Northern Renaissance · 1500-1536

Erasmus and the northern Renaissance

The most famous writer in Europe has no country and no palace: Erasmus of Rotterdam moves between printers, universities and friends. Students map his life and discuss his belief that education, not war, makes a good society.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1500 to AD 1530
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The most famous writer in Europe has no country and no palace: Erasmus of Rotterdam moves between printers, universities and friends. Students map his life and discuss his belief that education, not war, makes a good society.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe what humanists like Erasmus wanted to change in education and the Church.
  • Trace Erasmus's life on the map through at least four countries of today.
  • Explain how printing made Erasmus famous across Europe.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1500

From Rotterdam

Open the map in 1500 and find Rotterdam in the Low Countries. Then find Paris, Cambridge and Basel, where Erasmus later lived. Which borders and seas did he cross?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1500

Printers' towns

Turn on Spreads and play the printing press up to 1500. Does Basel already have a press? Why would a writer choose to live next to a printer?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1530

One language, many states

Jump to 1530 and zoom out over western Europe. Erasmus wrote in Latin to readers in every one of these states. Why could one language cross all these borders?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Erasmus wrote in Latin, not Dutch. Who could read Latin in 1500, and who could not?
  2. In The Praise of Folly he made fun of greedy clergy and vain scholars. Why use humour instead of an angry attack?
  3. Erasmus wanted to reform the Church but never left it. Luther broke away. Which was the wiser path?
  4. His friend Thomas More imagined a perfect island society called Utopia. What would your utopia include?
  5. Erasmus advised the young Charles V to avoid war. Is peace always the best advice for a ruler?
4

Game round

9 min

Play a round of Rule History as Moctezuma II, who ruled in the very years Erasmus wrote advice for young princes. After each ruling, ask: would Erasmus call this the act of a wise and peaceful prince?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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