Katharina Melanchthon

Katharina Melanchthon née Krapp, also Krappe (* October 1497 in Wittenberg ; † October 11, 1557 ibid), was the daughter of the Wittenberg tailor and mayor Hans Krapp, later wife of Philipp Melanchthon and mother of their children.

Live and act

She was the daughter of the dressmaker Hans (Hieronymus) Krapp (1469–1515) and Katharina Münzer (1468–1548). Siblings are known, e.g. B. Anna Krapp († 1547), who married Augustin Schurff . Anna Barbara Krapp first married Johannes Schwertfeger and, after his death, Sebaldus Münsterer . Her brothers were Christoph Krapp, Hans Krapp, Caspar Krapp, Andreas Krapp and Hieronymus Krapp (1490–1563), who continued his father's cut of the robe and was elected mayor several times.

The Krapp family was one of the leading families in Wittenberg; their father had held the office of mayor since 1494. At the time of their marriage, her father had died four years ago and her dowry was minimal.

After arriving in Wittenberg, Melanchthon rented a simple house, which he often referred to as a “Bude”. There he lived with his assistant, the Famulus Johannes Koch. He came from Ilsfeld near Heilbronn and had moved to Wittenberg to study in the winter semester of 1516, where he completed his studies on March 22, 1518 with the academic degree of a Baccalaureus artium . Then he entered the service of the Melanchthon family. He had two sons but did not run his own household. When he died on April 3, 1553, this was also a heavy burden for Katharina Melanchthon, because among many other things he took care of the household and helped with the care of the children.

Before Melanchthon's marriage, Luther feared for his friend's health, which was obviously impaired by the men's economy. In order to improve Melanchthon's living conditions, but also to keep him in Wittenberg, Martin Luther looked for a wife for Melanchthon in 1520.

When Katharina and Philipp Melanchthon entered the state of marriage, they were both twenty-three years old. The engagement probably took place around the 26./28. August 1520. Melanchthon invited to the wedding celebration on November 27, 1520.

Initially, the couple lived in the “poor place”, as Martin Luther regretfully stated. For although his wife came from a respected family and Melanchthon earned a good income as a professor at the university, there was never greater prosperity in the Melanchthon family. Constant visits by university members who gathered at table discussions in Melanchthon's house, and young students whom Melanchthon taught and cared for in his s chola domestica as a personal mentor , reduced the budget of the household. Thanks to the efforts of Georg Spalatin , the elector's secretary, they were later paid an annual salary of 200 guilders from the elector's casket .

The relationship with Katharina Luther , both families lived close together in Wittenberg, should not always have been harmonious. Like all other families, the Wittenberg city council only approved one goat for keeping, as it was feared that too many goats would destroy the Elbe dykes . That is why goat husbandry was regulated. However, because of the many students who had to be fed at her schola domestica, Katharina Melanchthon applied for three goats to be kept free-range. Luther's wife, who was seen as assertive and successful in monetary matters, intervened against this. But Katharina Melanchthon received city permission.

The four children of the Melanchthons, two daughters and two sons, were born in the “poor place”. The eldest daughter Anna was born on August 24th, 1522, the eldest son Philipp on February 21st, 1525. The third child, Georg, died at the age of three in 1529, Magdalena was born on July 19th, 1531. Katharina Melanchthon suffered with her eldest daughter Anna, who lived in an unhappy marriage with Georg Sabinus . When her daughter's fourth child was born, she went to see her in Frankfurt (Oder) , where she stood by her. She even intervened in her son-in-law's salary negotiations in his favor.

It was not until 1536 that the foundation stone for a new house was laid at the same location ( Melanchthonhaus at Collegienstraße 62). Anna Munsterer also lived with the Melanchthons as a foster daughter for years; her mother had been Katharina's sister. The Münsterer couple died of the plague , which is said to have broken out in their house in October 1539 by students who had traveled there. The niece Anna Münsterer remained in the care of the Melanchthon family until she married Ulrich Sitzinger on August 20, 1548.

Katharina Melanchthon probably suffered from a chronic liver disease , which apparently first became symptomatic in 1536 . When she died on October 11, 1557 at 3 a.m., Jakob Milich was present. Her daughter Magdalena with her husband and granddaughters also stood by her. Philipp Melanchthon, who at that time was in Worms for a religious talk, subsequently lost his courage to live; he died on April 19, 1560.

literature

• Uwe Birnstein: Who's Who of the Reformation. Kreuz Verlag, Freiburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-451-61252-7 , pp. 301-302
• Hartmut Ellrich: The women of the reformers. Imhof, Petersberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8656-8757-9 , pp. 13-14.

Web links

• Letter from Katharina Melanchthon to Johannes Weinlaub , SEPTEMBER 8, 1540. SIGNATURE: MSCR.DRESD.R.97, BL.83-84 [3]
• Margot Käßmann : Definitely answered. The participation of women in the Reformation was exemplary of its content. May 2014, accessed on December 30, 2018 [4]

References and comments

1. ↑ Family names and names were passed on almost exclusively orally up until the early modern period and usually consisted of only a first or first name. Since illiteracy was high and many people could not read and write, when writing down due to hearing errors, dialect-specific spellings, unclear pronunciation, spelling and reading errors by the writer, different spellings and variants of the name resulted for each person.
2. ^ Genealogy of Hans H. Krapp [1]
3. ^ Stefan Rhein: Katharina Melanchthon. The fate of women during the Reformation. 500 years of the Reformation. Designed by women [2]
4. ↑ Heinz Scheible: Melanchthon. Mediator of the Reformation. CH Beck, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-68673-3 , pp. 311–322
5. ^ Wilhelm Schwendemann (Ed.): Philipp Melanchthon: 1497-1997; the colorful side of the Reformation; the Freiburg Melanchthon project. LIT Verlag, Münster 1997, ISBN 978-3-8258-3501-9 , p. 40 f.
6. ↑ According to other information, the wedding took place on August 18, 1520, see Horst Jesse: Leben und Wirken des Philipp Melanchthon: Dr. Martin Luther's theological companion. Literareon, Frankfurt am Main / London / New York 2005, ISBN 978-3-83161-205-5 , p. 65
7. ^ Wilhelm Schwendemann (Ed.): Philipp Melanchthon: 1497-1997; the colorful side of the Reformation; the Freiburg Melanchthon project. LIT Verlag, Münster 1997, ISBN 978-3-8258-3501-9 , p. 58
8. ↑ Lisbeth Haase: Luther's committed friends: You lived with Luther or adored him. BoD - Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2017, ISBN 978-3-7448-7735-0