Katharina von Bora (January 29, 1499 - December 20, 1552) was a Catholic nun who was an early convert to Protestantism. She is most often remembered as the wife of Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Childhood and life as a nun

Born in Lippendorf , Germany, Katharina grew up in a family of poor Saxon nobles. Her mother died when Katharina was quite young, and Katharina's father ultimately gave her to the Nimbschen convent near Grimma when she was only 10 years old. There she learned reading, writing, and a little Latin. In 1515, Katharina took her vows and was officially received as a nun.

After several years of service, Katharina became interested in the growing reform movement and grew dissatisfied with her life at the convent, conspiring with several other nuns to flee from it. The women contacted Luther in early 1523 begging for his assistance -- at Easter, Luther had a wagon sent to the convent, in which the nuns could escape. After their successful getaway, they fled to Wittenberg, where Luther arranged for their marriages to "honorable men". Katharina, however, ended up housed with Cranach the Elder , as she refused to accept anyone's hand in marriage but that of the famous Luther himself.

Marriage to Luther

After two years, Luther relented, and was engaged to Katharina on June 13, 1525. On June 27 of that year, the wedding took place. The couple took up residence in the old Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg, which the reformer Prince Johann of Wittenberg had made available to them. Katharina immediately took on the task of administering and managing the vast holdings of the monastery, breeding and selling cattle and running a brewery, in order to provide for Martin, as well as the students there learning from him and the steady stream of visitors seeking audience with the reformer. In times of widespread illness, Katharina operated an hospital on site, ministering to the sick herself alongside other nurses.

In addition to her busy life tending to the lands and grounds of the monastery, Katharina bore Martin six children. Johannes (Hans) was the eldest, born in 1526, and was soon followed by Elizabeth in 1527 (who died the following year). Then came Magdalena (b. 1529 - d. 1542), Martin, Jr. (b. 1531), Paul (1533), and lastly Margaret (1534).

After Luther's death

When Martin Luther died in 1546, Katharina was left in difficult financial straits. She was asked to move out of the old abbey and into much more modest quarters with the children who remained at home, but initially refused. Almost immediately thereafter, Katharina had to leave the monastery on her own at the outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War, from which she fled to Magdeburg. After her return the approach of the war forced another flight in 1547, this time to Braunschweig. In July of that year, at the close of the war, she was at last able to return to Wittenberg. The buildings and lands of the monastery had been torn apart and laid waste -- economically, they could not remain there. Katharina was able to support herself thanks to the donations of two reformer princes, and she remained in Wittenberg in comfort until 1552, when the plague and a harvest failure forced her to leave the city once more. She fled to Torgau, at the gates of which her cart was involved in a bad accident that injured Katharina. She died of those injuries shortly thereafter, in the city itself.

External link

• A website devoted to Katharina (in German)

This article is based on the article Katharina von Bora from the German Wikipedia.