Bora, KATHARINA VON

Bora, KATHARINA VON, the wife of Luther, was born of an old family in the district of Meissen, 29th January 1499. At a very early age she entered the Cistercian convent of Nimptschen, near Grimma. Becoming acquainted with Luther's doctrines, she found herself very unhappy in her monastic life; and finally, along with eight other nuns, whose relatives, like her own, refused to listen to them, she applied for assistance to Luther. Luther obtained the services of Leonhard Koppe, a citizen of Torgau, and by him and a few associates the nine nuns were liberated from the convent in April 1523. They were brought to Wittenberg, and Katharina became an inmate in the house of the burgomaster Reichenbach. Luther, through a friend, Amsdorf, offered her the hand of Dr Kaspar Glaz. She declined this proposal, but declared herself ready to marry Amsdorf, or Luther himself. Her marriage with Luther took place on 13th June 1525. She bore her husband three sons and three daughters, and is best described in Luther's own words as 'a pious, faithful wife, on whom a husband's heart could rely.' She died 20th December 1552 at Torgau. See Stein, Katharina von Bora (Halle, 1879); and Bayne's Life of Luther (1887).