Erasmus

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus

I have heard of Erasmus Mundus first before i learned about this Dutch Philosopher. When I got this BM, I thought this must be the same genius which the student exchange programme is named after. And yes it is. The Erasmus Programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students)for European students and Erasmus Mundus is for non-Europeans, and in fact open for Filipino students.

Copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus
Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a "pure" Latin style and enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists." He has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists." Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament. These raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.

Erasmus lived through the Reformation period and he consistently criticized some contemporary popular Christian beliefs. In relation to clerical abuses in the Church, Erasmus remained committed to reforming the Church from within. He also held to Catholic doctrines such as that of free will, which some Protestant Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered many Protestants, such as Martin Luther, as well as conservative Catholics. He died in Basel in 1536 and was buried in the formerly Catholic cathedral there, recently converted to a Reformed church.