The stories on this Blog are about courage. The characteristics of courage that Katherine displayed were: willingness to trust God no matter what He brought into her life and wholehearted obedience. She depended on Him, and then when she believed that she knew what His will was she followed Him, trusting in His provision.
Katherine’s mother died when she was very young. Her family sent her to a Benedictine convent at the age of five or six. She remained in cloisters for about twenty years. All of the evidence shows that she accepted her lot in life, and more than that, she tackled the situations that she found herself in with all of her energy. Her willingness to put out the effort to succeed wherever she was would prepare her to be an excellent wife for the esteemed husband that God was preparing her for.
Katherine had been placed in the convent as a young girl to receive an education. Around age ten, she moved from the Benedictine cloister to a Cistercian convent in Nimbschen. When she was 16, she took the veil of a nun after one year as a novice.
We are not sure if she felt a strong calling to the religious life or if she was there because her father and stepmother wished it. As I mentioned before, many noble women were placed in a convent by their parents for a set period of time. Some might leave the convent if they could get a good marriage. Others might go home to help with family affairs. Many remained indefinitely. It was a good life. Their noble families sent endowments to the convents to pay their way and they basically lived a life of comparative ease. They did not do physical work. They had servants for that.
Katherine’s family was not well off, but she was accepted in the Cistercian convent anyway. She had two aunts at the convent in Nimbschen already. Her maternal aunt may have been the abbess, and her paternal aunt another nun. There seems to have been some indication that she stayed at the convent because her stepmother was not eager to have her back.
Katherine did well at the convent. She learned excellent habits from her daily routine as a nun. She acquired considerable skills in reading and studying. She learned Latin, which enabled her to understand the theological writings of the scholars of that day. Besides studying, Scripture recitation, praying, and singing she held some kind of an office in the convent along with the other sisters. We are not sure what that office was, but she learned how to do all of the tasks necessary to run the cloister efficiently. All of these abilities would later enable her to manage her household as the wife of a busy and famous minister whose time was much in demand.
Knowing Latin enabled her to read the writings of Martin Luther. These writings were already widespread by the early 1520’s. Besides the theological differences that Luther had with the Roman Catholic Church, he questioned the monastic life. His writings caused quite a stir in many convents. One of his converts was Katherine. Once she became convinced that Luther was right, she made the brave decision to leave the convent. She was convinced that his arguments were Scripturally correct, and she could no longer remain there, even though convent life was a secure life. She wanted to follow God no matter what it might cost her.
There were 11 other sisters who also wanted to leave because of their new convictions. They needed some help. Lone women just didn’t walk out of a convent. Where would they go? Who would protect them on the road?
Martin Luther himself thought of a plan to help them escape. On Easter Saturday night, April 4, 1523, Katherine and the 11 other nuns escaped from the convent with the help of Leonard Koppe, a city councilor and merchant, who smuggled them out in a fish wagon. Koppe was also taking a risk because it was against the law to “abduct” nuns. He could face the death penalty.
These women were very brave. They had security in the cloisters. They had a comfortable life. They had an honorable career. As “brides” of Christ, they would always be cared for by the church. Now, these 12 women did not really know what would happen to them. The church would no longer support them. Some could go back to their families, if their families would have them, but since they converted to Protestantism, they were often disowned by their families.
They could not get a career where they could use all of their learning. That was forbidden to women at that time. So those who had no family were forced to marry quickly or try and get a job of some sort and live with a family or friends for protection. There was no such thing as a “working woman” then. Eleven of the women who escaped were married quickly. Husbands were found for them.
At first, no husband was found for Katherine, and she didn’t seem eager to obtain one.
Katherine’s father was dead by this time. It did not seem that returning to her family was an option. So, in the beginning of her new life away from the security of the convent, she stayed with a friend in Wittenberg. Here her duties included managing her friend’s household. She met a young man while in Wittenberg and fell in love. He wanted to marry her, but his family forbade it. Katherine was not acceptable because of her poverty. The family was not happy to get an ex-nun for a daughter-in-law either. So, her young man married a younger, and richer, woman.
Eventually, Luther, who had not been in a hurry to marry either, approached Katherine.
To be continued…..
