king, Henry VIII invited him to his wedding to Ann Bryn, but More refused the invitation. In 1534, Henry VIII managed to get Parliament to pass the Sovereign Act, declaring him (rather than the Pope) head of the Church of England. Under the Act an "Oath of Recognition" was required, and More refused to take the oath;And yet, on the most dubious testimony that he had said that Congress could not make Henry head of the Church; on this evidence he was convicted of a great treason, and executed by beheading.His estate passed to Princess Elizabeth, who kept it until her death. More is remembered almost entirely because he wrote (Utopia) (1518) .Utopia is an island in the southern hemisphere where everything is done perfectly.Once a navigator named Raphael Hythloday came to this island by chance and spent five years before returning to Europe to let people know the wise system of the island. In Utopia, as in Plato's Utopia, all things belong to the public, because where there is private property, the common good cannot be revived, and there can never be equality without the communist system.During the dialogue, More countered that communism would make people lazy and destroy respect for officials; to this point, Raphael replied that no one would say this if he had lived in Utopia . There are fifty-four cities in Utopia, all of which follow the same pattern except one is the capital.The streets were all twenty feet wide, and all the private houses were of the same type, with one door opening on the street and one opening on the garden.The door is not locked, and everyone can enter anyone's house.The roof is flat.People switch houses every ten years—apparently to stop the feeling of possession.There are farms in the country, each owned by not less than forty persons, including two slaves; each farm is governed by a husband and wife who are old and wise.The chicks are not hatched by the hen, but in the brooder (there were no incubators in More's time).Everyone dresses the same, except that the clothes of men and women, married and unmarried are different.The style of clothes remains the same, and there is no distinction between winter and summer clothes.At work, garments of leather or fur were worn; one suit lasted seven years.When they stopped working, they wore woolen cloaks over their overalls.The cloaks are all the same, and are of the natural color of wool.Each household tailors its own clothes. All men and women work six hours a day, three hours before lunch and three hours after lunch.All go to bed at eight o'clock and sleep eight hours.There are lectures in the early morning, and although such lectures are not mandatory, a large number of people still attend the lectures. Entertainment takes up an hour after dinner.For there are neither idlers nor useless work, six hours' work is enough; and it is said that with us women, priests, rich men, servants, and beggars generally do no useful work, and because there are rich men, A great deal of labor is expended in producing unnecessary luxuries; all this is avoided in Utopia.Sometimes, when supplies are found to be in short supply, the magistrate announces a temporary reduction in daily working hours. Some were elected as scholars, exempted from other work as long as they lived up to expectations.People related to government affairs are all selected from among scholars.The regime is a representative democracy with indirect elections.At the top is a lord elected for life, but if he is despotic, he can also be deposed. Family life was patriarchal; married sons lived in their father's house, and were ruled by him as long as he was not old and faint.If any family proliferated too large, the excess children would move into other families.If a certain city grows too large, some residents will be moved to another city.If all cities are too big, build a new city on the wasteland.As for what to do after all the wasteland is used up, there is no mention of it.The slaughter of animals for food is done by slaves, lest the free folk know cruelty.In Utopia, there is a well-established hospital for the sick, so sick people are willing to go to the hospital.Eating at home was also permitted, but most people ate in the Guildhall.Here, the "cheap work" was done by slaves, but the women did the cooking and the older children served the meals.Men sit on one desk, women sit on another; nurses lead children under the age of five to eat in another room.All women breastfeed their children.Children over the age of five, who are too young to serve, "stand silently aside" while the elders eat; they do not have a separate meal, and must be content with the leftovers given to them on the table. When it comes to marriage, whether the man or the woman is not a virgin at the time of marriage, they will be severely punished; if there is an adultery, the parents will inevitably bring a bad reputation for negligence.Before marriage, the bride and groom look at each other naked; no one wants to buy a horse without the saddle and bridle first, and it should be the same in marriage.A couple who committed adultery or "intolerable perverseness" could divorce, but the criminal partner could not remarry.Sometimes a divorce may be permitted simply because both parties desire it.Those who broke the marriage relationship were punished as slaves. Utopia has foreign trade, which is mainly to obtain the iron that the island lacks.Trade is also employed to satisfy the needs of war.Utopians despise military glory, but everyone learns how to fight, men and women.They employ the means of war for three purposes: to defend their homeland from invasion; to save allied territories from invaders; or to liberate some oppressed people from tyranny.But Utopians try to get mercenaries to fight for them, if they can.They set out to make other peoples owe them debts, and make those peoples pay their debts with mercenaries.And for war, the Utopians find it useful to store gold and silver, because they can use it to pay foreign mercenaries.As for themselves, they had no coins, and made urinals and chains for their slaves out of gold, so that gold might be despised.Pearls and diamonds are used as decorations for children, never for adults.Whenever there is a war, the Utopians offer high rewards to those who can kill the monarch of the enemy country; rewards are even more generous for those who capture the monarch alive and offer it, or for the monarch himself who surrenders voluntarily.They pitied the civilians among the enemy soldiers, "knowing that they were driven to fight against their will by the mad rage of princes and chiefs." Women fought as well as men, but the Utopians forced no one to fight. "They designed and invented all kinds of weapons with amazing ingenuity." It can be seen that the Utopians' attitude towards war is more sensible than brave; but when necessary, they also showed great bravery. Regarding morality, according to the book, Utopians are too inclined to think that happiness is happiness.However, this view has no adverse consequences, because they believe that after death, the good will be rewarded and the evil will be punished.They are not ascetics, and they regard fasting as foolish.Many religions prevail among the Utopians, and all religions are tolerated. Nearly everyone believed in God and immortality; the few who did not were not counted citizens, could not take part in political life, but were otherwise safe from trouble.There are pious people who abstain from meat eating and marriage; such people are considered holy, but not wise.Women could also be priests if they were old and widowed.The priests were few in number; they had honor, but no real power. The slaves were those who were convicted of felonies, or foreigners who had been condemned to death in their own country, but the Utopians agreed to keep them as slaves. Someone who suffers from a painful and incurable disease is advised to commit suicide, but if the patient refuses to commit suicide, he is given meticulous care. Raphael Heathrod reports that he preached Christianity to the Utopians, and many converted to Christianity when they heard that Christ was against private property.Constantly emphasizing the importance of the communist system; near the end of the book, he said that in all other countries, "I can only see some kind of gangsters of the rich, using the name and guise of the country to obtain their own interests." More's book is surprisingly enlightened and progressive in many ways.I don't mean specifically his preaching of communism, which is a cliché of many religious movements; I mean about war, about freedom of religion and worship, against the killing of animals (there's a very fluent passage against hunting words), and opinions in favor of criminal law leniency. (The book begins with an argument against the death penalty for theft.) It must be admitted, however, that life in More's utopia, like life in most other utopias, can be unbearably monotonous.Variety, the lifeblood of happiness, is almost absent in Utopia.This is the defect of all planned social systems, not only the utopian ones, but also the real ones.