Charles Beard: "Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany," Ch. 5, 11...

5. Luther’s Life Prior to the Revolt, 116-199. Luther was born on 10 Nov 1483 and baptized on St. Martin’s Day, 11 Nov, in St. Peter’s at Eisleben. Luther reported through life that his forbears, father and he himself were “peasants.” " My father," says Luther, " was a poor miner; my mother carried all her wood upon her back” (120). Apparently, the father, Hans Luther, did well in mining and became a respectable burgher. It was a hard, German home—"He [Hans] and his wife firmly believed and acted upon the maxim, that to spare the rod was to spoil the child” (121). German schools were hells, jails and purgatories claimed Luther (like Cranmer). Witchcraft, demonology, legends, Marianism, legends and fear shaped the young Luther although he loved the old hymns of his youth, wishing they were taught the meanings more fully.