A look at the great reformer's lineage and what Luther's life was like growing up in Germany in the late 15th century.

"I was born . . . at Eisleben, and baptized there in St. Peter's Church. I do not remember this, but I believe my parents and the folks at home." So wrote Martin Luther in a 1520 letter to George Spalatin. He didn't remember the occasion but he never forgot the fact, as his treatments of Holy Baptism in the catechisms and in a number of treatises make clear.

The date of his baptism was Nov. 11, 1483. Martin was just one day old. At that time and place, infant mortality before age one was about 60 percent. People who believed in original sin and in the grace of baptism did not delay.

Luther's parents

Martin's paternal grandfather was a small holder. That is, Heine Luther maintained a title to his small acreage by paying an annual ground rent on a parcel of land. According to German custom and law, a landholder's youngest son inherited the estate. Hans, Martin's father, was the eldest son and so had to earn his living elsewhere.

Hans moved to Eisleben and began to work as a copper miner. He was sure he could do better at Mansfeld, at that time an important center of copper mining. In Mansfeld he progressed from hired laborer to owner of six mines and two smelters by 1501.

Although the mines and smelters brought relative prosperity to the family, Martin remembered his parents' earlier struggles: "In his youth my father was a poor miner. My mother carried all her wood home on her back. It was in this way that they brought us up." Nevertheless, in time Hans was elected to a seat on the council of his adopted city and could pay for his eldest son's university education.

Hans Luther was married to Margarete Lindemann, who is also referred to as Margarete Ziegler. The confusion of names may have arisen from her father's occupation. He was a Ziegler (brick maker) and so would have been known as "Ziegler Lindemann" or "Lindemann the Ziegler." Some also suggest that the maiden name of Heine Luther's wife was Ziegler, causing or adding to the confusion.

Growing up

Hans and Margarete had 10 children, and Martin was the eldest. People readily remember one of the few things Martin said about his parents' harsh discipline: "My parents kept me under very strict discipline, even to the point of making me timid. For the sake of a mere nut my mother beat me until the blood flowed."

Martin's expressions of appreciation and esteem for his parents, on the other hand, tend to be overlooked. In A Sermon on Keeping Children in School (1530), he wrote: "My dear father lovingly and faithfully kept me at the University of Erfurt, by his sweat and labor helping me to get to where I am."