Civilisations by Laurent Binet

Author:Laurent Binet
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473577091
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

From Friburg, 5 September 1534,

Erasmus

36. Letter from Erasmus to King Henry VIII

To the invincible king of England, Henry VIII, greetings from Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Your wisdom is without equal, and hence I have no doubt that you will divine, O great king, the purpose of this letter. I pick up my quill today to beg Your Majesty to spare the life of our great mutual friend, the distinguished Sir Thomas More.

May I remind you that it is not so long ago that you showered him with honours, and that was not by chance. You see him today as a traitor, a faithless friend, but did he betray you when he voluntarily resigned the task you had given him? Would a deceitful conspirator really have renounced the highest office in England next to your own?

You know, O king, that our More is incapable of doing anything to harm Your Majesty, because of the love he bears you.

It is true that, where religion is concerned, his piety can be somewhat irritating due to his naivety and tendency to superstition. But cannot a grown son forgive his father as his father once forgave that son? What does the oath of a poor, powerless man matter to one so great as you?

I implore you, O wise and invincible king, to put down your mighty sword and spare the head of our good More. By sparing a man of such remarkable piety and erudition that immortality is already within his grasp, the king of England will have burnished his own glory. If you truly wish to punish him, then exile him from your kingdom, O most dazzling of monarchs, and in that way demonstrate both your power and your mercy.

As for myself, I do not doubt that these words will touch the heart of he whom I taught Plutarch when he was still a most promising child, and who now, a full-grown man, has fulfilled those promises beyond all measure.

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