A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Bore, or Bora, Catharine von
BORE, or BORA, CATHARINE VON,
Daughter of a gentleman of fortune, was a nun in the convent of Nimptschen, in Germany, two leagues from Wittemberg. She left the convent, with eight others, at the commencement of the Reformation by Luther. Leonard Koppe, senator of Torgau, is said to have first animated them to this resolution, which they put in practice on a Good Friday. Luther undertook the defence of these nuns and Leonard Koppe, and published a justification of their conduct.
Luther, who admired Catharine on account of her heroism, in addition to her excellent qualities of mind and heart, gained her consent and married her. Catharine was then twenty-six, and added to the charms of youth, much sprightliness of mind. The reformer, many years older than his wife, was as affectionately beloved by her as if he had been in the flower of his youth. She brought him a son; and he writes on this occasion, "that he would not change his condition for that of Crœsus." The character of his wife was excellently adapted to make him happy. Modest and gentle, decent in her attire, and economical in the house, she had the hospitality of the German noblesse without their pride. On the 15th. February, 1546, she became a widow, and, although several good offers were made to her, she lived for many years in great "poverty, and sometimes in actual distress. Martin Luther left little or no property, and she was compelled to keep a boarding-house for students, in order to support herself and children. She died on the 20th. of December, 1552, in consequence of a cold she had contracted from a fall in the water, while moving from Wittemberg to Torgau.
She left three sons, Paul, Martin, and John, and two daughters