Hourly History - Martin Luther: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Christians Book 3)

Copyright 2017 by Hourly History.

All rights reserved.

In the sixteenth century, the European world was rapidly changing. Gutenbergs movable-type printing press, introduced in the previous century, made the transmission of ideas possible like never before. Copernicus suggested that the universe was heliocentric. Spanish and Portuguese ships began to explore new trade routes around the world even as the Ottoman Turks invaded all the way to the walls of Vienna. A significant part this turmoil involved the Reformation. Beginning in northern Europe, the Reformation affected not only religious ideas but had a huge impact on Europes political and intellectual culture.

At the forefront of this movement stands Martin Luther, the man to whom historians have given the title Father of the Reformation. Many of Martins ideas were not new. For example, John Wycliffe had already advocated for the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages in the fourteenth century, and Jan Hus had echoed Wycliffes call as well as attacking certain church practices, such as the sale of indulgences, in the early fifteenth century.

But Martin Luther emerged at a point in time when, due in part to the printing press, ideas were moving and being heard more broadly. His writings and challenges to the Catholic church sparked a larger movement that could not be put down. Ultimately, many of the tenants that Luther promoted, such as the value of education for all (including women), the move toward humanistic scholarship (reading original texts rather than relying on the authority of previous commentaries), and new religious and political freedoms played a role in moving Europe from a medieval mindset toward a modern way of thinking.

Luther wrote prolifically, and his many works are a major part of his legacy. For this reason, you will find discussion of a number of his key writings in this book. He also played a role in many religious controversies that helped define the emerging Protestant church, not all of which can be covered here. But you will find an overview of the life of Martin Luther, a man of his changing times, a man far from perfect, a man who refused to back down from his convictions.

In fifteenth-century Saxony, a part of the medieval Holy Roman Empire, Hans Luther set off from his familys farm where he had grown up to find a new life in the town of Eisleben, Germany. The laws of the time and place stated that only the youngest son could inherit, and since Hans was not his fathers youngest son, his only choices were to build his own life or to work for his brother.

Moving to a town, however, also gave Hans the opportunity to achieve mobility in his role in society. The copper mining industry was thriving in the county of Mansfeld where Eisleben was located, and Hans first found a dangerous and dirty occupation as a miner. Eventually, he would go on to develop a business as a copper smelter, processing the ore produced by the mines. Hans even served as one of the miners representatives to the town council.

On November 9, 1483, Hans wife, Margareta, gave birth to the couples first child. The boy was baptized on the day after his birth, which was Saint Martins Day, and so his parents named him Martin. He would be the oldest of five siblings. Martin Luthers early life was marked by his parents strict disciplinarian tendencies. In one often-repeated story, Martin told how his mother punished him for stealing a nut by beating his hands until they bled. Though this episode would probably have been less shocking to Martins contemporaries than to modern readers, nonetheless, Martins relationships with his parentsespecially his fatherseem to have been strained. Hans Luther, probably still working as a miner with a meager income for much of Martins childhood and having worked very hard for his money even as he moved forward in his business and up in society, was extremely frugal. Despite this, Hans decided it was worth his while to invest in an education for Martin.

Martins education was an unusual opportunityfew were formally educated at the time. Education began with studying Latin, both read and spoken. For this purpose, Martin first attended grammar school close to home. While he must have been intelligent to merit Hans investment in his education, Martin suffered the difficulties of any other student: he sometimes made mistakes or did not memorize his lessons well. For his errors, he received beatingsa method of training that Martin would criticize in his future writings.

When he was a teenager, the Luthers sent Martin to boarding school in an attempt to secure the best education available. First, in 1497, he was sent to study in Magdeburg, to the north. There he attended a school operated by a religious community called the Brethren of the Common Life. A year later, Martins family moved him to a Saint Georges parish school in Eisenach, further east. There, he found a situation that was somewhat better than his previous educational experiences. He found a teacher in the school whom he thought highly of, which helped his learning. He became close to a prominent family in the town, the Schalbes, and eventually even lived with them. The familys head, Heinrich Schalbe, was very involved in the support of a Franciscan monastery; in the Schalbes house, Martin had the chance to see the monastic lifestyle firsthandperhaps an influence on his later decisions.

In 1501, when Martin was 17, he headed to the University of Erfurt. The main reason for learning Latin in Luthers day was to be able to attend a university, so this must have been what Hans Luther was planning for all along. The city of Erfurt held 20,000 people, the largest place Martin had ever lived and probably ever seen. All students at the university were male and followed a schedule that in some ways mimicked the monastery. Students had to wake up early and attended worship services, lectures, and meals as a group. But in some ways the university was quite un-monasticmany students spent their free time in activities such as excessive drinking, though Martin seems to have made other choices and been a diligent student.

Many of the students at the university came from religious orders, intending to study theologya common course of study in medieval universities. All students began their studies in the same way. Rather than choosing a focustheology, law, or medicineat the outset, students mastered the principles of rhetoric, reasoning, and argument based on the writings of Aristotle. After becoming proficient in this area, students received their Masters of Arts degree.

Rather than encouraging students to read original texts or perform experiments, the university education tended to rely on established authorities and commentaries. But during the time Martin spent at Erfurt, a new movement was brewing. Two leading professors began to introduce the humanistic idea of reading original texts, including classical literature. For Martin, this was a formative concept. It is possible that during this time he may have begun to first read the Bible for himself, though he may also have done so earlier. Martin certainly discovered a variety ofclassical works during this time, such as Virgils Aeneid and Georgicstexts that would be important to him throughout his life.

In 1505, one year earlier than expected, Martin received his Masters of Arts degree. He was now ready to progress to the next stage of his education, beginning his focused study of law. His father gave him an expensive gifta copy of the