This volume includes Erasmus’ correspondence for the months April 1532 to April 1533, a period in which he feared a religious civil war in Germany. In his desire to move somewhere far enough from Germany to be safe and yet not so far that an old man could not undertake the journey, Erasmus eventually decided to accept the invitation from Mary of Hungary, regent of the Netherlands, to return to his native Brabant. In March 1533, the terms of Erasmus’ return were settled and in July they were formally approved by the emperor. But by this time Erasmus’ fragile health had already declined to the point that he could not undertake the journey, and he would never recover sufficiently to do so. The works published in the months covered by this volume include the eighth, much-enlarged edition of the Adagia, and the Explanatio symboli, the catechism that delighted Erasmus’ followers but gave Martin Luther much ammunition for a brutal attack on him in his Epistola de Erasmo Roterodamo of 1534.

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

Clarence H. Miller is an American Professor Emeritus of English at Saint Louis University.

Clarence Miller'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>