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The Complaint of Peace
Desiderus Erasmus was one of the greatest scholars of all time. He lived at the time of the Renaissance, in the late 15th to early 16th centuries, a period of profound change, and a time when every European nation managed to go to war with another European nation. "The Complaint of Peace" grew from his reaction to his warlike times. His desire for peace permeates his work. Now, 500 years later, Peace's words still retain their relevance.
84 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1517
About the author
Erasmus
1,422 books460 followersDesiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.
Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and 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, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps.
Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in the Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of him was erected in his city of birth in 1622, replacing an earlier work in stone.
Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and 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, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps.
Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in the Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of him was erected in his city of birth in 1622, replacing an earlier work in stone.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 27, 2018
Erasmus hastası biri olarak böylesi bir yüzyılda böylesi fikirleri “Barış’ın dili”nden yazmak. Yine çok etkiledi. Kısa ama dolu dolu bir kitap. Dedalus Yayınları’nı kutluyorum. Ancak, Erasmus’un tüm hümanist düşüncelerine rağmen bunu sadece Hristiyanlık Dünyası icin öne sürmesi bir hayal kırıklığı oldu. Tabii bunu asla Ortaçağ’da manastırda yetişmiş, Rönesans’ın mimarlarından Erasmus icin ancak küçük bir ayrıntı olarak görüyorum. “Deliliğe Övgü” her evde olması, okunması gereken müthiş bir eser.
April 12, 2020
Hiçbir şey bilmemek, ah ne mutlu bir yaşam.
March 23, 2026
there are infernal agents enough, who fatten on the plunder of the people, and have little to do in state affairs during the time of peace, who easily manage to bring about the wished for rupture and embroil an unoffending people in a war with an unoffending neighbor
pests of mankind worthy to be transported out of civil society and carried with convicts to the remotest islands in exile for life
the faintest shadow of an affront is sufficient to involve them in all the horrors of premeditated war
God made man unarmed but anger and revenge have mended the work of God and furnished his hands with weapons invented in hell
and thus what was accumulated by the labor of the many is dissipated by the profligacy of the few
he teaches you to live after the manner of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, trusting to providence
pests of mankind worthy to be transported out of civil society and carried with convicts to the remotest islands in exile for life
the faintest shadow of an affront is sufficient to involve them in all the horrors of premeditated war
God made man unarmed but anger and revenge have mended the work of God and furnished his hands with weapons invented in hell
and thus what was accumulated by the labor of the many is dissipated by the profligacy of the few
he teaches you to live after the manner of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, trusting to providence
December 23, 2017
In this short piece, Erasmus does not emphasize pacifism but the true menaing of peace as Christianity ought to understand it, an avoidance of war due to internal division, a defense of one's own land from invaders and to presever tranquility, and a duty of every Christian to preach and practice peace as Christ came to give and has promised us.
May 8, 2012
Short work of only about 30 pages but very well done.
In reading this Renaissance-era work, it is easy to see how much of what Erasmus wrote about still applies today.
In reading this Renaissance-era work, it is easy to see how much of what Erasmus wrote about still applies today.
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January 6, 2025Großer Geist, aus der Renaissance, der sich als Pazifist, Humanist und erster Europäer, neutral und unbestechlich für den Frieden eingesetzt hat. Seine Gedanken und Aussagen sind aktueller denn je!
April 6, 2026
Bij een bezoek aan het het Vredespaleis lag dit boekje te koop. De 'Vrede' als ik-persoon: "Indien de mensen er voordeel van zouden hebben als zij mij, tegen alle recht in versmaden, verbannen en verdrijven, dan zou ik alleen klagen over het onrecht, mij aangedaan, en over hun onrechtvaardigheid. Nu echter houden zij, door mij voortdurend te verstoten, de bron van alle menselijk geluk verre van zich en halen zij een zee van alle mogelijke rampen op zich."
Zo begint dit pacifistisch geschrift van Erasmus.
Ik-persoon Vrede gaat op zoek waar zij haar toevlucht kan vinden, eerst naar de mens als wezen, achtereenvolgens naar de christenen, naar de stad, naar de paleizen. Vrede vindt geen veilige toevlucht. Als vijfde zoekt de Vrede haar toevlucht tot de geletterden, maar helaas: "zij verscheuren elkaar op mooi papier met in venijn gedoopte pennen". Vervolgens: de godsdienst als veilig anker, helaas. Als zevende probeert Vrede een klein klooster waar het rustig zou zijn. Vervolgens bij getrouwde paren. Als laatste zoekt Vrede het hart van één enkel mens op om een onderkomen te vinden. "Zelfs dat lukte niet. De mens is in strijd met zichzelf: het verstand voert oorlog met de neigingen van het gemoed en bovendien komt de ene neiging in conflict met de andere."
Vrede houdt wereldleiders en m.n. de christenen die in (voor én na!) de tijd van Erasmus zoveel bloed vergoten een spiegel voor. "Wie welzijn wenst, wenst iets kostelijks, wie echter om vrede bidt, bidt om het hoogste geluk." "Hoe is het te rijmen dat men het volk groet met de vredesgroet en tegelijk de wereld aanzet tot de hevigste gevechten?"
Vrede besluit een beroep te doen op de vorsten, de priesters, de theologen, de bisschoppen, de machtigen van de aarde, de christenen. "Het grootste deel van het volk verafschuwt de oorlog en smeekt om vrede. Slechts zeer weinigen, wier goddeloos geluk afhangt van het ongeluk van allen, wensen oorlog." "De hoogste eer zal hún ten deel vallen, die een oorlog zullen hebben verhinderd, die door hun vernuft of hun beleid de eendracht zullen hebben hersteld; tenslotte aan hem die er op alle manieren op uit is, niet om zoveel mogelijk soldaten en belegering werktuigen bij elkaar te brengen, maar om te zorgen dat die niet nodig zijn."
Zo begint dit pacifistisch geschrift van Erasmus.
Ik-persoon Vrede gaat op zoek waar zij haar toevlucht kan vinden, eerst naar de mens als wezen, achtereenvolgens naar de christenen, naar de stad, naar de paleizen. Vrede vindt geen veilige toevlucht. Als vijfde zoekt de Vrede haar toevlucht tot de geletterden, maar helaas: "zij verscheuren elkaar op mooi papier met in venijn gedoopte pennen". Vervolgens: de godsdienst als veilig anker, helaas. Als zevende probeert Vrede een klein klooster waar het rustig zou zijn. Vervolgens bij getrouwde paren. Als laatste zoekt Vrede het hart van één enkel mens op om een onderkomen te vinden. "Zelfs dat lukte niet. De mens is in strijd met zichzelf: het verstand voert oorlog met de neigingen van het gemoed en bovendien komt de ene neiging in conflict met de andere."
Vrede houdt wereldleiders en m.n. de christenen die in (voor én na!) de tijd van Erasmus zoveel bloed vergoten een spiegel voor. "Wie welzijn wenst, wenst iets kostelijks, wie echter om vrede bidt, bidt om het hoogste geluk." "Hoe is het te rijmen dat men het volk groet met de vredesgroet en tegelijk de wereld aanzet tot de hevigste gevechten?"
Vrede besluit een beroep te doen op de vorsten, de priesters, de theologen, de bisschoppen, de machtigen van de aarde, de christenen. "Het grootste deel van het volk verafschuwt de oorlog en smeekt om vrede. Slechts zeer weinigen, wier goddeloos geluk afhangt van het ongeluk van allen, wensen oorlog." "De hoogste eer zal hún ten deel vallen, die een oorlog zullen hebben verhinderd, die door hun vernuft of hun beleid de eendracht zullen hebben hersteld; tenslotte aan hem die er op alle manieren op uit is, niet om zoveel mogelijk soldaten en belegering werktuigen bij elkaar te brengen, maar om te zorgen dat die niet nodig zijn."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2023
"With what face should you dare to recommend the Christian religion to an unbelieving nation, as the religion of peace, when you yourselves are never at peace, but engaged in bitter quarrels and hostilities among each other, without the least intermission?"
November 5, 2018
Недавно исполнилось 500 лет с момента первой публикации книги, а она все ещё крайне актуальна. Страшно? Страшно.
April 24, 2021
“İnsan konuşma yetisine sahip tek varlık olmasına rağmen aynı zamanda barıştan en uzakta tek varlıktır.”
Öyle anlaşılması zor bir kitap değil, basit bir anlatım.
Öyle anlaşılması zor bir kitap değil, basit bir anlatım.
September 1, 2022
A pity he could not deliver this speech. So applicable for the nobles and kings.
Peace brings so much more good and prosperity. With war all sides become impoverished.
Peace brings so much more good and prosperity. With war all sides become impoverished.
August 14, 2020
A pesar que fue escrito en 1516 sigue vigente. Me uno a su lamento. Ojalá y en medio de ésta onda de nacionalismos y gente clamando por guerra en nombre de la " identidad" se atreviera a meditar sobre las consecuencias de lo que está pidiendo y los horrores de la guerra en donde no hay ganadores, apenas vencidos y mercenarios ricos e impunes.
June 8, 2015
This is a treatise that bears continous re-reading because of how perennial it is.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews