Somewhere in his book Erasmus de Reiziger (Erasmus The Traveller), John Tholen writes: “Celebrities are often bombarded today by their fans, who hope to get a glimpse of their idol, or even receive a touch or signature.” (p. 175) Making a relaxed walk in the street is often difficult for them, for they are easily recognized, and soon they are surrounded by a crowd of fans, or people are gazing at them. Is it a surprise that they are recognized? For if you are a well-known personality, today everybody will have seen your face on social media, on television, in the cinema, in newspapers, etc. Even more, many celebrities stimulate that their face is published in the media, and they have their own social media channels that they use to become famous, for it’s a way to earn money and also more than that.
For us, being such a celebrity is a normal phenomenon; and we think that it’s a modern phenomenon. Before the invention of photography or otherwise of the cinema it did not happen, we think. Of course, before that there were also famous people, but being recognized when walking in the street in another town where you had never been before? Impossible, unless you were maybe a king, even if you were incognito. Impossible? It was what sometimes happened to Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466-1536) in later life when his fame was growing. And when he stayed somewhere there were always people who tried to get a glimpse of him, if not to get in touch with him, simply because he was a famous man.
Erasmus tells us about it in his letters. So, once on a journey along the Rhine his boat moored in Boppard, in Germany, for a customs inspection. During the stop, Erasmus was walking along the bank of the river when suddenly someone recognized him and told this to the customs officer. The latter shouted for joy and took Erasmus to his house and showed him his books written by Erasmus. Moreover, he let him bring two jugs of whine. Next, as a mark of honour, the rector of a nunnery in Boppard accompanied Erasmus till he arrived in Koblenz. When reading this, I wondered how it was possible that someone recognized Erasmus. Without a doubt, his portrait circulated, for instance with his books, but did it resemble Erasmus enough to recognize him when you saw him by chance for the first time in his life?
Once he had become famous, Erasmus often received presents when he arrived somewhere and he was invited by local authorities; or it happened that unknown persons wanted to meet him. For example, when Erasmus arrived in Sélestat, a town in the Alsace in France, some prominent persons there sent him three barrels of wine, and the next day they invited him for lunch. That he was invited for lunch or dinner is something that Erasmus mentions many times in his letters. It also often happened that his stay was paid by prominent persons in the town where he arrived.
For safety reasons, Erasmus seldom travelled alone and once during a journey from Basel in Switzerland to Besançon in France, a priest in his company recognized him and rode ahead to tell the people in Besançon that Erasmus was coming. Erasmus wanted to stop him, for, so Erasmus, “I know all too well the annoying crowds of people who come to greet.” But the man had already gone. In Besançon, Erasmus was invited for dinner by local authorities and his stay there was arranged for him. The next day, two men he hardly knew were waiting for him “in order to greet him”. A magistrate sent him a large amount of wine and oats (for his horse?), planned a banquet in honour of him, and even offered him a prebend of 100 crowns a year (which Erasmus refused). A few days later, when Erasmus wanted to return to Basel, again a few people – this time he didn’t know them – came to greet him in the morning and several prominent people accompanied him till a few miles outside the town.
What did Erasmus think of all this? Of course, he often enjoyed it. It made life a lot easier for him, and he was not averse to being known and often stimulated it himself, like a modern celebrity. Nevertheless, more and more it happened that Erasmus tried to avoid such tributes, and in a letter in 1525 he writes: “As the situation stands, I cannot go anywhere without the rumour stirring up a lot of people, and I cannot leave anywhere without a crowd gathering. I find nothing more unpleasant than that.”
I have given here only a few examples of what it was for Erasmus to be famous, and I treated only his case. Nevertheless, I think that it is not too bold to say that celebrities are of all times, but only the scale of what it means to be a celebrity has changed.
Source
John Tholen, Erasmus de Reiziger. The quotations are from the letters in this book.
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