“It was here,” Rudolf explained, when they had reached the entrance to
the Knight’s House, “that the great Reformer was kept in captivity for
a year.”
“Yes,” Katrina interposed, “_mütterchen_ told me this, and so did the
lady with the silver cross; but they didn’t tell me why he was made a
prisoner.”
“That was because he opposed certain teachings of his time, and,” her
father added, forcefully, “had the courage to be steadfast to what he
believed to be the truth.”
“It would be good, Herr Rudolf,” suggested Fritz, “if you would tell
Katrina and me the story of Martin Luther before we go inside the
castle. Then when we do go in, we’d understand and enjoy it all the
more.”
“Yes, Fritz, thou art right; some knowledge of him would make thee
have a more intelligent appreciation of what thou art about to see.
So, suppose we sit out here while I tell thee both about a few of the
incidents in Luther’s life.”
Whereupon, Rudolf and the two children seated themselves on a stone
bench close by the door of entrance. Now just above this same door was
a device cut in stone, that was not only quaint and curious, but was
also strangely suggestive of the giant power of the man who had once
been a prisoner there. It represented Samson in the act of quelling the
lion. And had not he, Martin Luther, slain mankind’s deadly foe,--blind
superstition?
“Well, to begin with,” said Rudolf, when the children had settled
themselves to listen, and sat watching him with expectant eyes, “Martin
Luther’s father, whose name was Hans Luther, was a miner at Möra, a
small town which now belongs to the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. Not very
long after his marriage, however, Hans and his wife, Margaret, went
to live at Eisleben, and it was here, on the 10th of November, 1483,
that a son was born to them. This day being the anniversary of Martin,
Bishop of Tours, they gave the name ‘Martin’ to their boy in memory of
the saint.
“It was soon after this that Luther’s parents removed to Mansfield, and
Hans, the father, became a member of the council. Their great desire
was that Martin should follow one of the learned professions, and from
the first his education was very strict. He attended the school of the
Franciscan monks at Magdeburg; but when about fifteen years old, he
came to Eisenach and earned money as a Current-Schuler by singing from
door to door.”
“Yes, yes, dear father,” Katrina interrupted, “we know how the good
Frau Cotta, hearing him sing in the streets, took him in and gave him a
home.”
“Did he like being a Current-Schuler?” asked Fritz, to whose spirit of
adventure the idea made a strong appeal.
“It is said,” responded Rudolf, “that the practice of singing for
charity was at first very distasteful to him, but that in time he came
to like it, so great was his love for music. Thou, my little Katrina,
art familiar with some of Martin Luther’s hymns. He wrote a number of
hymns after he grew to manhood; and thou, Fritz, hast sung with us many
an evening that grand old anthem of his, ‘Ein feste Burg ist unser
Gott.’”[2]
[2] “A Mighty Stronghold Is Our God.”
“I wonder, Herr Rudolf,” Fritz exclaimed, as the light of the sudden
thought flashed into his face, “I wonder if Luther wrote that hymn here
at the Wartburg! Don’t you think he must have done so?”
For a moment Rudolf was silent. This was a question which had not
presented itself to his mind before.
“I really do not know it to be a certainty,” he answered after thinking
deeply; “but it does seem to me, Fritz, that he must have had his
inspiration here within these walls which sheltered him in a time when
his life was being threatened. But now,” Rudolf continued, “let us
turn back to the youthful Luther and follow him as he progresses in
his school life. In the year 1501 he entered the University of Erfurt,
where he studied Logic, Physics, and Ethics; but it was in Philosophy
and the ancient classics that he afterward found his greatest
satisfaction. In the year 1503 Luther received his degree of B. A., and
it was then that he complied with his father’s wish and began to study
the law. This, however, as he soon found, was not to his taste, and in
time it became a burden to him. In these days of doubt he felt strongly
drawn toward a monastic life, and finally, in spite of the opposition
of his family and friends, he determined to take the vows and become a
monk.
“But even after this step had been taken, he found that his conscience
was not wholly at ease. His zealous mind seemed to be ever searching
for the truth. And, my children,” Rudolf continued, “it was in the year
1517 that Martin Luther first wrote his name indelibly on the pages of
history.”