Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam lived from 1466 to 1536. He was one of the great scholars of classical antiquity in the 16th century and a renowned Christian humanist and church reformer. Erasmus was a learned man of letters and created new translations of the Bible. He also promoted classical learning and criticized the practices of the Catholic Church, which was widely regarded as corrupt at that time. Erasmus rejected many of the popular practices of Catholic laity, which he regarded as mere superstition and criticized the behavior of Catholic theologians, monks and members of the Catholic hierarchy.

The Praise of Folly is in many ways a criticism of many segments of the Catholic Church in the year 1509 and before. And it is one of the principle popular documents behind the Reformation. Erasmus is not a character in most of the book but does describe his thoughts and...