Isn't this view of Leuven incredible?
Even though this tower wasn't built when Erasmus was in Leuven,
we're going to use it as a vantage point to talk about some of the highlights during his stay here.
Look over there where the city park is now.
That was the former site of Saint Donatus College
where Erasmus lived during his first stay here in Leuven in the 16th century
when he came to improve his Greek.
Right in front of you, on the Bondgenotenlaan, stood the Lily,
one of the four study houses or pedagogies where students of the Artes were given their basic training.
That is where Erasmus stayed during his second period in Leuven, when he also founded the Collegium Trilingue.
Now look over to the Grote Markt.
Erasmus would have also seen the town hall standing here.
But the only difference would be that the niches were empty.
And what about Saint Peter's Church?
During Erasmus' stay in Leuven, the church was probably surrounded by scaffolding
because the building of the original towers was continually thwarted by instability and problems with the foundations.
In any case, this church and Erasmus were not the best of friends.
In fact, a sermon was once preached against him here, vilifying the Collegium Trilingue
and Erasmus' commentary on the New Testament.
Despite the fact that Erasmus was a priest,
he was often labelled a heretic because of his humanist ideas.
We are done up here and now I've got some good news:
we get to go down the stairs to our next location.
So come with me!