What is Ad Fontes?
The Latin phrase, Ad Fontes (to the fountains/sources) was brought into common parlance by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. While the phrase had long before appeared in the Latin Vulgate’s translation of Psalm 42 it was Erasmus who first applied it to the study of the humanities and in particular to the study of classical languages (and texts). Ad Fontes was and still is the battle cry against ignorance and indifference. It was this phrase that fueled the passions and creativity of the Renaissance. Although Erasmus was a Catholic scholar his ‘Ad Fontes’ movement was so universal in appeal that it was also adopted by many of the Protestant Reformers and became their battle cry as well. This also in part became the model for Liberal Arts education and Classical education of the Western world.