After the review, I think it’s time to introduce the author. Today’s author is part of the Clink Street Summer Blogival 2017. Anne Boileau has kindly provided me with some information about herself and her book.
Katharina Luther: Nun, Rebel, Wife
On 31st October 1517, Martin Luther pinned ninety-five theses on the Castle Church door, Wittenberg, criticizing the Church of Rome; they were printed and published by Lucas Cranach and caused a storm. Nine young nuns, intoxicated by Luther’s subversive writings, became restless and longed to leave their convent. On Good Friday 1523 a haulier smuggled them out hidden in empty herring barrels. Five of them settled in Wittenberg, the very eye of the storm, and one of them – Katharina von Bora – scandalised the world by marrying the revolutionary former monk. Following a near miscarriage, she is confined to her bed to await the birth of their first child; during this time, she sets down her own story. Against a backdrop of 16th Century Europe this vivid account of Katharina von Bora’s early life brings to the spotlight this spirited and courageous woman.
Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Katharina-Luther-Nun-Rebel-Wife-ebook/dp/B01J95GP8W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1473953274&sr=1-1&keywords=anne+boileau
I was born on a small farm in Boxford, Suffolk, UK. We had two hundred laying hens, six breeding sows, some arable land and two horses. In those days you could make a modest profit with only small numbers of pigs and hens.
I watched the sows feeding their piglets. On the inside walls of the pig sties were some drawings of elegant ladies with large hats; my father told me they were made ten years before by German prisoners of war.
When I was six my father died and my mother moved us up to Nottinghamshire, to live near relatives in Sherwood Forest. I was very homesick and unhappy at my new school; they thought I was foreign because my accent was different from theirs so I became solitary and learnt to watch and observe the animals on the farm where we lived; and I wrote little illustrated stories about animals.
I went to boarding school at ten. We weren’t allowed to telephone home, but we had to write a letter to our parents every Sunday. I still enjoy writing letters (instead of emails) to friends and family. My secondary boarding school was very religious and straight-laced, so it wasn’t too hard to imagine what it was like to be a nun at Marienthron convent!
I studied German at the Language and Interpreting Institute (Sprachen und Dolmetscher Institut) in Munich and then worked as interpreter, translator and language teacher.
I married and we raised two daughters, during which time I taught languages in Colchester, Essex. Then in my forties I enrolled at Anglia University for a BSc degree in Rural Resource Development.
This led to my working for various conservation organizations. I wrote articles for local magazines, and gave talks, campaigning for environmental causes. But but when my husband died quite unexpectedly, aged only 57, I was thrown into grief. Writing became my survival kit. I wrote a book about my husband; I discovered the joy and solace of poetry, attended Poetry School and became an active member of Suffolk Poetry Society. I’ve since published several books, including White Sand Grey Sand (Orphean Press 2008) about my childhood and Shoal Moon, Grey Hen Press 2014)a small collection of poems.
My poems have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies, and I’ve won some prizes too. And ten years after first encountering Katharina on a visit to Wittenberg, I began to research and write her story, returning to Saxony twice. It was only possible to do the research because of my knowledge of German.
What drew me to Katharina von Bora? Was it my Lutheran great-great-grandmother, from whom we had inherited German songs and sayings, handed down mother to daughter? Or was it my Huguenot refugee ancestor on my father’s side, Charles Boileau, who arrived in England with nothing but his charm, and married a farmer’s daughter in Barnes? Or was it the fact that in both my parent’s families there has been a tradition of Anglican country parsons over several generations? Whatever it was, I was drawn to her story, which in some ways resonated with my own.
With Camden Mews Translators we translate German poetry to throw light upon what is good about German culture. We British know and love so many German composers and their music is frequently performed and enjoyed all over the country. But how much do we know about German history and literature?
JS Bach took Luther’s simple but poetic version of the New Testament to compose his unparalleled works of the St Matthew and St John Passions, sung and celebrated by so many choirs at Easter. And yet, if you Google the name Martin Luther the response usually comes back: Do you mean Martin Luther King? No I don’t! I mean the rebellious monk in Wittenberg who defied the Pope and translated the Bible into vernacular for the common people; who changed the course of European History and became known as the Nightingale of Wittenberg.
That is why I have written this story; it is a glimpse into a woman’s life at a time of great religious, political and social upheaval; a time of rapid change, fuelled largely by a huge advance in communication technology (Printing!) And this story is told not by the man himself who stirred things up, but by the woman who was at his side, in the very eye of the storm.
Thanks for that, Anne,
Next up, an extract from Katherina Luther: Nun. Rebel. Wife.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 