The Reformation · 1503
Handbook of the Christian Soldier
Enchiridion Militis Christiani
Desiderius Erasmus · c. 1466–1536
What it is
A layman's guide to the interior Christian life, arguing that ceremonies without charity are worthless and that a weaver at his loom may be holier than a monk in choir.
Why it lasted
The manifesto of Erasmian piety, ignored for fifteen years and then reprinted constantly once the Reformation made its arguments urgent.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next