Luther's Beloved Katie - Katharina Von Bora

Katharina von Bora and the Reformation at Home

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Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist.

My name is Jennifer Foskey and I am a Calvinist.

That's right. Today you have two Calvinists here at Coffee with a Calvinist. It is me and my wife again doing a book review, but this being Reformation week, we're not just going to be doing a book review, we're also going to be doing a little miniature biography of a very important woman from the Reformation.

The woman who would ultimately have the heart of Martin Luther, Katharina von Bora. Jennifer, recently you had the opportunity to read a book about Luther's life and you were quite taken with Katharina, weren't you?

I couldn't put the book down, but yes, very much. What was the name of the book? It is called When Lightning Struck, The Story of Martin Luther.

And who's the author of that so that whenever we, if anybody wanted to get it? Danica Cooley. Okay. And you said it was hard to put down. You read it and I remember watching you read it. You read it in just a few days.

We were down in Ocala for the conference that I was speaking on the history of the Reformation and you were constantly reading me quotes from the book and even some of that made it into my sermon.

That's right. I think what I liked about it was that it wasn't written in a way to elevate Martin Luther. I mean, sure it did. It told his story, but it showed, I mean, he was very complicated. I mean, he was kind and gentle during some parts of it, but sometimes he was crude and angry as well.

So it did a good job of capturing all of that and it was written in a narrative format, so it was very easy to read.

Luther, Wycliffe, Hus, Zwingli, and the Centrality of Sola Scriptura

Yeah. A lot of Luther's biographies, like I read one this year for, not just for my preaching, but also because every year around Reformation time I get a little nostalgic about Reformation history and so each year it sort of draws me back to that.

And certainly I've studied the life of Luther over the years, but this year I read a biography of Luther by Steve Lawson, which is not really a biography as much as it was a snapshot of Luther's preaching.

And so while it did tell the story of him becoming a monk and his first mass with his father in the room, it told some of those stories that are very famous of Luther. It didn't really hit on the heart of Luther's life.

It more hit on the heart of his preaching. Luther was an expositor and it talked about that, but this book that you read really hit more in the heart of Luther and that was some of what you shared with me.

Were you surprised at how human he was? I mean, we tend to think of him as almost like a statue, as a figure, but this book sort of made him more human. Would you agree?

I agree with that, and especially all of the conflict he had with the Roman church. I mean, he was very brave and he took a stand for Sola Scriptura. He took a stand for scripture alone, but you have to think the way that you've grown up and everything that you've been taught, you're challenging that or he's being challenged, but scripture, reading it for himself, I mean, changed him.

Absolutely. It was scripture that caused the Reformation and men like Martin Luther and others were used by God, but ultimately it was the scripture that was the foundation, Sola Scriptura, that we're not going to trust in popes.

We're not going to trust in the magisterium. We're not going to trust in councils that have often contradicted one another. We're going to trust in the word of God alone. So, but really what I want to talk about today, because this week I have been going over different biographies.

Monday I looked at John Wycliffe, Tuesday we looked at Jan Hus, Wednesday we looked at Ulrich Zwingli, Thursday we looked at the Baptist movement that came out of the Reformation, looked at Michael Sattler who was one of the Anabaptists, and all week I've been looking forward to today because this is the first woman that we are actually going to be giving a short biography, and that's Katharina von Bora.

Katharina von Bora’s Early Life and Entrance into the Convent

And I have prepared a little myself to go along with what you've brought, and basically what I've done is I've researched some articles here, and one is from Gather. This is gathermagazine .org, and this just references a few things about Katharina von Bora that I wanted to share with our audience, and ultimately one of the things that a lot of people don't know that she was a former nun.

Luther married a former nun, and we're going to talk about that in a minute because you have a little interesting side note to that, but here's a few facts about her that I want to share with our audience.

One, the von Bora family was of noble lineage, but lost its fortune and lived in near poverty. Katharina's mother died of an unknown disease, and her father remarried Margaret von Ende, and so that, I remember we watched a documentary on Katharina von Bora, and I don't know if you remember in the documentary, the lady mentioning that some people think maybe this woman was like evil stepmother, and that that perhaps was the reason for her being sent away to the convent, because she was sent at the age of nine into the convent, and that was the second fact here, is that it was at age nine that she entered the, I think I'm saying this right, Nimschen convent, I'm unfamiliar with the German name, so if I've mispronounced that, I apologize, and because her father could not afford a dowry, future marriage was likely impossible, so she was going to either become a nun or become a spencer, and becoming a spencer would have been a disgrace, so becoming a nun was something that was considered to be better.

Does this go along with what, does this mention this in the book at all? It does.

Yes, it doesn't mention really her birth or any of that part of the story.

Yeah, and according to one article I saw, she was born in 1499, but they said it's really kind of hard to nail down for certain because they didn't have birth certificates the same way they have today, but according to an article from LutheranReformation .org, it says Katharina von Bora was the most famous for being the wife of Martin Luther, and traditional sources say she was born in 1499, but however, because of the lack of good record keeping, there's no real certainty of this, but that gives you an idea there, but go ahead, I'm sorry.

Luther’s Marriage Proposal and the Reformation of Family Life

Well chapter 18 of the book, When Lightning Struck, the name of the chapter is called War and a Wedding, so it discusses it, and it says that Katharina, that they had one nun left that was not married, and her name was Katharina von Bora, who everyone called Katie.

But hold on just a second before we even go there. This is actually after the nuns have left the convent, right? And they came to Luther for help because Luther had, from what I understand, visited the convent, and so they knew who he was, they knew that he was allowing priests to be married, and so they had abandoned, I'm correct, right, they've abandoned the convent, they've gone to where he is, okay, pick up the story at that point.

Okay, Martin, there was only one nun left who was without a home, and her name was Katharina von Bora, and everyone called her Katie. She was engaged to a student to be married, but he had taken leave of the city, so he left, and they couldn't find him, so Martin said, you know, he had abandoned her.

He says that, you know, she's 25 years old, she has passed the age of marriage, and opinionated, so they didn't know what to do.

It says that in the book? She was opinionated? Mm-hmm. Okay, so she's 25 years old, so this time that's an old woman, and she's an opinionated woman according to this. Now one other thing, just because we kind of flew by it, the man who left, she really, she wanted to marry him.

Is that right? Yes, that's right. But his family did not want him to marry her because she was a former nun, and from what I understand, marrying a former nun was illegal, because the former nun was part of, still, you know, a lot of people still recognize the authority of the Church, the Roman Catholic Church, so to marry the former nun would have been, would have harmed his family.

Plus, she didn't have any money, she's poor, and so this man, I did a little research on him, too, that the man who left, actually his family married him to a 14-year-old, but someone of money. But go ahead, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you.

No, that's okay. Well, in spring of 1525, Martin abandoned all hope of marrying Katharina von Bora to the student who had broken off their engagement. So Martin sent his friend Nicholas von Amsdorff to inform Katie she could marry the older and somewhat grumpy Kaspar Glatz.

Well, I bet she was happy about that. She said no, she would not marry him.

So she turned down the old and grumpy man? She turned him down.

Okay. She said she would get married, but she said only to Martin, Martin Luther. She wouldn't marry him.

But at this point, he didn't want to marry her, right?

That's right. He wasn't interested in marriage. I wonder if that had to do with him possibly, with everything going on with him, that he might have thought he was going to have the same fate as Hus, or that he was going to be murdered.

So he wouldn't want to bring a wife into that, perhaps.

Yeah, and he spent most of his life writing. He spent most of his life writing and preaching. If you look at Luther's life, it certainly wasn't the type of life that you would think of a good married man.

He was married to his work in a lot of ways. So he didn't want to bring a woman into that. Plus, like you said, he was under the threat of death all the time. So it makes sense.

But go on. Well, part of the story also says, when he found out that she wouldn't marry Caspar Glatz, that she would only marry Martin Luther, he said, no friend, I have no intention of marrying Katharina von Bora.

But he spent the month of May considering a marriage to Katie. He did not love her, that was certain. But when Martin jokingly mentioned the possibility of a marital union to his father, his father Hans was greatly excited by the prospect of marriage.

He decided at that point that marriage was perhaps the best way to show how serious he was about abandoning church tradition and living according to the word of God.

Oh, wow. You know, I remember in that documentary that it mentioned that one of the leaders of the one of one of Luther's I forget who he was, but he was one of the one of the leaders in the Reformation, not not one of the scholars, but one of the magistrates was upset that Luther was being married, because he thought it might throw bad attention on Luther as if to say, well, the only reason you started this reformation in the first place is because you want to get married.

You know, the only reason why you only reason I did this at all is because you, you really weren't concerned with theology, you were concerned with your own desire to be married. And that's why you did this.

But certainly, that's not the case. No. And also, marrying her solves another problem, what to do with her. Because the other, her engagement was broken off. He never came back. She wouldn't marry the man that Martin had found for her.

So it solves, you know, what to do with her, the problem with her. So I wanted to share with you the marriage proposal.

Katharina von Bora and Martin Luther’s Marriage and Household

Yeah, this is my favorite part. When you read this to me out of the book, I thought it was great. So please.

It was a sunny day in the middle of June, when Martin approached Katie. She looked up at him with a questioning glance, her small lips pursing over her diminutive pointed chin. Katie, I have decided that we should be wed.

If it is true.

Just stop right there. That's not the way I asked you to marry me. Jennifer, I've decided we have, I've decided we are to be wed. That's certainly not the way we think of it normally, but continue, I'm sorry.

If it is true that you will have a portly 43-year-old monk for a husband, I should marry you to gratify my father and to spite the devil.

Okay, now, a portly 43-year-old, you know, that's, he speaks of himself like he's aged, like he really is. And she at this point is 25 and they talk about her like she's really old. That's right. Yeah, but okay.

So how does she respond? Katie wrinkled her straight nose at him. Well, don't forget that you shall marry me because I keep a good garden and shall make you the best beer in all of Germany.

Well, that's an interesting proposal statement and certainly an interesting response. I'll make you the best beer in all of Germany. Not exactly the thing that many of us today would be, would think is a right way to respond to a marriage proposal.

And I remember also something else as you were saying that, that, you know, Martin said he didn't really love her. But as I was, as we were going through that documentary, as we were thinking about this and I was listening to one of the men who was talking about that culture at the time, he said that in this particular point in history, it was very, it was more common that people married each other because they liked one another and they saw love as something that grew over time.

Whereas since, you know, in the modern era, we think of you marry for love, you know, you fall in love, you get married. And I know people who get married and they don't really like each other, but they say, but we're in love, but they can't stand each other.

And I kind of see some wisdom in the old way. You know, you marry someone you like and you learn over time to love them. And I think that's what we see with Luther is, I think he respected Katie. I think he appreciated her as a person.

He obviously cared for her. He did not want to see her become relegated to some position of disgrace by being unmarried. But we'll see in the, as we go on in this conversation, he does grow to love her very much.

Yes, he does.

And the book describes kind of the early, maybe their early marriage, kind of some, some different disagreements and, I don't know, arguments almost that they had. I wanted to share some of that with you also.

They are newly married and she has handled, he has given her all of the accounts to handle. So she, you know, was very good at handling the finances, handling the garden, handling, they had pigs, they had property.

So she was in charge of all of the accounts.

And he liked to, he liked to give money away. Yes. Luther was, you know, he had been a monk and monks, of course, have taken vows of poverty. So they don't have a lot. They're used to not having a lot.

But she's concerned with making sure the family's taken care of. That's right.

So he, he asks her one day, he says, excuse me, my Lord, but I wonder if you have seen the vase I meant to send as a wedding gift. It seems to have grown legs and wandered off. Katie leaned against the pole of her fishing net.

Do you mean the vase we received as a wedding gift? If it is the one you are thinking of, Doctor, I shouldn't wonder that you cannot find it. You see, I have hidden it. Martin's eyes widened in anger.

First you cry like a woman and I must stay home from the wedding of my dear friend. Now you hide my gift to him. The gift given to me by my friends. At this point, Martin was roaring. Katie looked skyward.

The gift given to us. We will sell the vase this winter for grain. If you should stop giving away everything we own, I would not have to hide the valuables to pay the bills. That's funny.

It is interesting. It does seem as if she was more the caretaker and the manager of the home because he was so invested in his Reformation teachings. Their home was not some small rinky-dink house. They lived in what could only be called today something we might say is like a mansion.

Does it mention how big the house was? I've seen pictures of it, the Luther House in Germany. They would take students in, many students at a time. She was in charge of all of that. She was in charge of boarding the students.

She was in charge of the food. She even had a brewery. She really did make beer. So what an interesting person.

It says their dining room table set 30 students.

They would have dinners. And that's where the table talk came from, right? Yes. And Katharina was the only woman that she was by. Some was referred to, I think Luther referred to her or some others referred to her as the doctoress.

He calls her that in some of their later letters. But he traveled frequently and he would write her, they would write love letters to each other. And some of those were captured, those sentiments were captured.

So over time, the relationship grew into love. Like you said, there was a part in the story, they had their first son, his name was Hans.

Which he named after his father, Hans Luther, Luther.

That's right. And she was pregnant and she had gotten really ill, very ill. She was very sick. And the story says that she was lying on the floor, one arm stretched out underneath her. Her eyes rolled slowly up to see Martin and their son.

The sick woman's belly rose far into the air as a reminder of the life within her. He says, oh, Katie, do not die and leave me. Martin sank to the ground. Beside the nun, he had grown to dearly love. He choked.

The skin on Katie's cheek was so hot, it nearly burnt his hand. So Hans stroked his mother's hair and he says, Katie, I have written a hymn, I will sing it for you. Martin's clear high voice was deepened and he sang to her, A Mighty Fortress.

So you can picture. And after he sang to her, he clutched her hand and said, oh, Katie, I know where you were headed, but don't go there yet. Hmm.

The book really does try to capture the heart of Luther and the relationship that they had. And it is important to note that the writer of the book does mention that that this is not a strict biography because there are some things that she had to fill in as far as unknown details and stuff.

And and so that's an important point that we've discussed. But for the most part, it sticks very closely and true to the life of Luther and and Katharina. And as we begin to draw to a close, I want to mention one other aspect of their life, the great tragedies they dealt with.

They had how many children, six, six, six children. So there was Hans and Martin and Magdalena and I forget the others. I don't know if you have their names. But it was the death of Magdalena that really hit Luther very, very hard.

And of course, the book tells the story and in rich detail.

I'm unable to say this now without crying.

Talk about, I think. Yeah. But just the the those of us with children would have a hard time imagining the difficulty of losing a child. And certainly someone who has lost a child can can better sympathize with those who have.

And you think about the Luthers having had six children and they lost two. Is that right? That's right. Yeah. And Magdalena, whom whom Luther called Lena, was really the apple of his eye and who who passed.

He held her when she died. Yeah. Well, again, I I'm thankful that you came in today to to have this discussion, Jennifer, because I think that oftentimes we get so caught up in the in the men of the Reformation and what they did.

Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, all of these great men. And there are times and oftentimes where there are very important women behind their ministries. And Luther certainly would not likely have been able to board and and and feed and and continue to have the school that he had that board the students and feed the students that he had, were it not for the management of Katharina von Bora and the home and also her love for him and for their children.

And as you said, they grew to love each other. And so so as we begin to draw to a close, listener, I just want to say this. We would recommend this book, right, Jennifer? I recommend this. And it's written really on the level that even teenagers could enjoy it.

And it sort of takes them back to a different time in history. And did you have anything else you wanted to add about the book or about this this person before we begin to bring everything to a close?

The opening chapter of the book talks about the famous the thunderstorm that happened where Luther was called into ministry, where he thought he was going to be struck by lightning and describes it in just very vivid detail.

And that's where the title of the book comes from.

That's right. The title is, again, When Lightning Struck by Danica Cooley.

Okay. So, listener, if you are interested in learning more about the life of Luther and Katharina von Bora, and you're interested in doing so in a book that is, as Jennifer said, hard to put down, how would you read it in two or three days?

Yes. As we were. Yeah. And I every time I saw you, you had picked up the book and we're reading it. So, listener, if you're interested in this, we would encourage you to pick up a copy. We think it's a certainly a wonderful way to learn a little bit more about our Protestant history and about this important Protestant figure, Martin Luther, and his very important wife.

Well, Jennifer, thank you for sitting in with me today for Coffee with a Calvinist. And I appreciate you being here. Thank you for having me on. Yes, ma 'am. Listener, thank you for listening. And we appreciate you every day being with us as part of the audience of Coffee with a Calvinist.

My name is Keith Foskey and I have been your Calvinist. May God bless you.

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