ERAST1AN1SM 



2959 



ERCOLE DA FERRARA 



theology was his edition of the 

 New Testament, 1516, the Greek 

 text with a Latin translation, his 

 treatment of which entitles him to 

 be called the pioneer of Biblical 

 criticism. The Enchiridion Militis 

 Christiani (Dagger or Manual of the 

 Christian soldier), 1502, is an 

 attack on the inefficacy of formal 

 religion. Other famous treatises 

 are Encomium Moriae (Praise of 

 Folly), 1509, a satire on clerical 

 abuses and human follies, and Col- 

 loquia, 1516, specially a castiga- 

 tion of the vices of priests and 

 others. Much of his correspondence 

 throws light on the manners and 

 customs of the England of his day. 

 Erasmus has been much criti- 

 cised for the part he played in the 

 Reformation and his attitude to- 

 wards Luther. " Erasmus laid the 

 egg and Luther hatched it," it was 

 said. The truth is that Erasmus 

 was a scholar, not a theologian ; 

 he was not the stuff of which re- 

 ligious zealots or martyrs are made. 

 To use his own words, " I am afraid 

 if I were put to the trial, I should 

 imitate S. Peter." While conscious 

 of the faults of Roman Catholicism, 

 he always remained a Catholic, and 

 while acknowledging the need of 

 religious reform, he clearly saw the 

 dangers that would inevitably fol- 

 low extremist efforts in that direc- 

 tion. See Humanists ; Renaissance. 



J. H. Freese 



Bibliography. Collected Works, 

 ed. J. Glorious (Le Clerc), 10 vols., 

 Leyden, 1703-6. Lives, by R. B. 

 Drummond, 1873, R. C. Jebb, 1890, 

 E. F. H. Capey, 1902 (with biblio- 

 graphy). The Epistles of E. (to his 

 51st year), Eng. trans, with com- 

 mentary, F. M. Nichols, 1901-4 ; 

 Opus Epistolarum Erasmi, ed. P. S. 

 Allen, 1906 ; The Age of Erasmus, 

 P. S. Allen, 1914. 



Erastianism. Term specially 

 applied to the view of Church 

 policy which regarded the Church 

 as mainly or solely a department of 

 the state. Its upholders urged that 

 while the choice and practice of re- 

 ligion was a matter for the in- 

 dividual conscience, the external 

 organization of churches includ- 

 ing the appointment of ministers 

 was a function of the State. In a 

 general sense, Erastianism means 

 the doctrines of Thomas Erastus. 



Erastus, THOMAS (1524-83). 

 Swiss theologian. His family name 

 was Lieber or Lie bier, of which 

 Erastus (beloved) is the Greek 

 form. Born at Baden, Switzerland, 

 of peasant origin, he studied theo- 

 logy at Basel, and medicine arid 

 philosophy at Padua. In 1558 he 

 became professor of medicine at 

 Heidelberg, and later of ethics at 

 Basel. A strong opponent of Cal- 

 vinism, he upheld the Zwinglian 

 doctrine. In an important post- 



humous work, he maintained that 

 the offences of Christians should 

 be punished rather by the civil 

 power than the ecclesiastical (see 

 The Theses of Erastus touching 

 Excommunication, Eng. trans. R. 

 Lee, 1844). 



Erasure (Lat. e, out ; radere, to 

 scratch). Word meaning to ob- 

 literate, used mainly in connexion 

 with written documents. In a legal 

 document an erasure may be fatal 

 to its validity, unless it can be 

 proved that it was made before 

 the document was executed. The 

 parties concerned should initial the 

 place where the erasure is made. 



Eratosthenes (c. 284-204 B.C.). 

 Greek geographer, mathematician, 

 astronomer, critic, and poet. Born 

 at Gyrene, he studied at Alexandria 

 and then at Athens, whence he 

 was summoned in 235 by Ptolemy 

 Euergetes to take charge of the 

 library at Alexandria, a post which 

 he held until his death. His chief 

 work, Geographica, was a treatise 

 on physical, mathematical (based 

 on his method of measuring the 

 earth), and political geography. 

 His mathematical works included 

 a treatise On Means ; the Koskinon 

 (sieve) was a mechanical device for 

 finding prime numbers. He also 

 wrote an astronomical poem, Her- 

 mes, a description of the heavens 

 and the mythological legends asso- 

 ciated with the stars ; a Chrono- 

 graphiaor Annals; a valuable list of 

 the victors in the Olympic games ; 

 and a history of old comedy. 



Erbium. Metallic element of 

 the rare earth erbia, which is its 

 oxide. Its atomic weight has been 

 determined as 167 '7, and its speci- 

 fic gravity as 4 '77 ; but while pure 

 compounds have been prepared, 

 the element has not yet been 

 isolated. The oxide was first recog- 

 nized in 1843. With dysprosium, 

 holmium, and thulium it forms the 

 erbia sub-group of rare earths, all 

 of which are included in the 

 yttrium group. Erbia is found in 

 almost all the rare earths, but is 

 most conveniently extracted from 

 zenotine, fergusonite, euxenite, 

 polychrase, and blomstrandin. 



Er cilia y Zuniga, ALOSSO DE 

 (1533-95). Spanish poet. He was 

 a native of Madrid, and became 

 attendant to 

 Philip II, 

 whom he ac- 

 companied to 

 England in 

 1554. Ercilla 

 fought in Chile 

 against the 

 Araucanians. 

 The closing 



Alexandra Chatrian, 

 French author 



poet poverty and 



neglect. His poems are mainly 

 heroic, notably La Araucana, which 

 embodied his war experiences. 



Erckmann- Chatrian. Com- 

 pound signature of two successful 

 literary partners and collaborators. 

 They were Emile Erckmann, born 

 May 20, 1822, 

 at Phalsbourg, 

 and Alexandre 

 Chatrian, born 

 Dec. 18, 1826, 

 at Soldaten- 

 thal, both in 

 Lorraine. They 

 began to col- 

 laborate in 

 1848, but first 

 won success 

 in 1859 with 

 L'illustre Doc- 

 teurMatheus. In 1862 they began, 

 with L'invasion : ou le f ou Yegof, a 

 series of novels which included 

 Histoire d'un Conscrit and Water- 

 loo, which remain among the best 

 war stories ever written. Indus- 

 trious playwrights, also in collabo- 

 ration, they wrote Le Juif Polonais 

 (Theatre Cluny, June, 1869), fami- 

 liar in English 

 to all playgoers 

 as The "Bells. 

 Another of 

 their p lays, 

 L'ami Fritz, 

 187 6, re tains its 

 popularity in 

 various modi- 

 fied forms. 

 The collabora- 

 tion was ter- 

 minated by a 

 difference of 

 opinion on money matters. Chat- 

 rian died in Paris, Sept. 4, 1890. 

 Erckmann died at Luneville, 

 March 13, 1899. 



Ercole da Ferrara (c. 1462- 

 1531). Italian painter. Born at 

 Ferrara, little is known of him 

 except that he 

 was in the ser- 

 vice of the 

 Duke of Fer- 

 rara from 

 1492-99, and 

 died in Fer- 

 rara in 1531. 

 Among his 

 best works, 

 distinguished 

 by the warmth 



Of their COl- From an old engraving 



ouring, are The Madonna and 

 Child, and Conversion of S. Paul 

 in the National Gallery, London. 

 His real name appears to have been 

 -'Ercole di Giulio Grandi, and his 

 pictures have often been con- 

 founded with those of his fellow- 

 townsman and contemporary, Er- 

 cole di Roberti Grandi (c. 1455-96), 

 probably his brother. The latter 



Erckmann, 

 French author 



