The Manual of a Christian Knight

Description

A Book Called in Latin Enchiridion Militis Christiani and in English The Manual of the Christian Knight, replenished with the most wholesome precepts made by the famous clerk Erasmus of Rotterdam, to which is added a new and marvellous profitable Preface. Enchiridion militis Christiani, or Handbook of a Christian Knight (or: Soldier) was written by Desiderius Erasmus in 1503 and was published in England by William Tyndale. During a stay in Tournehem, a castle near Saint-Omer, Erasmus encountered an uncivilized, yet friendly soldier who was an acquaintance of Battus, Erasmus' close friend. On the request of the soldier's pious wife, who felt slighted by her husband's behaviour, Battus asked Erasmus to write a text which would convince the soldier of the necessity of mending his ways, which he did. The resulting work was eventually re-drafted by Erasmus and expanded into the Enchiridion militis Christiani, The Enchiridion is an appeal on Christians to act in accordance with the Christian faith rather than merely performing the necessary rites. It became one of Erasmus' most influential works. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian. Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a pure Latin style and enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists." He has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists." Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament. These raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. **