Editing Erasmus (section)

====Basel (1521–1529)====
{{Side box |metadata=No
 | above = '''Swiss circle<ref name=serikoff/>{{rp|56,63}}''' 
 | text = {{hlist|[[Johannes Froben]]|[[Hieronymus Froben]]|[[Beatus Rhenanus]]|[[Bonifacius Amerbach]]|Bruno Amerbach|[[Hans Holbein the Younger]]|[[Johann Faber]]|[[Simon Grynaeus]]|[[Sebastian Brandt]]|[[Wolfgang Capito]]|[[Damião de Góis]]|Gilbert Cousin|Jakob Näf|{{ill|Augustin Mair|de|Augustinus Marius}}}}<br />
''Opponents'': [[Johannes Oecolampadius|Œcolampadius]]<br />
''Patrons'':  [[Counts of Dammartin#House of Vergy|Antoine I. de Vergy]], [[Christoph von Utenheim]]
}}
[[File:Cognatus-erasmus.tiff|thumbnail|Desiderius Erasmus dictating to his ammenuensis Gilbert Cousin or Cognatus. From a book by Cousin, and itself claimed to be based on fresco in Cousin's house in [[Nozeroy]], Burgundy. Engraving possibly by {{ill|Claude Luc|fr|Claude Luc}}. ]] 
From 1514, Erasmus regularly traveled to [[Basel]] to coordinate the printing of his books with [[Froben]]. He developed a lasting association with the great Basel publisher [[Johann Froben]] and later his son [[Hieronymus Froben]] (Erasmus' [[godson]]) who together published over 200 works with Erasmus,<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Müller|first=Christian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vU5tQgAACAAJ|title=Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532|publisher=[[Prestel]]|year=2006|isbn=978-3-7913-3580-3|page=296|language=en}}</ref> working with expert scholar-correctors who went on to illustrious careers.<ref name=serikoff/>

His initial interest in Froben's operation was aroused by his discovery of the printer's folio edition of the {{lang|la|Adagiorum Chiliades tres}} ([[Adagia]]) (1513).<ref>Bloch Eileen M. (April 1965). "Erasmus and the Froben Press". ''Library Quarterly'' 35: 109–120.</ref> Froben's work was notable for using the new [[Roman type]] (rather than [[blackletter]]) and Aldine-like Italic and Greek fonts, as well as elegant layouts using borders and fancy capitals;<ref name=serikoff/>{{rp|59}} [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] cut several woodblock capitals for Erasmus' editions. The printing of many his books was supervised by his Alsatian friend, the Greek scholar [[Beatus Rhenanus]].{{refn|group=note| Rhenanus shared many humanist contacts from Paris and Strassburg: a former student of [[Publio Fausto Andrelini|Andrelini]], friend of the Amerbach family, colleague of [[Sebastian Brant]] etc. He had learned printing in Paris with [[Robert Estienne]]. He was a mentor of [[Martin Bucer#Early years (1491–1523)|Martin Bucer]], who further developed several of Erasmus' ideas.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schirrmacher |first1=Thomas |title=Advocate of love – Martin Bucer as theologian and pastor: achieving unity through listening to the scriptures and to each other: Martin Bucer's theological and practical agenda as a challenge to evangelicals today |date=2017 |publisher=Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft |location=Bonn |isbn=978-3-86269-058-9 |edition=2nd}}</ref>}}

In 1521 he settled in Basel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (Hans Holbein the Younger) |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1895-0122-843 |website=print |publisher=British Museum |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717224100/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1895-0122-843 |url-status=live }} Quoting G. Bartrum, ''German Renaissance Prints 1490–1550'', BM exh. cat. 1995, no. 238.</ref> He was weary of the controversies and hostility at Louvain, and feared being dragged further into the Lutheran controversy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erasmus |first1=Desiderius |title=The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 1252–1355 (1522–1523) |date=31 December 1989 |doi=10.3138/9781442680944|isbn=978-1-4426-8094-4 }}</ref> He agreed to be the Froben press' literary superintendent writing dedications and prefaces<ref name=gasquet/> for an annuity and profit share.<ref name=cheng_davies/> Apart from Froben's production team, he had his own household{{refn|group=note|Froben had bought Erasmus his own house {{lang|de|"Zur alten Treu"}} in 1521 and fitted it with Erasmus' required fireplace.<ref>{{cite web |title=Altbasel – Erasmus in Basel |url=https://altbasel.ch/fragen/erasmus_in_basel.html |website=altbasel.ch |access-date=8 January 2024 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108002558/https://altbasel.ch/fragen/erasmus_in_basel.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}} with a formidable housekeeper, stable of horses, and up to eight boarders or paid servants who acted as assistants, correctors, amanuenses, dining companions, international couriers, and carers.<ref name=blair>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Ann |title=Erasmus and His Amanuenses |journal=Erasmus Studies |date=13 March 2019 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=22–49 |doi=10.1163/18749275-03901011|s2cid=171933331 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41473796 }}</ref> It was his habit to sit at times by a ground-floor window, to make it easier to see and be seen by strolling humanists for chatting.<ref name=tracey_sponge>Introductory Note in {{cite journal |last1=Tracey |first1=James |title=The Sponge of Erasmus against the Aspersions of Hutten/ Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni |journal=Controversies |date=31 December 2010 |pages=1–146 |doi=10.3138/9781442660076-002 |publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-6007-6 }}</ref>

In collaboration with Froben and his team, the scope and ambition of Erasmus' ''Annotations'', Erasmus' long-researched project of philological notes of the New Testament along the lines of Valla's ''Adnotations'', had grown to also include a lightly revised Latin Vulgate, then the Greek text, then several edifying essays on methodology, then a highly revised Vulgate—all bundled as his {{lang|la|[[Novum Instrumentum omne|Novum testamentum omne]]}} and pirated individually throughout Europe— then finally his amplified  ''Paraphrases''.

In 1522, Erasmus' compatriot, former teacher (c. 1502) and friend from the University of Louvain unexpectedly became [[Pope Adrian VI]],{{refn|group=note|Adrian's election was engineered by reformer Cardinal [[Thomas Cajetan]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pastor |first1=Ludwig |title=The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages |date=1923}}</ref> the leading Thomist of his age, who had become a friendly correspondent of Erasmus and had moved to bibliocentrism, progressively producing his own commentaries on the New Testament and most of the Old. Erasmus was initially sceptical of Cajetan, blaming him for taking a too-hard line against Luther; however, he was won over in 1521 after reading Cajetan's works on the Eucharist, Confession and invocation of the saints.<ref name=seaver>{{cite journal |last1=Seaver |first1=William |title=Cardinal Cajetan Renaissance Man |journal=Dominicana |year=1959 |volume=44 |issue=4 |url=https://www.dominicanajournal.org/wp-content/files/old-journal-archive/vol44/no4/dominicanav44n4cardinalcajetanrenaissanceman.pdf |access-date=4 May 2024 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513013157/https://www.dominicanajournal.org/wp-content/files/old-journal-archive/vol44/no4/dominicanav44n4cardinalcajetanrenaissanceman.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|357}} In 1530, Cajetan proposed that concessions be made to Germany to allow communion under both kinds and married clergy, in full sympathy with Erasmus' spirit of mediation. }} after having served as Regent (and/or Grand Inquisitor) of Spain for six years. Like Erasmus and Luther, he had been influenced by the Brethren of the Common Life. He tried to entice Erasmus to Rome. His reforms of the [[Roman Curia]] which he hoped would meet the objections of many Lutherans were stymied (party because the Holy See was broke), though re-worked at the Council of Trent, and he died in 1523.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Geurts |first1=Twan |title=Pope Adrian VI, the 'Barbarian From the North' Who Wanted to Reform the Vatican |url=https://www.the-low-countries.com/article/pope-adrian-vi-the-barbarian-from-the-north-who-wanted-to-reform-the-vatican |website=The Low Countries |date=17 October 2022 |language=en |access-date=23 May 2024 |archive-date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112091254/https://www.the-low-countries.com/article/pope-adrian-vi-the-barbarian-from-the-north-who-wanted-to-reform-the-vatican |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Pop adrian VI.JPG|thumb|left|Pope Adrian VI]]
As the popular and nationalist responses to Luther gathered momentum, the social disorders, which Erasmus dreaded and Luther disassociated himself from, began to appear, including the [[German Peasants' War]] (1524–1525), the [[Anabaptist]] insurrections in Germany and in the Low Countries, iconoclasm, and the radicalisation of peasants across Europe. If these were the outcomes of reform, Erasmus was thankful that he had kept out of it. Yet he was ever more bitterly accused of having started the whole "tragedy" (as Erasmus dubbed the matter).<ref group=note>"When the Lutheran tragedy ({{Langx|la|Lutheranae tragoediae }}) opened, and all the world applauded, I advised my friends to stand aloof. I thought it would end in bloodshed", Letter to Alberto Pío, 1525, in e.g., {{cite book |url=https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Life_and_letters_of_Erasmus_(IA_cu31924026502793).pdf |last=Froude |first=James Anthony |title=Life and Letters of Erasmus |year=1894 |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |page=322}}</ref>

In 1523, he provided financial support to the impoverished and disgraced former Latin Secretary of Antwerp [[Cornelius Grapheus]], on his release from the newly introduced Inquisition.<ref name=hirsch/>{{rp|558}} In 1525, a former student of Erasmus who had served at Erasmus' father's former church at Woerden, [[Jan de Bakker]] (Pistorius) was the first  priest to be executed as a heretic in the Netherlands. In 1529, his French translator and friend [[Louis de Berquin]] was burnt in Paris, following his condemnation as an anti-Rome heretic by the [[College of Sorbonne|Sorbonne]] theologians.