Chapter II: Preface: To the First Edition

Some portions of this History were published in a somewhat condensed form in the course of last year in the ‘Fortnightly Review,’ and I have to thank the Editor for the permission to withdraw further portions, although already in type, in order that the publication of this volume might not be delayed.[2]

Having regard to the extreme inaccuracy of the dates of the letters of Erasmus,[3] the conflicting nature of the evidence relating to the chronology of More’s early life,[4] and the scantiness of the materials for anything like a continuous biography of Colet, I should have undertaken a difficult task had I attempted in this volume, even so far as it goes, to give anything approaching to an exhaustive biography of Colet, Erasmus, and More. But my object has not been to write the biography of any one of them. I have rather endeavoured to trace their _joint_-history and to point out the character of their _fellow-work_. And with regard to the latter the evidence is so full, so various, and so consistent as to leave, I think, little room for misapprehension, either as to whether their work was indeed _fellow-work_, or as to the general spirit and scope of the work itself.

I gladly take this opportunity of tendering my best thanks to those who have aided me in this undertaking.

My warmest thanks are due to the Rev. J. S. Brewer, M.A., as well for the invaluable aid afforded by his Calendars of the Letters, &c. of Henry VIII., and for the loan of the proof-sheets of the forthcoming volume, as for _the revision of the greater part of my translations_; also to Mr. Gairdner for his ever ready assistance at the Public Record Office; to Dr. Edward Boehmer, of the University of Halle, for his aid in the collection of many of the early editions of works of Erasmus quoted in this volume; to the Senate and the late Librarian of the Cambridge University Library for the loan of the volume of MSS. marked Gg. 4, 26; and to Mr. Henry Bradshaw, of King’s College, Cambridge, for much valuable assistance, most courteously rendered, in the examination of this and other manuscripts at Cambridge. I have also to thank the Rev. J. H. Lupton, of St. Paul’s School, for the description given in Appendix C.[5] of a manuscript of Colet’s in the Library of St. Paul’s School which I had overlooked, and which I am happy to find is likely soon to be printed by him.

In conclusion, I cannot refrain from adding a tribute of affectionate regard for the memory of two of my friends--the late Mr. William Tanner of Bristol, and the late Mr. B. B. Wiffen of Woburn--of whose interest in the progress of this work I have received many proofs, and of whose kindly criticism I have gratefully availed myself.

HITCHIN: _March 30, 1867_.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

1. John Colet returns from Italy to Oxford (1496) 1

2. The Rise of the New Learning (1453-92) 5

3. Colet’s previous History (1496) 14

4. Thomas More, another Oxford Student (1492-6) 23

5. Colet first hears of Erasmus (1496) 27

CHAPTER II.

1. Colet’s lectures on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (1496-7?) 29

2. Visit from a Priest during the Winter Vacation (1496-7?) 42

3. Colet on the Mosaic Account of the Creation (1497?) 46

4. Colet studies afresh the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings (1497?) 60

5. Colet lectures on ‘I. Corinthians’ (1497?) 78

6. Grocyn’s Discovery (1498?) 90

CHAPTER III.

1. Erasmus comes to Oxford (1498) 94

2. Table-talk on the Sacrifice of Cain and Abel (1498?) 97

3. Conversation between Colet and Erasmus on the Schoolmen
(1498 or 1499) 102

4. Erasmus falls in love with Thomas More (1498) 113

5. Discussion between Erasmus and Colet on ‘The Agony in the
Garden,’ and on the Inspiration of the Scriptures (1499) 116

6. Correspondence between Colet and Erasmus on the
Intention of Erasmus to leave Oxford (1499-1500) 126

7. Erasmus leaves Oxford and England (1500) 133

CHAPTER IV.

1. Colet made Doctor and Dean of St. Paul’s (1500-5) 137

2. More called to the Bar--In Parliament--Offends Henry
VII.--The Consequences (1500-1504) 142

3. Thomas More in Seclusion from Public Life (1504-5) 146

4. More studies Pico’s Life and Works--His Marriage (1505) 151

5. How it had fared with Erasmus (1500-5) 160

6. The ‘Enchiridion,’ &c. of Erasmus (1501-5) 173

CHAPTER V.

1. Second Visit of Erasmus to England (1505-6) 180

2. Erasmus again leaves England for Italy (1506) 183

3. Erasmus visits Italy and returns to England (1507-10) 186

4. More returns to Public Life on the Accession of Henry VIII.
(1509-10) 189

5. Erasmus writes the ‘Praise of Folly’ while resting at More’s
House (1510 or 1511) 193

CHAPTER VI.

1. Colet founds St. Paul’s School (1510) 206

2. His Choice of Schoolbooks and Schoolmasters (1511) 215

CHAPTER VII.

1. Convocation for the Extirpation of Heresy (1512) 222

2. Colet is charged with Heresy (1512) 249

3. More in trouble again (1512) 255

CHAPTER VIII.

1. Colet preaches against the Continental Wars--The First
Campaign (1512-13) 258

2. Colet’s Sermon to Henry VIII. (1513) 262

3. The Second Campaign of Henry VIII. (1513) 267

4. Erasmus visits the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham (1513) 273

CHAPTER IX.

1. Erasmus leaves Cambridge, and meditates leaving England
(1513-14) 276

2. Erasmus and the Papal Ambassador (1514) 282

3. Parting Intercourse between Erasmus and Colet (1514) 284

CHAPTER X.

1. Erasmus goes to Basle to print his New Testament (1514) 294

2. Erasmus returns to England--His Satire upon Kings (1515) 306

3. Returns to Basle to finish his Works--Fears of the Orthodox
Party (1515) 312

CHAPTER XI.

1. The ‘Novum Instrumentum’ completed--What it really was
(1516) 320

CHAPTER XII.

1. More immersed in Public Business (1515) 337

2. Colet’s Sermon on the Installation of Cardinal Wolsey
(1515) 343

3. More’s ‘Utopia’ (1515) 346

4. The ‘Institutio Principis Christiani’ of Erasmus (1516) 365

5. More completes his ‘Utopia’--the Introductory Book (1516) 378

CHAPTER XIII.

1. What Colet thought of the ‘Novum Instrumentum’ (1516) 391

2. Reception of the ‘Novum Instrumentum’ in other Quarters
(1516) 398

3. Martin Luther reads the ‘Novum Instrumentum’ (1516) 402

4. The ‘Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum’ (1516-17) 407

5. The ‘Pythagorica’ and ‘Cabalistica’ of Reuchlin (1517) 411

6. More pays a Visit to Coventry (1517?) 414

CHAPTER XIV.

1. The Sale of Indulgences (1517-18) 419

2. More drawn into the Service of Henry VIII.--Erasmus leaves
Germany for Basle (1518) 427

CHAPTER XV.

1. Erasmus arrives at Basle--His Labours there (1518) 434

2. The Second Edition of the New Testament (1518-19) 442

3. Erasmus’s Health gives way (1518) 455