Desiderius Erasmus (1466– 1536 ) was a Dutch and christian scholar, and an outstanding figure of the Renaissance.
He was contemporaneous to Luther's reform but he never followed Protestantism. He always reimaned faithful to Catholic doctrine, the Pope and to the Roman Church but criticized the abuses that they had committed.
For example (like Luther), Erasmus opposed the practice of selling indulgences that many catholic clerics had performed. Indulgences were sold to members of christian congregations in exchange for sin forgiveness and a safe route to heaven. Erasmus criticized how clerics were enriching themselves by selling something that could be only granted directly by God.