Erasmus House
The Erasmus House, also known as the Erasmus House Museum, is a museum in Anderlecht, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, devoted to the Dutch humanist writer and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam.
The house, of late Gothic or early Renaissance style, was built between 1460 and 1515 under the tutelage of Peter Wijchmans, canon and schoolmaster of the chapter of Anderlecht, and a friend of Erasmus. Erasmus stayed there for five months from May to October 1521, working on his translation of his Novum Testamentum from Greek into Latin. The house was converted to a museum in 1931. Its garden is divided into two sections, both inspired by the spirit of Erasmus: one through art and philosophy and the other, designed by René Pechère, through typical medicinal plants of the 16th century. The complex was designated a historic monument in 1938.
The Erasmus House stands close to the 14th-century Collegiate Church of St. Peter and St. Guido, a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Guy of Anderlecht, who was buried there in the 11th century, as well as the old beguinage of Anderlecht, a late medieval lay convent, now a museum dedicated to religious community life. Both institutions are now managed jointly as the Erasmus House & Beguinage Museums. This area is served by Saint-Guidon/Sint-Guido metro station on line 5 of the Brussels Metro.
History
Construction ()
The red-bricked building known today as the Erasmus House was constructed in stages between 1460 and 1515 in late Gothic or early Renaissance style. This property was once the country estate of the family of Brussels bankers and money changers Suweel. At that time, Anderlecht was still a village on the outskirts of Brussels counting barely 300 inhabitants.Enclosed by a brick wall, the house consists of several wings. The oldest part, high, narrow, with a gently sloping roof, was built around 1460 by Peeter Wijchmans, official money changer of the City of Brussels. The long wing to its right was built in 1515, as indicated by the wall anchors on the façade, for, canon and schoolmaster of the chapter of Anderlecht, who had probably inherited the property. The date of construction of the building's lowest part is unknown; however, it is known that it was used as a stable at the end of the 16th century. It now houses the museum's reception. The ensemble is preceded by an interior courtyard.
A man of culture, Canon Wijchmans gladly welcomed scholars and intellectuals to his residence in Anderlecht, among them the famous Dutch humanist writer and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam with whom a friendship was established. It is possible that Erasmus, a great traveller, stayed several times with his friend Wijchmans, but it is from his five-month stay from May to October 1521 that traces remain.
Visit of Erasmus (1521)
Departing from the nearby Flemish town of Leuven, where he lectured at the University, Erasmus arrived in Anderlecht in May 1521. This move was first of all made for health reasons as he suffered from persistent fevers, and as he wrote himself, believed the country life would do him good. In September 1521, he sent these words to the French scholar and humanist Guillaume Budé:There were also political and religious reasons behind his decision; Martin Luther had just been excommunicated and the reformer's sympathisers were hunted down. In addition, Erasmus's attitude towards the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical institution aroused strong criticism at the time from traditional theologians. His books and ideas contributed to the blossoming Protestant Reformation by advocating a personal faith and the active practice of evangelical values, though he never became a Protestant himself and died within the Catholic faith. Erasmus thus considered it prudent to move away from the University of Leuven, a place of passionate theological debates, for protection, by getting closer to the court of the young emperor Charles V, established at the Coudenberg Palace in the heart of Brussels, to whom he had been appointed adviser a few years earlier.
During his time in Anderlecht, Erasmus worked on a copy of his Novum Testamentum with a view to editing a new translation from Greek into Latin. For the same reasons of personal safety, however, Erasmus left Anderlecht for Basel in October 1521, after just five months.
Later history
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Erasmus House became a civilian residence before it was purchased, in 1931, by the local council, which turned it into a museum dedicated to the great Renaissance figure. Following a restoration campaign led by the architect Charles Van Elst in a spirit of the purest historicism, the Erasmus House Museum was inaugurated on 24 September 1932. The house was classified as a historic monument on 25 October 1938, and the garden was inscribed on the safeguard list as a site in 1998.Museum
The museum is dedicated to Erasmus's life and work and evokes the intellectual world of the Renaissance through a collection of artworks presented in an interior reconstituted using Gothic and Renaissance furniture. The core of the collection is made up of numerous 16th-century books, retracing the thought of this humanist who deeply marked European civilisation. In addition to an important collection of Erasmus's writings, the museum also houses paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Cornelis Massijs and Joos van Cleve, as well as 17th-century murals. Furthermore, there are various sculptures, historical furniture, as well as a study centre. Special exhibitions and cultural events also take place there on a regular basis.The museum is open every day except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On the first Sunday of every month, admission to the museum is free.