ABSTRACT
Martin Luther was born in the Saxon village of Mansfeld, son of a miner. Although intending to become a lawyer, he entered an Augustinian monastery in 1505, after a traumatic encounter with lightning in a storm had precipitated his religious conviction. Luther came out of hiding in 1522 and returned to Wittenberg where he devoted himself even more energetically to the cause of reform, securing at the same time the support of his fellow academics. The conjunction between useful and scriptural learning is effected in this essay without any rational link. Luther continues to temper this appeal with the utilitarian argument: children need also the useful arts, which he suggests are the three scriptural languages along with German, history, singing, instrumental music and mathematics. The schools themselves should be kept in suitable buildings and supported by good libraries with systematically organized holdings. In respect of religious matters the church in Rome had not remained indifferent to developments in Germany.
