In class we talked briefly about Katharina
von Bora*, Luther’s wife, and what a kind of a person she might has been. Since
movies often tend to overplay things in a certain way, I decided to look a
little bit deeper into Katharina von Bora’s life and personality.
 |
| 1526 |
If
we first look a the painting from Lucas Cranach the Elder, Katharina does
indeed appear to be a little bit stiff and not really friendly. Cranach depicts
her as a person who seems to be serious and tough – that is at least how I see
the portrait. However, we should not interpret too much in one painting.
Besides, Cranach also did other portraits of Katharina, in which her look is
different (see below).
So,
who was Katharina von Bora then? Katharina von Bora was born in 1499. Since she
was three years old she lived in a convent. When Martin Luther released his 95
theses, Katha was 18 years old. She and other nuns heard of Luther teaching and
his opinion about convents and monasteries. As we already learned in class, she
and other nuns fled the convent in empty fish barrels. Luther helped to quickly
find new homes and husbands for the nuns - except for Katharina. The love
between Katharina and Martin wasn’t at first sight at all. Luther actually
wanted to marry Ave von Schönfeld, another nun of Katharina’s convent. It is
not really clear why Luther finally married Katharina von Bora but he did so in
1525. And we know that he liked it even if he had to get used to the situation
after his long life of celibacy and aloneness (he was 41 years old at the
weeding, Katharina was 26 years old).
 |
| 1528 |
Katharina
is always described as a competent manager of the family and the household. The
sources tell that she rose up at four in the morning to fulfill her
responsibilities. She took care of all the household duties, raised six
children of her own and four orphans, and even managed the finances of the
family. She helped to free Luther’s mind for his work of writing, teaching, and
ministering. She also took care of the many guests who visited the Luther home
quite often.
In
class we talked about Luther’s views on marriage and the role of women. Katharina
von Bora definitely met his expectations. In letters to his friends he called
her the "morning star of Wittenberg" or wrote about her: "My
Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange
my poverty for the riches of Croesus." Katharina had many important duties
at the house (e.g. finances), she was taught in Bible studies from Martin
himself and, moreover, she was the only woman who was allowed to participate at
the table talks with Luther’s friends and other professors, students and
pastors. With this in mind we can say that she definitely was a busy woman who
probably also had a lot influence on her husband and maybe wasn’t as obedient
as Luther tend to describe the role of wives in general.
*I am a little bit confused if her actual
name was Katherine (as in Zophy) or Katharina von Bora. In some sources she is
also referred to as Catherine. But since she was born in Germany, I would say
her “real” name was Katharina (that is also how she is named in the German and
the English Wikipedia).
Sources:
Katerina! The others are Anglicized. I'd go with Katerina for this class--we can pronounce it and it's what Luther called her. Good post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Anna! This really helped us see how she was and how her role as his wife may have influence Luther's view on women.
ReplyDelete