Bodleian Library, Oxford - Desiderius Erasmus - the most brillant representative of humanistic culture at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and the head of a movement in the interest of a reformation of ecclesiastical abuses which prepared the way for the Protestant Reformation. His life divides itself naturally into three periods; the first, lasting till 1507, was the period of gradual emancipation from the fetters of his age; the second lasted till 1519, and marked his greatest reputation and most efficient reformatory activity; the last is the period of conflict, isolation, and final abandonment of the Reformation movement. Born in Rotterdam 28 October 1465 and died in Basel 1536 - ?TopFoto / Woodmansterne