Martin Luther did have a family, which reflects one of the radical aspects of his interpretation of Christianity: that he, even as an ordained priest, could marry and have sex. In 1525 he married Katherina von Bora, a former nun remembered by Luther’s students as being well versed in theology. By all accounts, Katherina and Luther had a warm and loving family life, raising five children together. The death of their daughter Magdalene affected Luther profoundly, and that loss—along with the death of a close friend of his not long before—may explain the fixation on death that characterizes his later writings.
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