This year Europeans commemorate a number of historical milestones, starting with the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which set the integration of Europe in motion.
Another less noted marker, however, is the 30th anniversary of the ERASMUS program.
The program is named after Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), a Catholic clergyman-turned critic of the Church, who has become best remembered as a widely-travelled humanist scholar in the Renaissance period.
Through his travels to England, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, he contributed to fostering a pan-European scholastic space rooted in then a single European language of culture and scholarship - Latin. The flow of his thoughts was accelerated at the time thanks to the invention of the printing press. Much like the e-mail today cuts distance.
Erasmus, not without a reason, is thus considered one of the first true Europeans.
Erasmus is also a backronym, as it stands for the European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. It is the European Commission-financed tool to allow university students to study for a period of time in another EU member state. The assumption is that this would enrich the beneficiary's European identity. Much like the extensive travels by Erasmus left their mark on the places he visited.
One such place is Brussels.
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| A woodcut of Erasmus (author's collection) |
Erasmus, not without a reason, is thus considered one of the first true Europeans.
Erasmus is also a backronym, as it stands for the European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. It is the European Commission-financed tool to allow university students to study for a period of time in another EU member state. The assumption is that this would enrich the beneficiary's European identity. Much like the extensive travels by Erasmus left their mark on the places he visited.
One such place is Brussels.
A wonderful museum in Anderlecht, in Erasmus' time a village on the outskirts of Brussels, immortalizes his 5 month-stay here in 1521. What is special about the museum is that it is inside the very house where he lived, studied and worked. This lends it an incredible authenticity.
As the museum booklet reminds: "The house dates back to the middle of the 15th century. ... Adrian of Utrecht, who was a private tutor to King Charles V and later became Pope Adrian VI was a resident of this house early in its history."
This was a chapter house of the Augustinian canons, an order of which Erasmus was also a member, which opened its doors for fellow Augustinian friars. He lived here as a guest of Canon Pierre Wychman, a respected fellow in his own right.
From his colloquies and letters, we learn that Erasmus loved the rural setting of the Brabant. "A city dweller turned country-dweller, I lead a rather pleasant life," he wrote in one of his letters. "I would be dead by now had I not left the stench of the city" - he was referring to Brussels five centuries before the levels of pollution reached peak levels in modern-day capital of Belgium...
Such was his fondness for this country retreat that he extended his stay from 3 months to 5 months. The rural air apparently relaxed Erasmus, embroiled in disputes with fellow professors at Louvain University, where he taught.
There may have another reason for his delay in further travel - the security environment. Erasmus confided: "I was about to leave, since my stay in the country had strengthened me somewhat, when I was diverted from my plans by a horrible war which was spreading and worsening by the day." I am not an expert on Erasmus, but this could have been a reference to the Gouelders Wars (or the Frisian peasant rebellion?). Anyway, this conflict as well as the wars spurred by the Reformation must have dispirted Erasmus, a believer, much as he was, in tolerance and pacificism.
Erasmus did depart eventually on 28 October 1521, for Basel. Even though, he grew very fond of the Basel scholarly community ("No one is ignorant of Latin; none of Greek; most of them know Hebrew," he stated) it is said that he often expressed nostalgia for Brabant, and a few days before his death Erasmus wrote: "If only Brabant were nearer."
The house in Anderlecht would over time host other renowned guests, including Mercator, the brilliant cartographer, but those who started to flock here as early as the 17th century were only interested in seeing the place where Erasmus stayed.
The 19th century did not treat the house well. Following the dissolution of the monastic orders, the house turned into an ordinary middle-class home. So many alterations and additions were made that by the beginning of the 20th century it lost virtually any trace of its original design. Then, in the 1930s, a man with a passion, a love of history and local connections entered the stage - a municipal official Daniel Van Damme. He convinced the local government to buy the property much to the displeasure of the public decrying the waste of resources (sounds familiar?). The restoration helped bring back the original building to its minute meticulous details. It was opened with much fanfare in September 1932 in the presence of the Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, Leopold and Astrid, mindful as they were of the incredible importance of this piece of Belgian heritage.
Since then, thanks to "the harmonious blend of furnishings, paintings, sculptures" - the museum managers and supporters ("The Friends of the Erasmus House") succeeded in bringing "the great humanist to life". The house is filled with period furniture, art and possesses a lovely library with, of course, the works of Erasmus, the majority published in his time and after his death, and in many languages attesting to the spread of ideas in his time.
Some manuscripts and parchment-bound incunabulae lie about by a Gothic chimney in Erasmus' study, which has a feel as if the scholar has only been here yesterday.
If you love leather-bound old tomes, as much as I do, you'll be suitably impressed.
There's much to recommend in this museum, not only for bibliophiles. There's many paintings to admire by such masters as Hieronymus Bosch, Franz Franken II, Hans Holbein, or from the workshop of Rogier Van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes; also many drawings by Albert Dürer.
The first room on the ground floor, called Chambre de Rhétorique, features - appropriately - a painting of Pope Adrian VI. The glass cases hold letters from Emperor Charles V and the King of France Francis I, both receptive to Erasmus' works, as well as some letters by Erasmus himself (one of... 3,000 he would write!). The walls of the second room, the refectory, are covered with Cordoba leather from Spain, a clear reminder of the heritage of the Spanish Habsburgs.
And everywhere the walls are adorned by Renaissance engravings.
I should mention the lighting - it is sparse, creating sombre (Gothic) atmospherics.
And for the wary traveler - rest awaits in a beautiful little garden. Etched into the little pond is Erasmus' own admission: Civis mundi sum, communis omnium vel peregrinus magis ("I am a citizen of the world, my homeland is everywhere, or, rather, I am a foreigner to everyone"). It sure sounds comforting to some and subversive to others.
Tout ensemble, the Erasmus House is a feast for the aesthete as much as it is a paradise for an historian.
As the museum booklet reminds: "The house dates back to the middle of the 15th century. ... Adrian of Utrecht, who was a private tutor to King Charles V and later became Pope Adrian VI was a resident of this house early in its history."
From his colloquies and letters, we learn that Erasmus loved the rural setting of the Brabant. "A city dweller turned country-dweller, I lead a rather pleasant life," he wrote in one of his letters. "I would be dead by now had I not left the stench of the city" - he was referring to Brussels five centuries before the levels of pollution reached peak levels in modern-day capital of Belgium...
Such was his fondness for this country retreat that he extended his stay from 3 months to 5 months. The rural air apparently relaxed Erasmus, embroiled in disputes with fellow professors at Louvain University, where he taught.
There may have another reason for his delay in further travel - the security environment. Erasmus confided: "I was about to leave, since my stay in the country had strengthened me somewhat, when I was diverted from my plans by a horrible war which was spreading and worsening by the day." I am not an expert on Erasmus, but this could have been a reference to the Gouelders Wars (or the Frisian peasant rebellion?). Anyway, this conflict as well as the wars spurred by the Reformation must have dispirted Erasmus, a believer, much as he was, in tolerance and pacificism.
Erasmus did depart eventually on 28 October 1521, for Basel. Even though, he grew very fond of the Basel scholarly community ("No one is ignorant of Latin; none of Greek; most of them know Hebrew," he stated) it is said that he often expressed nostalgia for Brabant, and a few days before his death Erasmus wrote: "If only Brabant were nearer."
The house in Anderlecht would over time host other renowned guests, including Mercator, the brilliant cartographer, but those who started to flock here as early as the 17th century were only interested in seeing the place where Erasmus stayed.
The 19th century did not treat the house well. Following the dissolution of the monastic orders, the house turned into an ordinary middle-class home. So many alterations and additions were made that by the beginning of the 20th century it lost virtually any trace of its original design. Then, in the 1930s, a man with a passion, a love of history and local connections entered the stage - a municipal official Daniel Van Damme. He convinced the local government to buy the property much to the displeasure of the public decrying the waste of resources (sounds familiar?). The restoration helped bring back the original building to its minute meticulous details. It was opened with much fanfare in September 1932 in the presence of the Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, Leopold and Astrid, mindful as they were of the incredible importance of this piece of Belgian heritage.
 |
| In Praise of Folly (author's collection) |
Since then, thanks to "the harmonious blend of furnishings, paintings, sculptures" - the museum managers and supporters ("The Friends of the Erasmus House") succeeded in bringing "the great humanist to life". The house is filled with period furniture, art and possesses a lovely library with, of course, the works of Erasmus, the majority published in his time and after his death, and in many languages attesting to the spread of ideas in his time.
 |
| Colloquies (author's collection) |
Some manuscripts and parchment-bound incunabulae lie about by a Gothic chimney in Erasmus' study, which has a feel as if the scholar has only been here yesterday.
If you love leather-bound old tomes, as much as I do, you'll be suitably impressed.
The first room on the ground floor, called Chambre de Rhétorique, features - appropriately - a painting of Pope Adrian VI. The glass cases hold letters from Emperor Charles V and the King of France Francis I, both receptive to Erasmus' works, as well as some letters by Erasmus himself (one of... 3,000 he would write!). The walls of the second room, the refectory, are covered with Cordoba leather from Spain, a clear reminder of the heritage of the Spanish Habsburgs.
And everywhere the walls are adorned by Renaissance engravings.
I should mention the lighting - it is sparse, creating sombre (Gothic) atmospherics.
And for the wary traveler - rest awaits in a beautiful little garden. Etched into the little pond is Erasmus' own admission: Civis mundi sum, communis omnium vel peregrinus magis ("I am a citizen of the world, my homeland is everywhere, or, rather, I am a foreigner to everyone"). It sure sounds comforting to some and subversive to others.
Tout ensemble, the Erasmus House is a feast for the aesthete as much as it is a paradise for an historian.
