tihrary of t:he t:heolc0vcal ^eminarjp PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY Stuart Fund BR 378 .S4 1869 Seebohm, Frederic, 1833- 1912. The Oxford reformers: John Colet, Erasmus, and Thomas THE OXFOED REFORMERS JOHN COLET, ERASMUS, AND THOMAS MORE. BEING A HISTORY OF THEIR FELLOW-WORK. FREDERIC SEEBOHM. ' Tu interca patienter audi ; ac nos ambo, coUidentibus inter se silicibns, si qnis ignis excutiatur, eum avide apprehendanius. Veritatem enim quasrimus, nou opinionis ofiensionem . . .' (C'o/rf, Eras. Op. v. p. 12S»2). Take no heed what thing many men do, but wliat thing the very law of nature, what thing very reason, what thing Our Lord himself showeth thee to be done* (Pico della Miranrlola, translated by More: Mora's English Works, p. 13). ' Cur sic arctamus Christi profes^oneni quam Ille latissimo voliiit patere ? ' {Erasmus, Letter to Volzius, prefixed to the 'Enchiridion'). THE SEC03Sri3 EI3ITI01T (rkvised anp kxi.auoeii). LONDON: LONGMANS, GEEEN. AND CO. 1869. PREFACE THE SECOND EDITION. Two CIRCUMSTANCES have enabled me to make this Second Edition more complete, and I trust more cor- rect, than its predecessor. First: the remarkable discovery by Mr. W. Aldis Wright, on the blank leaves of a MS. in the library of Trinity CoUege, Cambridge, of an apparently contem- porary family register recording, inter alia, the date of the marriage of Sir Thomas More's parents, and of the birth of Sir Thomas More himself (see Appendix C), has given the clue, so long sought for in vain, to the chronology of More's early life. It has also made it needful to alter slightly the title of this work. Secondly; the interesting MSS. of Colet's, on the ' Hierarchies of Dionysius,' found by Mr. Lupton in the library of St. Paul's School, and recently published by him with a translation and valuable introduction,^ have ^ Mr. Lupton's volume (Bell and Baldij, 1869) has a double interest. Apart from the interest it derives from its connection with Colet, it is also interesting as placing, I believe, for the first time, before the Eng- lish reader, a full abstract of two of the Pseudo-Dionysian writings, to which attention has recently been called by Mr. Wescott's valuable article in the Contemporary Reviciv, vi Preface to the Second Edition. supplied a missing link in tlic chain of Colet's mental histoiy, which lias thrown much fresh light, as well upon his connection w^ith the Neo-Platonists of Florence, as upon the position already taken by him at Oxford, before the arrival of Erasmus. The greater part of the First Edition was already in the hands of the public, when I became aware of the importance of this newly discovered information ; but, in October last, I withdrew the remaining copies from sale, as it seemed to me that it would hardly be fair, under the circumstances, to allow them to pass out of my hands. They have since been destroyed. In publishing this revised and enlarged edition, I wish especially to tender my thanks to Mr. Lupton for his invaluable assistance in its revision, and for the free use he has throusfhout allowed me to make of the results of his own researches. I have also to thank the Librarian of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, for the loan of a beautifid copy of Colet's MS. on ' 1 Corinthians ; ' and^Mr. Bradshaw, for kindly obtaining for me a transcript of the MS. on ' Eomans ' in the University Library. At ]\lr. BradshaAv's suggestion I have added, in the Appendix, a catalogue of the early editions of the works of Erasmus in my collection. It will at least serve as evidence of tlie wide circulation obtained by these works during the lifetime of their autho]\ IIiTcniN : Mm/ 10, 1800. PREFACE THE FIEST EDITION. Some poetions of this History were published in a somewhat condensed form in the course of last year in the 'Fortnightly Eeview,' and I have to thank the Editor for the permission to withdraw further portions, although already in type, in order that the publication of this volume might not be delayed.^ Having regard to the extreme inaccuracy of the dates of the letters of Erasmus," the conflicting nature of the evidence relating to the chronology of More's early life,^ and the scantiness of the materials for any- thing like a continuous biography of Colet, I should have undertaken a difficult task had I attempted in this volume, even so far as it goes, to give anything approaching to an exhaustive biography of Colet, Erasmus, and More. But my object has not been to ^ To avoid any charge of plagiarism I ^ Where not otherwise stated, all I may also state, that a portion of I references to these letters and to the the materials comprised in this volnnie has been made use of in articles contvilmted by me to the North British Keview, in the years 1859 and 18G0. collected works of Erasmus (Eras. Op.), refer to the Leyden edition. ^ See nr.te on the date of More's birtli in Appendix C. viii Preface to the First Edition. write the biography of atiy one of them. I have rather endeavoured to trace their joint-\\\&tory and to point out the character of their fellow-work. And witli regard to tlie latter the evidence is so full, so various, and so consistent as to leave, I think, little room for misapprehension, either as to whether their work was m(\QQ([ fellow-work, or as to the general spirit and scope of the work itself. I gladly take this opportunity of tendering my best thanks to those who have aided me in this undertaking. My warmest thanks are due to the Eev. J. S. Brewer, M.A., as well for the invaluable aid afforded by his Calendars of the Letters, &c. of Henry VIII., and for the loan of the proof-sheets of the forthcoming volume, as for the revision of the greater pari of my translations ; also to Mr. Gairdner for his ever ready assistance at the Pubhc Eecord Office ; to Dr. Edward Boehmer, of the University of Halle, for his aid in the collection of many of the early editions of works of Erasmus quoted in this volume ; to the Senate and the late Librarian of the Cambridge University Library for the loan of the volume of MSS. marked Go. 4, 26 ; and to Mr. Henry Bradshaw, of King's College, Cambridge, for much valuable assistance, most courteously rendered, in the examination of this and other manuscripts at Cambridge. I have also to thank the Eev. J. H. Lupton, of St. Paul's School, for the description given in Appendix C.^ of a manuscript of Colct's in the Library of St. Paul's School whicli I had overlooked, ' Of the First Edition, This has since been published by Mr. Lupton. Preface to the First Edition. ix and which I am happy to find is likely soon to be printed by him. In conclusion, I cannot refrain from adding a tribute of affectionate regard for the memory of two of my friends— the late Mr. William Tanner of Bristol, and the late Mr. B. B. Wiffen of Woburn— of whose interest in the progress of this work I have received many proofs, and of whose kindly criticism I have gratefully availed myself. HiTCHiN : March 30, 1867. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. 1. John Colet returns from Italy to Oxford (1496) 2. The Rise of the New Learning (1453-92) 3. Colet's previous History (1496) 4. Thomas More, another Oxford Student (1492-6) 5. Colet first hears of Erasmus (1496) . ^ • . PAGE 1 5 14 23 27 CHAPTER II. 1. Colet lectures on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (1496-7) 29 2. Visit from a Priest during the "Winter Vacation (1496-7?) 42 3. Colet on the Mosaic Account of the Creation (1497 ?) . 46 4. Colet studies afresh the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings (1497 ?) 60 5. Colet lectures on ' 1 Corinthians ' (1497 ?) . . . 78 6. Grocyn's Discovery (1498) ...... 90 CHAPTER III. 1. Erasmus comes to Oxford (1498) ..... 95 2. Table-talk on the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel (1498) . 97 3. Conversation between Colet and Erasmus on the Schoolmen (1498) 102 4. Erasmus falls in love with Thomas More (1498) . .113 5. Discussion between Erasmus and Colet on ' The Agony in ' the Garden,' and on the Inspiration of the Scriptures (1498) 116 6. Correspondence between Colet and Erasmus on the Inten- tion of Erasmus to leave Oxford (1498-9) . . .126 7. Erasmus leaves Oxford and England (1500) . . . 133 xii Contents. CHAPTER IV. PAGE 1. Colot made Doctor and Dean of St. Paul's (1500-5) . . 137 2. More called to the Bar — In Parliament — Offends Henry VII. —The Consequences (1499-1506) . . . .142 3. Thomas More in Seclusion from Public Life (1504-5) . 146 4. More studies Pico's Life and Works — His Marriage (1505) 151 5. How it had fared with Erasmus (1500-5) . . . 160 6. The 'Enchiridion,' &c. of Erasmus (1501-5) ... 17 7 Q CHAPTER V. 1. Second Visit of Erasmus to England (1505-6) . . . 180 2. Erasmus leaves England for Italy (1506) . . . .183 3. Erasmus visits Italy and returns to England (1507-10) . 186 4. More returns to Public Life (1507-10) . . . .189 5. Erasmus writes the 'Praise of Folly' while resting at More's House (1510 or 1511) 193 CHAPTER VL 1. Colet founds St. Paul's School (1510) . . . .206 2. His Choice of Schoolbooks and Schoolmasters (1511) . 215 CHAPTER VII. 1. Convocation for the Extirpation of Heresy (1512) . . 222 2. Colet is charged with Heresy (1512) .... 249 3. More in trouble again (1512) . . . . . . 255 CHAPTER VIII. 1. Colet preaches against the Continental Wars — The First Campaign (1512-13) 259 2. Colet's Sermon to Henry VIII. (1513) .... 262 3. The Second Campaign of Henry VIII. (1513) . . .267 4. Erasmus visits the Slu-inc of our Lady of Waltiingham (1513) " . 273 Contents. xiii CHAPTER IX. PAGE 1. Erasmus leaves Cambridge, and meditates leaving England (1513-14) 276 2. Erasmus and the Papal Ambassador (1514) . . . 282 3. Parting Intercourse between Erasmus and Colet (1514) . 284 CHAPTER X. 1. Erasmus goes to Basle to print his New Testament (1514) 294 2. Erasmus i-eturns to England — His Satii-e upon Kings (1515) 306 3. Returns to Basle to finish his Woi'ks — Fears of the Orthodox Party (1515) 312 CHAPTER XL X 1. The 'Novum Instrumcntum' completed — What it really was (1516) 320 CHAPTER XII. 1. More immersed in Public Business (1515) . . . 337 2. Colet's Sermon on the Installation of Cardinal Wolsey (1515) 843 3. More's 'Utopia '(1515) 346 4. The ' Institutio Principis Christiani ' of Erasmus (1516) . 365 5. More completes his ' Utopia' — the Introductory Book (1516) 378 CHAPTER XIII. 1. What Colct thought of the ' Novum Instrumentum ' (1516) 391 2. Reception of the ' Novum Instrumentum ' in other Quarters (1516) 398 3. INIartin Luther reads the ' Novum Inrtrumcntum ' (1516) . 402 4. The 'Epistolffi Obscurorum Virorum ' (1516-17) . . 407 5. The ' Pythagorica' and ' Cabalistica ' of Reuchlin (1517) . 411 6. More pays a Visit to Coventry (1517?) , . . . 414 xiv Contents. CHAPTEK XIV. PAGK 1. The Sale of Indulgences (1517-18) . . . .419 2. More drawn into the Service of Henry VIII. — Erasmvis leaves Germany for Basle (1518) .... 427 CHAPTER XV. 1. Erasmus arrives at Basle — His Labours there (1518) . 434 2. The Second Edition of the New Testament (1518-1 'J) . 412 3. Erasmus's Health gives way (1518) .... 455 CHAPTER XVI. 1. Erasmus does not die (1518) 2. More at the Court of Henry VIII. (1518) 3. The Evening of Colet's Life (1518-19) . 4. More's Conversion attempted by the INIonks (1519) 5. Erasmus and the Reformers of Wittemberg (1519) 6. Election of Charles V. to the Empire (1519) 7. The Hussites of Bohemia (1519) . 8. More's Domestic Life (1519) . 9. Death of Colet (1519) .... 10. Conclusion ...... APPENDICES. 457 458 4G1 470 476 482 484 497 503 504 A. Extracts from MS. Gg. 4, 26, in the Cambridge University Library, Translations of which are given at pp. 36, 37 of this Work 511 B. Extracts from MS. on ' 1 Corinthians.' — Emmanuel College MS. 3, 3, 12 513 C. On the Date of More's Birth 521 D. Preferments of Dean Colet ...... 529 E. Catalogue of early Editions of the Works of Erasmus in my possession . . . . . . . .530 F. Catalogue of early Editions of the Works of Sir Thomas More 512 INDEX 545 THE OXFOKD REFOEMEES COLET, ERASMUS, AND MORE. CHAPTEE I. I. JOHN COLET RETURNS FROM ITALY TO OXFORD (1496). It was probably in Michaelmas Term of 1496 ^ that Chap. i. the amioimcemeut was made to doctors and students ad~i496 of the University of Oxford that John Colet, a late johnCoiet student, recently returned from Italy, was about to J"ctureTon deliver a course of ]:)ublic and s-ratuitous lectures in ^'^^ ^'■^^^^'^ „ ^ -r- ^, „ . , ° Epistles. exposition oi bt. raui s Epistles. This was an event of no small significance and per- haps of novelty in the closing years of that last of the ^ In a letter written in the winter of 1499-1500, Colet is spoken of as ' Jat)i tricnnium enarranti,^ &c. See Erasmus to Colet, prefixed to Dis- putatio de Tcedio et Pavore Christi, Eras. Op. v. p. 1264, A. Colet was in Paris, apparently on his way home from his continental tour, soon after the publication of the work of the French historian Gaguiuus, De On'ff. et Oest. Francorum. (See Eras, Epist. xi.) The first edition, according to Panzer and Brunet, of this work, was that of Paris. Prid. Kal. Oct. 1495. Colet may thus have returned home in the spring of 1496, and proceeded to Oxford after the long vacation. Erasmus states, ' Reversus ex Italia, mox * relictis parentum fedibus, Oxonise ' maluit agere. Illic publice et gra- ' tis Paulinas Epistolas omnes enar- ' ravit.'— 0;j. iii. p. 456, B. B 2 Cotet, Em.smus, and More. Chap. I. Middle Ages ; not only because the Scriptures for some A.D.1496. generations had been practically ignored at the Uni- versities, but still more so because the would-be lecturer had not as yet entered deacon's orders,^ nor had ob- tained, or even tried to obtain, any theological degree.^ It is true that he had passed through the regular aca- Oniy demical course at Oxford, and was entitled, as a Master S Theo-' of ^i"ts, to lecture upon any other subject.^ But a de- logy might „Yee in Arts did not, it would seem, entitle the graduate lecture on & i -n-i i 4 the Bible, to lecture upon the Bible. ^ It does not perhaps follow from this, that Colet was guilty of any flagrant breach of university statutes, which, as a graduate in Arts, he must have sworn to obey. The very extent to which real study of the Scriptures had become oljsolete at Oxford, may possibly sucrcrest that even the statutory restrictions on Scrip- ture lectures may have become obsolete also.^ Before the days of Wiclif, the Bible had been free. 1 lie was ordained deacon De- | ' Bachilavis Theologife, legere Hb cember 17, 1497. Knighfs Life of ' Ham biblice."— //»>/. p. 394. That Colet, p. 22 (Lond. 1724), on the authority, doubtless, of Kenuett, ■who refers to JRec/. Savage, Lond. * Erasmus Jodoco Jonffi : Eras. the word ' legero,' in these statutes, means practically to ' lecture,' see Mr. Anstey's Ldroduction, p. Ixxxix. * It is possible also that Colet's Op. iii. p. 456, C. * In theologica mode of lecturing did not come < professione nullum omnino gradum 1 within the meaning of the technical ' nee assequutus erat, nee ambierat.^ ! phrase, ' legere bibliam hihUve; 3 'The degree of Master in .\rts which is said to have meant 'read- < conferred also, and this was prac- i 'ing chapter by chapter, with the ac- < tically its chief value, the right of ' lecturing, and therefore of receiving ' money for lectures, at Oxford.' — Mtmumenta Academica : Rev. H 'customed glosses, and such expla- ' nations as the reader could add.' — Ohsirvations on the Statutes of the Univertsit;/ of Camhn'dffe: by George Anstey's Ldroduction, p. Ixxxix. I reacock, D.D., Dean of Ely. Loud. 4 Cue of the statutes decreed 1841, p. xlvi. ?/. See also Mr. An- as follows:— 'Item statutum est, stey's Lntrodudion, p. ixxi. on the ' quod non liceat alicui prseterquam doubtful meaningof legere cj/r.wjV.' Oxford Biblical Lectures. and Bisliop Grosseteste could urge Oxford students to devote tlieir best morning hours to Scripture lectures.^ But an unsuccessful revolution ends in tightening the chains which it ought to have broken. During the fifteenth century the Bible was not free. And Scripture lectures, though still retaining a nominal place in the academical course of theological study, were thrown into the background by the much greater relative im- portance of the lectures on ' the Sentences.' What Biblical lectures were given were probably of a very formal character.''^ Chap. I. A.D. 1496. ^ See the remarkable letter of Bishop Grosseteste to the ' Regents ' iu Theology' at Oxford— date 1240 or 1246 — Roberti Grosseieste Epis- toI(E, pp. 340-7, of which the fol- lowing is Mr. Luard's summary : — ' Skilful builders are always careful ' that foundation stones should be ' really capable of supporting the ' building. The best time is the ' morning. Their lectures, therefore, * especiall}' in the morning, should ' be from the Old and New Testa- ' ments, in accordance with their an- ' cient custom and the example of ' Paris. Other lectures are more ' suitable at other times.' — P. cxxix. ^ It would not be likely that sta- tutes, fi'amed in some points speci- ally to guard against Lollard views, and probably early in the fifteenth century, should ignore the Scrip- tures altogether. Thus, before in- ception in theology, by Masters in Theology (see Mr. Anstey's Intro- duction, p. xciv.), three years' at- tendance on biblical lectures was required, and the inceptor must have lectured on some canonical book of the Bible {Monumenta Aca- demica, p. 391), according to the statutes. They also contained the following provision : — ' Ne autem ' lectures varife confundantur, et ut '■ e.r/jef7«^j«siulecturabiblife pr&ceda- ' tur, statutumest, utbibliam biblice ' sen cursorie legentes qutestiones ' non dicant nisi tantummodo lite- ' rales.'— 2ieV/. p. 392. The regular course of theological training at Oxford may be further illustrated by the following passage from Tin- dale's ' Practice of Prelates.' Tin- dale, when a youth, was at Oxford during a portion of the time that Colet was lectui-ing on St. Paul's Epistles. ' In the universities they have ' ordained that no man shall look on ' the Scripture until he be noselled ' in heathen learning eight or nine ' years, and armed with false prin- ' ciples with which he is clean shut ' out of the understanding of the ' Scripture And when he ' taketh his first degree, he is sworn ' that he shall hold none opinion '■ condemned by the Church B 2 Colet, Eni.'^mus, and More. 1496. The announcement by Colet of tliis course of lectures on St. Paul's Epistles was in truth, so far as can be traced, the first overt act in a movement, commenced at Oxford in the direction of practical Christian reformT— a movement, some of the results of which, had they been gifted Avith prescience, might well have filled the minds of the Oxford doctors with dismay. They could not indeed foresee that those very .books of ' the Sentences,' over which they had pored so in- tently for so many years, in order to obtain the degree of Master in Theology, and at which students were stil' patiently toiling with the same object in view — thej could not foresee that, within forty years, these very books would ' be utterly banished from Oxford,' ignomi- niously ' nailed up upon posts ' as waste paper, their loose leaves strewn about the quadrangles until some sports- man should gather them up and thread them on a line to keep the deer within the neighbouring woods. ^ '-The^ could not, indeed, foresee the end of the movement then only beginning, but still, the announcement of Colet's lec- tures was likely to cause them some uneasiness. They * And then when they be admitted j ' to study divinity, because the ' Scripture is locked up with such 'false expositions and with false ' principles of natural philosophy ' that they cannot enter in, they go ' about the outyide and dispute all * their lives about words and v.iin ' opinions, pertaining as much unto ' the healing of a man's heel as ' health of his soul. Provided yet ' . . . . that none may preach ex- ' cept he be admitted of the Bishops.' — Ih-actice of Prelates, p. 291. Parker Society. What thp biblical lectures were it is difficult to miderstand, for Eras- mus wrote (Eras. Epist. cxlviii. 'Conipertum est hactenus quos- ' dam fuissetheologos,qui adeo nun- 'quam legerant divinas literas, ut ' uec ipsos Sententiarum libros evol- ' verent, noque quicquam omnino 'attingerent praetor questionum ' gryphos.' — P. 130, C. * Ellis's Letters, 2d series, vol. ii. pp. 61, (i2. Letter of Richard Layton and his Associates to Lord Cromwell, upon his Vi^^itation of the University of Oxford, Sept. 12, 1.5.Sn. The New Learning. 5 may well have asked, whether, if the exposition of the Chap. i. Scriptures were to be really revived at Oxford, so dan- a.d. 1496. gerous a duty should not be restricted to those duly authorised to discharge it? Was every stripling who might travel as far as Italy and return infected with the ' new learning ' to be allowed to set up himself as a theological teacher, witliout graduating in divinity, and without waiting for decency's sake for the bishop's ordination ? On the other hand, any Oxford graduate choosing to adopt so irregular a course, must have been perfectly aware that it would be one likely to stir up opposition, and even ill-will,^ amongst the older Divines ; and it may be presumed that he hardly would have ventured upon such a step without knowing that there were at the university others ready to support him. II. THE EISE OF THE NEW LEAENING (1453-92.) In all ages, more or less, there is a new school of The old thought rising up under the eyes of an older school schooiTf of thought. And probably in all ages the men of the ^'^o^s^'^- old school regard with some little anxiety the ways of the men of the new school, iSTever is it more likely to be so than at an epoch of sharp transition, like that on which the lot of these Oxford doctors had been cast. We sometimes speak as though our age were par ex- An age of cellence, the age of progress. Theirs was much more so and^ran- if we duly consider it. The youth and manhood of ^'^'°"' some of them had been spent in days which may well have seemed to be the latter days of Christendom. ' ' Provinciam sumsisti . . . (ne I ' plenam.' — Eras. Coleto: Eras. Op. * quid mentiar) etnegotiiet invidise ! v. p. 1264, A. 6 Colet^ Erasmus, and More. Chap. I. A.D. 1496. They had seen Constantinople taken by the Turks. The final conquest of Christendom by tlie infidel was a possibility which had haunted all their visions of the future. Were not Christian nations driven up into the north-western extremity of the known world, a wide pathless ocean lying beyond ? Had not the warlike creed of Mahomet steadily encroached upon Christen- dom, century by century, stripping her first of her African churches, from thence fighting its wa}" north- ward into Spain ? Had it not maintained its foothold in Spain's fairest provinces for seven hundred years ? And from the East was it not steadily creeping over Europe, nearer and nearer to Venice and Eome, in spite of all that crusades could do to stop its progress ? If, though little more than half the age of Christianity, it had already, as they reckoned it had, drawn into its communion five times ^ as many votaries as there were Christians left, was it a groundless fear that now in these latter days it might devour the remaining sixth ? What could hinder it? A Spartan resistance on the part of united Christen- dom perhaps might. But Christendom was not united, nor capable of Spartan discipline. Her internal condi- tion seemed to show signs almost of approaching disso- lution. The shadow of the great Papal schism still brooded over the destinies of the Church. Tliat schism had been ended only by a revolution which, under the guidance of Gerson, had left the Pope the constitutional instead of the absolute monarch of the CJnn-ch. The ^ ' The Turks being in number | ' that consent to the law of Ma- * five times more than we Christians.' I ' honiet.' — Works of Tyndale and And again, ' Which multitude is Frith, ii. pp. 5o and 74. * not the fifth part so many as tliey | America. The fresh Dawn of Hope. 7 great heresies of the preceding century had, moreover, Chap. i. not yet been extinguished. The very names of Wiclif a.d. i496. and Huss were still names of terror. Lollardy had been crushed, but it was not dead. Everywhere the| embers of schism and revolution were still smouldering underneath, ready to break out again, in new fury, who could tell how soon ? It was in the ears of this apparently doomed genera- i*efeat of 1 1 111 -T >. 1 T -the Moors tion that the double tidmgs came oi the discovery or in Spain, the Terra Nova in the West, and of the expulsion of covery^of the infidel out of Spain. The ice of centuries suddenly was broken. The universal despondency at once gave way before a spirit of enterprise and hope ; and it has been well observed, men began to congratulate each other that their lot had been cast upon an age in which such wonders were achieved. Even the men of the old school could appreciate these facts in a fashion. The defeat of the Moors was to them a victory to the Church. The discovery of the New World extended her dominion. They gloried over both. But these outward facts were but the index to an internal upheaving of the mind of Christendom, to which they were blind. The men who were guiding the great external revolution — reformers in their way — were blindly stamping out the first symptoms of this silent upheaving. Gerson, while carrying reform over the heads of Popes, and deposing them to end the schism or to preserve the unity of the Church, was at the same moment using all his influence to crush Huss and Jerome of Prague. Queen Isabella and Ximenes, 8 Colet^ Erasmus^ and More. ^^AP^i. Henry VII. and Morton, while sufficient!}' enlightened to A.D. 1496. pursue maritime discovery, to reform after a fashion the monasteries under their rule, and ready even to combine to reform the morals of the Pope himself in order to avert the dreaded recurrence of a schism,^ were not easy to pursue these purposes without the sanction of Papal bulls, and without showing their zeal for the Papacy by crushing out free thought with an iron heel and zealously persecuting heretics, whether their faith were that of the Moor, the Lollard, or the Jew. The re- The fall of Constantinople, which had sounded almost learning, like thc dcatli-knell of Christendom, had proved itself in truth the chief cause of her revival. The advance of the Saracens upon Europe had already told upon the European mind. The West lias always had much > to learn from the East. It was, for instance, by trans- lation from Ai^abic versions that Aristotle had gained such influence over those very same scholastic minds to which his native Greek was an abomination. This further triumph of infidel arms also influenced Christian thouojlit. Eastern lancruao-es and Eastern philosophies began to be studied afresh in the West. Exiles who had fled into Italy had brought with them V their Eastern lore. The invention of printing had come just in time to aid the revival of learning. Tlie ' See British Museum Library, under the head ' Garcdlaso/ No. 1445, (J 23, being the draft of private hands of the late B. B. Wiffen, Esq., of Mount Pleasant, near Woburn, and an English translation of this instructions from Ferdinand and important document was reprinted Isabella to the special English Am- by him in the Life of Valdes, pre- bassador, and headed, 'Year 1408. [ fixed to a translation of his CX ' The King and Queen concerning Considerations. Lond. Quaritch, * the correction of Alexander VI.' I860, p. 24. The original Spanish MS. was in the 1 The Revival of Learning. 9 printing press was pouring out in clear and beautiful Chap. i. ^ type new editions of the Greek and Latin classics. Art ^ d~i496 and science with literature sprang up once more into life in Italy ; and to Italy, and especially to Florence, which, under the patronage of the splendid court of Lorenzo . de' Medici, seemed to form the most attractive centre, students from all nations eagerly thronged. It was of necessity that the sudden reproduction its effect of the Greek philosophy and the works of the older Kevivar°" Neo-Platonists in Italy should sooner or later produce pi^o^-gi^ a new crisis in religion. A thousand years before, Christianity and Neo-Platonism had been brought into the closest contact. Christianity was then in its youth — comparatively pure — and in the struggle for mastery had easily prevailed. Not that Neo-Platonism was indeed a mere phantom which vanished and left no trace behind it. By no means. Through the pseudo-Dionysian writings it not only influenced pro- foundly the theology of mediaeval mystics, but also entered largely even into the Scholastic system. It was thus absorbed into Christian theology though lost as a- philosophy. Now, after the lapse of a thousand years, the same battle had to be fought again. But with this terrible difference ; that now Christianity, in the impurest form it had ever assumed — a grotesque perversion of Chris- tianity— had to cope with the purest and noblest of ^ the Greek philosophies. It was, therefore, almost a The matter of course that, under the patronage of Lorenzo ActcJ'my. de' Medici, the Platonic Academy under Marsilio ^^"^"• Picino should carry everything before it. Whether the story were literally true of Ficino himself or not. 10 Colet^ Era8)nus, and More. Chap. I. A.D. 1496. Plato and Chris- tianity, that lie kept a lamp burning in his chamber before a bust of Plato, as well as before that of the Virgin, it was at least symbolically true of the most accomplished minds of Florence. Questions which had slept since the days of Julian and Ills successors were discussed again under Sixtus IV. and Innocent VIII. The leading minds of Italy were once more seeking for a reconciliation between Plato and Christianity in the works of the pseudo- Dionysius, Macrobius, Plotinus, Proclus, and other Neo-Platonists. There was the same anxious endea- vour, as a thousand years earlier, to fuse all philoso- phies into one. Plato and Aristotle must be reconciled, as well as Christianity and Plato. The old world was becoming once more the jDOssession of the new. It was felt to be the recovery of a lost inheritance, and everything of antiquity, whether Greek, Eoman, Jewish, Persian, or Arabian, was regarded as a treasure. It was the fault of the Christian Church if the grotesque form of Christianity held up by her to a reawaken- ing world seemed less pure and holy than the aspira- tions of Pagan philosophers. It would be by no merit of hers, but solely by its own intrinsic power, if Chris- tianity should retain its hold upon the mind of Europe, in spite of its ecclesiastical defenders. Christianity brought into disrepute by the conduct of professed Christians, was compelled to rest as of old upon its own intrinsic merits, to stand the test of the most searching scientific criticisms which Flo- rentine philosophers were able to apply to it. Men versed in Plato and Aristotle w^re not without some notion of the value of intrinsic evidence, and the methods of inductive enquiry. Ficino himself thought Marsilio Ficino. 11 it well, discarding the accustomed scholastic interpreters, Chap. i. to turn the light of his Platonic lamp upon the Christian a.d. 1496. religion. From his work, ' De Religione Christiana,' dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, and written in 1474, some notion may be gained of the method and re- sults of his criticism. That its nature should be rightly understood is important in connection with the history of the Oxford Eeformers. Ficino commences his argument by demonstrating The De that religion is natural to man ; and having, on Pla- clrfsHmd tonic authority, pointed out the truth of the one com- °^ Ficmo. mon religion, and that all religions have something of good in them, he turns to the Christian religion in particular. Its truth he tries to prove by a chain of reasonins; of which the foUowinc^ are some of the links. CD o He first shows that ' the disciples of Jesus were not ' deceivers ; ' ^ and he supports this by examining, in a separate chapter, ' in what spirit the disciples of Christ ' laboured :' ^ concluding, after a careful analysis of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, that they did not ^ seek their own advantage or honour but ' the glory of ' Christ alone.' Then he shows that ' the disciples of ' Christ were not deceived by anyone,' ^ and that the Christian religion was founded, not in human wisdom, but 'in the wisdom and power of God ;'^ that Christ was ' no astrologer,' but 'derived his authority from God.'^ He adduced further the evidence of miracles, in which he had no difficulty in believing, for he gave two in- stances of miracles which had occurred in Florence only four years previously, and in which he declared to Chap. V. '^ Chap. vi. ^ Chap. vii. ^ Chap. viii. ^ Chap, ix. 12 Culet^ Erasi/ni.s, and More. CH.1P. I. A.D. 1496. Argument of Ficino in support of Chris- tianity. Lorenzo de' Medici, that, philosopher as he was, he behevedJ After citing the testimony of some Gentile writers, and of the Coran of the Mahometans, and discussing in the light of Plato, Zoroaster, and Dionysius, the doctrine of the ' logos,' and the fitness of the incar- nation, he showed that the result of the coming of Christ was that men are drawn to love with their whole heart a God who in his immense love had himself be- come man.^ After dwelling on the way in which Christ lightened the burden of sin,^ on the errors he dispelled, the truths he taught,^ and the example he set,^ Ficino proceeds in two short chapters to adduce the testimony of the ' Sibyls.'^ This was natural to a writer whose bias it was to regard as genuine whatever could l)e proved to be ancient. But it is only fair to state that he relies much more fully and discusses at far greater length the prophecies of the Ancient Hebrew prophets,^ vindicating the Christian rendering of certain passages in the Old Testament against the Jews, who accused the Christians of having perverted and de- praved them.^ He concludes by asserting, that if there be much in Christianity Avhich surpasses human compre- hension, this is a proof of its divine character rather than otherwise. These are his final words. ' If these ' things be divine, they must exceed the capacity of any ' human mind. Faith (as Aristotle has it) is the founda- tion of knowledge. By faith alone (as the Platonists ' prove) we ascend to God. " I believed (said David) ' " and therefore have I spoken." Believing, therefore, 1 Chap. X. * Chap. xix. ' Chap. XX. ^ Chap. xxii. ' Chap, xxiii. " Chaps, xxir. nnd xxv. ^ Chaps, xxvi. — xxxiv. ® Chap, xxxvi. osophy and Heliyiou. 13 ' and approaching the fountain of truth and goodness Chap. i. ' we shall drink in a wise and blessed life.'^ a.d. i496. Thus was the head of the Platonic Academy at I Florence turning a critical e3"e upon Christianity, viewing it very possibly too much in the light of the lamp kept continually burning before the bust of Plato, but still, I think, honestly endeavouring, upon its own in- trinsic evidence and by inductive methods, to establish a reasonable belief in its divine character in minds sceptical of ecclesiastical authority, and over whom the doomatic methods of the Schoolmen had lost their power.'- Nevertheless Ficino, as yet, was probably, more of an intellectual than of a practical Christian, and Christianity was not likely to take hold of the mind of Italy — of re-awakening Europe — through any merely philosophical disquisitions. The lamp of Plato j might throw light on Christianity, but it wOuld not i light up Christian fire in other souls. For Christianity Cbris- is a thing of the heart, not only of the head. Soul is ih\ug<^ kindled only by soul, says Carlyle ; and to teach religion *^^ ^^^^'* the one thing needful is to find a man who has religion.^ Should such a man arise, a man himself on fire with Christian love and zeal, his torch might hght up other torches, and the fire be spread from torch to torch. But, until such a man should arise, the lamp of philosophy must burn alone in Florence. Men might come from far and near to listen to Marsilio Ficino — to share the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, to study Plato and ^ Chap, xxxyii. 2 Villari, in his ' Life and Times ' of Savonarola,' book i. chap, iv., does not seem to me to give, by any means, a fair abstract of the ^ De ' BeHgione Chridiand,'' though his chapter on Ficino is valuable in other respects. I have used the edition of Paris, 1510. ^ ' Chartism.' Chap. x. * Impos- ' sible.' 14 Colet, Erasmus, and More. Chap. I. Plotiiiiis, — to leai'ii liow to liarinoiiise Plato and Aris- A.D. 1496. totle, to master the Greek language and philosophies, — to drhik in the spirit of reviving learning — but, of true Christian religion, the lamp had not yet been lit at Florence, or if lit it was under a bushel, Oxford Akeady Oxford students had been to Italy, and S^itaiy! returned full of the new learning. Grocyn, one of tliem, had for some time been publicly teaching Greek at Oxford, not altogether to the satisfaction of the old divines, for the Latin of the Vulgate was, in their eye, the orthodox language, and Greek a Pagan and heretical tongue. Linacre, too, had been to Italy and returned, after sharing; with the children of Lorenzo de' Medici the tuition of Politian and Chalcondyles.^ These men had been to Italy and had returned, to all appearances, mere humanists. Now five years later Colet had been to Italy and had returned, not a mere humanist, but an earnest Christian reformer, bent upon giving lectures, not upon Plato or Plotinus, but upon St. Paul's Epistles. What had happened during these four years to account for the change ? III. COLET'S PKEVIOUS history (1496). Coict's < John Colet was the eldest^ son of Sir Henry Colet, a Smitaiy Wealthy merchant, who had been more than once Lord Mayor of London,^ and was in favour at the court of ^ Pauli Jovii Elogia Dodonim j pp. 103-150. And Wood's Athen. Virormn: Rasilose, 155G, p. 145. | Oxon. vol. i. p. 30. Also Hist, et The period of the stay of GrocA'n j Antiq. Univ. O.von. ii. 134. and Linacre in Italy was probably ^ Eras. Op. iii. p. 455, F. between 1485 and 1401. They ^ Erasniu.s .Todoco .Tona3 : Op. iii. therefore probably returned to Enj^- p. 455, F. Also Sir Henry Colet's laud before the notorious Alexander i Epitaph, quoted in Knight's Life of VI. succeeded, in 1492, to Innocent VIII. See J ohnson^s Life of Linacre, Colet, p. 7. Colefs History. 15 Hem\y VII. His father's position held out to him the prospect of a brilhant career. He had early been sent to Oxford, and there, having passed through the regular course of study in all branches of scholastic philosophy, he had taken his degree of Master of Arts. On the return of Grocyn and Linacre fiom Italy fidl of the new learning, Colet had apparently caught the Chap. I. A.D. 1496. contagion For we are told he ' eagerly devoured His studies ' Cicero, and carefully examined the works of Plato ' and Plotinus.'^ When the time had come for him to choose a pro- fession, instead of deciding to follow up the chances of commercial life, or of royal favour, he had resolved to take Orders. The death of twenty-one^ brothers and sisters, leav- ing him the sole survivor of so large a family, may well have given a serious turn to his thoughts. But inas- much as family influence was ready to procure him immediate preferment, the path he had chosen need not be construed into one of great self-denial. It was Sets out not until long after he had been presented to a living travels. in Suffolk and a prebend in Yorkshire, that he left Oxford, probably in about 1494, for some years of foreign travel.^ The little information which remains to us of what Colet did on his continental journey, is very soon told, -r He went first into France and then into Italy.* On ' ' Et libros Ciceronis avidissime ' devorarat et Platonis Plotinique ' libros non oscitanter excusserat.' — Eras. Op. iii. p. 456, A. 2 Eras. Oj). iii. p. 45.5, F. ' Mater, ' qufe adliuc superest [in 1520], in- ' signi probitate mulier, marito suo ' undecim filios peperit, ac totidem ' filias . . . , sed ex omnibus ille ' [Colet] superfuit solus, cum ilium ' nosse crepissem ' [in 1498]. ^ See list of Colet's preferments in the Appendix. * ' Adiit Galliam, mox Italiam.' — Eras. Op. iii, p. 456, A, 16 Colet, Erasmus^ and Mure. Colet studies the Scriptures in Italy. Chap. I. \^\q ^y^y there, or Oil his return journey he met with A.D. U96. some German monks, of whose primitive piety and pmrity he retained a vivid recollection.^ In Italy he ar- ' dently pursued his studies. But he no longer devoted himself to the works of Plato and Plotinus. In Italy, the liotbed of the Neo-Platonists, he '■gave himself up' (we are told) ' to the study of the Holy Scriptures,' after having, however, first made himself acquainted with the works of the Fathers, including amongst them the mystic writings then attributed to Dionysius the Areo- pagite. He acquired a decided preference for the works of Dionysius, Origen, Ambrose, Cyprian, and Jerome over those of Augustine. Scotus, Aquinas, and other Schoolmen had each shared his attention in due course. He is said also to have diligently studied during this period Civil and Canon Law, and especially what Clironicles and EngUsh classics he could lay his hands on ; and his reason for doing so is remarkable — that he might, by familiarity with them, polish his style, and so prepare himself for the great work of preaching the Gospel in England.^ What it was that had turned his thouo;hts in this direction no record remains to tell. Yet the knowledo;e ' Eras. Op. iii. p. 450, A. 2 Ibid p. 4o6, B. The words of Erasmus are the following :— ' Ibi ' se totum evolvendis sacris .aucto- * ribus dedit, sed priiis per omnium ' literarum genera niagno studio ' peregrinatus, priscis illis potissi- ' mum delectabatur Dionysio, Ori- ' gene,Cypriano, Ambrosio, Hierony- ' mo. Atque inter veteres nulli erat ' iniquior quam Augusliuo. Neque ' tamen non legit Scotum, ac ' Thomam aliosque hujus fariuse, si ' quando locus postulabat. In utri- ' usque juris libris erat non indili- ' genter versatus. Denique nullus ' erat liber bistoriani aut constitu- ' tiones continens majoriim, quern ' ille non evolverat. Habet gens ' Britannica qui hoc proestiterunt ' apud suos, quod Dantes ac Petrar- ' cha apud Italos. Et horum evol- ' vendis scriptis linguam expolivit, 'jam tum se prieparans ad prteco- ' uium sermonis Evangeliei.' Colet in Italy. 17 of what was passing in Italy, while Colet was there, Chap. i. surely may give a clue, not hkely to mislead, to the a.d. uge. explanation of what otherwise might remain wholly unexplained. To have been in Italy when Grocyn and Linacre were in Italy — between the years 1485 and 1491 — was, as we have said, to have drunk at the fountain-head of reviving learning, and to have fallen under the fascinating influence of Lorenzo de' Medici and the Platonic Academy — an influence more likely to foster the selfish coldness of a semi-pagan philosophy than to inspire such feelings as those with which Colet seems to have returned from his visit to Italy. ^ But in the meantime Lorenzo had died, the tiara had changed hands, and events were occurring during Colefs stay in Italy — probably in 1495 — which may well have stirred in his breast the earnest resolution to devote his life to the work of rehgious and political reform. For to have been in Italy while Colet was in Italy Eccie- was to have come face to face with Eome at the time ^a^ndais. when the scandals of Alexander VI. and Ctesar Borgia were in everyone's mouth ; to have been brought into contact with the very worst scandals which had ever blackened the ecclesiastical system of Europe, at the very moment when they reached their culminating point. On the other hand, to have been in Italy when Colet was in Italy, was to have come into contact with the first rising efforts at Eeform. If Colet visited Florence as Grocyn and Linacre had ^^'^°: '' _ _ narola. done before him, he must have come into direct con- tact with Savonarola while as yet his fire was holy and * Savonarola's first sermon in the Duomo at Florence was preached in 1491.— Villari, i. p. 122. C 18 Colet, Erasmus^ and More. Savo- narola's preaching. Chap. I. his star had not entered the mists in which it set in A.D. 1496. later years. Eecollecting what the great Prior of San Marco was — what his fiery and all but prophetic preaching was — how day after day his burning w^ords went forth against the sins of high and low ; against tyranny in Church or State ; against idolatry of philosophy and neglect of the Bible in the pulpit ; recollecting how they told their tale upon the conscience of Lorenzo de' Medici, and of his courtiers as well as upon the crowds of Florence ; — can the English student, it may well be asked, have passed through all this uninfluenced? If he visited Florence at all he must have heard the story of Savo- narola's interview with the dying Lorenzo ; he must have heard the common talk of the people, how Politian and Pico, bosom friends of Lorenzo, had died wdth the request that they might be buried in the habit of the order, and under the shadow of the convent of San Marco ; ^ above all, he must again and again have joined, one would think, with the crowd daily pressing to hear the wonderful preacher. Lorenzo de' Medici had died before Colet set foot upon Italian soil : pro- bably also Pico and Politian.- And the death of these men had added to the grandeur of Savonarola's posi- tion. He was still preaching those wonderful ser- mons, all of them in exposition of Scripture, to wliich allusion has been made, and exerting that influence upon his hearers to which so many great minds liad yielded. 1 See Villari, i. 232. Anno 1494. "^ Lorenzo de Medici died in 1492; Pico and Politian in 1494. Colet left England early in 1404 pro- bably, but as he visited France on his way to Italy, the exact time of his reaching Italy cannot be deter- mined. Savonarola^ Pico, and Ficino. 19 The man wlio had religion — the one requisite for Chap. i. teaching it — had arisen. And at the touch of his a.d. u96. torch other hearts liad caught fire. The influence of Savo- Savonarola had made itself felt even within the circle fnflue^nce Pico had become a devoted '^^^^^°. of the Platonic academy student of the Scriptures and had died an earnest Christian. Ficino himself, Avithout ceasing to be a ISTeo- Platonic philosopher, had also, it would seem, been profoundly influenced for a time by the enthusiasm of the great reformer.^ And in the light of Colet's ^ The influence of Savonarola on tlie religious history of Pico was very remarkable. In a sermon preached after Pico's death, Savonarola said of Pico, * Pie was wont to be conversant ' with me, and to break with me ' the secrets of his heart, in which ' I perceived that he was by privy ' inspiration called of God unto re- ' ligion : ' i. e. to become a monk. And he goes on to say that, for t^vo years, he had threatened him with Divine judgment ' if he fore- ' sloathed that purpose which our ' Lord had put in his mind.' — More's JEnglish Works, p. 9. Pico died in November, 1494. The intimacy of which Savonarola speaks dated back therefore to 1492 or earlier. According to the statement of his nephew, J. F. Pico, the change in Pico's life was the result of the disappointment and the troubles consequent upon his ' vainglorious ' disputations ' at Rome in 1486 (when Pico was twenty-three). By this he was ' wakened,' so that he ' drew back his mind flowing in ' riot, and turned it to Christ ! ' Pico waited a whole year in Rome after giving his cliallenge, and the disappointment and troubles were not of short duration. They may be said to have commenced perhaps after the year of waiting, i. e. in 1487, when he left Rome. He was present at the disputations at Reg- gio in 1487, and this does not look as though as yet he had altogether lost his love of fame and distinc- tion. There he met Savonarola; and there that intimacy commenced which resulted in Savonarola's re- turn, at the siujgestion of Pico, to Florence. (J. F, Pico's Vita Savo- narolee, chap. vi. ; Harford's Life of Michael Angela, i. p. 128 ; and Villari, i. pp. 82, 83.) In 1490, as the re- sult of his first studies of Holy Scripture, according to J. F. Pico (being twenty-eight), he published his Heptaplus, which is full of his cabalistic and mystic lore, and be- tokens a mind still entangled in intellectual speculations rather than imbued with practical piety. He had, however, already burnt his early love songs, ttc. ; and it is evident the change had for some time been going on. c 2 20 Colet, Erasmus, and More. Chap. I. retuni to Oxford from Italy, a lover of Dionysius and to A^Tuge. lecture on St. Paul's Epistles, it is curious to observe About the time, when Savonarola | commenced preaching in Florence, in 1491 (three years before his death, according to J. F. Pico), Pico disposed of his patrimony and dominions to his nephew, and dis- tributed a large part of the produce amongst the poor, consulting Savo- narola about its disposal (J. F. Pico's Life of Savonarola, chap. xi. ' De mira Hieronymi lenitafe ef * amore paupertatis '), and appoint- ing as his almoner Girolamo Beni- vieni, a devout and avowed be- liever in Savonarola's prophetic gifts. This was doubtless the time when Pico was wont to break to Savonarola ' the secrets of his ' heart ; ' the time also to which J. F. Pico alludes when he speaks of him as ' talking of the love of Christ ; ' and adding, * the substance I have ' left, after certain books of mine ' finished, I intend to give out to ' poor folk, and fencing myself with ' the crucitix, barefoot, walking ' about the world, in every to\\-n ' and castle, I purpose to preach of ' Christ.' — Vide infra, p. 15.'3. In 1492, a few weeks after Lorenzo's death, he wrote three beautiful letters to his nephew (Pici Op. pp. 231-236. Vide infra, pp. 153-1 5G)— letters as glowing with earnest Christian piety as the Heptaphis was overflowing with cabalistic subtleties. His religion now, at all events, had the true ring about it. It belonged to his heart, not his head only. Then follow the remaining two years of his life when Savo- narola exerted his influence (but without success) to induce him to enter a religious order. On Sept. 21, 1494, he was present at Savo- narola's famous sermon, in which he predicted the calamities which were coming upon Italy and the approach of the French army, lis- tening to which Pico himself said that he ' was filled with horror, and ' that his hair stood on end ' (nar- rated by Savonarola in his Cowi- pendimn Revelatiotmni) ; and lastly in J^ovember, as Charles entered Florence, Pico was peacefully dnng. He was buried in the robes of Sa- vonarola's order and within the precincts of Savonarola's church of St. Mark. In the light of Savo- narola's sermon, and the facts above stated, it can hardly be doubted that whilst, in one sense, brought about by the disappointment of his worldly ambitions, the change of life in Pico was at least, in ineamre, the result of his contact with the great Florentine reformer. With regard to the history of Savonarola's influence on Ficino's religious character, the facts are not so easily traced. In early years he is said to have been more of a Pagan than a Christian. Before writing his De lieligione Christiana, he seems to have become fully per- suaded of the truth of Christianity. The book itself shows this. And there is a letter of his (Ficini Op. i. p. 040, Basle ed.), written while he was composing it, during an illness, in which he says that the words of Christ give him more comfort than philosophy, and his vows pai(? Savonarola. Pico, and Ficino. 21 tliat, shortly before Colet's visit to Italy, Ficino himself Chap. i. had pubhshed translations of some of the Dionysian a.d. hqg. writings,^ and that apparently about the time of Colet's, visit he was himself lecturing on St. Paul.- If therefore Colet visited Florence, it may well be Their beheved that he came into direct contact with Savo- on^cXn narola and Ficino. Whilst even if he did not visit Florence at all (and there appears to be no direct evidence that he did),^ there remains abundant to the Virgin more bodily good tlian medicine. He also says that his father, a doctor, was once warned in a dream, while sleeping under an oak tree, to go to a pa- tient who was praying to the Virgin for aid. But the religion of a man rest- ing on dreams, and visions, and vows made to the Virgin, was not necessarily of a very deep and practical character. Superstition and philosophy were easily united without the heart taking fire. Schelhorn (in his Amcenifates Lite- rarice, i. p. 73) quotes from Whar- ton's appendix to Cave, the follow- ing statement, ' Rei philosophicfe ' nimiumdeditus,religionis etpietatis ' cuiam posthabuisse dicitur, donee ' Savonarolfe Florentiam adveuieutis * eloquentiam admiratus, concioni- * bus ejus audiendis animum adjecit, ' duuique llosculis Rhetorices iuhi- ' avit, pietatis igniculos recepit : reli- 'quamque dein vitam religionis offi- *ciis impendit.' Wharton does not give his authority. Fleury (vol. xxiv. p. 368) makes a similar statement ; also Brucker (Historia critica Phi- losophice, iv. p. 52) ; also Du Pin ; also Harford in his Life of Michael Angela (i. p. 72) on the authority of Spondanus, who himself gives no contemporary authority. See also Mr. Lupton's Introduction to Colet's Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierar- chies of Dioni/sius,yvhere the subject is discussed. I am informed, through the kindness of Count P. Guicciar- dini, of Florence, that in Ficino's Apologia, which exists in the MSS. Stroziani of Libr. Mayliabecchiana, class viii. cod. 315, he says of him- self that ' for five years he was one ' of the many who were deceived by ' the Hypocrite of Ferrara,' whom he calls 'Antichrist.' The truth therefore seems to be that he was profoundly influenced by Savo- narola's enthusiasm, but only for a time. ^ Ficino's editions of his ti-ansla- tions of the Dionysian treatises on the 'Divine Names' and the ' Mys- tic Theology " seem to have been published at Florence in 1492 and 1496. — Fabricii Bibliotheca Grceca, vii. pp. 10, 11. "^ Herzog's Encyclopadia, article on ' Marsilius Ficinus.' * Mr. Harford, in his Life of Michael Angela, vol. i. p. 57, men- tions Colet, among others, as study- ing at Florence, and cites ' Tira- ' baschi, vi. pt. 2, p. 382, edit. Roma, 22 Colet, l'Jr((sntu.^, and 2Iore. Chap. I. A.D. 1496. Spirit in which Colet re- turned to Oxfurd. eviclGuce, wliicli will turn up in future chapters, tliat Colet had studied the writings of Pico/ of Ficino,^ and of the authors most often quoted in their pages. He thus at least came directly under Florentine influ- ence, at a time when the fire of religious zeal, kindled into a flame by the enthusiasm of the great Floren- tine Eeformer, and fed by the scandals of Pionie, was scattering its sparks abroad. Be this as it may, whatever amount of obscurity may rest upon the history of the mental struggles through which Colet had passed before that result was attained, certain it is that he had returned to England with his mind fully made up, and with a character already formed and bent in a direction from which it never afterwards swerved. He had returned to England, not to enjoy the pleasures of fashionable life in London, not to pursue the chances of Court favour, not to ft)llow his father's mercantile calling, not even to press ' 4to. 1784.' But I cannot find any mention of Colet in Tiraboschi, after careful search. In opposition to the likelihood of his having been at Florence it may be asked, why Colet never alludes to it in his letters or else- where ? In reply, it may be said that we have nothing of Colet's own writing relating to his early life. All we know of it is derived from Erasmus, and the only allusion by Colet to his Italian journey which Erasmus has preserved is the passing, remark that he (Colet) had there become acquainted with certain monks of true wisdom and piety. — Eras. Op. iii. 459, A. ' Nar- ' rans sese apud Italos comperisse ' quosdam monachos vere prudentes ' ac pios.' Whether Savonarola's monks were amongst these is a matter of mere speculation. ^ See marginal note on his ' Ro- mans?,' in the Cambridge University Library, MS. Gg. 4, 26, leaf 3rt, in which he refers to him — * Hee 3Iir(itidtiI(i/ and cites a passage from Pico's Apologia, Ba.sle edition of Piei Opera, p. 117. There is also a long and almost literal ex- tract from Pico in the MS. on the ' Ecclesiastical Hierarchy,' in the St. Paul's School Library. See Mr. Lupton's translation, p. 161. ^ See an extract fi-om Ficino in Colet's MS. on ' Romans,' leaf 13i. Another is pointed out by Mr. Lupton, p. 36, n. Thomas More. 23 on at once towards the completion of his clerical course ; but, unordained as he was, and without doctor's degree, in all simplicity to begin the work which had now become the settled purpose of his hfe, by returning to Oxford and announcing this course of lectures on St. Paul's Epistles. Chap. I. A.n. 1496. IV. THOMAS MORE, ANOTHER OXFORD STUDENT (1492-6). When Colet, catching the spirit of the new learning fi'om Grocyn and Linacre, left Oxford for his visit to Paris and Italy, he left behind him at the university a boy of fifteen, no less devoted than himself to the study of the Greek language and philosophy. This boy was Thomas More. He was the son of a Thomas successful lawyer, li\4ng in Milk Street, Cheapside. ^^^^^' Brought up in the very centre of London life, he had early entered into the spirit of the stirring times on w^hich his young life was cast. He was but five years old when in April 1483 the news of Edward IV. 's death was told through London. But he was old enough to hear an eyewitness tell his father, tliat ' one ' Pottyer, dwelling in Eedcross Street, without Cripple- ' gate,' within half a mile of his father's door, ' on the ' very night of King Edward's death, had exclaimed. His early ' " By my troth, man, then will my master the Duke ^"^'^°'"^- ' " of Glo'ster be king.'"^ And followed as this was by ^ ' Quern ego sermonem ab eo ' meinini, qui colloquentes audi- ' verat jam turn patri meo reiiuu- * datum, cum adhuc nulla prodi- 'tionis ejus suspicio liaberetur.' — Thomge Mori 'Latvia Opera,' Lovanii, 1566, fol, 46, As to tlie authorship of the history of Eichard. III. see Mr. Gairduer's preface to Letters of Richard III. and Henry VI L vol. ii. p. xxi. As More was born in February, 1478, there is no difficulty in accepting the authen- ticity of this incident, which, when 24 Colet^ Erasmus, and More. CHAP. I, Eicliarcl's murder of the young Princes, he never forgot A.u. 1496. the incident. After some years' study at St. Anthony's School in Threadneedle Street, his father placed liim in domestic service (as was usual in those times) with the Cardinal f Archbishop and Lord Chancellor Morton,^ a man than whom no one knew the world better or was of greater influence in public affairs — the faithfid friend of Edward IV., the feared but cautious enemy of Eichard, the man to whose wisdom Henry VII. in great measure owed his crown. Morton was the Gamaliel at whose feet young More was brought up, drinking in his wisdom, storing up in memory his rich historic knowledge, learning the world's ways and even something of the ways of kings, till a naturally sharp wit became un- naturally sharpened, and Morton recognised in the Mores youtli tlic promisc of the future greatness of the man, genius. -g.^ ^^^^ ^^^ thirteen or fourteen at most, yet he would ' at Christmas time suddenly sometimes step in among ■ ' the players, making up an extempore part of his own ; ' . . . and the Lord Chancellor ' would often say unto the ' nobles tliat divers times dined with him, "This child ' " here waiting at table, whosoever shall live to see ' " it, will prove a marvellous man.'"''^ It was Morton who had sent him to Oxford ' for his better furtherance in learning.' ^ Colet probably had known More from childhood. Their fathers were both too wwich of public men to be unknown to each other, and though Colet was twelve years older than young More when they most likely 1480 was assumed as the date of bered the conversation. More's birth, seemed quite impos- , ^ Roper, Singer's ed. p. 3. Morton sible, as More would only have was not made a cardinal till 1493. been three years old when it oc- * Roper, p. 4. curred, and could not have remem- ^ Ibid. ^ Thomas More at Odford. 25 met at Oxford in 1492-3, their common studies under Chap. i. Grocyn and Linacre were likely to bring them into a.d. i496. contact.^ More's ready wit, added to great natural power and versatility of mind, w^ere such as to enable him to keep pace with others much older than himself, and to devote himself with equal zeal to the new learning. Whether it was thus at Oxford that Colet had first formed his high opinion of More's character and powers, we know not, but certain it is that he was long after wont to speak of him as the one genius of whom England could boast. '-^ Moreover, along with great His intellectual gifts was combined in the young student clSiacterf a gentle and loving disposition, which threw itself into the bosom of a friend with so guileless and pure an affection, that when men came under the power of its unconscious enchantment they literally /. H9G. Colet thought was ' the chief cause, yes the sole cause,' of the coming of the Son of God upon earth in the flesh.i Nor was he afraid to apply these practical lessons to the circumstances of his own times. Thus, in speaking of the collections made by St. Paul in relief of the sufferers from the famine in Judea (the same he Colet thought as that predicted by Aejabus), he pointed out points out - ° - , ^ - ^ ^^ ■ the need of how much better such voluntary collections were than V ^1 reform' ' mouey extortcd by bitter exactions under the name of K ' tithes and oblations.' ^ And, referring to the advice to Timothy, ' to avoid avarice and to follow after justice, ' l^iety, faith, charity, patience, and mercy,' he at once added that ' priests of our time ' might well be admon- ished ' to set such an example as this amongst their ' own parishioners^ referring to the example of St. Paul, who chose to ' get his hving by labouring witli his ' hands at the trade of tentmaking, so as to avoid even ' suspicion of avarice or scandal to the Gospel.' ^ One other striking characteristic of this exposition must be mentioned — the unaffected modesty which breathes through it, which, whilst not quoting author- ity, does not claim to be an authority itself, which does not profess to have attained full knowledge, but preserves throughout the childlike spirit of enquiiy.^ On the whole, the spirit of Colet's lectures was in keeping with his previous history. The passage already mentioned as quoted from ^ MS. Gg. 4, 20, fol. '50Z>. j ' pecunia nomine decimarum et ^ Ibid. fol. 5'JZ>. ' JUicieiida est I * oblacioiuuii.' ' diilfi doctrina prompta voluntas i ^ Ibid. fol. Wa. ' uonacorba exaccioue extorqiieuda I * See parliuuliu-ly fol. 27 and (ilb. Colefs Lectures on ' Romans.'' 41 Ficino, the facts that, in a marginal note on the manii- Chap. ii. script, added apparently in Colet's handwriting, there a.^Tuog. is also a quotation from Pico,^ and that the names ^^"^^J^ of PlotiuLis,^ and 'Joannes Carmelitanus,' ^ are cited in the'Neo- the course of the exposition — all this is evidence of ''^'^'"^*'^' the influence upon Colet's mind of the writings of the philosophers of Florence, confirming the inference already drawn from the circumstances of his visit to Italy. But in its comparative freedom from references to authorities of any kind, except the New Testament, Colet's exposition differs as much from the writings of Ficino and Pico as from those of the Scholastic Divines, In many pecuhar phrases and modes of thought, Marks of evident traces also occur of that love for the Dionysian Dbnysks!" writings which Colet is said to have contracted in Italy, and which he shared with the modern Neo-Platonic school. In the free critical method of interpretation and Origenand thorough acknowledgment of the human element in Scripture, as well as in the Anti-Augustinian views al- ready alluded to, there is evidence equally abundant in confirmation of the statement, that he had acquired when abroad a decided preference for Origen and Jerome over Augustine. Lastly in his freedom from the prevailing vice of the His in- patristic interpreters — their love oi allegorising Scrip- search for ture — and in his fearless application of the critical methods of the New learning to tlie Scriptures them- selves, in order to draw out their literal sense, there is 1 MS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 3rt. •' Ibid. fol. lb. ^ Ibid. fol. 156. lounnes Baptista Mantuanus, general of the Car- melites, au admirer of Pico. — See Pici Opera, p. 262. 42 Colet, Erasmu.% and More. Chap. u. striking confirmatiou of the fiirtber statement that, A.'iTT^T. whilst in Italy, he had 'devoted himself wholly '^ to their study. Colet's object obviously had been to study St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans for himself, and his whole exposition confirms the truth of his own decla- ration in its last sentence, that ' he had tried to the best 'of his power, with the aid of Divine grace, to bring ' out St. Paul's true meaning.' 'Whether indeed' (he adds modestly) 'I have done this I hardly can tell, ' but the greatest desire to do so I have had.'^ II. VISIT FROM A PRIEST DURING THE WINTER VACATION (1496-7?). Visit from Colct, ouc night during the winter vacation, was *' P"*^^'' alone in his chambers. A priest knocked at the door. He was soon recognised by Colet as a diligent attender of his lectures. They drew their chairs to the hearth, and talked about this thing and that over the winter fire, in the way men do when they have something to say, and yet have not courage to come at once to the point. At length the priest pulled from his bosom a little book. Colet, amused at the manner of his guest, smilingly quoted the words, 'Where your treasure is, Conversa- ' thcrc will your heart be also.' The priest explained tion on the ^j^j^^ |.j^g li|.|.|g ^^^^ contained the Epistles of St. Paul, richness of J^ ' St. Paul's carefully transcribed by his own hand. It was, indeed writings, a treasure, for of all the writings that had ever been ' *Ibi se totum evolvendis sacris*! * illiussensus exprimere. Quodquam ' auctoribus dedit.' — Eras. Op. iii. ' fecimus liaud scimus sane, volun- p. 456 B. ' tatem tamen habuimus maximam "^ ' . . , conatique sunius quoad po- | 'feicien(!ii.''—_ffinisan/umenti in Epis- * tiiimus divina gratia adjuti veros ' folam Pauli ad Romanos. Oxonie. Visit from a Priest. 43 written, he most loved and admired those of St. Paul ; Chap. ii. and he added, in a politely flattering tone, that it was a.d. 1497. Colet's lectures during the recent term, which had chiefly- excited in him this afiection for the apostle. Colet v^ turned a searching eye upon his guest, and finding '' that he was truly in earnest, replied with warmth, ' Then, brother, I love you for loving St. Paul, for I, ' too, dearly love and admire him.' In the course of conversation, which now turned upon the object which the priest had at heart, Colet happened to remark how pregnant with both matter and thought were the Epistles of St, Paul, so that almost every word might be made the subject of a discourse. This was just what Colet's guest wanted. Comparing Colet's lectures with those of the scholastic divines, who, as we have heard, were accustomed ' out of an antitheme of half an inch to draw a thread of nine days long ' upon some useless topic, he may well have been struck with the richness of the vein of ore which Colet had been working, and he had come that he might gather some hints as to his method of study. ' Then,' said he, stirred up by this remark of Colet's, 'I ask you now, as we sit here at ' our ease, to extract and bring to light from this hidden ' treasure, which you say is so rich, some of these truths, ' so that I may gain from this our talk whilst sitting to- ' gether something to store up in the memory, and at the ' same time catch some hints as to how, following your ' example, I may seize hold of the main points in the ' epistles when I read St. Paul by myself.' ' My good friend,' replied Colet, ' I will do as you Romans i. ' wish. Open your book, and we will see how many and exampk.^° ' wliat golden truths we can gather from the first chapter ' only of the Epistle to the Eomans.' 44 Colet, Erasmus, and More. c.tAP. II. ' But,' added the priest, ' lest my memory should fail ^."^7^97. ' me, I should like to write them down as you say them.' Colet assented, and thereupon dictated to his guest a strin 50 Colet, Era.)Ordinem ; ' tradiicere.' 54 Colet, Era!