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Do not fill this in! ===Marriage=== [[File:Lucas Cranach d.Γ. - Bildnis der Katharina von Bora (Christieβs 2001).jpg|thumb|upright|A 1526 portrait of [[Katharina von Bora]], Luther's wife, by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]]]] [[File:Portrait of Martin Luther at his Desk.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Luther at his desk with family portraits]] Luther married [[Katharina von Bora]], one of 12 nuns he had helped escape from the Nimbschen [[Cistercian nuns|Cistercian convent]] in April 1523, when he arranged for them to be smuggled out in herring barrels.<ref>Wilson, 232.</ref> "Suddenly, and while I was occupied with far different thoughts," he wrote to Wenceslaus Link, "the Lord has plunged me into marriage."<ref>Schaff, Philip, [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/7_ch04.htm ''History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch V''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823185716/http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/7_ch04.htm |date=23 August 2017 }}, rpt. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 17 May 2009; Bainton, Mentor edition, 226.</ref> At the time of their marriage, Katharina was 26 years old and Luther was 41 years old. On 13 June 1525, the couple was engaged, with [[Johannes Bugenhagen]], [[Justus Jonas]], Johannes Apel, [[Philipp Melanchthon]] and [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] and his wife as witnesses.<ref name=Scheible147>{{cite book|last=Scheible|first=Heinz|title=Melanchthon. Eine Biographie|publisher=C.H.Beck|location=Munich|year=1997|isbn=978-3-406-42223-2|language=de|page=147}}</ref> On the evening of the same day, the couple was married by Bugenhagen.<ref name=Scheible147/> The ceremonial walk to the church and the wedding banquet were left out and were made up two weeks later on 27 June.<ref name=Scheible147/> Some priests and former members of [[Religious order (Catholic)|religious orders]] had already married, including Andreas Karlstadt and Justus Jonas, but Luther's wedding set the seal of approval on clerical marriage.<ref>Lohse, Bernhard, ''Martin Luther: An Introduction to his Life and Work,'', translated by Robert C. Schultz, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1987, {{ISBN|0-567-09357-3}}, 32; Brecht, 2:196β197.</ref> He had long condemned [[Clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church|vows of celibacy]] on biblical grounds, but his decision to marry surprised many, not least Melanchthon, who called it reckless.<ref>Brecht, 2:199; Wilson, 234; Lohse, 32.</ref> Luther had written to [[George Spalatin]] on 30 November 1524, "I shall never take a wife, as I feel at present. Not that I am insensible to my flesh or sex (for I am neither wood nor stone); but my mind is averse to wedlock because I daily expect the death of a heretic."<ref>Schaff, Philip. [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc7.ii.v.ii.html "Luther's Marriage. 1525."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707101105/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc7.ii.v.ii.html |date=7 July 2017 }}, ''History of the Christian Church, Volume VII, Modern Christianity, The German Reformation''. Β§ 77, rpt. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 17 May 2009; Mullett, 180β181.</ref> Before marrying, Luther had been living on the plainest food, and, as he admitted himself, his mildewed bed was not properly made for months at a time.<ref>Marty, 109; Bainton, Mentor edition, 226.</ref> Luther and his wife moved into a former monastery, "[[Lutherhaus|The Black Cloister]]," a wedding present from Elector [[John, Elector of Saxony|John the Steadfast]]. They embarked on what appears to have been a happy and successful marriage, though money was often short.<ref>Brecht, 2: 202; Mullett, 182.</ref> Katharina bore six children: Hans β June 1526; [[Elisabeth Luther|Elisabeth]] β 10 December 1527, who died within a few months; [[Magdalena Luther|Magdalene]] β 1529, who died in Luther's arms in 1542; Martin β 1531; [[Paul Luther|Paul]] β January 1533; and Margaret β 1534; and she helped the couple earn a living by farming and taking in boarders.<ref>Oberman, 278β280; Wilson, 237; Marty, 110.</ref> Luther confided to [[Michael Stifel|Michael Stiefel]] on 11 August 1526: "My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of [[Croesus]]."<ref>Bainton, Mentor edition, 228; Schaff, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc7.ii.v.ii.html "Luther's Marriage. 1525."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707101105/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc7.ii.v.ii.html |date=7 July 2017 }}; Brecht, 2: 204.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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