Entry #47

My 11x great-grandmother was Katharina von Bora.  In week 13, I blogged about how it was part of my heritage, even as a child, to know that I was descended from Martin Luther. While I did not know very much about Katharina von Bora, my grandpa did tell me that she had been a nun before she married Martin Luther. That was and is something that has been difficult to grasp…to know that you are descended from two people who never should have married according to the religious tenants and  mores of their time.

Katharina von Bora – painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder

The story has far more depth than I knew as a child. (Don’t all stories?) Katharina (Katie) was born January 29, 1499; this date is reasonably certain, because it is engraved on a medallion, which still exists today. Her parents are conjectured to be Hans von Bora and Anna Haubitz or Haugwitz, but is has not been verified. Further, it seems that there are up to 15 locations that claim to be her birthplace. Eight of these can be discounted. It may be that she came from Lippendorf near Borna, which is approximately 15 miles south of Leipzig. Katharina’s parents are always described as “impoverished nobility.” It is known that her mother died in 1504, whereupon Hans von Bora remarried. Katie was sent to a Benedictine cloister in Brehna to be educated. Four years later, she was informed that she was destined to become a nun, and she was transferred to the Convent Marienthron in Nimbschen located near Grimma. At 16, Katharina took her vows.

The growing reformation movement could not help but have its impact on the monasteries and cloisters. Katharina was not alone among her peers in developing an interest in the challenges to Rome. She contacted Luther to plead for his assistance in escaping from the convent. During the night of 7 April 1523, she and 11 other nuns escaped in a herring wagon.  Nine, who could not go to their families, were secreted from Torgau to Wittenberg. Husbands were found for these women, but Katharina was the last of them to go unwed. Apparently she had offers, but she insisted that she would only marry Luther or a certain one of his friends. Luther was torn about how his marriage might impact the movement. He wrote, “I am not now inclined to take a wife. Not that I lack the feelings of a man (for I am neither wood nor stone), but my mind is averse to marriage because I daily expect the death decreed to the heretic.” Nonetheless, he decided upon marriage, although he did not reveal this immediately to some of his closest colleagues. Part of his decision must have been in deference to his father, who was never in favor of the monastic life for his son.  On June 13, 1525, Kaherine Von Bora and Martin Luther were wed. Married life seems to have been a pleasant surprise to Luther. Among Luther’s writings is a statement that “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.”

It wasn’t until I was well into my adulthood until I came to appreciate what an accomplished woman Katharina von Bora was. As a wedding gift, John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, gave Luther the Black Cloister, the abandoned former Augustinian monastery. Martin Luther was not adept at running a household, but his wife was. She took over running the estate, planted a garden, raised cattle and even brewed beer. For a time she had a hospital on the property and ministered to the sick. Katharina even oversaw the distribution of her husband’s printed writings whenever he was absent.

The Luther household was a lively one. To help with finances, Katherine’s household included student borders who populated the dinner table. Together Katherine and Martin had six children – Johannes (1526-1575), Elizabeth (1527-1528), Magdalena (1529-1542), Martin (1531-1565), Paul (1533-1593), and Margaretha (1534-1570). Additionally, they took in and reared the children of other family members.

Martin Luther was essentially penniless when they married, but at the time of his death in 1546 he was a man of comfortable means, in a large part due to his Katie. He trusted the business sense of his wife enough to make her his heir and the executrix of his estate – not a common thing in his day. The Elector was prepared to honor Luther’s wishes, but the judges would not allow a woman to inherit property.  Further, they appointed guardians for her minor children as was the custom.  Katie appears to have been grief stricken upon her husband’s death. To make matters worse, war followed and she had to flee the Black Cloister on several occasions. Upon return to Wittenburg, she found her lands pillaged and she lived in relative poverty, except for the help of noble benefactors. During the Black Plague in 1552, Katherine was making her way to Torgau when her cart overturned. She died of her injuries several months later on 20, December 1552.

Katherine must have been an extraordinary woman. How many people have a female ancestor who has been commemorated by a postage stamp?

This poem about Katharina von Bora is attributed to M. Balthassar Mencius:

I am known as Katharina von Bora
born in the lands of Meissen
of an old and noble line.
Like my ancestors of past
serving God and the Roman Empire
with honor and glory.

As I came of age
I accepted a life of virtue
while everyone was enamored
with the Pope and his den of monks.
And highly regarded were the nuns.
I was sent to the cloister Nimbschen.
I observed there both honor and duty.
I called to God, and prayed day and night
for the welfare of all Christendom.
God heard me and was pleased.

Doctor Luther, the courageous hero
Was selected as my husband
to whom I in a virtuous marriage
bore three sons and daughters.
I lived as a widow for seven years
after the death of my lord.

And in the lovely city of Torgau
my body was buried;
awaiting the trumpet call
when all the dead will rise.
Then, with my lord (husband),
I shall sing and praise God eternally;
and with those who are chosen
live joyfully, eternally.