Volume 18 in the Collected Works of Erasmus series covers the period from 1 April 1531 to 30 March 1532. The most persistent theme in the letters is the fear, to which Erasmus had long been prey, that the religious strife in Germany and Switzerland would eventually lead to armed conflict.

His Catholic and Evangelical critics continued to annoy him. In June 1531 Erasmus published his final apologia against Alberto Pio, who had accused him of being the source of the Lutheran heresy. Though Erasmus’ public controversy with the Strasbourg theologians had come to an end in 1530, he wrote a long letter to Martin Bucer emphasizing his doctrinal differences with the Strasbourgers and his low estimate of their moral character. Erasmus’ financial affairs also figure prominently in the letters between him and his friend, the banker Erasmus Schets. The letters between them are testimony to his impatience with people who owed him money, his frequent inability to understand the details of his own finances, and his quickness to assume that people he trusted were cheating him.

Volume 18 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

Charles Fantazzi is a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at East Carolina University and a professor emeritus in the Department of Classics at the University of Windsor.

Charles Fantazzi'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

"Erasmus, master of scholars, is well served by the CWE. James M. Estes brings the Allens’ edition up to date. He adds a letter unknown to the Allens (Ep. 2563A), redates five letters (and explains why), and repairs an omission in Ep. 2688. For both CWE 18 and 19 Estes provides concise introductions that put the letters in historical context—the Diet of Augsburg, the Siege of Vienna, war between Swiss cantons—and within Erasmus’ much larger output of new writings and new editions."

<i>Erasmus Studies</i>

"This work of superb scholarship makes a series that is already great even better."

<em>Sixteenth Century Journal</em>