One of the highlights of recent years has been the number of 500th anniversaries associated with the Reformation. Back in 2017, we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which kickstarted the German Reformation. 2021 marked 500 years since Luther may (or may not) have declared those immortal words, ‘Here I stand, I can do no other,’ at the Diet of Worms. In June we’ll have another such anniversary to celebrate, for on the 13th of June 1525 a most unexpected event occurred; Martin Luther married.
The background
Martin Luther was adamant that he would not marry. Despite writing extensively on the subject of marriage (see The Estate of Marriage, 1522) and having played matchmaker to several of his friends, to get married himself would be a step too far!
The most convincing reason he had thus far remained unmarried was his belief that his own end was fast approaching. In 1521 he had a narrow escape from the Diet of Worms and spent the following year secretly living in Wartburg Castle. Luther had the very real fear that he’d soon follow in the footsteps of Jan Huss and die a martyr’s death: ‘My mind is far removed from marriage since I daily expect death and the punishment due to a heretic.’
The bride
Whilst studying the Reformation, one of the things I discovered was that much of what I thought I knew about Martin Luther was, in fact, mythology. Most notably perhaps, the story of Luther throwing an inkpot at the devil is, sadly, apocryphal.
The mythology that surrounds Martin Luther is equally present with his wife, Katharina von Bora. Growing up, the little I heard or read about Katharina could be summarised in two facts. She escaped from a nunnery by hiding in a herring barrel and no one wanted to marry her, so Luther decided to marry her himself. These are distortions of the truth and do Katharina a grave disservice.
Katharina had spent most of her life in nunneries. Despite being born into the minor nobility, financial difficulties meant that at the age of five, she was sent to a convent, and by the age of 15 she was a fully-fledged nun. The sources concerning Katharina’s discovery of Luther’s works are scarce but we do know that by 1523, aged 24, she had been convinced by Luther’s writings and was planning an escape with a group of other nuns. The man recruited to help them escape was Leonhard Koppe of Torgau, the 16th-century equivalent of a supermarket delivery driver. It is oft repeated that the nuns escaped by hiding in Koppe’s barrels of fish. Whilst they indeed escaped in his wagon, there is, alas, no evidence to suggest they hid in his barrels.
As for the claim that no one else wanted her, this too is a myth. Upon her arrival in Wittenberg, Katharina mixed in Luther’s circle of friends and had several admirers. For a time, it seemed that Katharina could have married Hieronymous Baumer or Caspar Glatz. Whilst her fellow escapees all found husbands, Katharina was adamant that only one of two men would do: Nikolaus von Amsdorff (a friend of Luther’s), or the great Doctor Martin Luther himself.
Katharina stood firm, and in early 1525 Luther wrote: ‘To vex and spite the devil and all his opponents I will still marry my Katie.’
As Christians, we need to be careful not to perpetuate myths about church history to make it funny or exciting. The courtship of Martin and Katharina was neither a Hollywood love story, nor the dour, loveless marriage of convenience the myths would have us believe. As we’ll see, this was literally a match made in heaven, which God used to great effect.
Married life
If you’re fortunate enough to be in Wittenberg on the anniversary of Martin and Katharina’s wedding, you’re in for a treat. Each year there is a procession through the town, led by actors playing the happy couple, accompanied by bands and cheered on by crowds with their currywurst. The actual wedding was a much more low-key affair. Philip Melanchthon wrote, ‘On June 13, Luther unexpectedly and without informing in advance any of his friends of what he was doing, married [Katharina von] Bora.’
Only a handful of witnesses attended the short ceremony, and even the celebration of the marriage a week later was a noticeably subdued affair. It was a far cry from the modern-day celebrations of the wedding. Like the forgettable wedding ceremony, was Katharina consigned to become a mere footnote in the life of Martin Luther? Far from it.
Their home, the former monastery in Wittenberg, became a hub of the Reformation movement. Each week, visitors would come from far and wide to sit at the table of Martin Luther and listen to his words of wisdom. Katharina oversaw the whole operation and even found time to brew her famous Wittenberg beer, much to the pleasure of Luther and his guests.
Her skills did not end in her general-like command of domestic matters. She was the only woman allowed to sit in on Luther’s famous ‘Table Talk’ sessions, where he would debate the issues of the day with his friends. Katharina was no mere observer though. She frequently took an active role in these sessions, so much so that her husband began referring to her as ‘Doctor’! In one such session, Martin is recorded to have said:
The greatest happiness is to have a wife to whom you can trust your business and who is a good mother to your children. Katie, you have a husband who loves you.
Martin and Katharina’s marriage was filled with both joy and sorrow. They had six children together, yet knew the pain of losing two of them before adulthood. After Martin died in 1546, Katharina was left destitute and forced to flee when war came to Wittenberg. She died in 1552 aged 53.
Lessons from the Luthers
For a long time, Martin Luther assumed he’d be better off remaining unmarried so he could optimise his short time on earth by reading, writing and preaching. If he had considered marriage in the years leading up to 1525, he certainly wouldn’t have imagined himself marrying such a force of nature as Katharina von Bora. Yet Luther’s life, and by extension the Reformation, were enriched by the presence of Katharina in ways no one could have expected in 1525. This should remind us to be thankful for the Christians that God has put in our lives for our benefit, whether that be friends, family or members of our local church. Like Luther, you may be sceptical at first, or think you can only benefit from being around a certain ‘type’ of Christian. However, we would do well to remember that God does not make mistakes in who he puts in our lives.
