Kepler and His Mother...the Witch

AMAZON

The village of Wurttemberg, located in Germany was the idle home for the Kepler family.  Johannes Kepler's achievement, his ability to discover that the movement of the planets in elliptical orbits was almost as shocking as the intimate knowledge that his mother was a witch.

Tried for witchcraft in 1615, Katharina Kepler horrified her family and scandalized her sons achievement.

The story is beautifully told by Dr. Ulinka Rublack, a professor of early modern history at University of Cambridge. 

For Kepler, the achievement of overthrowing Aristotle's belief in circular movements and a geo-centric universe was not easily for many to accept.  A Heliocentric universe for a Lutheran wasn't any easier, it only lent credence to the image of his mother as a craven, unmoored individual.

Katharina's first accuser was her own son, Heinrich, a mercenary held in financial bondage throughout Europe.  Having been arrested, she was thrown into prison and shown the tools of torture.  She was released and returned home.

Dr. Rublack has unearthed a fascinating study of the social mores of early modern Europe during difficult social, geopolitical times.  With her book, we are introduced to thinking of those that spent most of their time working at night, on rooftops with arcane maps and zodiacs.  

University of Cambridge http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-ulinka-rublack

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Ulinka-Rublack/e/B001HCZ21M