Erasmus and István Magyari on the Justification of War

Abstract

Warfare ideologies in Europe basically changed in the Early Modern period. This period is the age of Reformation, of which Desiderius Erasmus was one of the earliest prominent thinkers. Concerning warfare, Erasmus can be understood as a representative of pacifism, but at the same time, it can be argued that he was the first reformer with a specific theory of justification of war. In this respect, Erasmus had several followers from every part of Europe, including Hungary. This Hungarian “apprentice” was István Magyari, who was also the first representative of Hungarian military science. This paper uncovers and examines the common points of Erasmus and Magyari in their theory of justification of war, and Magyari’s divergence from Erasmus’ thinking.