Humanists, Reformers and Scholastics

In: European history quarterly, Band 26, Heft 1, S. 125-140

Abstract

A review essay on books by: Leon-E. Halkin, Erasmus: A Critical Biography (Tonkin, John [Tr], Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1993); R. J. Schoeck, Erasmus of Europe: The Prince of Humanists 1501-1536 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh U Press, 1993); Bob Scribner, Roy Porter, & Mikulas Teich (Eds), The Reformation in National Context (Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1994); Andrew Pettegree (Ed), The Reformation of the Parishes: The Ministry and the Reformation in Town and Country (Manchester: Manchester U Press, 1993); & W. Fred Graham (Ed), Later Calvinism: International Perspectives (Kirksville, MO: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1994 [see listings in IRPS No. 87]). Halkin presents a portrayal of Erasmus with extensive quotations & a critical analysis of his thinking about the Reformation & describes his denunciation of opponents & anger toward former colleagues. Schoeck's work is considered a manual, covering Erasmus's life from 1501 until his death, including his travels, correspondence, & connections. Porter & Teich's edited series covers the Reformation & attempts to identify national characteristics of the Reformation in major European countries. Pettegree's essays include an introduction on the principles of the reformed ministry followed by works on Calvinist churches, anticlericalism, parish fund financing, pastors & people in Zurich, Ansbach clergy, & the Lower Austrian Counter-Reformation. Graham's text contains predominantly academic theology exploring sociohistorical themes, eg, marriage laws in reformed Switzerland, political aggressiveness of ministers, criminal justice failure in sixteenth-century Scotland, & Dutch Calvinism. C. Whitcraft