OCR
35 46 LETTERS OF ERASMUS [rer non potest quantopere sim delectatus. De composita lite Reuchlinica vtinam vera nuncies! Nunciauit mihi quidam Alcmariensis te alteras ad nos dedisse literas, verum eas nondum accepi. Bene vale, doctissime Caesari. Antwerpie postridie assumpte virginis. Anno. M.cocco.xvii. 623. From THomas MORE. Deventer MS. 91, f. 94. London. E. p. 177: F. p. 317: HN: Lond. vii. 4: LB. 522. 19 August (1517). [Ammonius death can be dated in 1517 from Ep. 642 and many other letters. From evidence now available it is possible to decide between 17 and 18 Aug. as the precise day (cf. Ep. 218 introd.). On 17 Aug. he signed his will (Knight, Life of Colet, p. 213), presumably at Westminster. A letter from Vannes (p. 76) to Wolsey states that his death occurred, after twenty hours’ illness (cf. Ep. 639. 22 n.) at 9 p.m. (hesterna nocte hora nona; Brewer ii. 3602. Cf. also Ep. 624). This must have been 17 Aug.; for his death was known to Foxe at St. Cross, by Winchester, on 18 Aug.; when he wrote to Claymond, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, informing him of the fact, and conferring upon him the living of Bishop’s Cleeve, in Gloucestershire, which he had given to Ammonius only fifteen days before, on a vacancy also arising through the sweating-sickness (Orig. letter at C.C.C.). It may be noted that Ammonius’ canonry at Westminster was filled with almost equal promptitude, being conferred by Henry upon Linacre on 19 Aug. (Brewer ii. 3624). And the purpose of Vannes? letter to abandon his hopes at Louvain and take Mosellanus place at Leipzig, whither he travelled through Basle (Lond. xx. 27-31 ; LB. 736-9, 787) but not Nuremberg (Lond. xxx. 41, LB. 740; but cf. Heumann, p. 213). He matriculated at Leipzig in the summer of 1525, but on 1 (Sept. ?) he left (see EHE. p. 42; Hartfelder, Melanchth. Paedagog. p. 26 ; and Heumann, p. 214), perhaps as being suspected of Lutheranism (Lond. xxx. 44, LB. 823). He next returned to Tournay (cf Ep. 616. 14 n.) ; but in Dec. 1526 had left, and had been some monthsin Holland(Basle MS. Goclenii Epist., f. 25°). In Nov. 1527 he was perhaps with Goclen at Louvain (ibid. f. 5v°), and in Feb. 1528 Erasmus was trying to procure his return to Leipzig (BE. 83). In April he was living with Eicholtz (Ep. 866) at Cologne (Basle MS. G. IT. 24. 130) ; and there was talk of making him professor there (Krafft, p. 165). In 1529 Soter published for him De sono literarum praesertim Graecarum, with a preface to Erasmus; an essay on the ‘ Erasmian’ pronunciation of Greek. After a false report of his death in 1529 (EE.? 75), he died at Louvain, and was buried in the Franciscan church, being described on his tomb as ‘presbyter Deo deuotus’., He translated into Latin two books of Chrysostom De sacerdotio, Antwerp, M. Hillen, 1526 (Maittaire ii. 673); and at his suggestion Martens printed two sermons of Gregory Nazianzen in Greek, s.a. See Sweert; Foppens; Nève, Renaissance en Belgique, pp. 200-3; and BE, He is not to be confused with Jas. Theodorici of Hoorn, to whom Ep. 940 is addressed. 622. 32. composita lite] The Papal commission had declared in Reuchlin’s favour, 2 July 1516; but at Hochstrat’s request Leo x had postponed action, He did not give judgement till 23 June 1520 — against Reuchlin. See Geiger, Reuchlin, pp. 319, 451 and Creighton y, pp. 36, 50. 33. nuncies] Ep. 615. 8 seq. 34. literas] Cf. Ep. 615. 3. 623. 1, Polgraui] See Ep. 499. 8 n.