Kepler's Fight for His Mother
In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler was not only unlocking the laws of planetary motion but also defending his mother from accusations of witchcraft. This story recounts Kepler's personal battle against superstition and ignorance, using his scientific reasoning and public standing to navigate a legal and social labyrinth. It's a tale of filial devotion, the clash between the nascent scientific world and the old world of fear, and the courage required to stand for reason.
A Sharp Tongue in Leonberg
The rumors began as whispers, passed over garden fences and in the market square of the small German town of Leonberg. They clung to Katharina Kepler like the scent of the herbs she grew and sold. At 68, she was a widow, sharp-tongued and unafraid of a dispute. She was the mother of the famous Imperial Mathematician, Johannes Kepler, a man who conversed with emperors and charted the paths of planets. But in Leonberg, in 1615, she was simply an old woman who made people uncomfortable. It started with a neighbor, Ursula Reinbold, the wife of a glazier, who claimed a bitter drink from Katharina’s hand had given her a chronic illness. Then a 12-year-old girl said a passing touch from Katharina had filled her arm with a pain so intense she couldn’t move her fingers. Soon, the stories multiplied, each more fantastic than the last. She had appeared through locked doors, they said. She had ridden a calf to death. One of her own sons, Heinrich, spoke of a roast made from the enchanted animal. The whispers curdled into formal accusations. Lutherus Einhorn, the town’s Vogt, or chief magistrate, was a man with a history; he had already presided over the burning of eight other accused witches. In the fertile ground of local fear and superstition, the case against Katharina Kepler took root.