jan 1, 1500 - Erasmus of Rotterdam (1500)

Description:

Erasmus was the international intellectual of the age, advising Kings and princes, being sought out by Popes, and having his ideas admired far and wide. A humanist through and through and influenced by many classical thinkers, he supported scholarly understanding and he openly criticized the church citing the need for reform in the clergy. He can be seen as more important that his contemporaries because unlike others, such as Niccolo Machiavelli, he actually influenced changed firsthand by both enacting and being a proponent for it. (Palmer 72)