Selections from Erasmus

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XXVIII. THE CONDITION OF ENGLISH HOUSES

ERASMUS ROTERODAMUS FRANCISCO CARDINALIS EBORACENSIS MEDICO S.

Frequenter et admirari et dolere soleo, qui fiat ut
Britannia tot iam annis assidua pestilentia vexetur,
praesertim sudore letali, quod malum paene videtur
habere peculiare. Legimus civitatem a diutina pestilentia
liberatam, consilio philosophi mutatis aedificiis. 5
Aut me fallit animus, aut simili ratione liberari possit
Anglia. Primum quam coeli partem spectent fenestrae
ostiave nihil habent pensi: deinde sic fere constructa
sunt conclavia, ut nequaquam sint perflabilia, quod
inprimis admonet Galenus. Tum magnam parietis 10
partem habent vitreis tessellis pellucidam, quae sic
admittunt lumen ut ventos excludant, et tamen per
rimulas admittunt auram illam colatam, aliquanto pestilentiorem,
ibi diu quiescentem. Tum sola fere strata
sunt argilla, tum scirpis palustribus, qui subinde sic 15
renovantur, ut fundamentum maneat aliquoties annos viginti,
sub se fovens sputa, vomitus, proiectam cervisiam
et piscium reliquias, aliasque sordes non nominandas.
Hinc mutato coelo vapor quidam exhalatur, mea sententia
minime salubris humano corpori. 20

Adde quod Anglia non solum undique circumfusa
est mari, verum etiam multis in locis palustris est salsisque
fluminibus intersecta; ne quid dicam interim
de salsamentis, quibus vulgus mirum in modum delectatur.
Confiderem insulam fore multo salubriorem si 25
scirporum usus tolleretur; tum si sic exstruerentur
cubicula, ut duobus aut tribus lateribus paterent coelo;
fenestris omnibus vitreis ita confectis, ut totae possent
aperiri, totae claudi, et sic claudi ut non pateret per
hiantes rimas aditus ventis noxiis. Siquidem ut aliquando 30
salutiferum est admittere coelum, ita nonnunquam
salutiferum est excludere. Ridet vulgus si quis
offenditur coelo nubiloso. Ego et ante annos triginta,
si fueram ingressus cubiculum in quo mensibus aliquot
nemo versatus esset, ilico incipiebam febricitare. Conferret 35
huc, si vulgo parcior victus persuaderi posset ac
salsamentorum moderatior usus; tum si publica cura
demandaretur aedilibus, ut viae mundiores essent a
caeno, curarentur et ea quae civitati vicina essent.

Ridebis, scio, otium meum, qui his de rebus sollicitus 40
sim. Faveo regioni quae mihi tam diu praebuit hospitium;
et in qua libens finiam quod superest aevi, si liceat.
Non dubito quin tu haec pro tua prudentia rectius noris;
libuit tamen admonere, ut si meum iudicium cum
tuo consentiat, haec viris principibus persuadeas. Haec 45
enim olim regum cura consuevit esse. Scripsissem
perlibenter reverendissimo domino Cardinali; sed nec
otium erat nec argumentum, nec ignoro quibus ille
negotiis distringatur. Bene vale, vir humanissime;
cui debeo plurimum. 50

XXIX. FISHER'S STUDY AT ROCHESTER

ERASMUS ROTERODAMUS IOANNI EPISCOPO ROFFENSI S.D.

Reverende Praesul, maerens ac dolens hoc verbum
legi in epistola tua, 'Utinam vivum me reperiat liber,'
&c. Auxit famulus dolorem, qui nuntiavit affligi te
adversa valetudine. Nihil indulges isti corpusculo.
Suspicor magnam tuae valetudinis partem nasci ex 5
loco. Nunc enim medicum agam, si pateris. Mare
vicinum et lutum subinde maris decessu nudatum
coelum exasperat. Et habes bibliothecam undique
parietibus vitreis, qui per rimas transmittunt auram
subtilem et, ut medici loquuntur, colatam, pestilentem 10
raris et imbecillis corpusculis. Nec me fugit quam
assiduus sis in bibliotheca, quae tibi Paradisi loco
est. Ego si in tali loco commorer tres horas, aegrotem.
Magis conveniret cubiculum pavimento ligneo
et parietibus undique ligno contabulatis. Spirant 15
enim lateres et calx noxium quiddam. Scio pie
viventibus mortem non esse formidabilem, sed totius
ecclesiae refert talem episcopum esse superstitem in
tanta bonorum inopia.

Basileae. pridie nonas Septemb. Anno M.D.XXIIII. 20

* * * * *

NOTES

I

[An incident related in the _Ecclesiastes_ (see p.15[*]). Erasmus was
ordained in 1492 by this Bishop of Utrecht, who was a son of Philip the
Good, Duke of Burgundy; and perhaps heard this story at the time.]

[* At the end of LIFE OF ERASMUS. Transcriptor.]

1. FUERIT] Either (1) fut. perf. indic., for which _erit_ might equally
well stand; or (2) perf. subj. of qualified statement. Cf. _crediderim_,
'I am inclined to believe.'

5. PROFANA DICIONE ONUSTIS] At the time when Erasmus was ordained the
diocese of Utrecht had been torn for more than twenty years with civil
war; in the course of which the Bishop had at one time been a prisoner.

19. II QUIBUS, &c.] The officials to whom fees were payable by successful
candidates.

21. HIERONYMOS] Jerome (died 420) was one of the Latin Fathers of the
Church.

II

[A letter to a young merchant, Christian Northoff of Lubeck, who had come
to Paris to study. Erasmus was teaching him; and one of the modes of
instruction was a daily interchange of Latin letters between master and
pupil. The scene here depicted, of course with some licence of
exaggeration, is laid in the boarding-house where Erasmus was lodging;
the mistress of which was a woman of violent temper.]

TIT. S.D.] _salutem dicit_, the common form of greeting at the head of
letters; often occurring as S.P.D., salutem plurimam dicit.

1. MEL ATTICUM] An endearing mode of address.

2. _Ne_ with the imperative is ante-classical (Plaut. and Ter.), and
poetical.

5. PYXIDEM] One of the _munera_ of l. 64.

6. Pandora was the first woman created, according to Greek mythology. She
brought down from heaven a box, which she was forbidden to open; but in
curiosity she raised the lid, and at once all the evils to which mankind
is subject flew out and spread over the earth. Epimetheus was her
husband.

13. TOGATA ... PALLIATA] The classical distinction between two kinds of
Roman drama, according as the scene was laid in Roman or in Greek
surroundings. In the former the _toga_ was worn by the principal
characters; in the latter the Greek _pallium_.

14. PLANIPEDIA] Acted by a _planipes_, a kind of pantomime; so-called
because he used neither the _soccus_ of comedy nor the _cothurnus_ of
tragedy in his performances.

15. EPITASIS] A Greek technical term, for the crisis of a play.

23. CATASTROPHEN] Also a Greek technical term; the point at which a play
turns, leading to the conclusion.

26. OPTASSE] Dependent on a verb of statement understood from _laudo_. A
common idiom.

41. CAROLI REGIS] Charles VIII, King of France, 1483-98.

42. GENTIL GERSON] Evidently _gentil garcon_, 'fine gentleman.'

47. FLAMMEUM] _sc_. velum. A flame-coloured veil, properly worn by
brides.

53. SURDAE CECINISSE] A proverbial phrase of labouring without result;
'to waste one's breath.' 'Ortum videtur a ridiculo casu, quo saepe fit ut
hospes incidat in surdum, quem percontetur multa, ridentibus iis qui
surdum noverunt.' Erasmus, _Adagia_.

66. ALIENIS MANIBUS] by getting a friend to write his Latin letter for
him.

67. FRONTIS] 'Frons habita est antiquitus pudori sacra, et facies item.
Inde frontem aut faciem proverbio perfricuisse dicuntur, qui pudorem
omnem dedidicerunt, velut absterso manu a vultu pudore.' Erasmus,
_Adagia_.

70. Patroclus was the friend of Achilles. When Achilles refused to fight
against Troy, Patroclus borrowed his arms, and was killed in the battle.

71. QUID SIMILE?] _sc_. inter nos.

III

[This letter describes a journey made in the exceptionally cold winter of
1498-9, when Erasmus paid a visit to his friend, James Batt. Batt was
then at the castle of Tournehem, near Calais, acting as tutor to a young
nobleman, the son of Anne of Borsselen, Lady of Veere, near Middelburg;
to whose patronage he was generously trying to introduce Erasmus.]

TIT. GUILHELMO] This form of the name William represents the German
Wilhelm; Gulielmus is more akin to the Italian Guglielmo; Guielmus, which
also occurs, to the French Guillaume.

5. AEOLUM] The king of the winds, whom Juno had persuaded to oppose the
Trojan fleet under Aeneas as it sailed from Troy to Italy. See Verg.
_Aen_. 1. 50 seq.

14. VIDISSES] _sc_. si adfuisses.

31. Bellerophon, after having vanquished the Chimaera on Pegasus, wished
to fly with his winged steed to heaven. But Pegasus threw him off and
ascended alone, to become a constellation in the sky.

35-6. CREDAS ... ACCIDISSET] The slight irregularity of tense is easily
intelligible.

35. Lucian, _fl_. 160 A.D., was a Syrian citizen of the Roman Empire. His
writings, which are mostly satirical, are in Greek. One of them is
entitled _Vera Historia_.

57. ALLEVARE] 'to exaggerate,' opp. to _elevare_,'to disparage.'
_Allevare_ can also mean 'to understate', but the sequence of thought is
not so natural.

62. SCRIBEBAM] The epistolary imperfect, representing the time of the
action when the words would be read by the recipient of the letter.

PATRIAM] Holland.

64. CONVICTU] Evidently it had been proposed that Erasmus should come and
live with Lord Mountjoy in Paris as his tutor.

IV

[An extract from a letter to an Italian friend domiciled in France.
Erasmus was probably writing from Bedwell in Hertfordshire, where Sir
William Say, Lord Mountjoy's father-in-law, had a country-house. For the
practice which Erasmus playfully describes in the second paragraph, see
an additional note on p. 157.[*]]

[* See ADDITIONAL NOTES, first note, at the end of this text.
Transcriptor.]

4. INVITA MINERVA] 'refragante ingenio, repugnante natura, non favente
coelo.' Erasmus, _Adagia_. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom.

6. MERDAS] It has been well pointed out that the use of so coarse a word
is foreign to Erasmus, whose writings, though often free, are marked by a
delicacy unusual in his age; and that he is therefore probably alluding
to the compositions of his correspondent, who knew no such restrictions,
e.g. in his _Querela Parrhisiensis pavimenti_.

7. UT ... PEREAT] A wish.

9. ALATIS] Like Mercury, the messenger of the gods, who for his journeys
attached winged sandals to his feet.

10. Daedalus was a mythical artificer who constructed the labyrinth for
Minos, king of Crete; but being detained there against his will, he made
wings for himself and his son Icarus and flew away to Sicily.

21. Solon (c. 638-558), the Athenian lawgiver, is said to have bound the
people with an oath to observe his laws until he returned; and then to
have absented himself from Athens for ten years.

23. PROPEDIEM] Erasmus was expecting to return to Paris in the summer of
1499. His visit to Oxford was only undertaken to fill an interval during
which he was detained in England.

V

[This incident occurred in the autumn of 1499. Erasmus was staying on an
estate belonging to Lord Mountjoy at Greenwich, and was visited one day
by Thomas More with a friend Arnold from London. In the course of a walk
they came to Eltham Palace ('a castle situated between two parks,' as it
is described by two ambassadors in 1514), the splendid banqueting hall of
which is still standing, and there paid their respects to the royal
children with their tutor, John Skelton, the poet. Arthur, Prince of
Wales, was then absent with his father: but the young Prince Henry,
afterwards Henry VIII, received the friends gracefully. They stayed to
dine in the hall, but apparently not at the 'high table'. The narrative
is found in a Catalogue of Erasmus' writings composed in 1523.]

7. ANIMI CAUSA] Relaxation to the mind rather than exercise for the body
was the object of the walk.

12. NOVEM] Henry was little more than 8, having been born on 2 June 1491;
Margaret was born on 29 Nov. 1489 and was therefore not yet 11. The other
ages given are correct. Inaccuracy in such trifling matters need not
surprise us, seeing that Erasmus was writing more than twenty years after
the visit.

16. IACOBO] James IV of Scotland, who was killed at Flodden, 9 Sept.
1513.

17. Mary afterwards became Queen of France by her marriage with Louis XII
in 1514.

26. _vel_ here intensifies the word that follows. It is often so used
with superlatives.

VI

[A letter written to Lord Mountjoy, who had intended to join Erasmus in
Oxford, but had been prevented by a summons to attend in Westminster Hall
on 21 Nov. 1499, for the trial of the Earl of Warwick in connexion with
the rising of Perkin Warbeck.]

6. John Colet (c. 1466-1519) was now lecturing in Oxford. For his
influence on Erasmus see X; and Mr. Seebohm's _Oxford Reformers_.

Richard Charnock was Prior of St. Mary's College in Oxford; the
Augustinian house, in which Erasmus was living. It is now practically
demolished.

9. HORATIUS] _Ep_. 2. 1. 63:

Interdum vulgus rectum videt, est ubi peccat.

11. CUIUS] _sc_. vulgi.

12, 3. nostro illo ingressu] Erasmus' arrival at Oxford; which for some
reason seems to have been discouraging.

35. TUM ... TUM] A post-Augustan construction, for which Cicero uses
_cum ... tum_.

VII

[A letter written to describe a dinner-party in a College hall in Oxford;
possibly at Magdalen, to which Colet, who was presiding, is thought to
have belonged. With the exception of Charnock, the other guests mentioned
have not been identified. The letter is to be dated in Nov. 1499; Sixtin,
to whom it is addressed, was a Dutchman resident in Oxford. The
manuscript in which Erasmus pretended to have found this story of Cain
is, of course, fictitious.]

TIT. DOMINO] The title of a Bachelor of Arts.

2. CONVIVIO] 'Bene maiores nostri accubitionem epularem amicorum, quia
vitae coniunctionem haberet, convivium nominarunt, melius quam Graeci qui
hoc idem compotationem (symposium) vocant.' Cic. _Sen_. 13, 45.

6. Epicurus (342-270) was a Greek philosopher, who is traditionally but
wrongly regarded as having taught that pleasure is the end of life.

7. CONDITUM] _condi[*]tum_, not _condi[*]tum_.

[* i.e. long 'i', not short. Transcriptor.]

Pythagoras (sixth cent. B.C.) was one of the greatest Greek philosophers.

20, 1. LAEVUM LATUS CLAUSIMUS] The left side was regarded as more exposed
to attack than the right, which had the sword-arm. It was therefore a
compliment to place oneself to the left of a friend, as though to protect
him in case of need. Here nothing more is meant than that Erasmus sat on
the Theologian's left.

25. POCULENTUM] connected with the wine-cups.

36. ALIUD] _sc_. quam solebat.

37. MAIORQUE] cf. Verg. _Aen_. 6. 49-51, of the Sibyl:

maiorque videri,
Nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quando
Iam propiore dei.'

53. LEGERE] When the narrator is an eyewitness, the present infinitive is
usual, even of past time.

80. RHOMPHAEA] a sword; the Septuagint word.

97. OMNIIUGA] This word is not classical; but _multiiugus_, 'manifold'
(literally, of many yoked together, cf. _biiugus_, _quadriiugus_), is
common.

110. QUID] 'for what purpose?'

129. ID GENUS] An adjectival accusative, equivalent to genitive of
quality; cf. virile secus.

133. CULMI] The stalks of Cain's fine crops.

VIII

[A letter to an English friend, Robert Fisher, who had been a pupil of
Erasmus in Paris in 1497 and had then gone to study law in Italy.]

4. IN EA...REGIONE] Italy was at this time regarded as being, and in fact
was, more advanced than the rest of Europe in classical learning and
refinement. In consequence to visit Italy was the ambition of every
scholar.

SIS] In classical Latin when two reasons are given, of which one is
denied and the other affirmed, the verb in the affirmation is usually in
the indicative.

26. Wm. Grocin (c. 1416-1519) was one of the first to teach Greek in
Oxford. He was now resident in London.

28. Thos. Linacre (c. 1460-1524) was an Oxford scholar who had recently
returned from Italy and was now in London. He afterwards became one of
the first physicians of his age.

IX

[A letter describing Erasmus' journey to Paris on his return from England
in 1500. On 27 Jan. he was at Dover, whence he crossed to Boulogne. He
went then to Tournehem Castle and after spending two nights with Batt set
out for Paris. He reached Amiens in the afternoon of 31 Jan., started on
with horses the same evening and slept at an unnamed village. On 1 Feb.
he passed to the west of Clermont and slept at St. Julien (?), reaching
St. Denis and Paris on 2 Feb.]

2. VIGILIAS] Writings, composed doubtless by the 'midnight oil'; in which
Erasmus rightly considered his wealth to lie.

7. LUSIMUS] 'met.'

8. CRETIZAVIMUS] 'We behaved like a Cretan.' Cf. the English saying 'to
give tit for tat'. Erasmus means that he gave the messenger full measure
of conversation in return.

9. ANGLICA FATA] when preparing to leave England Erasmus had L20 in his
pocket. But a law of Edward III, re-enacted by Henry VII, forbade the
exportation of silver and gold; and in consequence all but L2 was taken
from him in the Dover custom-house. This very real calamity he had of
course related to Batt at Tournehem.

13. AEOLUM] Cf. III. 5 n.

21. Mercury was the god of traders and thieves. Cf. Ovid. _Fasti_ 5. 673
seq.

QUOQUE] _quo[*]que_, not _quo[*]que_.

[* i.e. long 'o', not short. Transcriptor.]

26. DIVO IULIANO] There is no village of St. Julien which satisfies the
required conditions. Juilly (Iuliacum) between Dammartin and Meaux is
perhaps intended.

44. IUGULOS] _iugulum_, neuter, is the common form.

45. VICTIMAE] Predicative Dative of purpose.

51. _obolere_ is only used intransitively in post-Augustan Latin.

55. MECUM] _sc_. reputo.

CICERONIANUM] _Brut_. 80. 278.

60. QUASNAM] Money of what country or of what coinage. The common
difficulty of travellers was then increased by the variety of coinages in
circulation within the same country. A further trouble was that through
use or 'clipping' one coin might differ from another of the same value;
and 'light' coins were always liable to be weighed and refused.

65. POSTULATUM] A particular kind of florin. Mr. Shilleto suggests that
the name is connected with _pistolet_ (or _pistole_), a French coin of
this period.

67. SCUTATUM] A crown, Fr. ecu; in l. 136 one of these is specified.

74. ACCEDEBANT] At this point the narrative reverts to 31 Jan. It is
resumed again at l. 128.

88. CORONATI AUREI] gold crowns.

91. VACUAM] A ruse to pretend that the purse was hardly worth keeping.

96. RELIGIONI] 31 Jan. 1500 was a Friday; a day commonly observed by
fasting.

100. SIBILIS] 'in whispers.'

107-8. AD LAEVAM] _sc_. manum.

111. SICUT MEUS, &c.] Hor. _Sat_. l. 9. 1, 2.

118. HUC] Apparently not the house mentioned in l. 114.

119, 20. QUOD ... ACCEPTUS FUISSEM] _me acceptum fuisse_ would be more
usual.

144. CEDO] _ce[*]do_, not _ce[*]do_.

[* i.e. short 'e', not long. Transcriptor.]

151. VIRGINIA MATRIS PURGATIO] The Feast of the Purification; 2 Feb.

179, 80. QUID MULTA?] _sc_. dicam.

186. GALLICE] _sc_. loqui.

201. DONEC] lit. 'until'; here marks the final action to be taken, when
any suspicions on the part of their companions had been allayed.

INDUSIATI] Strictly 'wearing an under-garment' (_indusium_); so here
'partially dressed'.

217. HORA NOCTIS UNDECIMA] About 5 a.m.; according to the Roman
reckoning, in which the day began at sunrise.

219. QUID MULTIS?] _sc_. verbis opus est.

228. EXISTIMARET] An example of 'contamination', i.e. the combination,
through confusion of thought, of two constructions, either of which would
be correct. The idea in the robber's mind here could be expressed equally
well by 'nisi quod nos quam pecuniosissimi essemus', the subjunctive
indicating not a fact but only his opinion; or by 'nisi quod nos quam
pecuniosissimos esse existimabat', where the opinion is definitely
stated. By 'contamination' with _essemus_, _existimabat_ is put into the
subjunctive. Cf. Cic. _Off_. l. 13 'Rediit paulo post, quod se oblitum
nescio quid diceret'.

230. MINUSCULUM] 'Just too small a sum.'

233. DUODENARIOS] Coins worth 12 pence; douzains.

234. divum Dionysium] St. Denis, 4-1/2 miles from Paris: which seems to
have been regarded as practically the end of the journey.

235. LANCES] Cf. l. 60 n.

258. PONDERI] The weight used in the scales; not as in l. 256.

264. IN HIS] 'in these modern coins.'

268. INTELLEGERET] Cf. l. 228 n.

272. NIMIS QUAM] _quam_ strengthens _nimis_, as freq. in Plautus.

291. AD SACRUM] To mass, in the monastery opposite.

X

[A letter written from Paris in the winter of 1504, after Erasmus had
returned from two years' sojourn in the Netherlands. The influence
exerted upon him by Colet in Oxford five years before is clearly shown.]

14. PERSUASERIM] Cf. I. 1 n.

19. NIHIL DUM] 'nothing as yet.' Cf. _nondum_.

TUARUM COMMENTATIONUM] Colet had been lecturing on the Epistles of St.
Paul, at the time of Erasmus' visit to Oxford. Cf. XXIV. 308, 9.

23. The precise date of Colet's D.D. is not known. He was now
administering the Deanery of St. Paul's, though he did not actually
receive it until May 1505.

31. VELIS EQUISQUE] 'id est summa vi summoque studio.' Erasmus, _Adagia_.

41. AD ROMANOS] Cf. XVI. 183, 4. Never completed.

49. Origen (_fl_. 230 A.D.) was one of the Greek Fathers of the Church.
Erasmus was engaged on an edition of his works at the time of his death
in 1536.

50. _evolvere_, to unroll, is the classical word for opening and reading
a book; belonging to the days when books were rolls (_volumina_) of
papyrus.

54. LUCUBRATIUNCULAS] Erasmus published a volume with this title in 1503
or 1504. Its contents are sufficiently indicated here. One of them was
the _Enchiridion Militis Christiani_, which was a manual of practical
Christianity; its title, which may mean either 'dagger' or 'handbook',
being perhaps intentionally ambiguous.

68. Erasmus had recently published a Panegyric, which he had delivered at
Brussels on 6 Jan. 1504 in the presence of Philip, Archduke of Austria,
and son of the Emperor Maximilian, congratulating the Archduke on the
success of his recent journey to Spain; to the thrones of which he was,
through his wife, the heir apparent.

103. INSCRIPTUM] The _Adagia_ were dedicated to Mountjoy.

106. STUDIO] 'intentionally.'

124. Christopher Fisher was an English lawyer in the service of the Papal
Court: who was at this time resident in Paris.

XI

[This incident occurred in January 1506, when Erasmus was paying his
second visit to England. It is narrated in 1523, in the catalogue of
Erasmus' writings, from which V is taken.]

3. LOVANII] During the years 1502-4.

4. PHILELPHUS] Francesco Filelfo (1398-1481) an Italian humanist. Erasmus
was incited to attempt the translation by Filelfo's example, not by any
direct communication.

6. _tum_ reverts back to the _tum_ in l. 3, after the digression.

7. PALUDANUS] John Desmarais (?), Public Orator of Louvain University.

9, 10. MONTIBUS ... AUREIS] 'Proverbialis hyperbole de iis qui immensa
promittunt spesque amplissimas ostentant,' Erasmus. _Adagia_.

17. CANTUARIENSI] Warham. See XXII and XXIII.

25. REDIMUS] From Lambeth to London.

38, 9. NOSTRAE FAIRINAE] 'nostri gregis, nostrae conditionis.' Erasmus,
_Adagia_. _Farina_ is lit. 'meal': so 'substance'; so 'quality '.

41. BADIO] Josse Bade, a Paris printer.

42. The Iphigenia in Aulis is another play by Euripides.

44. UNAM] _sc_. fabulam.

XII

[A letter written in 1507 to the famous printer Aldus (1449-1515)
proposing a new edition of the translations from Euripides mentioned in
XI. Aldus assented and the book appeared in Dec. 1507.]

2. UTRIQUE] Greek and Latin.

7. VOLITATURUS] Cf. Ennius in Cic. _Tusc_. 1. 15. 34:

Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? Volito vivu' per ora virum.

20. Paul of Aegina was a Greek writer on medicine, whose works were much
esteemed in the sixteenth century.

27. William Latimer (c. 1460-1545) was an Oxford scholar of great fame in
his own day. He had recently been studying in Italy.

28. Cuthbert Tunstall (1474-1559) was a scholar and lawyer, who after
discharging important embassies was made Bishop of London in 1522, and
Bishop of Durham in 1530. He also had been studying in Italy shortly
before this time.

33. Badius' edition had been published in Sept. 1506.

38, 9. Cf. Soph. _Ajax_ 362, 3:

[Greek: Euphaema phonei mae kakon kako didous
Akos, pleon to paema taes ataes tithei.]

41. MINUTIORIBUS ILLIS] The famous 'italic' type, first cast for Aldus,
and said to have been modelled on the handwriting of Politian, the
Italian humanist.

54. MERCURIUS] Cf. IX. 21 n.

XIII

[An extract from a letter written in 1531 to an inmate of a Venetian
monastery, St. Antonio in Castello. It describes an interview which
Erasmus had with Cardinal Grimani in 1509, just before leaving Rome to
return to England. Grimani, who was one of the most influential cardinals
at that time, resided in a palace built by Paul II--now the Palazzo di
Venezia--near the Church of St. Mark. On his death in 1523 he left his
valuable library to the monastery above-mentioned: whence it has passed
into the Library of St. Mark's at Venice.]

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