ABSTRACT
Erasmus's writings on the crusade constitute a fascinating addition to the corpus of criticism of the institution and its abuses in the late middle ages and Renaissance. For a man so often accused of inconsistency or ambivalence, Erasmus was strikingly clear in his condemnation of crusading. It was a question of rejection rather than reform. But the matter could not remain there. In common with such contemporaries as Martin Luther, Josse Clichtove and Juan Luis Vives, 1 Erasmus was compelled by the threat posed by the Turks to contemplate the broader issue of if, and how, a war should be conducted against them in defence of his religion. 2 In this respect too the charge of inconsistency would be unfair. What we see instead is a paradox, for Erasmus reluctantly accepted the need to fight while perceiving in the military solution the very antithesis of his religious values. Christianity faced almost as great a threat from its defenders as from its assailants. The intellectual anguish caused by this dilemma contributed in no small measure to the pessimism of Erasmus's last years.3
