Sixteenth-Century Catholic Criticism of Erasmus’ Edition of St Jerome

Abstract

Erasmus’ edition of St Jerome, along with his other publications, served as a target for Catholic criticism during the sixteenth century. Polemicists, censors, and rival editors scrutinized his editorial commentary, identifying numerous offensive passages that evinced impiety and heresy and that required excision. The thorough criticism demonstrates not only the attention that the patristic edition attracted during and after Erasmus’ lifetime. More important, it points to the fundamental theological impetus that animated the (in)famous editor.