Desiderius Erasmus

Erasmus
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1523) by Hans Holbein the Younger
Born	c. (1466-10-28)28 October 1466 Rotterdam or Gouda, Burgundian Netherlands
Died	12 July 1536(1536-07-12) (aged 69) Basel, Old Swiss Confederacy
Other names	Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, Erasmus of Rotterdam
Alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge Collège de Montaigu, Paris University of Turin
Era	Renaissance philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
Institutions	University of Leuven
Main interests	Christian philosophy Renaissance humanism
Notable ideas	Erasmian pronunciation
Influences Epicureanism, Cicero, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, John Colet, Alexander Hegius, Jan Standonck
Influenced Thomas More, Damião de Góis, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, Jacob Milich, Wolfgang Capito, John Colet

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (/ˌdɛzɪˈdɪəriəs ɪˈræzməs/; 28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch/Netherlandish Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.

Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will,The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.