Catharine de Bora: Social and Domestic Scenes in the Home of Luther

by John G. Morris

CHAPTER VI.

Catharine, a Widow—Her Support—Sufferings—Journeys—Death.

No one was more deeply distressed at his death than the mourning widow. For more than twenty years she had lived with him in uninterrupted harmony; had sought to alleviate his sufferings, and had shared his joys; and she was not permitted to see him die nor minister to his last wants! Even if he did die among friends, yet she was not there to smooth his pillow and to perform those tender offices which an affectionate wife alone knows how to do. When on the 22d of February the corpse was conveyed to Wittenberg and deposited in the castle church, and all the inhabitants of the city went to meet the melancholy procession, there stood Catharine weeping, and with her children looked on her deceased husband.

She survived him nearly seven years, and cherished his memory most affectionately. Though his enemies assailed him most virulently when he was no longer present to defend himself, yet she never allowed her affection to cool nor her interest in his work and reputation to abate.

The black velvet cloth which had covered the funeral car came into the possession of the widow, and for many years it was preserved among Luther’s posterity as a valuable memento. Neither did the Elector forget her. He wrote her a letter of condolence, in which he sought to comfort her on the grounds of the happy death of her husband, and the secret, wise councils of God. At the same time, he repeated his assurances of his protection of her and her children.

Although Luther had expressed a desire that Catharine should remove from Wittenberg, fearing that after his death she might not be able to support herself there, yet induced by good reasons, she resolved to spend the remainder of her days in that place; for where could she expect to find better friends than in Wittenberg? Bugenhagen, Cruciger, Melanchthon, and others, were still living, who were her counsellors and comforters; and Wittenberg was also the place where her sons had already begun their education, and where they could most advantageously finish it.

Luther had, some time before his death, made ample provision, consisting of various kinds of property, for his wife,[16] which she was to hold independent of her children, in the event of her remaining a widow. In the document conveying it to her he speaks of her in the most exalted terms as a pious woman, a faithful wife, and an affectionate mother. The property thus left was far from being sufficient to maintain the widow and her children. The Elector of Saxony, agreeably to his promise, contributed to her support. The dukes of Mansfeld and the King of Denmark also liberally came to her help. The Elector, John Frederick, of Saxony, who had already paid the funeral expenses, thus wrote to Dr. Schurf, Professor of Medicine and Rector of the University: “And as we have heard that the widow of the sainted Luther is in need of pecuniary assistance, ... we send you by this messenger 100 gold Groschen for her use.” He also wrote to Cruciger and Melanchthon, the guardians of the children, to select a teacher for the two younger sons, Martin and Paul, with whom they should also board. He directed that with regard to the oldest son, John, they should wait six months longer, to ascertain whether he was inclined or qualified to study a learned profession, and if not, the Elector promised to give him employment in his palace as a clerk or secretary.[17] To enable the guardians to execute his wishes with regard to the children, the Elector sent them 2000 guilders. He likewise afterwards sent the same sum to the widow. The dukes of Mansfeld, for whose benefit Luther had undertaken many journeys and suffered much trouble, were not behind; in the same year they established a fund of 2000 guilders for the benefit of the widow and children, from which they drew an annual interest of 100 guilders. Part of the capital only was paid, for when Catharine died, in 1552, 1000 guilders still stood to her credit. The year after Luther’s death, Christian III., King of Denmark, transferred for her benefit 50 dollars, the remainder of a sum which he had previously granted to Luther and several of his friends. Catharine wrote to the King, expressing her profound gratitude for this act of benevolence.

But she was soon called on to experience additional sorrows. The Smalcald War had already broken out in 1546, which brought desolation into many peaceful and happy families. Catharine did not escape the general calamity. The Elector, John Frederick, who would certainly have done more for her, was taken prisoner at the battle of Muhlberg, April 24, 1547; Wittenberg was besieged on the 5th of May, and on the 25th, Charles V., with his Spanish troops, entered the city as conqueror. All the faithful subjects of the Elector, and many persons who had embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, had left before the siege. The widow of the Reformer, with her children, could not possibly remain behind. She accompanied Dr. George Major, Professor of Theology, to Magdeburg, and thence, sustained by the town council of Helmstadt, she went under Melanchthon’s protection to Brunswick, from whence Dr. Major was to conduct her to Copenhagen. Here she expected further protection and support from the King of Denmark, as her illustrious benefactor, the Elector of Saxony, could no longer assist her. But she did not proceed farther than Gifhorn, near Brunswick; for a proclamation appeared promising a safe return and the secure possession of their property to all who had left the country. It seemed best to her, as well as to Melanchthon, to return to the home she had abandoned. But her life, from this period, was an unbroken series of sorrows. The assistance she had formerly received from the liberality of the Elector was withdrawn; the annual contribution of the King of Denmark—although he had promised further help—had not been sent since 1548, and her small real estate was loaded with taxes. It would have been difficult for her to support herself and four children if she had not, some time subsequently, mortgaged her little farm at Zillsdorff for 400 guilders, and pawned some silver-ware for 600 guilders. She also rented out several rooms in her house, as her husband had done, and boarded the occupants, and thus she contrived to gain a meagre subsistence.

In the beginning of the year 1548, she travelled with Melanchthon to Leipzig, in order to solicit from the imperial assessor some diminution of the oppressive war tax. Melanchthon also wrote to the King of Denmark, entreating him to continue the annual contribution which he made during Luther’s lifetime. Bugenhagen wrote similar letters to his Majesty, begging him, for Luther’s sake, to come to the help of “the poor widow and her children.” But as these repeated appeals were fruitless, she herself wrote to him, October 6, 1550. In this letter, she calls to his mind the services which her illustrious husband had rendered to the cause of Christianity, and his Majesty’s former liberality to him. In pathetic terms she represents her destitute condition and the severity of the times, occasioned by the existing wars. She says, “Your Imperial Majesty is the only king on earth to whom we poor Christians can fly for protection, and God will doubtless richly reward your Majesty for the kindness you have bestowed on poor Christian preachers and their widows and children.” This letter did not immediately produce the desired result. Two years afterwards, when most sorely pressed by want, she repeated her entreaty, and wrote again. In this letter she complains of her forsaken condition, and declares that she had been more unkindly treated by professed friends than enemies. She writes in a deeply desponding tone, and seems to be on the brink of despair. Bugenhagen seconded this appeal to the King, and it was successful; a contribution was received which relieved her immediate wants and comforted her desponding heart.

Luther’s exalted merits were not always recognized, at least, not in the way in which they should have been. The widow of the man who conferred favors on thousands at the expense of extraordinary self-sacrifice, often pined in misery, and paid the severe penalty of his disinterestedness and liberality. With much truth could it be said in a discourse commemorative of her virtues: “During the war she wandered from place to place with her orphan children, enduring the most trying privations and perils, and, besides the numerous trials of her widowhood, she also encountered much ingratitude from many, and she was often shamefully deceived by those even from whom she had a right to expect kindnesses on account of the inappreciable services of her husband to the Church.”