The ''Handbook of the Christian Knight'' (), sometimes translated as ''The Manual of the Christian Knight'' or ''The Handbook of the Christian Soldier'' or just the Enchiridion, is a work written by Dutch scholar
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and theologian, educationalist, satirist, and p ...
in 1501. It was first published in English in 1533 in a translation by
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...
; in 1545
Miles Coverdale published an abridged translation.
During a stay in
Tournehem, a castle near
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France.
It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...
in the north of modern-day France, Erasmus encountered an uncivilized, yet friendly
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer.
Etymology
The wo ...
who was an acquaintance of Jacob Batt, Erasmus' close friend. On the request of the soldier's pious wife, who felt slighted by her husband's behaviour, Battus asked Erasmus to write a text which would convince the soldier of the necessity of mending his ways, which Erasmus did. The resulting work was eventually re-drafted by Erasmus and expanded into the ''Enchiridion militis Christiani''. The ''Enchiridion'' is an appeal on Christians to act in accordance with the Christian faith rather than merely performing the necessary rites. It became one of Erasmus' most influential works.
''Enchiridion'' makes reference to the
Pauline "spiritual armor" metaphor of Ephesians 6, which in the 16th century only gained in popularity as a result of Erasmus' work.
Scholars believe that in
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
's famous artwork ''
Knight, Death, and Devil'', the image of the knight (shown dressed in armor) can be interpreted from an Erasmian viewpoint to represent the knight who is able to vanquish his enemies by ignoring them "in his pursuit of Christian virtue".
Footnotes
Further reading
*
External links
''Handbook of the Christian Knight''at the Library of Liberty
{{Authority control
1503 books
16th-century Christian texts
Books by Desiderius Erasmus
16th-century books in Latin
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
*works
Chivalry