Luther Katharina von Bora - Katie Luther, First Lady of the Reformation: the unconventional life of Katharina von Bora

K atharina von Bora. Tall, slender, dark-haired, piercing eyes, passionate voice, stomping her foot in defiance, refusing to be intimidated. She was headstrong and determined. No shrinking, submissive, subdued, sweet lady was she. She knew what she wanted, and not even Martin Luther could stop her. The crowd was riveted to her every word, clucking, cheering, laughing, and clapping. I close my eyes and can still hear her distinct Kenyan-British accent.

She had begged for the role. It was the class play for our final session of my church history course at Moffat Bible College in Kijabe, Kenya. The previous year we had burned Polycarp at the stakealmost literally, when his shabby, black choir robe caught fire. He was tackled by fellow students, who quickly put out the flames, and the drama continued as though the football pile-up had been planned. The whole student body, faculty, and staff had come out for the performance, and there was great anticipation this year. Word-of-mouth publicity had done its trickmuch buzz about Martin Luther and Katie, starring Kotut and Beatrice.

As a class we had chosen the topic. Parts were assignedor rather fought over, with the loudest and most articulate students snatching lead roles. Indeed, voice projection was critical. If you were loud, you were in. I was the director, no challenge on that, working with the students on choreography and chronological events. From there, they created the dialogue, with my insistence that they keep things snappy. No long speeches. They were ready and a tad nervous on that cool, sunny morning. The crowd was bigger than the previous year, now joined by students from the nearby nursing school. I stood backstage behind a small curtain crowded with actors, ready to push a Tetzel or Pope Leo X onto the stage if they didnt hear their cue.

Curbing his usual class-clown tendencies, Kennedy welcomed the noisy crowd and presented appropriate background information. There was a momentary hush. Then, wearing Polycarps shabby, now singed, black robe, Martin strutted out from behind the curtain onto the grassy knoll, carrying on like a good sixteenth-century Reformer: hammering theses to a door, railing against indulgences, preaching salvation by faith, and doing what my students loved most, building a firein this case to burn a papal bull.

But it was Katie who stole the show. She entered Wittenberg in a wagon with my two other female students and several males dressed in dragthe best we could do for nuns attire. Martin quickly finds husbands for them, all except for Katie. Having been stood up by the man she thought was her fianc, she is already vulnerable, and now she alone is left. Martin seeks out a worthy gentleman, whom Katie agrees to marry (or, as she emphasizes, Martin himself), but the man is threatened by this sassy, assertive woman.

Poor Martin. A confirmed bachelor himself, he has been assigned to find husbands for them all. So, with no other prospects, he brings out Casper Glatz. No! It cant be. Casper Glatz? The students had unanimously picked our oldest white missionary professor for the part. He was perfect: short, bald, self-conscious, clueless. The haughty Katie sizes him up and shreds him right there in front of everyone. No way will she ever marry Casper. The audience howled with laughter. I have no recollection of exactly where we went with the drama from there, but it was truly a smash hit, curtain calls to prove it.

Katharina, wife of Martin Luther, was by any measure the First Lady of the Reformation. Important as she was, however, she would remain unknown to us were it not for her larger-than-life husband. Yet she stands alone in her own right, albeit as a woman: first lady, second sex.