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Primary Source Critique:

Erasmus “The Praise of Folly” Excerpt (1509)
Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. 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, 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 continued to
recognize 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 ("Via Media") approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both
camps.
 Name__________________________________ Date_____________ Period______

Primary Source Critique:

Erasmus “The Praise of Folly” Excerpt (1509)

First annotate the selection of text from “The Praise of Folly” by Erasmus, a northern Renaissance
humanist, while focusing on his statements of the church. Then complete a primary source critique
below:

Paragraph 1: Summarize the content of the text:

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Paragraph 2: An analysis of the source
C-ontext, A-udience, P-oint of View, P-urpose, and Significance
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