Editing The complicated sixteenth century (section)

=== ''Enchiridion militis Christiani'' <u>(Handbook of the Christian Soldier)</u> ===
While varied in interests and critiques, the consistencies in Erasmus' point of view converge from his core beliefs in Christian virtue, the Church, the Liturgy, the Virgin Mary, and the Word of God. He wanted the Bible to be available in secular languages, but he wanted young Christian men to be educated in Latin and Greek. He sympathized with the reformers' outrage at clerical abuse, but he refused to draw drastic lines between the Church and reform. He wanted peace, concord, learning and faith truly lived.

Unlike protestant reformers, when confronted with Church or other hypocrisy, Erasmus' impulse was to attack the hypocrisy, not its source. Of excessive veneration of relics of Saints, rather than attacking the form of worship, Erasmus made fun of the excesses while warning against iconoclasm and, what historian Eamon Duffy would later call "stripping of alters," or complete protestant removal of saintly relics, images, and veneration. Of abuses of the indulgence, which Luther is so famous for critizing (the "95 Theses" was actually titled,  "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences"), Erasmus retorts, 
 "I have never approved of (the Roman See's) tyranny, rapacity, and other vices about which of old common complaints were heard from good men. Neither do I sweepingly condemn ‘Indulgences,’ though I have always disliked any barefaced traffic in them.<ref>From ''Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni'', 1523</ref>
So, when Erasmus took on the problem of unchilvaric behavior, he did not go after chivalry itself, he looked to channel it towards higher purpose and faith. Where the knight defends himself behind armor of steel, the Christian soldier will wear armor of the spirit -- taken from Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, of course.

Here Erasmus presages Reformation complaints about piety of form over virtue, with,
 Paul everywhere (as I have said) commendeth charity, but specially writing unto the Coiynthes he preferreth charity both before miracles and prophecies, and also before the tongues of angels. And say not thou by and by that charity is, to be oft at the church, to crouch down before the images of saints, to light tapers or wax candles, to say many lady psalters or Saint Katheryne's knots. God hath no need of these things. Paul calleth charity to edify thy neighbour, What to count that we all be members of one body, charity. to think that we all are but one in Christ, to rejoice in God of thy neighbour's wealth even as thou doest of thine own, to remedy his incommodities or losses as thine own. <ref>p. 171</ref><br />
or, 
 Moreover he putteth us in remembrance that the use of the spiritual life standeth not so greatly in ceremonies as in the charity of thy neighbour. Seek (saith he) judgment or justice, succour him that is oppressed, give true judgment and right to him that is fatherless and motherless or friendless, defend the widow.<ref>176</ref>
But he isn't so much condemning ceremonial piety as asking -- as did Saint Paul, and, the Lord himself -- for  our hearts to be set right not just our outward acts:  <pre>
 Oh citizens, citizens, first seek money, after seek virtue. When was riot or excess more 
immoderate than now ? When was adultery and 
all other kinds of unchaste living either more 
appert in the sight of every man, or more un- punished, or else less had in shame, rebuke or 
abomination ? WThile princes favour their own vices, in other men suffering them unpunished, 
and every man accounteth that most comely and beautiful to be done whatsoever is used and 
taken up among courtiers. To whom seemeth 
not poverty extreme evil, and uttermost shame 
The liberty and rebuke ? 
</pre>
p 190  
 


We can see each of these threads in ''Handbook'', as we will call it, which is part of why it was enormously popular and translated into variuos languages. 



[https://archive.org/details/bookcalledinlati00erasuoft/bookcalledinlati00erasuoft/ A book called in Latin Enchiridion militis Christiani, and in English The manual of the Christian knight : Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive]