"Luther was guilty of two great crimes - he struck the Pope in his crown, and the monks in their belly"

Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch theologian and humanist who lived throughout the Protestant Reformation. In this quote, he is referring to the actions of Martin Luther, the German monk who is credited with sparking the Reformation. Erasmus is saying that Luther dedicated 2 excellent criminal activities: attacking the authority of the Pope by challenging the Catholic Church's teachings, and assaulting the wealth and power of the monastic orders. By doing so, Luther was challenging the status quo and the class structure of the Church. Erasmus was crucial of Luther's actions, thinking that they were too extreme and might result in further departments within the Church. He believed that Luther should have taken a more moderate approach to reform, rather than attacking the Church's authority and wealth. Erasmus' quote is a suggestion of the power of Luther's actions and the impact they had on the Church and the Reformation.