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598] 7 598,,, FROM CHRISTOPHER oF UTENHEIM. Deventer MS. 91, f. 50. Basle. D. p. 186: F. p. 159: HN: Lond. iu. 28: LB. 258. 13 July 1517. [The marked difference between the manuscript and the printed text cannot have arisen through any fault of the copyist. It is clear, therefore, that the manuscript represents the letter as it was actually written and received; and that the printed text is a version prepared by Erasmus or one of his allies out of regard for the credit of the Bishop’s scholarship. For examples of amplification in printing see Epp. 333, 335, 768, 831. But these are Erasmus’ own letters. The freedom considered permissible in editing a friend’s letter is in keeping with the critical standards of the period ; cf. Ep. 663. 105 n. In spite of the slight divergence in date, this is clearly the letter mentioned in Ep. 594. 13. ‘The divergence could be removed by changing viii in the monthdate of Ep. 594 to xiii. But cf. Ep. 693. 2 n. Christopher of Utenheim, sw. of Strasburg (c. 1450—16 March 1527), belonged to a noble Alsatian family. He received a prebend, and in Sept. 1473 the Provostship, of St. Thomas’ church at Strasburg. On 18 Dec. 1473 he was incorporated at Basle as M.A. from Erfurt, and became Rector of the University ; receiving a canonry in the cathedral, of which in 1486 he became Custos. On 27 June 1494 he resigned his Strasburg office to a nephew ; and in dissatisfaction with the condition of the Church he proposed to retire and form a community in the Black Forest, inviting Wimpfeling to be one of his companions (ef. Lond. xxiii. 10, LB. 1008). He was prevented, however, by his appointment to administer the see of Basle in 1499, and by his election as Bishop, 1 Dec. 1502. He was strongly in favour of reform, and introduced into his diocese the annual synods which the Council of Basle had recommended. To Erasmus on his second visit to Basle he showed great kindness (cf. Epp. 412. 10, 24, 413. 18, 414. 12); and at first was inclined to support Luther. But with the progress of the reform movement he soon felt himself out of sympathy, and in 1519, his health failing, he obtained the appointment of a coadjutor in his see, and retired to his episcopal residence at Porrentruy. In Dec. 1526 his coadjutor joined the Reformers, and he was left unsupported, whilst his tenure of the see was disputed. An edition of a sermon by John Raulin (Basle, J. Bergman, 22 June 1498) is dedicated to him by Sebastian Brant. Erasmus addressed to him treatises De interdicto esu carnium, Basle, Froben, 6 Aug. 1522, and De Dei misericordia, ibid., Sept. 1524; the latter in honour of a chapel built by the Bishop at Porrentruy, where Erasmus visited him in April 1524. See E. Vischer in Herzog, xx (1908); Herzog in Beitr. 2. Gesch. Basels, i. (1839) ; Vautrey, Huéques de Bale, ch. 30; GC. xv. ; and ADB.] CHRISTOPHORVS DEI GRATIA EPISCOPVS BASILIENSIS ERASMO ROTERODAMO, VIRO NOSTRAE AETATIS OMNIVM DOCTISSIMO NOBISQVE IN CHRISTO VNICE DILIGENDO, SALVTEM. INCREDIBILE est quanta perfusi laeticia simus, Erasme celeberrime, qum ex hoe tuo grammatophoro te valere accoepimus. Facit enim amor, quem tecum superiori anno Basileae contraximus, vt tua de valetudine curam non gerere non possimus. Et quis literarum amator non gereret? Dum enim Erasmo valetudinis aduersae quidpiam incumberet, non dubium si et Musae omnes compaterentur omnesque obticescerent, sicque tota respublica literaria periclitaretur. 2. ex add. D. Fecit H. 4. D: possumus MS. 5. gereret MS. : gerat D. Dum... 7. periclitaretur MS. (7. ommesque) : Nam si quid Erasmo valetudinis aduersae incumberet, opinor et omnes honestas disciplinas indolituras, simulque totam rempublicam literariam periclitaturam D (incumberet post simulque D: transfert F) 2. grammatophoro] Nepos; ef. Ep. 595. 11 n. n
