New Evidence on Erasmus’ Youth

Abstract

A series of accounts in the archive of St Saviour’s Collegiate Church in Utrecht, kept in the Utrecht Record Office, contains information on Gerardus Helye, Erasmus’ father, showing that he functioned as vice-pastor in the small town of Woerden from 1471 onwards and then from 1476 onwards fulfilled this same function for a couple of years in Gouda. This article presents and analyses these new data and considers their implications for the reconstruction of Erasmus’ early life until his departure from Steyn monastery.