User:Jzimmer13/sandbox

Katharina von Bora

Catherine the Great

Kat Ashley

Marriage to Luther Martin Luther, as well as many of his friends, were at first unsure of whether he should be even be married. Philipp Melanchthon thought that Luther's marriage would hurt the Reformation because of potential scandal. Luther eventually came to the conclusion that "his marriage would please his father, rile the pope, cause the angels to laugh, and the devils to weep."[12] While unsure at first, Luther finally agreed and they were married on June 13, 1525. The marriage of Katharina von Bora to Martin Luther was extremely important to the development of the Protestant Church, specifically in regards to its stance on marriage and the roles each spouse should concern themselves with. “Although Luther was by no means the first cleric of his time to marry, his prominence, his espousal of clerical marriage, and his prolific output of printed anti-Catholic propaganda made his marriage a natural target.” (Smith 745) The way Luther described Katie’s actions and the names he gives her like “My Lord Katie” shows us that he really did feel strongly that she exhibited a great amount of control over her own life and decisions. It could even reasonably be argued that she maintained some influence in the actions of Martin Luther himself since he says explicitly, “You convince me of whatever you please. You have complete control. I concede to you the control of the household, providing my rights are preserved. Female government has never done any good” (Smith 746). Luther also makes the statement “If I can endure conflict with the devil, sin, and a bad conscience, then I can put up with the irritations of Katy von Bora.” (Smith 746). This again exhibits his reluctance, but overall willingness to give her control and a voice in their lives and his eventual support for all women to behave in the same way.