Martin Luther on Women: The Double-Edged Sword

One cannot discuss early modern Europe without great attention to the Protestant Reformation.  In a time when religion was so fundamentally ingrained into the fabric of society, any major theological questions provoked revolution.  For centuries, the Catholic Church had played a central role in the politics of Europe, with nations answering to the Pope’s authority in almost all stately and religious matters.  As with many powerful institutions throughout the course of history, the Catholic Church slowly devolved into greed, corruption, and oppressive ideals.  By the time that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, there existed enough general discontent amongst European society to prompt a large-scale retaliation against the papacy - what we know today as the Protestant Reformation.  While social, political, and economic ramifications of this critical event have been studied extensively, the specific consequences it had for women’s lives have been ignored until recently.  Luther himself actually gave a lot of attention to women in his theology, his expectations of society, and their “rightful” place in the world.  Throughout his Table Talks, published essays, and sermons, he is adamant that marriage and family are some of the most crucial of the Protestant values.  While it is difficult to ascertain whether Luther improved or worsened women’s situation in early modern Europe, as he minimized certain opportunities, he gave a new respect to married life and the role that women played as wives and mothers (intentionally or not).  By stressing the importance of the domestic sphere, Protestantism offered a more dignified position for married women.

Like many of his contemporaries, Luther was very fixated on the biblical origins of womankind.  While his plethora of works and writings contain many contradictions, one thing on which he rarely wavers is the belief that women are naturally inferior to men.  He bases his beliefs largely on the story of Genesis, in which Eve (the first woman, according to the Bible) is seduced by Satan and brings sin into the world.  Because of this biblical transgression, he has dictated that women are more susceptible to temptation, unable to recognize danger, and inherently inclined towards evil.1  In his Sermons on Genesis, he argues that the Devil targeted Eve because of her deficiency as a woman, evidencing further his idea that women are innately, fundamentally different from men.2  

It is with the help of men that a woman’s lust and lack of intelligence can be tempered, and therefore marriage becomes a tenet of Lutheran ideology.  Luther stressed the importance of marriage and family and its integral role in the perpetuation of society.  His crusade against monastic life ties into the belief that celibate life, isolated from society, was not natural and went against everything that God intended for humankind.  Again returning to the genesis story, Luther asserts that Adam and Eve’s relationship is proof that marriage is the will of God. “This all is God’s word, in which is described where husband and wife come from, how they are brought together, and for what purpose a woman is created…”3 He makes a few exceptions, but generally maintains that women (and men) ought to be involved in marital life as opposed to monastic.  For Protestant women and women living in Protestant regions, this eliminated one of the arguably more desirable ways of life.  Within in the convents, women were not subjected to the same level of scrutiny as their married counterparts, and were typically allowed to function with minimal male intervention.  Of course, the abbesses were still beholden to the Catholic Church and to their individual bishops, but the day-to-day operations were left largely in the hands of women.  The cloistering was preferable to many in such a violently patriarchal society.  Luther, however, deprived them of this opportunity, making marriage the only avenue.  

On the other hand, Luther advocated for a loving treatment of married women seldom seen in other doctrines.  His emphasis on the importance of bridal love afforded women a degree of respect not always previously guaranteed.  He went as far as to draw a comparison between Christ’s love for the church and the love that ought to exist between a man and his wife.4 Despite his ramblings about the sins of women and their capacity for evil, he generally encouraged a close, intimate, mutually respectful relationship between married partners.  Luther’s insistence on natural deficiency of women seems to be juxtaposed by the respect he held for motherly and domestic abilities. His goals for the Christian world were not possible without women; though he believed them weak and inferior, he relied on them in the most primal sense. Luther found the necessity of marital love was not only supported in Scripture, but was useful in maintaining the sanctity of marriage that Protestantism prioritized.

Luther’s relationship with his own wife was often described as loving, and she was a constant confidante and companion to him throughout his theological and political exploits.  Katharine von Bora, a former nun herself, could be argued as an influential character as well.  Because Luther preached the importance of marriage, he needed to uphold those teachings in his own life.  His own family became the pinnacle of Protestantism, with Katharine subjected to the same scrutiny, albeit of a different nature riddled with misogyny.5  She was present at his Table Talks and is even rumored to have collaborated on many of his projects behind the scenes.  To other women, she was a model of the Protestant wife, and she played a crucial role in the perpetuation of Luther’s ideas on marriage.  While it is difficult now to ignore Luther’s own hypocrisy, in the 16th century it was vital that he, himself, adhere to his own ideology, and that meant a loving, respectful, decent relationship with Katharine.

One of Luther’s main tenets, the “priesthood of all believers,” is another point of consideration in the ways that the Protestant Reformation impacted women’s positions. Luther was a strong proponent of individuals taking authority over their own faith, and this extended to women in many regards.6 Opportunities for women’s theological education increased as they were able to read Scripture for themselves and theoretically form their own opinions. However, minimal material progress was made as far as women’s participation in the church or their outward authority over familial or religious matters. The main shift under Luther was in mentality, as he elevated their status in the most abstract of ways. He implemented changes in mindset and understanding that would not translate into any actual reconfiguration of power systems.

The significance of marriage to the Protestant Reformation naturally begets the significance of childrearing and the family unit.  Luther detested the perversion of clerical celibacy not only because it was unnatural but because it was largely.  Prostitution, concubinage, and romantic relationships abounded within the clergy of the Catholic Church, with many cardinals having children out of wedlock.  Luther saw this as a great slight to the world that God intended for Christian people.  He believed that sexual desire was one of the greatest scourges set upon humankind, originating from Eve’s original sin, and thought that sex should be between married people and only for the purpose of reproduction.  While this may not be the healthiest perspective by today’s standards, it did afford women a certain level of respect and protection.  They were meant to be wives and mothers, not prostitutes deemed disposable to a man’s whims.

Still, the Protestant Reformation’s roll back on the veneration of saints meant that figures like the Virgin Mary and Saint Margaret - popular female idols - were no longer subjects of respect.7 Prominent Protestant thinkers such as Luther despised idolic worship, and saw the pilgrimages and candle lighting as a sleight to the one, true God. The masses held to aid in motherhood, the relics loaned out to bestow goodwill on new mothers, and belief in the powers of these female saints were condemned under the reformation. The loss of such female representation is another example of how women’s visibility decreased in this time period, and how a long female tradition of worship was restricted.

On multiple occasions, Luther referred to a woman’s ability to persuade her husband, father, brother, etc. to the “true path” of Christianity.  He believed that a good, Christian (Protestant) woman had sway over such an important decision, alluding again to the importance that women play within the family unit.  His belief that the Bible should be available to everyone - as in, Catholic priests should not be the only ones allowed to read it - gave women, along with everyone else, a new opportunity in theology.  While their authority and input on the subject was still largely discounted or ignored, it opened the door to many Protestant women.  They were now involved in religion in a way that Catholicism did not permit.  Luther argued that this better prepared them to be godly wives and mothers and active participants in their own faith.  Though women were still answerable to their husbands on many material aspects of their lives, they had authority over their own religion.  

While women suffered under both Catholicism and Protestantism, Luther’s ideas gave way to a better domestic life for women.  His trust in his own wife, his confidence in their domestic expertise, and the significance he places on their role in society made marriage a more appealing avenue (than it had previously been) for early modern European women.  Of course, this all presumes that the principles are adhered to and carried out by every husband, which is highly unlikely, but it is a theoretical elevation of married women’s status.  This is not to suggest that Luther was by any means a feminist or truly concerned about women’s autonomy, but his ideas did paint a much rosier picture of married, domestic life.