Martin Luther took what he learned during his school years, whether it was classes preparing him to be a lawyer or lessons on the lute, and applied it to his later life.

Hans Luther did not raise his son to follow him into the mines or take over management of the smelters. He was determined that Martin should go to the university and become a lawyer.

Early schooling

Martin attended the Mansfeld town school for eight years, learning reading, writing, singing, and the basics of Latin. There were daily prayers but no formal instruction in religion.

More than once in his writing and conversation, Martin recalled the rote teaching and harsh discipline that were typical of schools at the time. He remembered the teachers as "tyrants and executioners," and the atmosphere as one of "flogging, trembling, anguish, and misery." Nevertheless, he appreciated his father's good intentions and the sacrifice involved in sending him to the school that was available: "My father meant it heartily by me."

The middle years

Martin enjoyed one year with the Brethren of the Common Life at Magdeburg. These men devoted themselves to Scripture study and simple piety without taking permanent monastic vows. Virtually every North European classics scholar of the 15th century, including Erasmus and Philip Melanchthon, received part of his education from the Brethren. They offered training equivalent to today's middle schools.

In 1498, when he was 15, young Luther's education continued at Eisenach, where he enrolled in the parish school of St. George. He and his peers read the classics and practiced Latin composition. They studied Aesop's Fables, favorites of Martin, who later translated most of them into German. Like the young Johann Sebastian Bach 200 years later, Martin sang in the St. George church choir.

Relatives of his mother, the pious and well-to-do Schalbe family, provided Martin with room and board during his four years at St. George. Martin was responsible for getting their young son to school every day. Later, Luther remembered that the Schalbes' married daughter, Ursula Cotta, had taught him manners and a bit about the finer things in life. He later referred to Eisenach as "my beloved city."

University life

In April 1501 the miner's son from Mansfeld entered the University of Erfurt. He undertook the classical liberal arts curriculum to prepare to study law. There were language studies and exercises in literary analysis, as well as writing and daily disputations. What would have been useful preparation for the study and practice of law turned out to be of great value for a doctor of Holy Scripture and professor of theology.