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Woman of the Reformation

Woman of the Reformation

Last updated on: October 9, 2015 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

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Woman of the Reformation 2015-09-26T19:59:25-04:00 Gene Veith

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I came across an interesting post from CPH from last winter about Elisabeth Cruciger, the first female Lutheran hymnwriter, who lived a fascinating life in the early days of the Reformation.

From Paul McCain, Concordia Publishing House: Bibles, Christian Books, Church Supplies, Lutheran Curriculum & more.\:

Often, as we recall and recount the events of the Reformation, the focus is on the large sociopolitical movements of the time or the vital theological issues at stake. We tend to forget the people involved were no different from you and me. They knew joy and sorrow, sickness and grief, tragedy and triumph, the daily frustrations of balancing work and home, and the stresses of maintaining friendships and relationships with those around them, and yes, they were people who fell in love.

One of those persons was Elisabeth Cruciger. If you open Lutheran Service Book to hymn 402, you’ll see her listed as author at the bottom of the page. Let’s get to know Elisabeth a bit better.

As is usually the case, we do not know much about Elisabeth’s early life. We do know she was born into nobility around 1500 and was named Elisabeth von Meseritz. (Whenever a “von” appeared in a German name at that time, it was a mark that the family was from the “knightly” class.) And as was often the case, daughters of nobility were sent away to nunneries. This is precisely what happened to Elisabeth. She “joined” a convent in Treptow in Pomerania, an area along the southern part of the Baltic Sea. We know from historical records that Elisabeth’s monastery was known for growing very fine hops and brewing delicious beer.

In the same region, Luther’s Reformation teachings started to spread through the work of John Bugenhagen, who was working at the city school in Treptow. Later, Bugenhagen went to Wittenberg and became the parish pastor of St. Mary, the city church, among his other duties.

We don’t precisely know how, but Elisabeth was so influenced by the refreshing pure Gospel being preached and taught by Bugenhagen that she resolved to escape from her nunnery. Sometime around 1520, Elisabeth fled to Wittenberg and was taken in by the Bugenhagens and became to them as dear as their own daughter.

A few years later, she met and fell in love with a young university student named Caspar Cruciger, who was in Wittenberg studying Hebrew under Philip Melanchthon. Caspar would later go on to be part of the highly influential circle of Luther’s colleagues, and he assisted Luther in completing the translation of the entire Holy Scriptures.

The story of Elisabeth and Caspar’s wedding in 1524 is quite touching. We know from historical letters that John Bugenhagen appealed to the prince of the territory, Frederick the Wise, for a special donation of enough venison to provide a great feast for the wedding of Caspar and Elisabeth, writing to the elector’s secretary that they needed ten large tables and plenty of venison to celebrate appropriately, also indicating that he wanted as many friends and supporters as possible to attend the wedding for “my Elisabeth,” as he referred to her. Why? Because her own family would not be attending the wedding. They had disowned Elisabeth as a result of her conversion to the Lutheran Reformation teachings and movement.

While we do not know much more about Elisabeth, we know that she and Caspar had one son and one daughter. The son, also named Caspar, would go on to become embroiled in the controversies that arose after the death of Luther in 1546, controversies finally settled with the Formula of Concord and Book of Concord. Their daughter, also named Elisabeth, would go on eventually to marry John Luther, son of Martin and Katy Luther. We know that the Cruciger and Luther families enjoyed socializing together, and Elisabeth and Katy were close friends.

Tragically, Elisabeth died when she was in her mid-thirties, a heart-breaking event for her husband, Caspar, and all those who loved her dearly as a fine, pious wife, mother, and fellow Christian.

Her greatest gift to us all, however, is her hymn “The Only Son from Heaven,” which she wrote at a fairly young age, perhaps being no more than twenty or so, after she had arrived in Wittenberg and was able regularly to hear Martin Luther and other reformers preaching. Indeed, Elisabeth is the first woman poet of the Reformation and has blazed a trail for other Lutheran women hymn writers since.

[Keep reading. . .]

HT: Mary Moerbe

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