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Sitting, resting, thinking and reading!

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Aren't those the most important tools
of any scholar?

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Desiderius Erasmus was one of the greatest
intellectuals of the Renaissance,

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a period of renewed interest
in Greco-Roman antiquity.

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As a humanist, he wanted to make religion
more human, improve education,

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and refine the study of Latin.

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Erasmus came to Leuven
for two separate study periods.

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The first visit was from 1502 to 1504,
when Leuven was one of the most important

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Northern European cities for the circulation
of humanist documents.

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During this first stay in Leuven, Erasmus spent
time improving his Greek so that he could

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study ancient Christian texts
in the original language.

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In 1504, he made an important discovery in
the library of Park Abbey – just outside Leuven.

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He found a critical commentary on
the New Testament by the Italian humanist

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Lorenzo Valla, who had written it in 1499.

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Valla critiqued the Latin translation of
the New Testament that was approved by the Church.

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He found that it differed on some important points
from the original Greek text.

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Erasmus decided to publish the work again,

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but this time with his own commentary.

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This angered a lot of people
– both in Leuven and elsewhere –

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and it was particularly disliked
among theologians.

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People feared that he was trying to change the word of God
according to his own intellectual insights,

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and this made him very unpopular in some circles...