About the middle of the fifteenth century fire from the
Italian altar was carried across the Alps, and a revival of learning began in
northern lands. Italy had led the way by recovering the long-buried treasures
of the classics and by providing means for their study. Scholars in Germany,
France, and England, who now had the aid of the printing press, continued the
intellectual movement and gave it widespread currency.
DESIDERIUS ERASMUS 1466(?)-1536 A.D.
The foremost humanist of the age was Desiderius Erasmus.
Though a native of Rotterdam in Holland, he lived for a time in Germany,
France, England, and Italy, and died at Basel in Switzerland. His travels and
extensive correspondence brought him in contact with most of the leading
scholars of the day. Erasmus wrote in Latin many works which were read and
enjoyed by educated men. He might be called the first really popular author in
Europe. Like Petrarch, he did much to encourage the humanistic movement by his
precepts and his example. "When I have money," said this devotee of
the classics, "I will first buy Greek books and then clothes."
