Volumes 71-84 of the Collected Works of Erasmus contain Erasmus' arguments with his numerous critics - English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian, both Catholic and Protestant, - on a range of theological, educational, literary, classical, social, and philological topics. Volume 83 includes four treatises: Apology against Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples; An Appendix on the Writings of Josse Clichtove; Refutation of the Accusations of Josse Clichtove against the Suasoria of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in Praise of Marriage; and The Reply of Erasmus to the Disputation of a Certain Phimostomus on Divorce. In these essays Erasmus discusses popular concerns such as the relations between the sexes, celibacy, marriage, divorce, and how to live a good life. Modern readers will be surprised to discover how close the problems that preoccupied Erasmus are to our own concerns today.
Professor Bedouelle's introduction provides an indispensable guide to the major points of controversy between Erasmus and Lefèvre, Clichtove, and Dietenberger.