year his father transferred him to a school on Eisenach, wishing him to become a lawyer. Here a young woman, Mrs. Ursala Cotta, took a special liking to him. At one time, when a group of boys was singing before her house, she invited Martin in and offered him free lodging. He accepted. He received free meals in another house where he taught a young child of the family. Luther was now free to devote more time to his studies. Since the Cotta family was a cultured family, Luther's stay in this home taught him to appreciate such things as music and art and helped him to develop especially his remarkable talent for music.
By the time Luther was far enough advanced to enter the university his father had become a prosperous man. He went from being a miner to being the owner of many small foundries. He could now afford to give Martin a college education. Recognizing the gifts of his son, the father intended that his son should become a lawyer and therefore sent him to the University of Erfurt in 1501 at the age of seventeen. (Encarta 2) Here again, the young student prayed and studied constantly. To increase his knowledge, Luther spent much time at the library. "Discipline was as strict as it had been at Megdeberg and Eisenach. The students were awakened at 4:00 AM. Lectures began as the sun rose and continued until 5:00 PM. The first meal of the day was at 10:00 AM. The students hurried from class to class, pausing only for the briefest of conversations before the next lecture commenced, whispering quietly to each other in the required Latin," (Luther 34). In 1505 at the age of twenty-one he was awarded the Master of Arts degree. (Encarta 2). He now had the right to teach and was able to register for a law course.
To please his father, Martin remained on at the University to read law, but he soon lost interest in that subject. More and more he studied religion and worried over his sinful condition. But no matter how...