acceptance of the invitation to be present He performed the cere-
��Grace and peace. Philip,* the provost," Dr. Jerome,* Bttgen- faagen, our prior,^ James,' Joachim* and I will surely come, onkss the Lord throws some unusual obstacle in our way, which we hope will not be the case. Carlstadt is away from hokne. Furthermore Jerome Crappe ' and Master Lucas • [will come].* Whether the wives of the provost and of Jerome will come along is still undecided. To-day I took in nine nuns from the convent at Nimbschen, among whom are two von Zeschaus and a Staupitz.^ Farewell in the Lord with your bride. Yours, Martin Luther.
553- LUTHER TO GEORGE SPALATIN IN ALTENBURG. Eiidcfs, iv, ia7« Wittenberg^ April 10^ 15:33.
Grace and peace. Nine fugitive nuns,^ a wretched crowd, have been brought me by honest citizens of Toigau. I mean Leonard Coppe " and his nephew " and Wolf Dommitzsch ;** there is therefore no cause for suspicion. I pity them much,
1 If elanchthon.
- Jonat.
- Schnrff.
- Eberhard Britger, of Mulheim, near Coblenz, matriculated at Wittenberg in
1 5 19. An Auguftinian, lie was the last to remain in the cloister with Luther. la 1536 he became pastor at Altenburg. A number of letters of Luther to him arc preserved from the years 1526-43.
■Probst
- Camerariiss.
- Perh^» Melanchthon's father-in-law, but more likely his brother-in-law (1490--
1563), an alumnus of Wittenberg, who became, in 1530, Councillor, and, in 1538* Burgomaster of Wittenberg.
•Cranach.
- Tbe construction is doubtful; it may mean that Crappe and Cranach are also
away from home. >• Vide infra, no. 583.
>>On the night of April 4-5, 1523, nine nuns left the Cistercian convent at Nimbachen near Grimma. Three others, who escaped almost at the same time {ef. infra, no. 584, where twelve nuns are mentioned) were sent to their relap tivea at onee. Enders gives the names of two of them as Gertrude Ton Schellen- borg and Elsa Ton Gauditz (iv, 129, n. i).
- Coppe, born at Torgau, 1464; studied at Leipsic and Erfurt, 1495^; i504*9»
town eouncillor of Torgau; 15x0, the electoral tax gatherer. He met Luther dur- ing tlM litter's Tisits to Torgau, xsx9 aud xsaa, and was his close friend later. He £ed issa. E. Kroker: Katharina von Bora, 1906, p. 35, and De Wette-Sddd- manut tI, s^
^Another Leonard Coppe, of whom nothing else is known.
M Another citiaen of Torgau, of a well-known family.
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