Voices for Tolerance
In an Age of Persecution

At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Europe's leading intellectuals looked forward to a world enlightened by the insights of the ancient Greeks and Romans, by the advance of Christian education, and by an openness to other cultures and languages. Central to this humanist vision of a "New World Order" was the hope that war, especially between the European princes, could be stopped. Desiderius Erasmus, leading spokesman for the humanist peace movement, advocated toleration and an end to all war, even with Christendom's great rival, the Ottoman Turk.