Desiderius Erasmus was a true Renaissance man: a brilliant classical scholar, a devout Christian reformer, and a master satirist. Readers are drawn to different facets of his work. This guide groups similar authors by the quality they share with Erasmus, whether it's his sharp wit, his vision for reform, or his groundbreaking scholarship.
Erasmus's closest friend and intellectual peer, More shared his talent for using satire to critique society. If you love the clever social commentary in The Praise of Folly, you will find a kindred spirit in More's Utopia.
Both works use a fictional frame—Folly's speech and a traveler's tale—to expose the absurdities of European politics, religion, and social customs.
For those who relish the biting, humorous, and sometimes shocking satire of Erasmus, Rabelais is an essential read. His epic Gargantua and Pantagruel takes Erasmus's critique of scholastic education and church corruption and magnifies it with wild, carnivalesque humor.
While far more bawdy than Erasmus, Rabelais shares the same humanist goal: to mock institutional absurdity in order to champion true learning and wisdom.
Brant’s masterpiece, The Ship of Fools, was a direct influence on Erasmus's The Praise of Folly. Published a decade earlier, it's a satirical allegory that depicts over 100 fools and their vices on a ship bound for the land of fools.
Readers who enjoy Erasmus's catalog of human foolishness will appreciate Brant's witty and moralizing examination of society's failings.
Vives was a fellow humanist who shared Erasmus's profound belief in the power of education for moral and social improvement. He applied humanist principles to practical problems, from poverty relief to the education of women.
His work On the Education of a Christian Woman is a landmark text that, like Erasmus's writings, argues for an educated laity and a faith grounded in reason and virtue.
A friend and mentor to Erasmus, Colet was a key figure in bringing Renaissance humanism to England. He championed a return to the simple, ethical teachings of the Gospels and early Church Fathers, a core theme in Erasmus's work.
His straightforward, scripture-focused sermons and his founding of St Paul's School based on humanist principles perfectly embody the practical, reform-minded spirit that Erasmus admired.
While Melanchthon was a key figure in the Lutheran Reformation, his temperament and methods were closer to Erasmus than to Luther. Known as the "Teacher of Germany," he was a brilliant educator who sought to reconcile faith with classical learning.
His work Loci Communes is a systematic, clear-headed exploration of Protestant theology that readers who appreciate Erasmus's methodical and educational approach will find compelling.
Erasmus owed a great intellectual debt to Valla, a pioneer of philology (the critical study of texts). Valla famously used linguistic analysis to prove the Donation of Constantine, a key document supporting papal power, was a forgery.
This same rigorous, text-critical method was what Erasmus used in his groundbreaking new edition of the Greek New Testament. For those fascinated by Erasmus the scholar, Valla is his direct predecessor.
Budé was Erasmus's great contemporary and rival in the field of classical scholarship, particularly in the study of Greek. Their correspondence reveals a shared passion for reviving ancient texts and a competitive drive to be Europe's leading classicist.
Budé's detailed scholarly works, like his Commentaries on the Greek Language, showcase the same deep dedication to learning that animated Erasmus's own scholarly projects.
Montaigne is the great successor to the humanist spirit of inquiry that Erasmus championed. While less focused on theology, he turned the humanist lens inward, examining himself and human nature with skepticism, curiosity, and honesty.
If you appreciate Erasmus's thoughtful exploration of human character, you will love Montaigne's Essays, which perfected a new literary form for exploring the complexities of the self.