v- A. Spaeth An Original Account of Luther' s Death \ % f %, i BR 325 .S62 1910 Spaeth, Adolph, 1839-1910. Original account of Luthers death /Zu/>t^t c-^-V*^ ft^'/^ C%^^ -ltc.,i*^ , *^ 'J/0 ."-.O-S-./o, •{6#''^ ^X t\x« ©feolofltai ^ %: PRINCETON, N. J. ** % Presented by D'v^ (£> U\\^-\^r\ O X^ . m Division Section ■■ AN ORIGINAL ACCOUNT OF LUTHER'S DEATH. RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN THE KRAUTH MEMORIAL LIBRARY, MOUNT AIRY. A few months ago my friend, Mr. Jacob Rommel, of Philadelphia, sent me, for our Seminary library, a volume of Luther's writings, formerly in possession of his mother-in- law, the late Mrs. L. Bremer, nee Scheuermann. It proved to be the "Auslegung der Episteln und Evangelien von Ostern bis Advent, D. Mar. Lut. Aufs neu zugerichtet. Wittenberg. Gedruckt durch Hans Lufift. MDj:.IIII, dem Fuersten ^^V Georg von Anhalt, etc. Von Casp. Creutziger D.," contain- ing Luther's sermons on the Epistles and Gospels from Easter to the 26th Sunday after Trinity, "revised and enlarged by my good friend, Doct. Casp. Creutziger," as Luther himself states in a preface of his own. On examining the large folio volume, which is in its orig- inal binding and very well preserved, I was surprised and de- lighted to find on the fly leaf at the end of the book, and partly on the back cover, a full account of the death of Martin Luther, written in a clear and legible hand and somewhat or- namental chirography, together with a brief report of the funeral service held in Eisleben, on February 19, 1546, and the sermon preached by Dr. Jonas. The following is a fac-simile copy of that interesting record, procured through the kindness of the Rev. Luth. D. Reed, the director of the library, with an exact transcription of the German text, together with an English translation. /^^ -U^atf ' k^ H' ^''^* . •«-'- ^ ^^^» (2f,t O^cUr (V^* ./^ ^.U?l^>^.^., ,^.* v,...^..^^^^. ^^_ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^;^V «^^ f^^o^, ^,SK« /V^^« , r^^ <-^«-»*-<*^ 4wa .J^ y ii^ (li^ , t^^*^^ ,^^i^ Q^X^,Si^ ■^ C,, ^maZ^^I^!^^ ^^^^l!^.,i*^ie^^,suS ^\^^C^^'^tt- OP f . TRANSCRIPT OF THE GERMAN ORIGINAL. Anno. 1. 5. 4. 6. den 17 February, Mithwochens nach Valentin! Auff denn abenth nach essens umb vly vhr wyrth der Herr Doctor -X[[[ Martinus Luther schwach, beclaget sich vmb die Brust, Als mahn yhnen aber, mit warmen tucheren gerieben, vnd zwen loffel vohl weyus darynnen von Eynhorn eyngeschabet, welche Curdi vonn Wolff Ramsdorff, zuuorn, ehr der Doctor tranck, eynen loeffel vohl eynnahm, zutrinken gegebenen. Schlieff ehr ihn der stubenn, yhm faulbette, bey anderthalbe stunde, das der seyger 10 schlug, Do bracht mahn yhnen zubette, schlieff bys vmb eyn vhr, Do weckte ehr seynen famulum Ambrosium Ruthfelt, vonn Oelitz, das ehr yhme die stuben heyssen solt, Als aber dieselbige schonn warm gehaltenn wartt, steyg ehr aus dem bette vnnd sagt Doctor Jona, Ich bin ssehr schwach, Ich sorge ich werde zw Eysslebenn bleyben, vnd gieng ihn der stubenn, ejmmal oder zwey hin vnd wydder Legt sich dornach auff das faulbettlein, vnd clagte ess druckte yhnen vmb die brust sehr hartt, Aber doch schonet es ihm (ihne) noch des hertzens, Alsso rieb mahn ihn mit tuchern vnd wermette kussen. vnd pfuel auff yhnen, Sprach ess hulffe yhnen, das mahn yhnen warm hieltte, Ehr hette aber Fehr geschwytzt, des trostet yhnen her Michael Coelius, welcher benebenen Doctor Jonas bey ihm wahr. Item Joannes Aurl- fober, und sein famulus, Aber der Doctor sprach, Jha, ess ist eyn kaltter todtes schweys, Ich werde mejTi geist auff- gebenn, dan die krankheitt mehret sich. Do schickte malm eylents vnd lies beyde ertzte hoeleun, Aber do wyr yhnen yhn des, mit Aqua vitae, Lauendel wasser, rossen Essig, vnd andere sterkung, welcher wasser vnser g. g. Graff Albrecht vnd s. g. geniahl, mit brachten, x* bestrichen, fieng ehr ahn also zuredende. Ich dancke dyr hergott, hymlischer vatter, das dw myr deynen liebenn sohn offenbaret bast, ihn den ich geglaubet, den icb be- kant, vnd geprediget babe, den ich geliebet, vnd gelobet, Aber die gottlossen yhnen schenden, lestern, vnd schmehen, Ich bytt dich, herre Jesu Christe, las dyr meyne ssele befolenn ssein himlischer vatter, Ich weys ob ich schoen diessen leyb lassen muss, das ich bey dyr ewyg leben werde, Et dixit, Sic deus dilexit mundum, ut filium suum unigenitum daret, vt omnis qui credit in eum non pereat, sad habeat vitam aeternam, Deus qui saluos facis sperantes in te, Et reducis ex morte, Wolan, sprach ehr ich fhar dahin, vnd sprach 3niahl, Pater in manus tuas commendo tibi spiritum meum. Darauff schweyg ehr stylle, vnd mahn rutteltte, vnd kultte, vnd ryff yhm, Aber ehr anthwortt nicht. Do streich mahn yhme Aqua vitae vohr die nase, vnd ryff lautt bey seynem nahmen Doctor Jonas, vnd her Michel, Doctor Martine, Reuerende pater Wollet yhr auch auff Cristum, vnd die lehr, sso ihr ihn seynem nahmen gethann, sterbenn, Sprach ehr das mahns deut- lich hoerenn konth. Jha. Alsso want ehr sich auff die rechte seyttenn, vnd fieng ahnn zuschlaffen, bys auf eyn guette halbe vyrttel stunde, das mahn der besserung hoffte Aber ihn des thet ehr eyn schnarchen, mit tyffem hoelenn, des atthams, vnd entschlieff, zwuschen 2 und 3 vhren vohr Mit- tage, yhm herren seuberlich, mit grosser gedult, Gott wolle vns alien, genediglichen helffenn. Amen. D. M. L. Wyr konnen nicht thuen, was eyn Eyderman wyll. Wyr konnen aber thuen, was wyr wollenn. Diesse wortt hatt. D. Martinus Lutther, ahn die wanth ge- schriebenn 13 tage vohr seynem todtte. Auff den Freitag den 19 February, nach 2 vhr nach Mittag hatt mahn Doctor Martinum. L. zw Eysleben zw S. Andres ihn die Kirchen getragen, yhm Kohr nyddergesetz, seynt yhme Furst Wolff vonn Anhalt, Graff Heinrich von Schwartzburgk sein sohnn Sychardt, Graff Gebhardt, Albrecht, Philips, Vulradt, Jorge, Hans, vnd andere Junge herren, Auch Graff Gebhardts vnd Albrechts frauen Zymmer, vnd hatt Doctor Jonas, eynne ♦A letter stricken out. schoene pred'.gte gethan, was Doctor Martinus gewesen, wye ehr geschrieben, vnd was ehr geschrieben, Auch wye ehr seynn Ende hatt beschlossenn, vnd enlschlaffenn, Vnd zum drytten die wortt Pauli ausgelegt, und seynh bey sso vnd ihn solcber predigte mebr dan 4000 menschen gewesen, Gott bescher vns auch eyn sseliges Ende. Amen. ENGLISH TRANSLATION. Anno 1546, February the 17th, on Wednesday after Val- entine's day, toward evening, after supper, about seven Mf^ o'clock. Doctor Martinus Luther became sick (weak) and complained of pains in his chest. But after he had been rub- bed with warm towels and had taken two spoons full of wine, with shavings of Einhorn in it, of which Curdi von Wolf .Ramsdorf had first tasted a spoon full, before the doctor, he slept in the (sitting) room, on the lounge for an hour and a half. When the clock struck ten he was put to bed and slept until one o'clock. Then he wakened his servant (famulus) Ambrosius Rutfelt of Oelitz and told him to make fire in the room. But as the room was already warm, he rose from the bed and said: "Doctor Jonas, I am very weak; I fear I shall never leave Eisleben." He then walked up and down in the room once or twice. After this he lay down on the lounge and complained of great oppression on the chest, though, thus far, the heart w^as not afifected. When he was rubbed with towels and his pillows and covers were warmed he said, it was a relief to be kept warm, but that he was in a great sweat. The by-standers, Michael Coelius, Doctor Jonas, Johannes Aurifaber and his servant comforted him, saying, that was a good sign. But the Doctor said, this is a cold death-sweat, I am going to give up the ghost, for I am get- ting worse. Thereupon both physicians were hurriedly sum- moned. But when we had meanwhile rubbed him with Aqua Vitae, lavender water, aromatic vinegar and other stimulants, which our gracious Count Albrecht and his wife had brought, he began to speak thus : 'T thank Thee, Lord God, heavenly Father, that Thou hast revealed unto me Thy dear Son, in whom I believed, whom I confessed and preached, whom I loved and lauded, but whom the godless dishonour, blaspheme and revile. I pray Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, let my soul be commended to Thee. O heavenly Father, I know, though I must give up this body, that I shall liv.e forever with Thee. Et dixit. Sic Deus dilexit mundum, ut filium suum unigenitum daret, ut omnis qui credit in eum„ non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeter- nam, Deus, qui salvos facis sperantes in Te et reducis ex morte. I am ready to depart." Then he said three times, "Pater, in manus tuas commendo' tibi spiritum meum." After this he w^as silent. When they shook him and called him, he did not answer. They then applied Aqua Vitae to his nos- trils and called him loudly by name. Doctor Jonas and Michael (Coehus) asked him: "Doctor Martine, Reverende pater, are you now ready to die in the faith of Christ and the doctrine which you preached in His name?" Thereupon he said, so that it could be heard distinctly, "Yes." Then he turned on his right side and slept for some minutes (eine gute halbe viertel Stunde), so that we hoped he was getting better. Then came the death-rattle, a deep drawn breath, and he was gone. Thus he departed peacefully and patiently in the Lord between two and three o'clock a. m. God be merciful unto us all and help us. Amen. D. M. L. We cannot do what every one wills But we can do what we will. These words were written on the wall by Doctor Mar- tinus Luther thirteen days before his death. On Friday, February 19th, 2 p. m. Doctor Martinus L. was taken to St. Andrew's Church, in Eisleben. The coffin was placed in the chancel. There were present Prince Wolf von Anhalt, Count Pleinrich von Schwarzburg, his son Sychardt, Count Gebhardt, Albrecht, Phihps, Vulradt, Jorge, Hans and other young gentlemen also the ladies of Count Gebhardt and Albrecht. Doctor Jonas preached a beautiful sermon, showing what Doctor Martinus had been, how and what he wrote, and how at last he departed in peace. In his 8 third part he explained and applied the words of Paul. There were more than 4,000 people present at this sermon. May God grant unto us also to depart in peace. Amen. A close examination of this account convinced me that it must have been written not only by a cotemporary, but, evidently, by an eye-witness. Being anxious to ascertain, if possible, the personality of the writer, but not sufficiently ac- quainted with the autographs of men, that might have to be considered in this connection, I secured a photographic re- production of the whole record, made by Mr. A. T. Michler, one of our students, and my friend Mr. Fr.ederik Hassold, of Mount Airy. This photograph I sent to Prof. Dr. Theol. W. Walther, of Rostock, a well-known specialist on Luther and his writings, requesting him to examine the matter thorough- ly and to give me his opinion concerning the probable writer and the value of the whole record. Dr. Walther at once took a lively interest in the matter and proved himself a most helpful and generous assistant in clearing up the mystery. He wrote to me, December 19, 1909: "This record is of the highest interest. Its contents confirm throughout the other accounts of Luther's death, which were known thus far. But its form shows, that these statements are not based on any of the other accounts known to us, but are entirely original and independent. Its import- a,nce is increased by the fact that this record was evidently not intended for publication or for any outsider, but is simply an entry in a postil, a book written by Luther himself, and printed two years before. It is also manifest that it never oc- curred to the writer that any one should be bent on spreading false rumours concerning Luther's death. Tlie first entry which deals with Luther's death, was probably written in the very night of Luther's departure, or on the day following, for it ends with a certain sign, which indicates a conclusion. The same sign (looking somewhat like a capital C in Latin script. A. S.), appears also at the end of the whole entry. Later on, after the funeral service in Eisleben, there follows an addition, dealing with that service. As nothing is said on the removal of the body (to Wittenberg. A. S.) we must suppose that the addition was made immediate- ly after the service in Eisleben, and that the writer was not present at the famous service in Wittenberg, inasmuch as nothing is added on this point. That the writer was an eye-witness must b.e inferred from his statements concerning the funeral service, as he gives the number of attendants, the names of certain persons, and the contents of the sermon of Justus Jonas, in a form which can only be explained from hearing that discourse and not from reading it after it was printed. But the writer was also present at the death of Luther, as he states : 'when we had meanwhile rubbed him with Aqua Vitae.' And he was a sub- ject of the Count of Mansfeld, as we read : 'which our gracious Count Albrecht, etc., had brought along.' I do not know the hand-writing. But its character (der Ductus) seems to indicate, that the writer was not a scholar but a professional clerk. Now the following citizens of Mansfeld were present at Luther's death : Aurifaber, Coelius, the two physicians, the druggist, Count Albrecht and wife, and the town clerk, Hans Albrecht. The account was not written by Aurifaber or Coelius, nor by Count Albrecht and wife as they are mentioned by name in the record. Nor was it writ- ten by one of the physicians or the druggist, inasmuch as the word 'we' is used before they entered the house, where Luth- er died. Consequently the town clerk in whose house in Eisleben Luther lived and died, is the writer of this account. In the hope that some one might recognize the handwrit- ing I sent the photographs to G. Buchwald in Leipzig, and he forwarded them to G. Kawerau in Berlin. Neither of them knows the handwriting. But Kawerau insists that the words 'we' and 'our' show the writer to have been a Mansfelder, and that only Hans Albrecht could have been the writer. Consequently we have here a new record of an eyewit- ness who, while writing without any special design, fully con- firms the narrative of other eyewitnesses. We also learn from him some minor details, such as an utterance of Luther's, written on the wall in Albrecht's house. lO Dr. Buchwald asks to have the photographs returned to him, so that he may have a fac-simile prepared for the next Luther Almanac." So far Dr. Wahher's letter. In the "Deutsche Luther- aner" (Jan. 20, 1910) I published a short statement concern- ing our discovery, with part of Dr. Walther's letter. There- upon I received a communication from the Rev. H. Rembe, Hamilton, Ont., recommending Professor Dr. H. Groessler, of Eisleben, as an authority on the local history of Mansfeki and quite familiar with the archives of Eisleben. It was hoped that there he might find other documents from the hand gf the town clerk, Hans Albrecht, and thus be able to prove his authorship. I at once addressed a letter to that gentleman, accompanied by a copy of the photographs, and begged for his co-operation in the matter. Unfortunately Dr. Groessler had just died when my letter reached its address. Dr. Walther has since published an article on our dis- covery in the Allgemeine Lutherische Kirchenzeitung of Feb- ruary 18, 1910, which contains a somewhat fuller statement of the points made in his letter of December 19, 1909, and dwells particularly on the importance of this document over against the malicious slanders spread by Romanists with reference to Luther's death. He says : "This discovery would have been of still greater importance, if it had occurred twenty years ago, at the time when the former editor of the Germania (a violent Romanist periodical, A. S.) sent forth his book on Luther's death, in which he charged that Luther ended by suicide." It is wnth reference to this particular point that we wish to add a few words to the statements of Dr. Walther which really cover the whole ground. In 1889 there appeared in Mayence a pamphlet entitled: "Luther's Lebensende. Eine historische Untersuchung von Paul Majunke," which claimed to have been written not for the people, but only for scholars (fuer wissenschaftliche Kreise). In the preface to the second edition (January, 1890) the author contends, that even the most hostile reviewer of his pamphlet had been "unable to disprove the genuineness of the documents referred to and the credibility of the facts narrated." The whole pamphlet of II 82 pages consists of the following parts : i. "The fabricated report on Luther's death" (Der verabredete Bericht ueber Luther's Tod). 2. "The rumors concerning Luther's death." Majunke charges the Lutherans themselves with being the authors of certain awful rumors concerning the death of Luther. In evidence he offers the following proof to his "scholarly readers": Christopher Longolius, a theologian, highly recommended by Erasmus, published an Oratio ad Lutheranos, Cologne, 1546, in which he says: "Nostis, homi- nem altero crure claudum, humero strumosum, oculo captum, ac morbo turn commitiali, turn eo, qui libidinem ejus ob- scoenis pustulis indicet, foede misereque confectum." Inas- much as this statement is addressed to Lutherans, and as ne says, Nostis, you know, it is evident that the Lutherans must have been perfectly familiar with the circumstances. Quod erat demonstrandum! 3. "The first authentic report on Luther's death." This, according to Majunke, was published by Henricus Sedulius, in his Praescriptiones adversus haereses, Antwerpiae, 1606, sixty years after Luther's death. It says that a servant of Luther, who in later years returned to the Church of Rome, whose name no one ever knew, had found Luther on the morning of February 18, 1546, "Juxta lectum suum pensilem et misere strangulatum." Dr. Walther in his article for the Allg. Luth. Kirchenzeitung, shows conclusively, that Coch- laeus himself, one of the most violent adversaries of Luther, completely demolishes this statement, when, in the later edi- tions of his work "De actis et scriptis Lutheri" he published the report of a loyal Roman Catholic, the Eisleben druggist, who had been called in to give an enema to the dying man. 4. "Luther's state of mind toward the close of his life.," which according to the opinions commonly in vogue among Romanists, was one of utter despair and demoralization. In an appendix are given the "Historia vom christlichen Abschied des ehrwuerdigen Herm Dr. Mart. Lutheri," the ofificial report on Luther's death, written by Jonas, Coelius and Aurifaber; the funeral sermon preached by Coelius in Eisleben, Febr. 20, 1546; the complete statement of Sedulius 12 in his Praescriptiones adversus haereses, Antwerp, 1606; and some utterances of Roman Catholic writers of the nineteenth century concerning Luther's death, among them Moehler, JDoelHnger, Janssen, not one of whom stultifies himself by even a remote reference to the legend which Majunke has undertaken to resuscitate. His whole publication is, in reality, hardly worthy of a respectful consideration and a serious refutation. But the fact that a pamphlet of this character could be written and printed at the close of the nineteenth century of our Chris- tian era, and that^ within one month of its first appearance, a second edition should be found necessary, proves that the document discovered in the volume of Luther's Summer- Postill has an important and providential mission, even though it comes twenty years after Majunke's unscrupulous slanders. It overthrows the very foundation of Majunke's whole fabrication, viz., the claim that the official report on Luther's death was not a statement of simple historical facts, but an artfully constructed document, prepared for the pur- pose of hushing up and contradicting certain unpleasant ru- mors that had been in circulation concerning the death of the great reformer. We know that even before the "His- toria" was written, Justus Jonas, only about an hour after Luther's death, had sent to the Elector a full account of the last days and the dying hours of Luther, which he dictated to the secretary of Count Albrecht adding in an autograph post- script, that "none of them had been able in their great sorrow, to write in his own hand." (See : Des seligen Zeugen Gottes, Dr. Martin Luther's merkwuerdige Lebensumstaende, etc. von Friedrich Siegemund Keil. Dritter Theil. Leipzig 1754. pp. 270-273.) But even though this letter and the official "Historia" afterwards prepared by Jonas, Coelius and Aurifaber should have been influenced by a natural desire to represent the dy- ing scene in the most favorable and edifying form for the pub- lic eye, no such design can possibly be charged to this ac- count of the town clerk of Eisleb.en. It was written under the first, vivid impression of the solemn scenes at Luther's 13 death bed which the writer had been privileged to witness. It was written for no other eyes, except his own, or possibly the members of his family. It is from beginning- to end charac- terized by a striking simphcity, even naivete. There is no careful choosing of words, no posing whatsoever. The man who had been pres.ent at the last hours of that illustrious ser- vant of God and who had listened to his last words of prayer and confession felt himself irresistibly compelled to fix the memorable scene on paper. So he sat down, probably in the early morning hours of the i8th of February, and entered in- to a book of Luther's own sermons, which had often refresh- ed his soul, this simple-hearted artless account of the hero's death, which will henceforth stand as an original and unas- sailable record, confirming all the essential features of the later official accounts, and utterly demolishing the diaboHcal slanders of the Romanists of the seventeenth as well as the nineteenth century. Adolph Spaeth. Mount Airy, March, 199^'/^. Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 1 1012 01226 0271 1 DATE DUE '^'*™** -— "ii-.* 1 CAVLORD PRINTCDINU.S.A. .PAMPHLET binder" - Syracuse, N. Y. :i3r Stockton, Calif. '^; »:i«^^ _^o^"