Collected Work of Erasmus #69
Spiritualia and Pastoralia: Precatio Ad Virginis Filium Iesum / Paean Virgini Matri / Obsecratio Ad Virginem Mariam / Precatio Dominica / Liturgia Virginis Matris / Precatio Prp Pace Ecclesiae / Precationes ... Volume 69
The ten pieces in this volume are among the twenty selected for inclusion in volumes 66-70 of the Collected Works of Erasmus, the series of spiritualia and pastoralia. Like many of the other works in the series, they represent an Erasmus that, despite the recent growth of interest in him, has remained largely unfamiliar-the Erasmus of the works 'pertaining to the pietas.'
Volume 69 is special in that it contains seven examples of a genre important to Erasmus, the genre of prayer. The prayers here include an effusive and lyrical early triad, a 'paraphrase' entitled The Lord's Prayer, the highly formalized Liturgy of Loreto, the heartfelt Prayer for Peace in the Church, and a collection of short prayers published the year before Erasmus' death. The volume is special also in that it contains many pieces about women, prompted by women, or addressed to women. Among these are A Comparision of the Virgin and the Martyr, Letter of Comfort in Adversity, and the Marian prayers, all of which directly or indirectly treat the subjects of virginity and marriage.
The longest piece, The Institution of Christian Matrimony, is a work of towering importance in the history of writing on marriage. In the words of the translator, Erasmus has written a treatise 'profoundly serious and deeply researched ... a detailed and painstaking examination of the institution from every conceivable angle.'
Professor O'Malley's introduction provides background and context for each of the selections, and emphasizes Erasmus' subtle but influential refashioning of the genres in which he wrote.
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Genres
660 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24,1999
This edition
- Format
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660 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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April 24, 1999 by University of Toronto Press
- ISBN
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9780802043825
- ASIN
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0802043828
- Language
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English
About the author
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.
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps.
Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in the Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of him was erected in his city of birth in 1622, replacing an earlier work in stone.