“Erasmus Considers the Art of Taxidermy”

“Erasmus Considers the Art of Taxidermy”

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In his book “The Reformation: A History”, author Diarmaid MacCulloch paints a biting portrait of Erasmus, the humanist scholar: “Instead of being pinned down to a specific place and a round of duties, he virtually created a new category of career: the roving international man of letters who lived off the proceeds of his writing and from the money provided by his admirers.  He craved friendship and affection now that he had rejected human passion, and he found it by becoming the brilliant, entertaining scholar whom every clever, wealthy or attractive, well-educated European wanted to befriend.”