The Pairing of Desiderius Erasmus (1467/69–1536) and Martin Bucer (1491–1551) presents an opportunity to view the lives of two men who had much in common, yet whose paths ultimately led them in radically different directions. Erasmus had a major influence on the young Bucer, who never lost his admiration for the older man despite later disagreements. Both entered monasteries in their early years, only to take their leave once they realized that the monastic life was not their true calling. Both devoted a large part of their lives to the cause of reform in Christendom. Temperamentally averse to divisive controversy, both sought reconciliation of the bitter conflicts that engulfed Europe during their lifetimes.

Erasmus, however, maintained his loyalty to the Roman church, whereas Bucer became the leader of the evangelical reform in Strasbourg. The consequence was that these two men, alike in so many ways, stood on opposite sides of sixteenth-century Europe’s confessional fault-line, a fact that would provoke a vitriolic exchange toward the end of Erasmus’s life. We might well wonder what could have brought two men of irenic temperament to this impasse. The outcome of their relationship is indicative of how poisonous the environment had become, to the point that even the best efforts at mediation and conciliation could not prevail. A close comparison of these two lives may help us better understand the lines of convergence and divergence that marked early sixteenth-century religion, scholarship, and politics.

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam

Erasmus was born out of wedlock in Rotterdam in either 1467 or 1469, the son of a physician’s daughter and a priest. The region in which Erasmus spent his youth was marked by political instability resulting from power struggles among Duke Charles the Daring of Burgundy (1433–77), King Louis XI of France (1423–83), and Habsburg Maximilian I (1459–1519), later Holy Roman emperor. There were also recurrent appearances of the dreaded Black Death, which first devastated Europe in the years between 1347 and 1350.