• I was born in 1466 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
  • The illegitimate son of a priest, I too was ordained in 1492 and studied in Paris. From 1499 I began traveling and writing on a variety of topics.
  • Much of my early work centred on my perception of backwardness in the church, notably my famous satire ‘The Praise of Folly”, first published in 1509.
  • Despite this, I remained a committed Catholic during the Reformation and in my famous “The Freedom of Will” attacked the views of Martin Luther.
  • I died in Basel in 1536. I am often cited as a leading Renaissance humanist.

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