218. Erasmus and the Siege of Vienna

There are two stories here, their opposition is part of a theme.  

Erasmus, the great Erasmus , Erasmus of Rotterdam was even more a product of the Devotio Moderna than was Luther.  Most of his young education was by the Brethren of the Common Life or their imitators.

I am Groote.

Last episode I called him a Satirist.  Of course he was much more than that.  You’ve heard of him, but are unlikely to have read any of his full length works, unless you are a specialist in the time.

And yet he had great influence of his period, being perhaps the highest status intellectual of the period.   He was the writer of 1 in 3 books purchased during the 1530s.  And as he wrote Suleiman the Magnificent was first overcoming Hungary and then moved on to the Siege of Vienna.

Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly, which we discuss in the episode, while folly is being acted out in Hungary, to a tragic end.

Hungary was well able to defend the West from the Ottoman during the days of Matthias Corvinus.  But on his death, short sighted magnates pursued a foolish policy, leading to their defeat.  After an absolutely heroic defense of Vienna, Suleiman was defeated, losing 20,000 men in the retreat.   Oddly enough, this is about the same number of boys and girls taken as slaves by the Ottomans on this campaign.  

You want your civilization to be so powerful you do not have to suffer slavers.