The letters in this volume reflect Erasmus’ anxiety about the endemic warfare in Western Europe, the advance of the Ottoman Turks into Europe, and the increasing threat of armed conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Germany. Unable and unwilling to attend the Diet of Augsburg (June–November 1530), summoned by Emperor Charles V in the attempt to mediate a religious settlement, Erasmus corresponded with those in attendance, urging them (in vain) to preserve peace at all costs.

The letters also shed light on Erasmus’ controversies with Catholic critics (Luis de Carvajal and Frans Titelmans) who accused him of Lutheran sympathies, and former friends among the Protestant reformers (Gerard Geldenhouwer and others in Strasbourg), who embarrassed him by citing him in support of their views. Because of a mysterious and debilitating illness (identified in an appendix to the volume) the twelve months covered were less productive of scholarship than was usual for Erasmus, but it did see the publication of the five-volume Froben edition of St. John Chrysostom in Latin.

Volume 16 of the Collected Works of Erasmus series.

Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536), a Dutch humanist, Catholic priest, and scholar, was one of the most influential Renaissance figures. A professor of divinity and Greek, Erasmus wrote, taught, and travelled, meeting with Europe’s foremost scholars. A prolific author, Erasmus wrote on both ecclesiastic and general human interest subjects.

Desiderius Erasmus' profile page

Alexander Dalzell is professor emeritus in the Department of Classics at Trinity College, University of Toronto.

Alexander Dalzell's profile page

James M. Estes is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Toronto and a distinguished senior fellow at the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at Victoria College in the University of Toronto.

James M. Estes' profile page

‘The Toronto Erasmus project is a magnificent achievement, one of the scholarly triumphs of our time. The succession of fine volumes – both in quality of content and of design and production – since the edition began in 1974 has continued to fulfil the original promise of the distinguished team of editors and the equally distinguished advisory committee.’

Common Knowledge

"Like the preceding two volumes of the translated correspondence, CWE 16 has been admirably edited by James E. Estes; Alexander Dalzell, who translated the letter in CWE 15, has again put Erasmus’ complicated Latin into readable English prose."

Erasmus Studies, vol 38

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Renaissance Quarterly

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Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:02:2016

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Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society