[Frontispiece: KATHARINA VON BORA From a Portrait by Lucas Kranich] KATHARINE VON BORA, Dr. Martin Luther's Wife A PICTURE FROM LIFE, BY ARMIN STEIN. _TRANSLATED BY E. A. ENDLICH._ PHILADELPHIA THE UNITED LUTHERAN PUBLICATION HOUSE COPYRIGHT, 1890. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. It has been my purpose in "Katharine von Bora," to picture in the peaceful quiet of his domestic happiness, the man whose influence so largely shaped the course of public events. The undertaking has not been altogether an easy one; for, while history flows in a copious stream, regarding the Reformer himself, it gives but meager information as to the great man's wife,--the humble, modest woman, who never thrust herself forward, nor sought any personal advantage from her husband's greatness,--but remained contentedly in the background, glad to do him service, and to enrich her own heart from the abundance of his spiritual riches. Only occasional fragments give us glimpses of Katharine's life, and out of these I will endeavor to form a completer picture. The fact that Luther is so absorbing a personality, gives rise to a further difficulty,--the biography of Katharine von Bora often insensibly becomes that of Luther himself; and the author pauses to ask himself: Am I writing of Katharine, or of Luther? I can only repeat, that it is my purpose, in this book, to paint Luther's domestic life, and therefore Dr. Martin, as the head of his household, may fitly play a leading part. As has already been stated, the historical notices regarding Katharine von Bora are very scant. In addition to the laborious compilation by Walsh, published in refutation of popish calumnies, there are but two learned works upon the subject,--Hofman's "Katharine von Bora; or, Luther as Husband and Father," and a "Life of Katharine von Bora," by W. Beste; besides these, I would mention a concise and popular sketch, written by Meurer, the Luther-biographer. It has been my endeavor, so to utilize the material here gathered, that our people may learn to know the wife of its greatest man,--not by name only, but as her husband's "helpmeet," in the truest sense of the word, as a pattern of domestic virtue, and as a pearl among women. CONTENTS. _BOOK FIRST.--THE MAIDEN._ CHAPTER I. A CONSPIRACY CHAPTER II. DISAPPOINTED HOPE CHAPTER III. DAWN CHAPTER IV. FREEDOM CHAPTER V. SHELTERED CHAPTER VI. A FLEETING FANCY CHAPTER VII. KATHARINE IN TROUBLE AND DR. MARTIN IN STRIFE WITH HIS FRIENDS CHAPTER VIII. A SUDDEN RESOLVE CHAPTER IX. A DAY OF REJOICING _BOOK SECOND--THE WIFE._ CHAPTER X. "AS SORROWING, YET ALWAYS REJOICING." CHAPTER XI. THE FAITHFUL ECKART CHAPTER XII. A NEW LIFE CHAPTER XIII. "AS DYING, AND, BEHOLD, WE LIVE" CHAPTER XIV. BEREAVED AND COMFORTED CHAPTER XV. ALONE CHAPTER XVI. GOD'S INN CHAPTER XVII. PEACE CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOTHER AND HER CHILDREN