Elector John Frederick I of Saxony to Luther; Torgau, 7 December 1541 (Staatsarchiv Coburg, LA B 2432, Nr. 2)

Luther had written repeatedly to the Saxon elector to ask for the assignment of a monastic post to his brother-in-law Hans von Bora, most recently in a letter dated to 4 December 1541.

The reaction to the second letter was prompt. On 7 December an order to the sequestration office left Torgau, the electoral residence, in the names of Elector John Frederick I (1503–1554, elector/duke 1532–1554) and of his brother John Ernest (1521–1553, 1541–1553 duke of Saxe-Coburg) who ruled over electoral Saxe-Coburg. The sequestration office was responsible for the administration of the assets of dissolved monasteries. The territorial rulers referred to Luther’s plea and included it as an enclosure to the administrators. Since the posts at Nimbschen and Belgern had already been promised to someone else, the administrators were supposed to assign to Bora the monastic position at the former convent of Augustinian nuns at Brehna near Bitterfeld. The vacancy was going to become available at Easter of the coming year, as pointed out in the princely letter.

At the end is a statement that Luther had already been informed of this step. On the back, below the address, is a reference to the subject line which had probably been added when the letter arrived at the sequestration office. A further, probably contemporaneous writer had noted down a reference to the content “doctor martinus” to point out the connection to Luther. As it happens, Bora became administrator of the former convent of Dominican nuns in Cronschwitz in the Vogtland on 1 May 1542.

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