Katharina von Bora

Katharina von Bora was born on 29 January 1499 and entered convent life young. She escaped and married Martin Luther, the German reformer driving the Protestant Reformation. Little is known about her life in detail, but the marriage itself mattered: it set the template for Protestant clergy to wed and raise families, overturning centuries of Catholic celibacy rules. She became known as "die Lutherin" — the Lutheress — a seminal figure not for theology but for the domestic revolution her union represented. She died on 20 December 1552.