{"id":815,"date":"2022-08-31T13:23:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T11:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/?post_type=verhaal&p=519"},"modified":"2023-01-09T21:59:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T20:59:47","slug":"studievrienden","status":"publish","type":"verhaal","link":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/stories\/studievrienden\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus & Luther in Frisia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the location of the\u00a0L\u00fctetsburg<\/a>, i.e. the\u00a0burg<\/em>\u00a0(castle) of L\u00fctet Manningha, who had this fortress built in the fourteenth century. One of his descendants was Unico Manningha. Unico was born in 1529 as the fourteenth child of Dodo Manningha and Sophia Ripperda. In 1549, Unico started studying at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, where he befriended the sons of Martin Luther. They presented him with a book in which their father had handwritten several notes. After his study, Unico returned to Ostfriesland and bought the L\u00fctetsburg from his brother. Between 1557 and 1576, he had it rebuilt in Renaissance style. As a Calvinist, he also used the\u00a0burg<\/em>\u00a0to offer asylum to Protestant refugees from the northern part of the Netherlands. One of these refugees was\u00a0Philips van Marnix van Sint Aldegonde<\/a>, the reputed author of the\u00a0Wilhelmus<\/em>\u00a0(the Dutch national anthem), who wrote his\u00a0De byencorf<\/em>\u00a0(The beehive), a satire about the Catholic church, while staying at the L\u00fctetsburg. Unico Manningha died in 1588 at the L\u00fctetsburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book that Unico received as a gift from Luther\u2019s sons was not just any book: it was a copy of Erasmus\u2019 Latin translation of the New Testament, printed in 1527 in Basel, Switzerland, by Johann Froben. The first edition of this translation was already published in 1516, so even before Luther started the Reformation by publishing his theses in Wittenberg. According to Erasmus, the official Latin translation by the Catholic church (the so-called Vulgate) was incomplete, unclear, and at times incorrect. To justify his own translation, he added a Greek source text to his publication as well as detailed annotations about his translation decisions. Luther probably bought this copy<\/a>, which was the fourth edition of Erasmus\u2019 translation, in 1528.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairly soon after 1517, Erasmus and Luther had become opponents on principle. Like Luther, Erasmus objected to essential aspects of the Catholic church, but he mainly criticized its representatives and their unchristian behaviour rather than the doctrine of the church, and unity within Christendom was very important to him. Luther had other priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Handwritten notes by Luther (in black, just the one on these two pages, on the left) and Regnerus Praedinius (in red, everywhere). On the fore edge (right) it says in Greek capitals: New Testament.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their differences are made clear in the margins of this book. Luther has annotated the text in about 470 different places. Sometimes he only underlined text, but he often wrote notes in the margin to explain or contradict Erasmus\u2019 printed text. For example, Erasmus concludes the annotation of his translation of Lucas 2:14 with the comment (in Latin): \u201cThis should be enough, I think, for an honest reader.\u201d Luther added in the margin (in Latin): \u201cI am not an honest reader and you are not an honest writer.\u201d All in all, Luther\u2019s notes give a lively impression of his personality and his feud with Erasmus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dialogue between Erasmus and Luther regarding Luke 2:14 on p. 256 of Erasmus’ Annotations.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unico Manningha did not have this book in his possession for very long. At some point between 1550 and 1555, he passed it on to Christoffel van Ewsum, a nobleman from the Ommelanden, who in turn gifted it to Regnerus Praedinius, headmaster of the Latin school in the city of Groningen. Praedinius wrote on the endpaper (in Latin): \u201cAfter Lord Christoffel van Ewsum received this book from Unico Manningha, after Manningha had returned to the fatherland (i.e. Frisia<\/em>), he passed it on as a gift to me. 1555.\u201d Praedinius also added many notes to the book, even more than Luther. He enters into discussions with Luther and defends Erasmus\u2019 points of view<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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