Page 619 [619]
ERASMUS’ EARLY LIFE 583
Brethren of the Common Life. Here they remained for between
two and three years‘, and then returned“ to Gouda. The letter
to Rome in two passages “ represents Erasmus as being just fifteen
at the time; the figure cannot possibly be right, but the double
reference to his birthday probably indicates correctly the season
of the year. When the boys returned the guardians renewed their
efforts to persuade them to the monastic life. Peter soon gave way,
but Erasmus held out for a while longer. Then followed the period
of dejection, the chance meeting with Cornelius of Woerden, the
first acquaintance with Steyn and the decision to enter it on trial.
The probation lasted one year or perhaps two“, and at the end of
that time Erasmus took on himself the vows of an Augustinian canon
in the priory of Steyn.
This house had been founded in 1419 by James, son of Gyrard
who became its first prior, on lands in the district of Steyn given by
John, Bastard of Blois. It was situated in the parish of Haastrecht.
but on the other side of the Yssel, and within a mile of Gouda; and
thus though dedicated to St. Gregory, from its nearness to Gouda
it was known as Emmaus. Its statutes were modelled on those
of the Chapter of Windesheim, a congregation which, headed by
the Augustinian convent of Windesheim near Zwolle and com¬
prising nearly a hundred houses of both sexes, had adopted a
uniform and more rigorous rule than was observed in most Augus¬
tinian monasteries. But it did not belong to that congregation, for
in 1444 it united with the Priories of St. Mary the Virgin at Sion
near Delft and St. Michael at Hem near Schoonhoven, in forming
a separate Chapter with Sion at its head, into which other neighbour¬
ing convents of both sexes were afterwards received. At the time
of Erasmus’ entry Steyn was under the direction of John, son of
Christian, its fifth prior. On 16 July 1549 the monastery was
burned to the ground and the monks were shortly afterwards located
in Gouda by the Town Council, which had acquired the lordship of
the lands of Steyn. The site of the priory is now occupied by a
farmhouse known as ‘het Klooster™.’
The date of the entry into Steyn must be placed as early as
possible to accommodate Reyner Snoy’s statement © that Erasmus and
Wm. Herman were nearly ten years together there. If Erasmus left
Deventer in 1484, he cannot have entered Steyn before 1487—a date
© Cannos ferme tres’ ii. 52: ‘bien¬
nium et eo amplius,’ Lond. xxiy. 5,
LB. App. 442.
* For an incident which occurred
on one of his journeys by barge during
these years see the Apologia referred to
RASO LO I
‘8 ‘vixdum egressusannum decimum¬
quintum’ and ‘vixdum aetatis annum
ingressus decimum sextum.’
4° The letter to Rome seems to imply
two periods of a year and two cere¬
monies of initiation. For the require¬
ments of the Augustinian Constitutions
see Ep. 296. 33 n,
S One of Erasmus’ Carmina Varia in
Scriverius’ manuscript, LB. viii. 570 F
—571 3, is addressed to St. Gregory.
5 See van Heussen, i. 193-5, 327-8,
415-6, ii. 125-6, and Ruelens’ repro¬
duction (Brussels, 1864, pp. i-iv) of
Herasmi Silua Carminum, Gouda, 1513,
giving a section of a sixteenth-century
map, in which Gouda, Steyn, and Hem
are shown; and containing an intro¬
duction in which Erasmus’ early life
and companions are discussed with
great care and detail.
In the Preface to Herasmi Silua
Carminum, Gouda, 1513.