In Germany to the Leipsic Disputation - James Aitken Wylie

Chapter 2
Luther's College Life
IN 1501 Luther entered the University of
Erfurt. He had now attained the age of eighteen
years. This seat of learning had been founded about
a century before; it owed its rise to the patronage of
the princely houses of Brunswick and Saxony, and
it had already become one of the more famous
schools of Central Europe. Erfurt is an ancient
town. Journeying from Eisenach eastward, along
the Thuringian plain, it makes an imposing show as
its steeples, cathedral towers, and ramparts rise
before the eye of the traveler. Thirsting for
knowledge, the young scholar came hither to drink
his fill. His father wished him to study law, not
doubting that with his great talents he would
speedily achieve eminence, and fill some post of
emolument and dignity in the civic administration
of his country. In this hope John Luther toiled
harder than ever, that he might support his son
more liberally than heretofore.
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