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.]
12. UT TUM ABHORREBAM] This clause is explanatory of _tandem_.
15. MUSCA] A figurative expression, meaning 'the slightest sign'. Cf. 'as
big as a bee's knee', of something small.
55. ERAM RELICTURUS] = _reliquissem_. An idiomatic use with the future
participle. Cf. Livy 1. 40 'Gravior ultor caedis, si superesset, rex
futurus erat'.
XIV
[An extract from a letter dated 29 Oct. 1511 to Colet, who was then
engaged on the foundation of St. Paul's School, and had asked Erasmus to
make inquiries at Cambridge for a suitable under-master.]
2. MAGISTROS] _sc_. artium.
19. NOS RELIQUIMUS] Matt. 19. 27.
XV
[An extract from a letter written to a French scholar in 1532 from
Freiburg. It describes Erasmus' meeting with Cardinal Canossa, who had
been sent to London by the Pope in June 1514 to endeavour for peace
between England and France. Andrew Ammonius, who arranged the meeting,
was an Italian who held the important post of Latin Secretary to Henry
VIII, and was endowed with a Canonry in St. Stephen's Palace at
Westminster, on the site of the present Houses of Parliament. He was an
intimate friend of Erasmus, and as Canon had an official residence in St.
Stephen's, on the banks of the Thames.]
1. IMMORTALITATI] By dedicating a book to him.
5. CULTU PROFANO] In the dress of a layman; instead of in his proper
ecclesiastical garb.
14. PERSUASUS] An ante-classical use.
16. _praesedit_] 'took precedence of me in sitting down'.
37. ITALI] There were many Italian merchants and agents resident in
London at this time.
58. PERTRAXERAT] Cf. XIII. 55 n.
62. DIRIMIT] Cuts the house off from neighbouring buildings, i.e.
surrounds it.
63. OFFICII CAUSA] As a polite attention.
65. REDIRE] to London.
67. APERIT ... FABULAE SCENAM] Draws the curtain, i.e. discloses the
facts.
70. SURDO] Cf. II. 53 n.
XVI
[When Erasmus became famous, a friend of his early days at Steyn,
Servatius Rogerus, who had now risen to be Prior, wrote to him
reproaching him for having abandoned the dress of his order and urging
him to return to the monastery. The letter reached Erasmus in July 1514,
when he was on his way to Basel and was staying a few days at Hammes
Castle, an important military post in the English dominion near Calais,
of which his old patron, Lord Mountjoy, was lieutenant. In reply Erasmus
wrote an 'apologia pro vita sua', giving an account of himself and
stating his reasons for the belief that he could make better use of his
talents if he remained free. It is an important and confidential
document; and Erasmus therefore never published it. But copies of it were
being circulated in manuscript many years before his death.]
17. Cornelius, of Woerden, to the north of Gouda, was a school-friend of
Erasmus. He had entered the monastery of Steyn and persuaded Erasmus to
follow his example.
24. QUARUM ISTIC NULLUS USUS] This must not be taken to mean that good
learning was unknown to the monastery; for Erasmus read a great deal in
the classics at Steyn; but that a monastery was not a suitable home for a
scholar.
40. ANNUM PROBATIONIS] The constitutions of the Augustinian Order
provided that a novice could not make his profession as a Canon until he
had completed his sixteenth year and had passed at least a year and a day
in probation.
74. CALCULO] Stone in the bladder.
84. CONFRATRES] Brother belonging to the same order.
100. CONCANONICOS] fellow-canons. The word is appropriate here as Steyn
was a house of Augustinian canons.
104. SOLONIS] Cf. IV. 21 n.
Pythagoras (cf. VII. 7 n.) travelled in Egypt and the East in search of
knowledge, and ultimately settled in Magna Graecia. By birth he was a
native of Samos.
Plato (c. 429-347) after the death of Socrates in 399 travelled in Egypt,
Sicily, and Magna Graecia.
120. HIC IPSE] Leo X, who was Pope 1513-21.
135. ELEEMOSYNARIO] almoner. Wolsey (c. 1475-1530) now held this post,
and was also Bishop of Lincoln.
136. REGINA] Catharine of Aragon.
145. SACERDOTIUM] The living of Aldington in Kent was given to Erasmus by
Warham in March 1512. It was worth £33 6_s_. 8_d_. yearly; but after a
few months Erasmus was allowed to resign, an annual pension of £20 being
charged on the living and paid to him.
175. Erasmus' _De Copia_, first published in July 1512, was a treatise
designed to assist the beginner in Latin composition by supplying him
with variety of words and abundance of phrases.
178. CASTIGAVI] 'I have produced a critical edition of.'
180. OBELIS] The critical marks [Symbols: obelus, obelus] used to denote
suspected passages in texts.
IUGULAVI] 'I have disposed of', lit. 'have cut their throats'.
201. CULTU CANONICORUM] The proper dress of an Augustinian canon
consisted of a 'tunica candida cum linea toga sub nigro pallio.
Tegumentum a scapulis impositum cervicem totumque contegit caput'.
215. THESAURARII FILIOS] Matthias and Mark Lauweryn, sons of the Archduke
Philip's Treasurer; who were studying at Bologna in 1507. Mark afterwards
became an intimate friend of Erasmus.
218. Julius II was Pope, 1503-13.
228. _admonitus sum_ is followed here first by a statement and then by a
piece of advice.
251. APUD MONACHAS ALIQUAS] Convents of nuns require a resident priest to
conduct their services. These posts, the work of which was light, were
usually given to monks advanced in years. Servatius himself in later life
retired in this way to a convent of Augustinian nuns near Leiden.
253. NIHIL MOROR] The technical formula of dismissal, either of persons
receiving an audience, or of an accused person when the charge against
him is withdrawn. Then, by transference, 'I do not detain to make
inquiries about,' 'I do not care about.'
268. PASCHA] Easter, 16 April 1514. In calculating dates the Romans
reckoned inclusively, so that the _tertius dies_ is Tuesday.
XVII
[An extract from a letter written in September 1514. On his way to Basel
Erasmus passed through Strasburg, where he was welcomed with enthusiasm,
especially by the Literary Society, of which James Wimpfeling, a native
of Schlettstadt, was head. After his departure the Society, through
Wimpfeling, wrote him a formal letter of welcome into Germany, to which
this letter is the reply.]
6. CANTHAROS] casks.
8. John Sapidus (a Latinized form of Witz) was headmaster of the Latin
school at Schlettstadt, which was one of the most important in South
Germany.
15. Beatus Rhenanus (1485-1547) became a most faithful friend to Erasmus,
working as his coadjutor in many of his publications.
44, 5. DE EODEM ... OLEO] A proverbial phrase for an uninterrupted
effort. For the combination cf. _oleum et operam perdere_, to lose time
(literally, light) and trouble.
46. _liceat_ represents a slight change of mental attitude as to the
condition being fulfilled.
62. CIRCUMFERUNT, &c.] The subjunctive would be more usual.
XVIII
[A letter written in 1516 at the close of a visit to England, when
Erasmus was preparing to settle in the Netherlands. Reuchlin, to whom it
is addressed, was the first Hebrew scholar in Europe at this time. The
testimony in the final paragraph to the progress of learning in England
is valuable, inasmuch as it is not written to an Englishman.]
3. ROFFENSIS] John Fisher (c. 1459-1535) had been a constant patron to
Erasmus. He had been confessor to the Lady Margaret Tudor, mother of
Henry VII; and through his influence she had used her wealth to endow
learning, founding Professorships of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge,
and two colleges--Christ's in 1506 and St. John's which was opened in
1516--at Cambridge. Fisher became Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of
Cambridge in 1504, and was President of Queens' College, Cambridge,
1505-8.
7. PRO MEA VIRILI] _sc_. parte.
12. VENANTUR] It was evidently considered quite decorous for a bishop to
hunt. Warham's abstinence from the chase, which is commended in XXII and
XXIII, was clearly exceptional.
28. CALAMORUM NILOTICORUM] pens made from the reeds that grow on the
banks of the Nile. Reed-pens from Cyprus were also in demand at this
time.
30. POSSIS] _Si ... sunt_ is not the protasis.
38. AD MEAM EPISTOLAM] in which Erasmus asked permission to dedicate his
edition of Jerome to the Pope. It was dated 21 May 1515 from London; and
Leo's reply 10 July 1515 from Rome.
44. UTERQUE CARDINALIS] Grimani and another, to whom Erasmus had written
on the same subject.
46. Pace (c. 1482-1536), a scholar and diplomatist, who succeeded Colet
as Dean of St. Paul's in 1519, and was now ambassador (oratorem gerere).
49. ET HIERONYMUM] as well as the New Testament. Jerome was dedicated to
Warham.
51. CAROLUS] The young prince Charles, who afterwards succeeded his
grandfather Ferdinand as king of Spain in 1517, and his grandfather
Maximilian as the Emperor Charles V in 1519. He was now governing the
Netherlands.
PRAEBENDAM] A canonry at Courtray.
55. ARCHIEPISCOPUS] Warham.
57. OMNIA SUA] Cf. XXIII. 24.
70. PHILIPPUM] Probably Melanchthon (1497-1560), who was Reuchlin's
great-nephew. Erasmus evidently wished that he should be sent to St.
John's.
XIX
[This letter, written to a familiar friend at Basel, describes Erasmus'
journey down the Rhine to the Netherlands in September 1518; after a few
months' residence in Basel, during which a beginning had been made with
the second edition of the New Testament.]
5. DISTENTUS] from _distineo_.
10. ILLI] _sc_. caupones.
13. Gallinarius was the parish-priest of Breisach and an old friend of
Erasmus.
15. MINORITAM] A name for a Franciscan; formed from the humble style
adopted by the Order, 'Fratres Minores.'
17. SCOTICAM] worthy of Scotus; cf. XXIV. 27 n.
22. HORAM ... DECIMAM] Erasmus is here using the modern, and not the
Roman reckoning; for which cf. IX. 217 n.
23. AD ILLORUM CLEPSYDRAS] _sc_. usque ad multam noctem: not being
allowed to rise from table, to go to bed.
30. SODALITATIS] The Literary Society over which Wimpfeling presided. Cf.
XVII introduction.
35. ANGLUS EQUUS] A horse given him by an English friend.
39. Maternus Hatten was precentor of the cathedral at Spires.
45. CAESARIS] The Emperor Maximilian.
53. PROFESSUS EST] taught, was professor.
71. PRAEFECTUS] Cf. XVI. 251 n.
73. OFFICIALIS] legal adviser, chancellor.
83. DIE DOMINICO] Sunday: Ital. Domani, Fr. Dimanche.
91. COMITEM NOVAE AQUILAE] Hermann, Count of Neuenahr (Germ. Aar, a
poetical name for an eagle).
99. HOMERUS] _Il_. 3. 214.
107. TOTIES OFFERT] Cf. XVI. 135-6.
123. HESIODUS] I have not been able to find this phrase in Hesiod.
Erasmus is perhaps unconsciously contaminating _Sc_. 149 with Hom. _Od_.
17. 322-3.
130. QUANTUS, &c.] Hor. _Epod_. 10. 7, 8.
148. PERIODUS] 'a round'; apparently the canons dined with one another in
turn.
193. VEL MANU CONTACTA] 'with a mere touch of my hand.'
211. CUBICULUM] Erasmus had a room in the Collège du Lis at Louvain.
226. HEBRAEUM] A Jewish physician.
268. LAURINUS] Cf. XVI. 215 n.
291. POETAE] Cf. Hor. _C_. 3. 24. 31-2.
XX
[A letter to Erasmus' old friend and patron.]
10. WINTONIENSEM] Richard Foxe (c. 1448-1528), a powerful statesman and
ecclesiastic. He founded Corpus Christi College at Oxford in 1516 to be
the home of the Renaissance.
13. EBORACENSIS] In 1518 Wolsey, who was now Archbishop of York and
Cardinal, founded six public Lectureships in Oxford, Theology, Humanity,
Rhetoric and Canon Law being among the subjects on which lectures were
provided.
14. SCHOLA] the University.
18. ROFFENSI] Cf. XVIII. 3 n.
28. TUAE CELSITUDINI] as we should say, 'your Lordship.'
32. CONFLICTANDUM] in repelling attacks made on his edition of the New
Testament.
34. HOMERICA] Cf. _Il_. 1. 194 seq.
XXI
[An account of an explosion of gunpowder which took place in Basel in
Sept. 1526. The correspondent to whom the letter is addressed was
Principal of Busleiden's Collegium trilingue at Louvain.]
1. AFRICA] An allusion to the proverb, 'Semper Africa novi aliquid
apportat.' Erasmus' Africa here is the city of Basel, where religious
innovations were already beginning.
21. GIGANTUM MOLES] When they tried to scale the heights of heaven by
piling Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa.
22. Salmoneus was a presumptuous Thessalian who invented thunder and
lightning of his own, and was killed by Jupiter as a punishment.
Ixion was the king of the Lapithae who was bound upon an ever-revolving
wheel as punishment for having affronted Juno.
26. FLORENTIAE] When the bellicose Pope Julius II was attacking Bologna
in the autumn of 1506, Erasmus took refuge at Florence.
28. TONABAT] Impersonal.
58. PULVERIS BOMBARDICI] 'gunpowder.'
62, 3. RIMAS ... SPECULATORIAS] 'loopholes.'
65. ESSET ONERI FERENDO] Dative of Purpose; cf. solvendo esse, to be
solvent.
80. LATERIS] _sc_. turris.
107. MEDIUM UNGUEM] The middle finger was regarded as 'the finger of
scorn'.
111. CORYBANTES] The priests of Cybele, the mother of the gods, whose
worship was conducted with a great noise of musical instruments.
114. NOSTRA TYMPANA] This playful protest indicates that there was a
growing fashion of celebrating festive occasions with a din of drums and
trumpets. It doubtless embodies also the dislike of the scholar for
anything that disturbed his quiet.
ANAPAESTIS] The rataplan and rat-tat of the drum are compared to the
metric feet, the anapaest ([Symbols: arsis, arsis, thesis] and the
pyrrhic ([Symbols: arsis, arsis]).
121. CELEBRITAS] abstract for concrete.
130. TONITRUI] This form occurs in the Vulgate; but in classical Latin
the singular follows the fourth declension.
XXII
[This and the following extract are to some extent coincident, but each
contributes something to the picture of Warham which the other has not.
Both were written in 1533, shortly after Warham's death, XXII in the
first book of the _Ecclesiastes_ (see p. 15[*]), which was begun some
time before it was published; XXIII as a new preface for an edition of
Jerome which was being printed in Paris.
[* At the end of LIFE OF ERASMUS. Transcriptor.]
William Warham (c. 1450-1532) was an eminent lawyer before he received
ecclesiastical preferment. He was Master of the Rolls 1494-1502, Bishop
of London 1501, Archbishop of Canterbury 1503, Lord Chancellor of England
1504-15, and Chancellor of Oxford University from 1506 until his death.
In the severance of the English Church from Rome he was an unwilling
agent to Henry VIII.]
8. IURIS UTRIUSQUE] The two branches of law, civil and canon (or church).
34. VENATUI] Cf. XVIII. 12 n.
48. A CENIS] See p. 157. [ADDITIONAL NOTES at the end of this text.
Transcriptor.]
66. IBI] in England.
79, 80. FUIT ... EST] The subjunctive would be grammatically regular, but
in both cases the indicative is used to express a fact independent of any
condition.
82. ESSET] The subjunctive expresses the ground of the refusal.
84. PRAESTARE] Cf. l. 100 and _oratorem gerere_, XVIII. 47.
93. CUI RESIGNARAM] John Thornton, Suffragan Bishop of Dover, who was
appointed to succeed Erasmus on 31 July 1512. Cf. XVI. 145 n.
94. _a suffragiis_] A suffragan. This form was common in late Latin for
the designation of an office; cf. ab epistolis, a secretary; a libellis,
a notary; a cubiculis, a poculis.
95. IUVENEM] Richard Masters, appointed in Nov. 1514. He was afterwards
involved in the affair of the 'Holy Maid of Kent' and was deprived in
1534.
101. METROPOLITANUS] The title of an archbishop as head of an
ecclesiastical province. All the bishops in his province are suffragans
to him.
XXIII
5. CONCINNATUS] i.e. compositus.
16. CHARTIS] 'playing-cards.' An Act of 1463 forbade the importation of
them into England; Foxe's statutes for C.C.C. Oxford (XX. 10 n.), dated
1517, prohibit the use 'chartarum pictarum (_cardas_ nuncupant)'.
24. COMMUNIONEM] Cf. XVIII. 57-8.
32. PRO MORE REGIONIS] The following extracts from Erasmus' writings show
the reputation of the English at this time in the matter of
entertainment: 'Angli ostentatores': 'miramur si quis videat frugalem
Anglum': 'asscribo Anglis lautas mensas et formam.'
33. VULGARIBUS] _sc_. cibis.
38. HOLOSERICIS] _sc_. vestibus. Similarly _byssinis ac damascenis_, l.
44.
40. CONVENTUM] This took place in July 1520, shortly after Henry's
meeting with Francis I at Ardres, known as the 'Field of the Cloth of
Gold '.
41. UNDECIM] Erasmus' memory for dates was uncertain.
42. EBORACENSIS] Wolsey.
XXIV
[A letter written in 1521 from Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, to
Jodocus Jonas, a member of the University of Erfurt, and afterwards one
of the followers of Luther. Jonas had asked for a sketch of the life of
Colet, who had died on 16 Sept. 1519; and Erasmus in reply sent this
letter, to convey some impression of the man to whom he felt himself to
owe so much. With it he coupled a slighter sketch of another friend, also
dead, in whose character he traced much the same features as he had
admired in Colet. Very little is known of Vitrarius beyond the
information contained in this letter; without which our knowledge of
Colet and also of Henry VIII--the 'divine young king', as he was often
called in these early years--would not be so full as it is.]
2. PAUCIS] _sc_. verbis.
17. ORDINIS FRANCISCANI] The order of friars founded by St. Francis of
Assisi (1182-1226).