The Mother of the Reformation: The Amazing Life and Story of Katharine Luther

by Ernst Kroker

This readable, fresh translation of one of the standard biographical works on Katie Luther presents a compelling portrait for those desiring to know more about this quietly influential Reformation character. Mark DeGarmeaux brings the warmth of Kroker's writing to a new generation of those interested in the Reformation and especially in Katie.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2013

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but I think he covered too much, children, boarders, friends, relations, seems like there was a paragraph for everyone who ever came into contact with Luther. It was slow going, especially toward the end.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great biography of Kathie. Loved it!!

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I go by the name Katie. And proud to. Lol she was a spitfire when she had to be! Thank you Mark E. Garmeaux for the translation. It would've taken me forever to read it in German!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I took turns reading aloud. It's always fun to share a book together. This is a biography of Katharine Luther written in German by Ernst Kroker and translated by Mark E. DeGarmeaux (Bethany Lutheran College) and published by CPH, 2013. It brings a good look at Luther's wife, her life, character, faith, household, business dealings and support for the good Herr Doktor Luther.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly PG, with a little snippet or two that could be considered PG-13.

I had a hard time figuring out what I felt about this book for a long time, probably because I expected a biography of Katie Luther--that is, something along the lines of E. Jane Mall's Kitty, My Rib, which is a lot more personal/personable. (Perhaps that's because it was written about a woman by a woman.) The Mother of the Reformation, on the other hand, is a book that claims to be about Katie Luther herself but is really about her household. Kroker is up-front about the fact that there really isn't all that much information available about Katie Luther herself, which is what makes this biography all the more precious--yet challenging at times. It was clear at points that bits of her life and personality have to be constructed more from a sort of "film negative" than direct source material--extrapolating a bit about her based on what those around Katie did or didn't say about her. It is an interesting way to approach a biography.

One thing I will give Kroker--he is thorough and makes an effort to leave no stone unturned. While I could have gone with a little less detailed an accounting of how many Gulden everything was worth, and how much the Luther family over- or under-valued their assets, the overall picture painted is more comprehensive from the details. And if the book is understood more as a comprehensive look at the family life and the household's running under the direction of Katie Luther, with a few chapters looking at her life and personality in more detail, it's much more enjoyable a read. In other words, it would be more accurate to describe this as "The Amazing Life and Story of the Luther Household," rather than as "The Amazing Life and Story of Katharine Luther."

I would highly recommend this book for those wanting to learn more about the life and times of the Luther family, and those within their inner (and intermediate) circles. And it is excellent source material for learning more about Katie Luther, of course.

[Gretchen Ronnevik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for research purposes, not for recreation, and my 5 star rating reflects that. As a resource, this book is fantastic. Very little is actually known about Katharine, so this book goes over various pieces of information that we do know, and examines them. While some books try to fill in the blanks with speculation, and others just ignore the blanks, this book does a really good job of being intellectually honest, and putting a realistic perspective on things.

The book starts out with her birth and childhood, of course, and goes through the various theories that have been presented with the facts that we have. As it moves through her life, it gives so many, many names and dates, and introduces any historical persons she came into contact with. Almost all of what we know about her is what other people have said about her, so knowing who said what is helpful information. For light reading, names and dates aren't exciting, but for research purposes, this is invaluable.

I ended up having to draw a timeline while reading this book, as you get to the middle to end, various quotes and references are done by character, not in chronological order. (For instance, the various recorders of Luther's Table Talks who stayed in the Black Cloister over the years.) If you are reading this book for entertainment, this part of the book can be a bit of a slog, and yet, this is historical information--scraps really--of what her life looked like. So while not all of them are flashy or memorable, I like a resource that actually preserved the little scraps we have.

There are certain times when the author does input his own opinion on women, marriage, and motherhood, and project that onto Katharine, but they are few and far between.

A tremendous resource that will stay at the top of the pile.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book from the Katie Luther FB page....luck of the draw, I guess! My husband and I have been studying the Reformation and Martin and Katie Luther for years. We have visited Luther sites in Germany multiple times. This book is a great biography and addition to any library. If I could travel in a time machine, I'd love to return to the 16th century and spend a few days with Katie.
RA

[Dona · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a slow start, I enjoyed reading this book. It gave me a good insight into the life of Martin and Katie Luther. It was also interesting reading about the places that I had visited in 2017 to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

[Barbara Ruuska · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography is less familiar than “Kitty My Rib.” I learned quite a bit about others in the Black Cloister and those who transcribed the Table Talks. Most likely there just isn’t enough source information to really get to know Katherine Von Bora Luther.

[Teri Reck · Rating 3 out of 5]

The English translation of an old account of the life of Katharina Von Bora , who is better known as the wife of Martin Luther. She was a former nun, who like Luther, turned from those former vows to revel in the love that our Lord and Savior, Jesus, has bestowed on us all. She believed in Luther's ideas that we are saved by grace alone as revealed to us in the Scriptures. She was a phenomenal woman, the mother of Luther's children, the keeper of his home and farm--she made it possible for boarders to stay with the family as they learned from the lips of Luther himself. She also owned and managed some other lands on her own. She contributed to the talks and debates that Luther and his students held in her presence. She and Luther together educated their children, girls as well as boys. She helped Luther to weather the storms of his life, his health issues, their combined grief at the loss of children, and the antagonism that Luther faced from his adversaries. A remarkable woman.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is obviously a well-researched biography, especially for its being written over a century ago. Nevertheless, disappointingly large portions are not actually about Katie Luther. It is interesting and helpful to learn a little about her husband, his colleagues, borders, etc., but the stretches of non-Katie text were sometimes frustratingly long. This is not so much the fault of the author, though, as the natural result of a scant historical record about Katharine herself. In style, the book was not particularly engaging, but few biographies achieve an enrapturing level of interest. Overall, it was a solid, factual biography of Katie Luther as best we can know her.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I found this to be a good and interesting biography of Katie Luther. The author did a good job of pulling all of the (sometimes scarce) source material together into a readable narrative. The one complaint I have is that Kroker sometimes goes into a little too much mundane detail for my taste, but not so much that it made me stop reading. This book actually makes me want to read more of Luther's "Table Talk" and his letters.

[Emma Diercks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched and interesting. However most of it was about Martin Luther. But I understand there's not many resources about Katie. But telling about Martin's family life helped open those doors a little.

[Shawn]

http://thechristianpundit.org/2013/08...
After reading this blog post I couldn't help but want to read this book.