Erasmus was one of the most widely read and controversial authors of theearly modern period, inspiring a broad range of reader reactions. Thepresent volume addresses various aspects of Erasmus's reception, includinghow the author's name was sometimes used to bolster decidedly "un-Erasmian"ideals.

Acknowledgements Notes on the Editor Notes on the Contributors List of Illustrations Introduction - Manifold Reader Responses: The Reception of Erasmus in the Early Modern Europe Karl Enenkel PART I. HUMANISM A Blueprint for the Reception of Erasmus: Beatus Rhenanus's Second Vita Erasmi (1540) Karl Enenkel Medicinae laus per Eobanum Hessum ex Erasmo, versu reddita Reassessed Dirk Sacre PART II. RELIGIOUS IDEAS Universalism and Tolerance in a Follower of Erasmus from Zurich: Theodor Bibliander Lucia Felici 'Betwixt Heaven and Hell': Religious Toleration and the Reception of Erasmus in Restoration England Gregory D. Dodds Praise and Blame: Peter Canisius's Ambivalent Assessment of Erasmus Hilmar M. Pabel PART III. POLITICAL IDEAS: IRENISM AND MIRROR OF A CHRISTIAN PRINCE Erasmian Irenism in the Poetry of Pierre de Ronsard Philip Ford+ On Good Government: Erasmus's Institutio Principis Christiani versus Lipsius's Politica Jeanine De Landtsheer PART IV. RABELAISIAN SATIRE, TRIUMPH, DIALOGUE AND OTHER ADAPTATIONS: RECEPTIONS OF THE PRAISE OF FOLLY IN FRENCH, ITALIAN AND DUTCH LITERATURE Jean Thenaud and Francois Rabelais: Some Hypotheses on the Early Reception of Erasmus in French Vernacular Literature Paul J. Smith Antonio Brucioli and the Italian Reception of Erasmus: The Praise of Folly in Dialogue Reinier Leushuis Erasmus and the Radical Enlightenment: An Atheistic Adaptation of the Praise of Folly by Jan van der Wyck (1798) Johannes Trapman Index Nominum