Desiderius Erasmus (1466­1536) was a Dutch writer, theologian, and 
scholar. Erasmus is regarded as northern Europe’s greatest 
Renaissance intellectual. Called the “father of the Reformation,” 
Erasmus did not support Martin Luther’s reforms and wrote several 
tracts attacking him. Though he would remain a Roman Catholic all his 
life, Erasmus was extremely critical of corrupt church practices and 
rationalist Scholasticism. In his 1509 satire, The Praise of Folie  
(dedicated to Thomas More), Erasmus called for a return to simple 
Christian ethics.