childhood, but with an excellent education. Martin�s father, Hans, was a very strict man. Some biographers
even say he had an uncontrollable rage. In one situation Martin was beat by his father and had run away. In
1484, shortly after Martin Luther�s birth his family moved to Mansfeld so that his father could support his
family better. He started mining copper and became very successful. In 1491 Martin Luther�s family was
ranked at one of the highest in the community. Martin�s mother, Margarete was also strict and a very
disciplinarian mother. His mother also used to beat him harshly, sometimes so severely that he would bleed.
Martin Luther�s childhood was not an ordinary time, he did not get to enjoy his childhood like other children.
father was very important. Hans Luther had a forceful character and Martin Luther, as a young boy was
afraid of his father. Later in life though, Martin Luther was thankful to his father for giving him a good
education. Martin Luther was the oldest child in his family. In that time birth and death were very common
because of the plague. There was a new child born in the Luther family most years, but half of them would
die. Nobody knew how many children there had been. Eight children were living when Martin Luther was
twenty-two in the Luther family. Discipline was very important in his family, and there was a lot of beating.
In one instance Martin Luther was beat severely by his mother just for stealing a nut. Martin Luther said,
�My parents kept me under very strict discipline, even to the point of making me timid, they meant it heartily
well.� On June 13, 1525 Luther married Katharina von Bora. Katharina was 16 years younger than Luther,
but proved herself to be a good housewife and gardener.
the family. So, instead of just making Martin Luther an apprentice of mining copper, Hans decided to give
Martin Luther a thorough education. Martin Luther started his education in a Primary Latin school in
Mansfeld. The discipline of the school was as strict as Luther�s parents; in fact the students were punished if
they used German at school. Even in the playground, they weren�t allowed to use German. In 1496 when
Martin was twelve, he was sent to a school in Madgeburg. After his primary education he attended the
University of Erfut. This school was one of the best German Universities at that time. Luther received his
baccalaureate in law in 1502 and in 1505 he received his masters.
In the legend Martin Luther was caught in a terrible thunderstorm and said if God saved him he would
devote his whole life to God. He survived the storm and by keeping his promise to God, he became a monk.
In 1507 Martin Luther studied Theology and became a professor at Wittenberg. In 1517 a German priest
named, Johann Tetzel, sold indulgences to Christians who contributed money for the new Cathedral of St.
Peter in Rome. Indulgences, claimed Tetzel, would guarantee the entrance to heaven. Martin Luther was
furious of the corruption of the Church. He claimed that only faith could save a soul from hell. Martin
Luther was outraged and drew up 95 theses, which were a list of arguments against the selling of indulgences.
Luther refused to give up his views and in 1521 Luther was excommunicated by the pope. In Luther's
teachings he banned indulgences, confession, pilgramages and prayers to saints. He also permitted the clergy
to marry. Luther's ideas spread and the Lutherans, or people who were following him were now called
Protestant.
hurt him was the death of his daughter Magdelena in 1542. In the last years of his life, his relationship with
people with other beliefs became very negative. The aging reformer sentenced anyone who did not want to
convert to his beliefs. In fact he tortured the people that did not cooperate and burned their books. Martin
Luther even wrote a book called Jews and their Lies in 1543. Even in the last years Martin Luther kept fighting
for the Reformation and wrote, Against the Papacy at Rome Founded by the Devil! Luther kept his professor
career going, teaching at Wittenberg. In his last lecture he said, �I am weak, I cannot go on.� On January 17,
1546 Luther traveled back to his birthplace in Eisleben. After arriving in Eisleben he did not have enough
energy to return to Wittenberg and died on February 18, 1546.
