CHAPTER XXI

RESIDENCE AT BASLE NO LONGER POSSIBLE: DEPARTURE TO FREIBURG

The letters which he wrote at the opening of 1529 include a eulogy of his friend Jacob Wimpfeling, who had just died. Since Wimpfeling seems to have exercised a great influence over Erasmus by the ideas that he had early advanced in his various writings, some mention of him is necessary here. He was born at Schletstadt in Alsace in 1450, and, like Erasmus, received the foundations of his education at the hands of the Brethren of the Common Life. Thence he entered successively the Universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg, and was ordained a priest in 1483, after which he was made preacher to the Cathedral of Spires. The University of Heidelberg offering him a position in the faculty of arts, he left Spires; but, after only two years, he was attracted by the growing fame of Geiler von Kaisersberg, and joined him at Strassburg, where he assisted him in editing the works of Gerson. From his close connection with Geiler von Kaisersberg it is not to be wondered at that Wimpfeling imbibed also a taste for the unconventional, and we soon find him assailing the failings and errors of his contemporaries with startling vigor. His first work was entitled De integritate, treating mainly of the irregular lives led by some of the clergy, and particularly of those who, like Erasmus' father, had formed illicit connections. Then he attacked the Monastic Orders, especially the Augustinians, and essayed to prove that St. Augustine had never been a monk. Erasmus had used the same argument so often in his letters that we can readily set down Wimpfeling as the source of his inspiration. Wimpfeling's book started a controversy on the subjects treated therein which was waged with much acrimony, until Pope Julius II commanded silence on all concerned, and it was only when Luther appeared that Wimpfeling felt he was going to be vindicated at last. When, however, he beheld the lengths to which Luther's violence had led him, when he heard Bucer preaching justification by faith alone, and when he saw Capito rejecting all claims of the Mother of Christ to our pious regard as the mother of the Redeemer, he dissociated himself from all the reformers.1 Wimpfeling, like Reuchlin, seems to have suffered from the overofficiousness of some of the minor Church authorities, who, as Erasmus tells us, "summoned him to Rome

. . to answer to the charge which he had made in his book, that St. Augustine was not a monk, or, at least, not such a monk as the Augustinians then were, since these latter depict him in their records and writings as having his beard long, and wearing a black cowl with 1 See Schmidt, Historie litéraire de l'Alsace, Vol. I, p. 52. Paris, 1879.

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a leather girdle. Julius II, with the approbation of all good men, extinguished by his authority this flame, which from a small spark would have spread widely." " It is rather unusual to see Erasmus praising Pope Julius II. When Wimpfeling found that his efforts to reform the clergy of that era had failed, he wisely retired from the arena and spent the remainder of his days in instructing the young and in living an exemplary life in accordance with his own ideals. Though discouraged, he must have felt that God was still protecting His Church in His own way, and that it was not for him to question His wisdom. How much happier would the last years of Erasmus have been if he had imitated Wimpfeling in this regard!

But we must return to Erasmus at Basle, where his increasing difficulties had made that city a dubious place for his further residence. We have already told of the feverish condition of affairs there when speaking, a few pages previously, of the activities of Oecolampadius. At the time when Erasmus had chosen Basle as the ideal spot for his residence, because he was there independent of kings and kaisers, he had no idea that a radical change was soon to take place in that city as a result of the various conflicting efforts of Carlstadt, Zwingli, Bucer, Oecolampadius, and others; but such was the fact. Basle, from being by virtue of its University the defender of militant Catholicity had in a short time become the arena of debate, innovation, and compromise. The city council had decided that every innovator should have a fair hearing, whence the city became the Mecca of all men whose religious opinions were wavering, and of all who were seeking an audience for whatever ideas they felt constrained to express. This was what had attracted to Basle such men as Oecolampadius, Farel, Hutten, and others whose names will occur to the reader. For the same reasons the Anabaptists had there obtained some standing, and matters were in a chaotic state. The city council began to see that its liberality had brought difficulties along with it; and, in order to bring light out of the murkiness which such a plethora of individual utterances was causing, they finally decided to invite Marius, a cathedral preacher, and Oecolampadius, to present the opposite views on one at least of the much debated subjects, namely, the Mass. Party feeling ran so high in consequence of this debate that the city council did not dare to make the decision between the debaters, though both were given permission to print their speeches. Thus was confusion worse confounded, until, in the spring of this present year 1529, the city council was compelled, in deference to public opinion, to limit the celebration of the Mass to three of the many churches in Basle. But that there was neither light nor leading in Basle is not to be wondered at, since all the reformers were groping in exterior darkness as to what and how much of the ancient belief of the Church they would believe or disbelieve. To enforce on the one hand and to repudiate on the other these opposing convictions, the various monarchs, both Protestant and Catholic, were being gradually marshaled into two hostile camps; and Erasmus could not fail to see that very soon-indeed, too soon for his peace of mind—he would be compelled to choose between ' Eras. Ep. (LB) col. 1141D-E.

these two camps. He tells us of the condition of affairs at Basle in a letter to Juan Vergara:

Here amid the cold of winter the war on idols yet waxes so hot that of the images not a fly is left in the churches, the Mass is radically abolished, and ecclesiastical rites, save that there is still the sermon; then the women with the children sing a psalm composed in German numbers; occasionally they distribute bread as a symbol of the Lord's body. Both the monks and nuns are ordered to put off their holy dress and go elsewhere. So far, nevertheless, there has been no violent entrance into anyone's private house, and bloodshed is avoided-may it always be. For so many German and Swiss cities have given their names to an alliance that, if the matter comes to the sword, I prefer to be far off. Great indeed is the power of princes, but where will you find a soldier prepared to fight for the right of the priest?"

He felt that to remain longer in such a city would only compromise him in the eyes of the Catholics; and though his attachment to the doctrines of either side was neither broad nor deep he did not have the courage to take a stand which might offend the one or the other, showing that he was the same irresolute, self-seeking, and unsatisfactory Erasmus that he had always been. So we find him writing to Bernard, Bishop of Trent, to obtain from his suzerain Ferdinand, king of Hungary and Bohemia, the permission and the necessary passport to enable him to live in Freiburg under that monarch:

Reverend Bishop. I hope that this much-spoken-of Council' will procure for us the long-hoped-for tranquillity against this tempest, with the Lord's assistance, which Council His Serene Highness the King of Hungary and Bohemia with what I consider pious zeal is attempting to bring about. Your Lordship will easily guess in what a coil I am here, not that I fear anything from the city council, but there is a great rabble of all kinds in this city. I have many enemies and some friends, but the influence of the latter is not of great weight in the present state of affairs. I should very much like my friends to bring it about that His Most Serene Highness King Ferdinand should invite me hence by letter, as if he needed to use me in some matter. I trust I shall be at liberty to depart hence, not that I am accountable to anyone, but in that way I may make my departure more safely. There is no place I should prefer to Spires, but I fear that my very infirm health would be poorly calculated to withstand the clamorous bickerings of the princes. Freiburg is my next choice, but it is a very petty town, and I hear that the townspeople are somewhat superstitious. For a long time the eating of fish has so disagreed with me that, if I even touch it, I am in danger of my life. Although I have the best of reasons, and although I have a papal dispensation covering all cases, yet the ignorant populace would

3 Eras. Ep. (LB) col. 1171B-C.

He is alluding to the Diet to be held at Spires, March 15, 1529.

exclaim at me, erring no less by their superstition than the opposite side errs by its wilful disobedience. For it is a graver matter to condemn your neighbor who, compelled by the greatest necessity and authorized by the Supreme Pontiff's permission, eats meat, than if he ate it without necessity. This very thing has kept me here for quite a time, for perhaps I should not have minded moving in the winter season. Hence I beg of you, that of your wonderful kindness you will give me your advice and help in this matter; and may you ever enjoy the best of health. I am sending you the proof-sheets of my work, On the Christian Widow, which I have, at the request of a certain person, dedicated to Her Most Serene Highness Maria, former Queen of Hungary, whose brother I have been unwilling to interrupt with correspondence, occupied as I deem he must be by such a multitude of affairs. His Majesty has always had and ever will have my most willing service as long as my life lasts. Basle, February 24, 1529.*

In a similar letter to Louis Ber of the University of Basle he says:

How safe it may be for me to remain here I know not. Murmurings and threats, not at all evangelical, of a few are brought to my notice, and I know well that wherever I go it will be at the risk of my life, although that is only a trifle, since even a change of wine or of clothing is a source of peril to me. But whatever the result, I must go away somewhere."

So we gather that he was in great tribulation at this time. But that was not the whole of his troubles. When, as a last resort, he was about to depart for Freiburg, he was taken sick with his old malady the gravel, or in more modern medical parlance, renal calculi. At the same time, Jerome Froben, upon whom he seemed to lean in his business matters, was absent at the Frankfurt book fair,' and in the present crisis of affairs he felt almost helpless without the aid and advice of this young and energetic publisher. So he goes on to tell Ber in a letter a month later that, though it is bad enough to be old, and still worse to be sick, yet the worst of all is to be surrounded by men who are hostile to him. He bitterly regrets the loss of many of his friends whom Luther's doctrines have weaned away from him, some of whom are now declared enemies, and others of them secret defamers of his reputation:

When will there be an end of these screeds by which I am being battered, and of the rage of those whose teeth are piercing arrows, on whose lips is the poison of serpents, and whose tongues are sharp swords? When will their villany cease? From such outrageous conduct neither shame, nor conscience, nor the authority of their rulers, nor the fruitlessness of their efforts so often cast in Eras. Ep. (LB) col. 1158E-1159c.

8 Ibid., col. 1161C-D.

We have had occasion to mention this celebrated book fair very often; and if any one of our readers wishes to learn more about it we would refer him to H. Estienne's La Foire de Francfort, translated from an ancient account of 1576 by Liseux, Paris, 1875.

their face, restrains them from doing their nefarious work at meals, in private conversations, in secret confession, in sermons, in public lectures, in the palaces of kings, in traveling by land and sea. ... And they are everywhere and speak all tongues. . . . And so they make themselves prevail, even though their cause, as they say, is barren. Now I speak only Latin; but had I a hundred tongues, of what avail am I alone against so many banded phalanxes, particularly when I have to fight not only against the forces of the enemy but also those of my own side? There is not one of these sects which does not hate me mortally, but especially that one whose members are trying to take away the Real Presence from us, and yet I am traduced to certain bishops and princes of being, as it were, in collusion with such as those."

Then he compares himself with St. Stephen, who was stoned to death, and with St. Sebastian, who was transfixed with arrows.

In such a flood of evils there is no quiet harbor of refuge throwing out a comforting light for my old age, now that I am fit neither for the tables of the lowly nor the halls of princes, except on condition that I associate myself with some one of these sects, a thing which I would surely have done had I been able to convince myself that everything they taught was right. Because I have not in any way been able to do this in the past, nor even now, I have resolved to fight with six hundred sects rather than depart from the fold of the Catholic Church."

Then he recites most of the causes that have been at work to make his life miserable, and seems to draw on his knowledge of painting to spread his colors, darkening the picture here and there with a morose pressure of his brush, or touching it up in lighter shades when the case seems to demand it. As is usual with neurasthenics, he blames everyone but himself, and, as mentioned, assumes the attitude of martyrdom in likening himself to St. Stephen and St. Sebastian. First he pays his respects to the theologians:

It is not obscure for what frivolous reasons these people first attacked me. To the great advantage of theology I cultivated languages and polite literature, which they now pretend to admire, although more than forty years ago they left no stone unturned to destroy and uproot them when they were just beginning to spring up. And that was the seed of this present tragedy. I exhorted the theologians that, leaving aside their little questions which have more of ostentation than of piety, they should betake themselves to the very sources of the Scriptures and to the ancient fathers of the Church. Moreover, I did not wish that scholastic theology should be abolished, but that it should be purer and more serious. That, unless I am mistaken, is to favor, not to hurt it. I exhorted the monks to be what they said they were, namely, dead to the world, to trust less to external ceremonial, and to embrace rather true Eras. Ep. (LB) col. 1177F-1178B. Ibid., col. 1178D-E.

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