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 The assistance she had formerly received from the liberality of the Elector was withdrawn; the annual contribution of the King of Denmark—although he had promised further help—had not been sent since 1548, and her small real estate was loaded with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.