Hans Luther

Being such a crucial moment where you have the leading figures of one of my favorite periods of history just all gathered in a room, I mean, that would've been, I think, fascinating.

But yeah, the, uh, death of Hans Luther, um, is our last thing we're gonna cover today.

It's...

Not that... [laughs] We were just talking about how we were being grim, but we're gonna be a little grim, I gu- But, but I don't know.

We, um, I think there's some perhaps encouraging things, inspiring things to take away, too, from this, um, w- this, what we're about to talk about.

You know, we, our very first episodes we of course talked about Luther's parents and when Luther, uh, when obviously when we talk about Luther growing up, but, uh, Hans Luther would die on May 29th, 1530.

Uh, Martin was 46 years old.

You know, Hans Luther died in Mansfeld where they had moved to s- since the time, I mean, I think Lu- Luther was less than a year old or maybe a year old.

Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, a town within the Holy Roman Empire.

His parents, Hans and Margarethe, moved to nearby Mansfeld while he was still an infant.

Hans worked in copper mining and became involved in the business of extracting and processing the metal.

The family's circumstances improved, but advancement demanded effort, discipline and careful use of money.

Their son's education was an investment, carrying expectations as well as opportunity.

Before specialising, students studied the liberal arts, including logic, rhetoric and philosophy.

He earned his bachelor's degree in 1502 and his master's in 1505, then began studying law.

Hans Luther's ambitions seemed close to fulfilment.

His father was a miner.

Hans Luther was his name.

His family tried their very best to raise Luther.

They were very, very strict, kind of like my family.

CHAPTER I THE MINER'S SON eisleben to erfurt the turk was slashing his way up the valley of the danube into the heart of europe god sat far off not as a loving father but as a vengeful law-court judge inflicting all sorts of misery on mankind in the forest lurked witches and demons seeking to drag the unwary to destruction into such a world threatened by the sword ruled by fear and plagued by superstition martin luther was born on november tenth fourteen eighty three in eisleben germany within such a world he became a man disdainful of bodily harm convinced of god's love and mercy endowed with abundant common sense a christian worthy of study and emulation Although his station of birth was lowly, greatness sought him out, and the whole world has felt the impact of his life.

the luther child was baptized in the church of st peter the morning after his birth and was named martin for the saint of the day his parents hans and margaretha luther were simple industrious folk they had moved recently from the farming community of myra home of the luther family to eisleben where hans hoped to make his fortune in the copper mines When Martin was about six months old, the family moved to nearby Mansfeld.

The first years there were hard, and it was with difficulty that Hans scraped together money to send his son to school.

By the time Martin was thirteen, however, his father was able to send him to a school conducted by the Brothers of the Common Life at Magdeburg.

as was the custom he earned his board by singing and begging from door to door with one of the school choirs he stayed in magdeburg for only a year and then was sent to the parish school of st george in eisenach while again earning his keep by singing and begging he became acquainted with frau ursula cotta a woman of culture and refinement who took the promising young scholar into her home Hans Luther had been working diligently, and by the time his son was seventeen, the family budget permitted his entrance to the University of Erfurt.

Martin worked diligently, too, and at the end of four years had passed not only his bachelor's, but his master's examinations.

INTO THE CLOYSTER obedient to his father's wishes martin luther on may twentieth fifteen o five began his post-graduate studies at erfurt preparatory to entering the field of law but after studying for only a few weeks he suddenly rejected the whole idea and applied for admission at the town's augustinian monastery hans luther was terribly angry and martin's university friends were astounded why had he taken such a step many factors contributed but in the final analysis his decision to become a monk can be summed up in the words religious experience his parents were god-fearing people whose piety undoubtedly had an early influence upon him he shared fear of the horrors of hell purgatory and the last judgment which was common to people at the close of the middle ages in the university library he found a complete bible and was tremendously impressed with his own ignorance of its contents he attended church and daily chapel devotions regularly all through school his introspective nature made him starkly aware of his sins and shortcomings life as a monk was held to be the best way to forgiveness and heaven several grim incidents increased his anxiety while on a holiday from the university he accidentally severed an artery in his leg with his student sword he almost bled to death and in distress prayed to the virgin mary for help the death of a number of students during a plague moved him profoundly while returning to erfurt following a visit to mansfeld he was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning struck so close that he was knocked to the ground he invoked s anna for aid and vowed help me and i will become a monk fifteen days later on july seventeenth friends accompanied him to the gate of the black cloister monastery of the order of augustinian hermits in erfurt that this decision came later in life than usually was the case and that his impressionable years had been spent not within the confines of a monastery but in the unrestricted atmosphere of a great university later proved valuable to him and to the protestant church monk and priest luther was not received immediately into the monastery but had to remain for several months in the monastic hostelry examining himself and being examined in september fifteen o five all parties being satisfied his head was shaved and he was infested with the black augustinian habit and cowl and formally received as a novice he scrubbed the floors begged in the streets and engaged in various ascetic and spiritual exercises when his probationary year was ended luther took the vows of obedience poverty and chastity and was received into the order of the augustinian monks his sincere piety and scholarship so impressed his superiors that he was urged to prepare for the priesthood and on april fourth fifteen o seven was ordained to that office the petty employments of the monastery did not consume all of luther's energy and he devoted himself strenuously to studying the scholastic theology available at that time however long hours with books did little to ease his mind and give him the peace of conscience that he sought within the cloister walls the books taught him to rely on his own efforts to procure favor with god and he was too honest to believe that his penitence was deep enough and his fastings worthy enough to compensate for his sins although his heart was not at rest luther continued to perform his priestly duties and undertake any new tasks assigned to him in the fall of fifteen o eight he was appointed to the chair of moral philosophy which had been entrusted to the augustinians by the faculty at the newly established university of wittemberg desiring to teach theology rather than logic and ethics he availed himself of this opportunity to study for a bachelor's degree which would permit him to lecture on certain books of the bible he had virtually completed his studies when he was called back to erfurt in october fifteen o nine there he lectured in the monastery for about a year and in november fifteen ten was sent in company with another monk on a mission to rome in the holy city he visited as many shrines and churches as possible his high opinion of the papal court was lowered by his observations of its reckless luxury and scandal but his confidence in the church remained unshaken chapter one CHAPTER II.

DR. LUTHER Luther returned to Erfurt from Rome, and in the summer of 1511 was sent as one of the three new professors to Wittenberg, here he came under the influence of john von staupitz vicar of the augustinian order who showed warm sympathy and understanding toward the earnest young priest as yet luther had been unable to convince himself of god's love mercy and forgiveness his quest carried him along the path of good works but he never could feel that he had done enough to save himself he tried the path of confession but concluded that there was more wrong with men than could be cleansed by enumerating a list of particular offences

When his father was subsequently asked to give his consent, he became very indignant that his son had entered the cloister.

On a later occasion, when Hans Luther paid his son a visit at Erfurt, and those about him praised his present monastic state the father said god grant that it may not be a deception and satanic illusion why have you not heard that parents should be obeyed and that nothing should be undertaken without their knowledge and advice after some time however he was somewhat pacified by his friends and said let it pass god grant that good may come of it two disappointments in the cloister luther was scrupulously exact in the performance of every work and penance prescribed by the cloister he acted as doorkeeper set the clock swept the church yes he was even compelled to remove the human filth the greatest hardship for him however was to travel the streets of the city with a bag begging for alms The monks told him, quote, it is begging, not studying, that enriches the cloister, unquote.

And yet Luther found time for diligent study of the Bible.

He learned to know the page and exact place of every verse in the scriptures, and he even committed to memory many passages from the prophets, although he did not understand them at that time.

Martin Luther was born into a family that was on the way up.

His father, Hans Luder, came from a well-to-do peasant family, but due to local law did not inherit the farm.

Instead, he was given a cash payout, which together with the dowry and the family connections of his wife Margarete formed the basis of his business success.

Hans Luder moved his family to Mansfeld in the Harz Mountains, that's in modern-day Sachsen-Anhalt, when Martin was just one year old.

Mansfeld was a small town with a rapidly developing copper mining industry.

And one of Margarethe's relatives was the Berggraf, the administrator of the mining rights in the county of Mansfeld, which must have made it easier for Hans Luder to acquire rights to operate mines and smelters in the county.

Mining was, as we have mentioned several times, the leading industrial technology in Europe at the time.

And German miners, as well as the bankers who funded them, were at the forefront of this technology.