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Katharina von BoraKatharina von Bora was born in 1499, the daughter of an impoverished nobleman. In 1504 she went to the convent school of the Benedict order in Brehna (near Halle) and entered the convent of Nimbschen (near Grimma; only in german) in 1508. In 1515 she took her vows and became a nun at the soonest possible date.
Easter of 1523, Katherina fled with 11 other nuns from the convent in Nimbschen to Wittenberg and found shelter with the family of Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Philipp Melanchthon is quoted as having said: "Unexpectedly Luther married Bora, without even mentioning his plans to his friends..." in 1525.
Henceforth, Katharina Luther put the household in order, used the monestary's right to brew beer, leased land for gardening and bred cattle.
Katharina fled from the Smalkaldian War in 1546 to Dessau and then to Magdeburg. She died on December 20, 1552 in Torgau where she had fled to get away from the plague in Wittenberg. |
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