Testament and of the Greek Fathers. He was on terms of the closest
intimacy with the leading Humanists of Germany, and shared all their
contempt for scholastic theologians and much of their distrust of the
Pope and the Roman Curia. Hence the sympathy and encouragement of
Erasmus were not wanting to Luther during the early days of his revolt
and before the true object of the movement was rightly understood; but
once Erasmus realised that union with Luther meant separation from the
Church he became more reserved in his approval, and finally took the
field against him. In his work, /De Libero Arbitrio/, he opposed the
teaching of Luther on free will, and before his death he received a
benefice from Paul III. which he accepted, and an offer of a
cardinal's hat which he declined. His life as an ecclesiastic was
certainly not edifying, and his hatred of ignorance, antiquated
educational methods, and abuses may have led him into excesses, but
his theology was still the theology of the Middle Ages rather than
that of the German Reformers.

In France the earliest of the Humanists were Nicholas of Clemanges and
Gerson, both rectors of Paris University, and both well-known
theologians. They were specially active in putting an end to the Great
Western Schism, but in doing so they laid down certain principles that
led almost inevitably to Gallicanism. The influence of these two men
did not, however, change the policy of Paris University. For years
France lagged behind in the classical movement, and it was only in the
early portion of the sixteenth century that French Humanism made
itself felt.

The movement gained ground by the exertions of individuals and of
literary societies, by the results of the activity of the printing
press, and the protection of influential patrons at the Court of