uate of the Neapolitan Pignatelli school, consolidated and
articulated the ethic of nobility and artistry in his own
academy (established 1594). He elevated the art of dis-
cernment or judiciousness in the rider: if a horse is not
obeying commands, the rider should not “break” it
through spurs or switch, but determine the causes of its
resistance. Equitation had become a medium of imparting
education and developing leadership skills: “For horses
can obey and understand us only through the diligence of
caresses and flattery,” he wrote (The Maneige Royal de M.
de Pluvinel, 1623). It is through this “maneige” or exer-
cises that the horse is molded to accept the guidance of
the rider. The medieval French word “dresser” refers to
preparing, or readying something—hence the word “dres-
sage” for this kind of equine training. Writing to King
Henry III of France, Pluvinel tells the king, “Your majesty
will be able to control them with the aids of the thighs
alone, and somewhat of the tongue, which is the spur of
the mind and which we use to make the horse rise on his
hind quarters.” The whole apparatus of physical control—
spurs, switches, ropes—gives way to an art of cooperation
and coordination, which at times is presented almost as
symbolic of a ruler’s ascendancy over his subjects (see also
EQUESTRIAN MONUMENTS).
Equitation as a supreme spectacle of art and nature in
perfect unison continued to provide the theme in early
17th-century English texts: Gervase Markham’s Cavalrie;
or, The English Horseman (1607), Nicholas Morgan’s The
Perfection of Horsemanship (1609), and, as homage to Plu-
vinel’s legacy, William Cavendish’s La Method Nouvelle et
invention de dressage les chevaux (1658).
Further reading: Roy Strong, Splendor at Court: Re-
naissance Spectacle and the Theater of Power (Boston,
Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1973).
Erasmus, Desiderius (c. 1469–1536) Dutch humanist
scholar
Erasmus, who was illegitimate, was probably born in Rot-
terdam. He entered Alexander HEGIUS’s school at Deventer
(1478), where, although the curriculum was still largely
medieval, he made some contact with the new learning
from Italy. In 1487 he joined the monastery of Steyn, near
Gouda, but the monastic life was uncongenial and in
1495, as secretary to the bishop of Cambrai, he went to
Paris to study theology. He found the course uninspiring
and extended his reading in classical literature. In 1499
one of his private pupils, Lord Mountjoy, brought him to
England, where he met John COLETat Oxford. Colet’s his-
torical approach to the Bible so stimulated Erasmus that
when he returned to Paris (1500) he was determined to
equip himself fully as a scholar. He learnt Greek and read
widely. In 1504 he published Enchiridion militis christiani
(Handbook of the Christian soldier), a plea to return to
the simplicity of the early Church and the pristine doc-
trine of the Fathers. This he followed with an edition of
VALLA’s annotations on the New Testament (1505),
thereby indicating his chosen path in scriptural criticism.
In 1506 Erasmus visited Italy as director of studies to
the sons of Henry VII’s physician. In 1508 he published at
the ALDINE PRESSan expanded edition of his ADAGIA; the
work made his European reputation. From Venice he went
to Rome, where he was invited to stay, but Lord Mountjoy
recalled him to England. He used his experiences to pro-
duce the satirical Encomium Moriae (1511; THE PRAISE OF
FOLLY) with a dedication to his friend Sir Thomas MORE.
Between 1509 and 1514 Erasmus was at work in London
and Cambridge on his Greek New Testament and an edi-
tion of the letters of St. Jerome. He found a publisher in
Johann FROBENof Basle; both works appeared in 1516.
Erasmus used only a few manuscripts of the New Testa-
ment and his edition lacked serious critical scholarship
but, the COMPLUTENSIAN POLYGLOTapart, his text was the
first Greek New Testament printed.
Erasmus had reached the peak of his fame. But the
spread of the Reformation in northern Europe involved
him in bitter controversy which clouded his later years.
LUTHERfelt that he detected seeds of radical criticism of
the Catholic Church in Erasmus’s writings, and he failed
to understand how Erasmus could refuse to follow these
lines of reasoning to their logical conclusion. The tem-
peraments of the two men were fundamentally different;
Erasmus was appalled at the vitriolic emotional tone of
the reformers which seemed to him a negation of the rea-
son that was God’s special gift to man.
In 1517 Erasmus settled at Louvain where he worked
on a second edition of his New Testament (1519). In 1521
religious persecution forced him to move to Basle where
he helped Froben by editing an extensive series of patris-
tic writers and produced the final version of his Colloquia
(1526), a set of dialogues, started around 1500, in which
he exemplified his ideal of civilized humane discussion of
topical matters. He also wrote (1528) against Johann
REUCHLINon the pronunciation of ancient Greek (see
GREEK STUDIES). In 1529 he was forced to leave Basle for
Fribourg, but he returned in 1535 to die there.
Erasmus exercised a profound influence over the
northern Renaissance, despite the apparent failure of his
ideals. He exploited the printing press to the full and his
published work runs into dozens of volumes, including
editions of classical authors and the Church Fathers, man-
uals of prose style which show his characteristic common
sense, works of moral instruction such as the Institutio
principis Christiani (1516), and satirical squibs like the
Encomium Moriae. The fundamental principle of Erasmian
humanism is awareness and recognition of free will, from
which follows the individual’s responsibility for his own
actions. Erasmus remained concerned to the last to spread
true religion and unity in the fellowship of Christ through
humane learning.116666 EErraassmmuuss,, DDeessiiddeerriiuuss