Citation in Matrimonial Cases.
This writing is found in the editions of the Tischreden, Cap.43, § 123 and in De Wette-Seidemann, Vol. VI, p. 200.
I, Martin Luther, in place of the pastor of the churches in Wittenberg, hereby declare that Martha, Urban Pfeifer's daughter of Schlieben, has come before me and the others who have been summoned to interrogate her in matrimonial matters, and has complained that her husband, Hans Schwalb, of Atzamsdorf near Erfurt, left her twice six years ago without any just cause, and thus remained outside the other time and abandoned her, and, as some people say, moved around the country with an illegitimate wife. Has therefore asked to inform her of Christian advice and, as she has been unfairly abandoned, to be released from reported swallows.
to separate. Therefore I, by virtue of my order and parish office, require and cite the said Hansen Schwalben for the second, third time, and peremptorily ordered before me and the others to appear at the rectory on the 10th day of July next, at the eighth hour in the forenoon, to hear the complaint and to make his answer thereto. In the event that he does not appear, either by himself or by his attorney, he shall nevertheless be tried and what is right shall be done. In witness whereof I have hereunto set forth D. M. L. my petition printed hereunder. Date Wittenberg, on the 22nd day of June, Anno 1538.
No. 2447.
To the Assembly of Deputies of the Reformed Localities of Switzerland.
See St. Louis edition, vol. XVII, 2161.
No. 2448.