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Katharina von Bora Luther |
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| Katharina von Bora was born in 1499, the daughter of an impoverished nobleman.
In 1504 she went to the convent school of the Benedict order in Brehna (near Halle) and entered the convent of Nimbschen (near Grimma; only in german) in 1508. In
1515 she took her vows and became a nun at the soonest possible date.
Easter of 1523, Katharina fled with 11 other nuns from the convent in Nimbschen to Wittenberg and found shelter with the family of Lucas Cranach the Elder.
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| She developed feelings for Hicronymus Baumgärtner, a student at the Wittenberg University and the son of a Nuremberg patrician family. His
parents sent for him, and even Luther's attempts at negotiations failed. She was then courted by pastor Glatz, a lecturer from Orlamünde but she refused him. She supposedly told Nikolaus von
Amsdorf that she wanted to marry Luther, but Luther would rather marry Ave von Schönfeld, another former nun from Nimbschen. |
| On June 13, 1525 Katharina got engaged and married to Luther; the wedding celebration took place on June 27, 1525. |
| Philipp Melanchthon is quoted as having said: "Unexpectedly Luther married Bora, without
even mentioning his plans to his friends..." in 1525. |
| Henceforth, Katharina Luther put the household in order, used the monestary's right to brew beer, leased land for gardening and bred
cattle. |
| On June 7, 1526 Martin and Katharina's first son, Johannes (Hans), was born, on December 10, 1527 a daughter, Elisabeth, was born, but died after
8 months; the daughter, Magdalena, born on May 4, 1529, died at age 13. In 1531, 1533, and 1534, their sons, Martin and Paul, and daughter, Margarethe were born. All living descendants of
Martin Luther come from Margarethe's line. Katharina fled from the Smalkaldian War in 1546 to Dessau and then to Magdeburg. She died on December 20, 1552 in Torgau where she had
fled to get away from the plague in Wittenberg. |
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| Much of the above was taken from www.LUTHER.de, KDG Wittenberg, 1997. For more information on Katharina (Katherine) von Bora Luther go to:
Katherine von Bora "Wife of Luther" by J. H. Alexander
Cross Current "Where would most clergy be without their spouses" by Margaret Rodgers |
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