Letters to Kate
Luther traveled for months at a time and wrote frequent letters to his wife, addressing her as “My most beloved Lady of the House,” “My sweetheart Kate” “My True Love,” and, of course, the frequent “Lord Kate.”
In his letters, he liked to nettle Kate.
“Now I am in good condition, except that the beautiful women are giving me a hard time, but I am neither worried nor afraid of any unchastity.”
He put her on the pastoral search committee.
“You are a wise woman, a doctor . . . I have already indicated three candidates to Dr. Pommer . . . but you are prudent and will make a better choice.”
He put her in charge of supervising the printing and distribution of his writings.
“I sent [the printers] the manuscripts for the simple reason of having them done quickly, but they are making dried fruit out of them. If I wanted to have them stored, I could have found a place around here to keep them. I have mentioned to you in my letter that you should have the sermon returned from Schirlenz (if he has not yet started it) and brought to George Rau . . . See to it that it be done as soon as possible and the printing of the sermon be accomplished most effectively.”
He put her in charge of home construction projects.
“My thought is that you should have the windows in the new roof repaired and the walkway to the dark rooms rebuilt so the light from the roof illuminates it.”
He called her "Damsel Kate, gracious Lady of Zülsdorf."
"I want, obediently, to let Your Grace know that I am in good health here: I gobble up food like a Bohemian and guzzle like a German . . ."
He yearned for letters in reply.
"I have received the children’s letters, including the one from the baccalaureus [Hans, their eldest, had just received his first academic degree, the baccalaureate], but from Your Grace I have not received anything. God grant that you will now, at least this one time, answer my fourth letter with your gracious hand . . ."
In his early letters, he signed them “Doctor Martin Luther” but by the end he was signing them “M.L., your old lover.”
In his letters, he liked to nettle Kate.
“Now I am in good condition, except that the beautiful women are giving me a hard time, but I am neither worried nor afraid of any unchastity.”
He put her on the pastoral search committee.
“You are a wise woman, a doctor . . . I have already indicated three candidates to Dr. Pommer . . . but you are prudent and will make a better choice.”
He put her in charge of supervising the printing and distribution of his writings.
“I sent [the printers] the manuscripts for the simple reason of having them done quickly, but they are making dried fruit out of them. If I wanted to have them stored, I could have found a place around here to keep them. I have mentioned to you in my letter that you should have the sermon returned from Schirlenz (if he has not yet started it) and brought to George Rau . . . See to it that it be done as soon as possible and the printing of the sermon be accomplished most effectively.”
He put her in charge of home construction projects.
“My thought is that you should have the windows in the new roof repaired and the walkway to the dark rooms rebuilt so the light from the roof illuminates it.”
He called her "Damsel Kate, gracious Lady of Zülsdorf."
"I want, obediently, to let Your Grace know that I am in good health here: I gobble up food like a Bohemian and guzzle like a German . . ."
He yearned for letters in reply.
"I have received the children’s letters, including the one from the baccalaureus [Hans, their eldest, had just received his first academic degree, the baccalaureate], but from Your Grace I have not received anything. God grant that you will now, at least this one time, answer my fourth letter with your gracious hand . . ."
In his early letters, he signed them “Doctor Martin Luther” but by the end he was signing them “M.L., your old lover.”
posted by Natalie at 1:30 PM
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