[Illustration: CATHARINE DE BORA,
_WIFE OF LUTHER_.]
CATHARINE DE BORA;
OR,
Social and Domestic
SCENES IN THE
HOME OF LUTHER.
BY
JOHN G. MORRIS,
TRANSLATOR OF “THE BLIND GIRL OF WITTENBERG,” AND PASTOR OF THE FIRST
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF BALTIMORE.
PHILADELPHIA:
LINDSAY & BLAKISTON.
1856.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
LINDSAY & BLAKISTON,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON.
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER I.
Clerical Celibacy—Luther—Bernhardi’s Marriage—Treatment of
Catharine De Bora—the Convent—Wealthy Nuns—Convent
Life—the Escape—Treatment of the Nuns—Florentine de
Oberweimer—Leonard Koppe—Luther’s Defence 9
CHAPTER II.
Luther’s Reflections—Example of the Apostles—Celibacy—Gregory
VII.—Luther’s Change of Mind—Luther’s Marriage—Character
of Catharine 27
CHAPTER III.
Wedding-Dinner—Melanchthon—Slanders 43
CHAPTER IV.
Luther’s Domestic Life—Character of Catharine—Perils of
Luther—Sickness—Death of his Parents—Private
Life—Catharine 52
CHAPTER V.
Income—Expenses—Hospitality—Charity—Diet—Afflictions—
Despondency—Journeys—Death 70
CHAPTER VI.
Catharine, a Widow—Her Support—Sufferings—Journeys—Death 84
CHAPTER VII.
Luther’s Children—Domestic Character—Catharine 94
CHAPTER VIII.
Character of Catharine 120
PREFACE.
There are many interesting and characteristic incidents in the domestic
life of Luther which are not found in biographies of the great Reformer.
The character of his wife has not been portrayed in full, and who does
not wish to become better acquainted with a woman who mingled many a
drop of balsam in those numerous cups of sorrow which her celebrated
husband was compelled to drink?
This little book is the result of extensive research, and exhibits facts
attested by the most reliable authorities, many of which will be new to
those of my readers who have not investigated this particular subject.
J. G. M.
Baltimore, June, 1856.
LUTHER AT HOME.
CHAPTER I.
Clerical Celibacy—Luther-Bernhardi’s Marriage—Treatment of Catharine
de Bora—the Convent—Wealthy Nuns—Convent Life—the Escape—Treatment of
the Nuns—Florentine de Oberweimer—Leonard Koppe—Luther’s Defence.
The celibacy of the clergy was one of the strongest pillars on which the
proud edifice of Romish power rested. It was a stupendous partition-wall
which separated the clergy from all other interests, and thus
consolidated the wide-spread authority of the Pope. It cut off the
secular clergy, as well as the monks, from all domestic ties. They
forgot father, mother, and friends. Political obligations to their
sovereign and country were disregarded, but the cord which bound them to
the interests of Rome was only the more tightly drawn.
Superior purity was the presumed ground of the system, but a total
surrender of all rights, and complete submission to the will of the
Pope, were its legitimate results. He was regarded as the only parent of
the clergy—the only sovereign to whom they owed allegiance—the only
protector in whom they were to confide, and, as dutiful sons, obedient
subjects, and grateful beneficiaries, they were obliged to exert
themselves to the utmost to maintain his authority and extend his
dominion. Clerical celibacy was regarded not only as a duty, but as the
highest attainment in moral perfection. The system was introduced with
caution and maintained with sleepless vigilance and zeal. There were
some who saw its errors and disadvantages, and desired its abolition,
but their remonstrances were unheeded and their clamors silenced.
That, however, which was considered impossible by the whole Christian
world, was accomplished by a single man, who himself had been a monk,
and whose first duty as such was a vow of celibacy! That man was Martin
Luther, Augustinian Monk, Doctor of Theology at the University of
Wittenberg, who, by his heroic conduct in relation to this subject, has
only added to the other inappreciable services he has rendered the
Church. It was he who was bold enough to abandon the monastic order,
and, in spite of the principles of the Church as they prevailed in that
age, _to enter the married state_. This adventurous step led to the
deliverance of a large portion of the clergy from the chain of Papal
power. From having been the slavish satellites of a foreign master in
Italy, they became patriotic subjects and useful men at home.
Several years before, two friends of Luther, who were his noble
assistants in the work of the Reformation, Melanchthon and Carlstadt,
had written treatises against clerical celibacy. Their books on this
subject were equally as unexpected, and created as much excitement among
the clergy, as Luther’s Theses against Indulgences had done six years
before.
Luther was not the first priest of those days who practically rejected
celibacy. As early as 1521, one of his friends and fellow-laborers,
Bernhardi, superintendent of the churches at Kemberg, had the boldness
to marry. He was the first ecclesiastic in Saxony who took this step,
and his wedding-day was long regarded as the _Pastors’ Emancipation
Day_; but Caspar Aquila, a priest residing near Augsburg, was married as
early as 1516, Jacob Knabe in 1518, and Nicolas Brunner in 1519.
Luther was free from all participation in Bernhardi’s marriage, for at
that time he was a prisoner in Wartburg Castle, and the first
intelligence came so unexpectedly, that whilst he admired the courage of
his friend, he was very apprehensive it would occasion him and his cause
many severe trials. Not long after, Bernhardi’s metropolitan, the
Cardinal Archbishop Albert, of Mainz and Magdeburg, demanded of the
Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, to send Bernhardi to Halle, to
answer for his presumptuous act. Frederick did not yield to the demand
of the Archbishop, and the latter professed to be satisfied with an
anonymous defence of Bernhardi.
Luther himself sent a petition to Albert in behalf of the clergy who had
already married and of those who intended to marry. Subsequently,
however, Bernhardi suffered severely. When, in 1547, more than twenty
years after his nuptials, the Emperor Charles V. captured Wittenberg,
his savage Spaniards seized Bernhardi, and bound him fast to a table.
His wife rescued him from their murderous hands; but, soon after, others
laid hold of him, and after cruelly beating him, tied him to a horse and
dragged him to the camp at Torgau. A German officer, after much trouble,
had him liberated, and he finally, after unexampled suffering, reached
his family at Kemberg. A considerable number of priests followed the
example of Bernhardi. They were not deterred by the ban of the bishops,
nor by the fear of deposition and imprisonment. But all this would not
have created such immense excitement if Luther himself, to whom all eyes
were directed, had not resolved, by his own example, to strike a deadly
blow at priestly celibacy.
Catharine de Bora, a nun of the celebrated Bernhardin or Cistercian
convent at Nimtschen, in Saxony, was the person whom Luther chose as his
wife. She was born on the 29th of January, 1499. There is no authentic
record of the place of her birth, and the history of her childhood is
wrapped in obscurity. It is only as the nun Catharine that we first
became acquainted with her. Her Romish calumniators (and no innocent
woman was ever more bitterly and cruelly defamed,) declare that her
parents compelled her to become a nun against her will, because they
were poor and could not support her, and particularly because her
conduct was so objectionable that her seclusion was necessary. As
regards the first, it is true; she was not wealthy when she became the
wife of Luther; but, if she had been compelled to enter the nunnery, it
is likely that Luther would have mentioned it as an additional
justification of her flight. Her objectionable morality is based by her
enemies on the fact of her escape, and hence the accusation has no
ground whatever. There is not a particle of proof to establish the
calumnious charge.
This Convent was designated by the name of _The Throne of God_. It was
founded in 1250 by Henry the Illustrious. No trace of it remains at the
present day. In 1810-12 its ruins were removed to make room for the
erection of an edifice connected with a school for boys established at
that place.
Most of the inmates of this Convent were of noble birth, for at that
day, as well as at present, it was the policy and interest of the Romish
clergy to induce as many ladies of high rank as possible to take the
veil, thereby rendering the profession respectable, and securing large
sums as entrance fees if they were wealthy, and all their patrimony
after their decease.
It may seem strange that Catharine de Bora, who, according to her own
confession, was devout, industrious in the discharge of conventual
duties, and diligent in prayer, should have determined with eight other
“sisters” to escape from their prison. But when it is considered that
the convent was situated within the territory of the Elector Frederick
the Wise, who was Luther’s friend and patron—that Luther himself visited
a neighboring monastery at Grimma as Inspector—that in 1519, after the
dispute with Eck at Leipzig, he spent a few days in the town of
Nimtschen—that the principles of the Reformation had already made some
progress in that vicinity, and that several monasteries not far distant
had been abandoned—the circumstance is easily explained. It is scarcely
credible that amid the excitement of the times, no word of Luther’s
doctrine should have entered the convent halls, and that the stirring
events occurring around them should have been entirely concealed from
the unobtrusive occupants. Could not some of those courageous friends of
Luther, who afterwards, at his suggestion, effected the escape of the
nuns, have previously introduced some of Luther’s tracts into the
convent? He had at that time already written several small books against
the monastic life, and it is likely that some of these had been
clandestinely introduced, the perusal of which convinced these “sisters”
that their profession was not sanctioned by the Scriptures, and that it
was dangerous to their morals. They became so thoroughly assured of the
enormous error they had committed in thus secluding themselves from the
world, and were so heartily weary of the unnatural restraint imposed
upon them, that they earnestly besought their relatives to liberate them
for their souls’ sake! But these appeals were unheard, and now probably
the unhappy petitioners turned immediately to Luther. He not only
favored their resolution to escape, but selected his courageous friend,
Bernhard Koppe, a citizen of Torgau, to execute the project. Two other
citizens of the same place accompanied him on the adventure.
George Spalatin, Court Chaplain and Secretary of the Elector, reports
that they fled from the convent on the night before Easter, April 4,
1523. There were nine of them in all.
The accounts of the manner in which their rescue was effected, differ.
Some historians report that prudence required them to preserve the
strictest secrecy as long as they were traversing the territory of Duke
George, who was violently opposed to the Reformation, and hence they
were conveyed away in a covered wagon, and a few affirm, on the
authority of reliable documents, that they were concealed in casks. The
historians, however, agree that Koppe performed his part in the
enterprise with consummate courage and skill. It is very likely that the
nuns were aware of Koppe’s design, and held themselves in readiness at
the appointed time. Tradition tells us that they escaped through the
window of Catharine’s cell. To this day, they show at Nimtschen a
slipper which they say Catharine lost in the hurry of the flight.
They arrived at Wittenberg on the 7th of April, under circumstances
calculated to excite the sympathy of every feeling heart. As they
deserted the convent against the will of their relatives, and most of
them probably being orphans, they did not know where to find shelter or
support. But Luther, who had advised their flight, and aided in
effecting it, kindly received them, and spared no pains to render their
condition comfortable. In a few but expressive words to Spalatin, he
announced their arrival and depicted their destitution. He thus writes
on the 10th of April: “These eloped nuns have come to me; they are in
destitute circumstances, but as very respectable citizens of Torgau have
brought them, there can be no suspicion entertained as to their moral
character. I sincerely pity their forlorn state, and particularly that
of the great number still confined in convents, who are going to ruin in
that condition of constrained and unnatural celibacy. * * * How
tyrannical and cruel,” continues Luther, “many parents and relatives of
these oppressed women in Germany are! But ye popes and bishops! who can
censure you with sufficient severity? who can sufficiently abominate
your wickedness and blindness for upholding these accursed institutions?
But this is not the place to speak at large on this subject. You ask,
dear Spalatin, what I intend to do with these nuns? I shall report these
facts to their relatives, so that they may provide for them. If they
should refuse, I shall look to some other persons, for several have
promised aid. Their names are Margaretta Staupitz, Elizabeth de Carnitz,
Eva Grossin, Eva Schönfield and her Sister Margaret, Lunette de Golis,
Margaret de Zeschau and her sister Catharine, and Catharine de Bora.
They are, indeed, objects worthy of compassion, and Christ will be
served by conferring favors on them.”
As he could not afford to support them himself, he begged his friend to
solicit donations at court, that these fugitives might be supported for
several weeks. By that time he hoped to send them to their friends or
patrons. As Spalatin did not reply immediately, Luther wrote again, and
begged not to be forgotten. He added, “Yea, I even exhort the Prince to
send a contribution. I will keep it a profound secret, and tell no one
that he gave anything to these apostate nuns who have been rescued from
their prison.”
There is no doubt that the Elector, who esteemed Luther highly, sent him
the desired relief. The pacific Prince only wished the fact of his
contribution to be kept secret, that he might not give the Romish
clergy, and particularly Duke George of Saxony, occasion for new
complaint.
Luther’s intercessions in behalf of the nuns with their relatives seem
to have been fruitless, but the people of Wittenberg were liberal beyond
his expectations in their donations for their support. They were kindly
received into various families, and hospitably entertained. In this way
Philip Reichenbach, a magistrate of the city, became the protector or
foster-father of Catharine de Bora, who, by her virtuous and dignified
behavior, rendered herself worthy of his paternal benevolence. This is,
of itself, a sufficient refutation of the slanders of Romish writers,
who charge her with leading a dissolute life until her marriage with
Luther; for no city official, such as Reichenbach, would have hazarded
his own character by harboring a licentious woman. Neither would Dr.
Glacius and other eminent divines have sought her hand in marriage, as
they perseveringly did, nor would she have enjoyed the friendship and
confidence of Amsdorff and other professors of the University if she had
not sustained a character above suspicion. The epitaph on her tomb-stone
at Torgau commemorates her virtues in most exalted terms of eulogy, from
the time of her escape to her death.
The flight of the nuns was itself an unusual event, but it became
immensely important, for extraordinary consequences resulted from it.
Pains were taken to conceal the bold step they had assumed, especially
from all other convents. But these exertions were useless; nuns at other
places heard what their more adventurous sisters at Nimtschen had dared
to do, and they also undertook to fly from their narrow, unwholesome
cells to breathe the pure air of heaven. The abbess and four other nuns
of the Benedictine convent at Zeitz; six at Sormitz; eight at Pentwitz,
and sixteen at Wiedenstadt, escaped in a short time. Luther’s enemies
now assailed him with ferocious malignity. They regarded him as the
author of all this enormous mischief, and tried to show that his work
was productive of nothing but unmitigated evil, because it occasioned
such abominable results as the flight of poor nuns from their convent
prisons. Luther replied to them very briefly; he represented the dark
side of the picture of conventual life, and narrated some striking facts
in illustration. He published the life of a nun, _Florentine de
Oberweimer_, who had escaped from a convent at Eisleben. “I was but six
years old,” she says, “when I was sent to the convent by my parents.
When I was eleven, without knowing or being asked whether I could or
would observe the rules, I was compelled to take the vow. When I was
fourteen, and I began to find out that this mode of life was against my
nature, and hence complained to the abbess, she told me that I must be
contented and should continue to be a nun no matter what I thought or
felt. I then wrote to the learned Dr. Luther and begged his advice: but
my letter was intercepted by my superiors, who immediately put me in
prison, where I remained four weeks and suffered much. The abbess then
put me under the bans. (Florentine then minutely describes the severe
treatment she received before the ban was dissolved.) After that, I
wrote to my relative, Caspar de Watzdorf, who loved the gospel truth,
and complained of my treatment. This also became known to the abbess,
and I cannot tell to strangers how shamefully I was abused by her and
others. _I was so violently beaten by her and four other persons that
they became completely exhausted._ She put me in prison again and
fastened my feet with iron chains,” &c., &c.
In the dedication of this little book to the Duke of Mansfeld, in whose
dominions the convent was located, Luther wrote on the 2nd of March,
1524, “What are you about, ye princes and lords, that ye drive the
people to God whether they will or not? It is not your office nor in
your power. To outward obedience you may compel them, but God will
regard no vow that is not cheerfully and voluntarily kept. Hence, my
dear, gracious sirs, I have published this little narrative that all the
world may know _what conventual life is, and the devil’s folly thus be
made known_. There are princes and lords who are very indignant about
this affair, and it is no wonder. If they knew what I know, they would
perhaps honor me more for it, and contribute much more towards spreading
it abroad than I am doing.”
But Luther was not the only one who was charged with being accessory to
the flight of these nuns. Leonard Koppe, as the chief instrument in
effecting their escape, was, perhaps, exposed to greater dangers and
persecutions than Luther, who was powerfully protected by his prince.
For although Koppe had formerly been a councillor and a government
auditor, yet he had reason to fear the worst treatment from the clergy
if his participation in the act should become generally known. Hence he
sought to conceal it: but Luther, who was a stranger to the fear of man,
and who, in all things, went to work openly and boldly, was of a
different opinion. Fully convinced that Koppe had performed a
meritorious act, of which he should not be ashamed, but rather boast, he
mentioned his name in a letter to Spalatin a few days after the escape
of the nuns; but he also deemed it prudent to write to Koppe and inspire
him with courage. “Be assured,” he writes, “that God has so ordained it,
and that it is not your work or counsel; never mind the clamor of those
who denounce it as a most wicked undertaking, and who do not believe it
was so ordered of God. Shame! shame! they will say; the fool, Leonard
Koppe, has suffered himself to be led by that cursed heretical monk, and
has aided nine nuns to fly from the convent at once and to violate their
vows. To this you will reply: ‘_This is indeed a strange way of keeping
the thing secret._ You are betraying me, and the whole convent of
Nimtschen will be up against me, or they will now hear that I have been
the robber.’ But my reasons for not keeping it secret are good: 1. That
it may be known that I did not advise it to be concealed; for what we
do, we do in and for God, and do not shun the light of day. Would to
heaven I could in this or some other way rescue all troubled consciences
and empty all convents! I would not be afraid to confess my own agency
in the business, nor that of all my assistants. Confidence in Jesus,
whose gospel is destroying the kingdom of Antichrist, would sustain me,
_even if it should cost me my life_. 2. I do it for the sake of the poor
nuns, and of their relatives, so that no one may be able to say they
were involuntarily abducted by wicked fellows, and thus be robbed of
their reputation. 3. To warn the nobility and pious gentry who have
children in convents to take them away themselves, so that no worse
thing befal them. You know that I _advised_ and _sanctioned_ the
enterprise; that you _executed_ it, and that the nuns _consented_ and
_earnestly desired_ it, and I will here briefly give the reasons for it
before God and the world. First, _The nuns themselves had before most
humbly solicited the help of their relatives and friends in effecting
their release; they gave them satisfactory reasons why such a life could
no longer be endured, for it interfered with their souls’ salvation, and
they promised to be faithful and dutiful children when they should be
released._ All this was positively denied to them, and they were
forsaken by all their relations. Hence they had the right, yea, were
compelled to relieve their burdened consciences, and save their souls by
seeking help from other quarters, and those who were in a position to
afford counsel and aid, were bound by Christian love to bestow them.
_Secondly_, It is not right that young girls should be locked up in
convents where there is no daily use made of the word of God, and where
the gospel is seldom or never heard, and where, of course, these girls
are exposed to the severest temptations. _Thirdly_, It is plain that a
person may be compelled to do before the world what is not cheerfully
done; but before God and in his service no one has a right to use
compulsion. _Fourthly_, Women were created for other purposes than to
spend a lazy and useless life in a convent.”