Dutch scholar and theologian Desiderius Erasmus was BOTD in 1466. Born in Rotterdam, the illegitimate son of a Catholic priest, he was educated in monastic schools, and later joined the Order of St Augustine. As a young monk, he wrote a series of passionate letters to fellow novitiate Servatius Rogerus, whom he called “half my soul”, writing “I have wooed you both unhappily and relentlessly”. While tutoring in Paris, he was dismissed suddenly, which many biographers have speculated was because of an affair with a male student. Ordained as a priest in 1492, he was appointed secretary to the Bishop of Cambral, eventually receiving a papal dispensation to allow him to pursue academia. He became one of the foremost Humanist scholars of the Renaissance, preparing Latin and Greek translations of the New Testament, and corresponding with theologians Martin Luther and Thomas More. In his writing and teaching, Erasmus was careful to preserve academic independence and avoid partisan debate, promoting concepts of free will and encouraging religious tolerance. His best-known writings include In Praise of Folly, a satirical attack on popular superstitions and the rituals of the Church, and Education of a Christian Prince, written as an instruction manual for King Charles V of Spain. By the 1530s, his writings accounted for up to one in five of all book sales in Europe. No evidence exists of any further same-sex relationships. In later life, he wrote about the evils of sodomy and promoted the virtues of heterosexual marriage. He died in 1536, aged 69. The European Commission’s Erasmus programme, which funds education and training across Europe, is named in his honour.