CHAPTER XXV

CANOSSA; DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND; LETTER TO SERVATIUS

On the 13th day of March, 1513, John Cardinal de' Medici was elected Pope and enthroned at St. Peter's, surrounded by the Conclave which had elected him, and amid the rejoicings of the people and the salvos of cannon. He had chosen the name of Leo, and was the tenth of that title, which he was destined to make famous as long as the world lasts. He was a man of thirty-eight years, of an illustrious family, and with all the charm that rank and wealth and education can impart. Although Julius II had left Italy tranquil for the time being, and Leo was able to take a leisurely survey of all matters both spiritual and temporal that at this time affected the Church, still he knew-and if he had forgotten, Louis XII would have quickly reminded him-that he had an ambitious and powerful enemy on the other side of the French border. The French monarch had by no means relinquished his designs on the possession of Milan and all the northeastern part of Italy; and though Leo was by nature pacific, he could not permit the dismembering of even the Milanese territory, knowing that this would be only the prelude to further aggression on the part of the restless French king. Therefore, in less than a month after his elevation as Pope, he had united Henry VIII, the Emperor-elect, the King of Aragon, and himself, in a league offensive and defensive against France and her allies, the most important of whom were the Venetians. By the sixth of June he had won the battle of Novara, in which the French and Venetians were routed with great slaughter; and seeing that Milan was freed from the domination of the French, and that the tranquillity of the whole peninsula was assured, he laid aside the secular arm and proceeded to suggest lenient measures to the exasperated conquerors. He addressed them a public letter, thanking them for their services, but, lamenting the dreadful loss of life that had taken place, besought them to make a moderate use of their victory. Meanwhile, pursuant to his agreement with the Pope, King Henry had passed over to France in June of this same year and had laid siege to Terouenne. The Duc de Longueville came to the relief of that town, whence resulted the famous Battle of the Spurs, when not only Terouenne, but also Tournai, fell into the hands of the English. That is how the bishopric of the latter place was given to Wolsey by the Pope, at the request of King Henry, and its former occupant Guillard ousted from it to make a vacancy, as we have just mentioned. But Leo had turned from war to the arts of peace; he devoted himself to bringing about a general cessation of hostilities. between all the warring monarchs, and at last succeeded in persuading the English king to lay aside his arms, and Louis XII to permit him as

Father of the Faithful to arbitrate between him and his enemies. Learning and the Fine Arts began again to emerge from the temporary eclipse undergone during the stormy days of Julius, and the sky cleared under the beneficent influence of Leo's reign. This Pontiff's election to the Chair of St. Peter seems to have been particularly gratifying to Erasmus, who had made his acquaintance in Rome when he was yet but a Cardinal. From his rule Erasmus expected the best results for the Church at large, and incidentally for himself. His mind ran back to twelve years before, when he was asked by Antony the Abbot of St. Bertin to reply for him in his choicest Latinity to a letter which the Abbot had received from the young Cardinal de' Medici, thanking him for the hospitality that the Abbot had shown him when he was on his travels in those parts. The passing years had brought many changes since those days when Erasmus was a young and struggling student who felt himself honored at the slightest notice from the great. He had now made for himself a name that was known and appreciated wherever learning was esteemed; and he felt within himself the potentialities of greater things to come, if only this pestilential war would cease. So, filled with this thought, he indited to the Abbot a letter on war in general, which is, and ever will be, a classic on the subject. We should like to reproduce it here, but since it is very long, and since he later amplified it still more and published it in a new edition of his Adages under the proverb Dulce bellum inexpertis, we shall refer our readers to that work, promising them that they will be well repaid for the trouble.

Before we leave 1513 we must mention the publication by Dr. Reyner Snoy, one of his friends and fellow-townsmen of Gouda, of a manuscript volume of his juvenile effusions, which also contained some of the poems of his old friend William Herman. Nichols thinks that they had been preserved in the monastery at Steyn, but our impression, which is, however, only an impression, is that they had been treasured by Herman himself, and that at his death, which took place in 1510, they had passed into the keeping of Snoy, who deemed them, like everything which Erasmus had written, worthy of publication. This collection was entitled Herasmi Roterodami Silua carminum, and was printed May 15, 1513, at Gouda.

In April, 1514, we find a letter addressed to Erasmus by the famous John Reuchlin, equally well known to scholars by his Greek name of Capnio; but since we shall go into his relations with Erasmus later on, when the opportunity will be more appropriate, we shall reserve our account of this great German scholar until then.

As we have already said, Pope Leo X had set his heart on making peace between Louis XII of France and Henry VIII of England. For this purpose he had sent a secret legate into England, unaccompanied by any retinue and without the usual ostentation that went with such embassies. This legate was Cardinal Canossa; and at a dinner given to him by Ammonius, to which Erasmus was invited without being informed of the quality of his neighbor at table, an incident rather embarrassing to Erasmus occurred. Since de Burigni had abbreviated

the account without omitting the salient outlines, we shall reproduce it here:

The rumor spread in London that Pope Leo X had sent a legate in disguise into England on the subject of the war between France and England. The report proved true, and the legate was Canossa, who had stopped with Ammonius incognito. The latter invited to dinner Erasmus, who suspected nothing. When he arrived he found with his friend a man dressed in a long cloak, his hair combed back smoothly, and having only one attendant to serve him. Erasmus entered into conversation with Ammonius without paying much attention to this other person who was present, who was, however, Canossa. Erasmus asked his friend in Greek who he was; Ammonius replied in the same language that he was a leading merchant. "He certainly looks like it," said Erasmus, and, convinced that it was the truth, he paid scant attention to the supposed merchant. They sat down to dinner; Erasmus spoke only to Ammonius, treating Canossa with much indifference. He wanted to know if the rumor that Leo X had sent a legate to England had any foundation; Ammonius admitting that there was something in the report, Erasmus said, "The Pope had no need of my counsel, but had he consulted me I should have given him far different advice." "What would you have advised him to do?" asked Ammonius. "I should have made him understand that the proper time to treat for peace had not yet arrived, because peace cannot be brought about suddenly; and that as soon as there is a question of treating for peace the soldiery abandons all discipline; that it would have been better to prepare a truce for three years, during which period they would have time enough to make a lasting treaty." Ammonius approved of these sentiments, and added, "But I believe that is the object of the legate's journey." "Is he a Cardinal?" asked Erasmus. "He has the wit of one," said Ammonius. "Well, that is something," said Erasmus laughingly. During all this conversation Canossa had kept silent, but finally spoke a few words in Italian, mingling therewith some Latin words, which caused Erasmus to suspect that this pretended merchant was a man of culture. He was much more surprised however, when Canossa, turning towards him but still without disclosing his identity, said "I am astonished that a man like you is determined to live amongst these barbarians, unless it be that you prefer to be the only one of your class here rather than to be the first at Rome." Erasmus, astounded to hear such a sentiment emanating from the mouth of a man whom he still took to be a merchant, replied that he lived in a kingdom having a great number of learned men; that he much preferred to occupy the lowest rank there than to live in Rome without any consideration whatsoever. Erasmus returned home without the slightest suspicion of the mission of this person with whom he had dined. Some days after that, Ammonius disclosed the mystery to him, and counseled him to go back to

Rome with Canossa, who was very favorably disposed to him; but Erasmus had no desire to do so. He reproached his friend, who knew the liberty that he was accustomed to use in his remarks, for having exposed him to the hazard of uttering many things which might have displeased a legate of the Pope; but Canossa, far from having been displeased with the free and independent tone of Erasmus, did him all the friendly offices in his power, and conceived for him an active liking, which he maintained as long as he lived.' This meeting between Erasmus and Canossa took place some time in June, 1514, at a time when Erasmus had decided that little or nothing was to be gained by any longer stay in England. He had some promises of assistance on the continent, particularly in his own native Holland, and had resolved to see what such prospects as he had in mind amounted to. But besides this he had some works to publish, which could not very well be done at that time in England; we allude especially to his Epistles of St. Jerome and his translation of the New Testament from the Greek. So he bade his English friends farewell, promising, however, that he would return, and inviting them to continue their many kindnesses in his behalf. He crossed the much dreaded Channel, which always extorted from him a most vigorous anathema, both on account of his poor sailor-like qualities and by reason of the rapacity of the custom-house officers. On landing, he first called on Lord Mountjoy, who was still governor of Hammes Castle; but we shall let him tell his own story as it occurs in his narrative of the trip sent back to Ammonius at London.

I am not sure whether or not I told you about paying my parting respects to the king. He received me in the most friendly manner, from which circumstance his lordship of Lincoln [Wolsey] bade me to rest in the most assured hope. But neither did he himself remember about the gift; nor did I dare to suggest it, lest I might seem importunate. His lordship of Durham' gave me six nobles on my departure, and this of his own accord, making his fourth gift to me, unless I am mistaken. The Archbishop, having sought a suitable opportunity, added the same amount, and his lordship of Winchester [Foxe] gave me a rose-noble. This is the sum of all the wealth I am carrying away. I wanted you to know this lest someone might imagine that I had scraped together a large amount of money under the pretext of this departure of mine.

I am at present staying at Hammes Castle with my friend Mountjoy for a few days; then I will go to Germany, calling upon a few friends on the way. If fortune shall respond to my wishes and the promises of others shall materialize, I will hasten my return; if not, I will make my plans according to the circumstances of the case. May God grant that, having safely returned, I may meet my Ammonius not only safe, but also adorned with the choicest gifts of fortune. Whenever an occasion shall fall out for promoting 1 Vie d'Erasme, Vol. I, pp. 207-10.

Ruthall. His immediate successor was Tunstall.

the interests of your Erasmus, I make no doubt you will help me in my absence, just as you have always done in the past, whether I was absent or present. Farewell, dearest friend. July 8, 1514.'

And then the expected happened. While staying at Hammes with Mountjoy, in order to recover from the effects of the trip across the Channel, he was handed a letter that had been wandering about for several weeks. It was from Servatius, the prior of his old monastery at Steyn, suggesting that he should return to the community, reminding him that he had laid aside the habit of his Order, expressing fears for the salvation of his soul, telling him that he ought to desire to die amongst his brethren, urging him to remember that his constant wanderings were not conducive to a spiritual life, and finishing with a promise to use his influence towards finding for him a position in the Order with emoluments attached thereto sufficient to furnish him the opportunity and the leisure to follow his literary avocations. It was a kindly letter, couched in the language of friendship, as we glean from Erasmus' reply, and showing not so much the authority of the prior as the pleading of the friend. The monks at Steyn were now undoubtedly proud of the fame and achievements of their wandering brother, and naturally longed to see him; and even possibly sought a chance to shine in his reflected glory. This was the most important letter that he had ever received; and though unwelcome was certainly not unexpected, for he had looked for its coming any time these many years past, and had resolved in his own mind how the situation was to be coped with when it did arrive. He was well aware that no man living knew him as Servatius did, for they had enjoyed the same friendships, had entered the monastery of Steyn and had been novices together, had broken the rules of the community by writing to each other surreptitiously-since conversation was forbidden them except at set times-and had in other ways infringed the ordinances of the monastery until at last Servatius, who had not the daring spirit of Erasmus, realizing that their conduct was opposed to the essence of the monastic profession, refused to endanger any further his religious vocation. For six years longer they dwelt together in the same monastery of Steyn, each living his life according to his desires. What those of Erasmus were we know very well; what were the aspirations of Servatius we cannot say, but we must conclude from the fact that he finally became the prior of Steyn when he was only about forty, that he had devoted himself to realizing his vocation and had been elected to positions of influence and responsibility in his Order. But silly passages had occurred between them in their young monastic days, of which both were heartily ashamed now that they were mature men, and of which both would willingly blot out the remembrance. That Erasmus was the most to blame is sufficiently evident from the admissions that he made to Servatius in this very letter, but that he manfully overcame his weaknesses in this regard is equally evident.

Eras. Ep. 295.

We

Allen, in Appendix IV of Vol. I, gives an extended synopsis of the whole affair, which is important as showing the attitude of each to the other on this occasion.