Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus wrote the book for which he is most famous in the space of a week in 1509, when he was staying with the English statesman and fellow humanist Sir Thomas More, to whom the book is dedicated. . . . Written in Latin, it proved instantly popular on its publication in 1511, going into forty-three editions within Erasmus's lifetime. . . . Erasmus was the leading humanist scholar of his day. A former Augustinian monk, he had left the cloister, disillusioned with the rigid dogmatism of medieval scholasticism, to immerse himself in classical studies. . . . His writings helped prepare the way for Luther's Reformation, and although he was originally sympathetic to Luther's views, describing him to Pope Leo X as 'a mighty trumpet of Gospel truth,' he regretted the break in Church unity. Later he was very critical of Luther, and both Catholics and Protestants came to regard him with suspicion." [Furtado: 1001 Days]