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The Astronomer and the Witch: Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother Paperback – December 12, 2017

by Ulinka Rublack (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
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Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived and a key figure in the scientific revolution. A defender of Copernicus' s sun-centered universe, he famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, and defined the three laws of planetary motion. Perhaps less well known is that in 1615, when Kepler was at the height of his career, his widowed mother Katharina was accused of witchcraft. The proceedings led to a criminal trial that lasted six years, with Kepler conducting his mother's defense.

In The Astronomer and the Witch, Ulinka Rublack pieces together the tale of this extraordinary episode in Kepler's life, one which takes us to the heart of his changing world. First and foremost an intense family drama, the story brings to life the world of a small Lutheran community in the centre of Europe at a time of deep religious and political turmoil--a century after the Reformation, and on the threshold of the Thirty Years' War.

Kepler's defense of his mother also offers us a fascinating glimpse into the great astronomer's world view, on the cusp between Reformation and scientific revolution. While advancing rational explanations for the phenomena which his mother's accusers attributed to witchcraft, Kepler nevertheless did not call into question the existence of magic and witches. On the contrary, he clearly believed in them. And, as the story unfolds, it appears that there were moments when even Katharina's children wondered whether their mother really did have nothing to hide...
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    December 12, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    8.4 x 0.9 x 5.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0198736789
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0198736783
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Rublack has written a forceful book....It is a breath-taking account of a brave family who boldly fought for justice. A wide audience of readers will affirm the simple principle that history at its best is profoundly personal."--Early Science and Medicine

"Excellent...meticulously researched and wonderfully readable."--John Banville, Literary Review

"An enthralling book."--Jennifer Rampling, Nature

"Rublack tells [this] story with a novelist's panache. Even if you know what happened, it's a compelling book. She sketches the vivid details that make the time, place and characters come to life....The Tale of the Witch and the Mathematician--unmissable."--Mark Greener, Fortean Times

About the Author

Ulinka Rublack is Professor at the University of Cambridge and has published widely on early modern European history as well as approaches to history. She edited the Oxford Concise Companion to History (2011), and, most recently, the Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformation (2016). Her monographs include Reformation Europe (2005), The Crimes of Women in Early Modern Germany (1999), and Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe (2010), which won the Roland H. Bainton Prize.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (December 12, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198736789
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198736783
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.4 x 0.9 x 5.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

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Ulinka Rublack

Ulinka Rublack

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kris Alejo
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2019
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This book is interesting because it outlines the life of Johannes Kepler and the trial of his mother who was accused of being a witch. This is something I never heard about and found it extremely interesting. The chapters kind of jump from one thing to another but if you retain your focus it’s a good read.
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K
5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2017
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The author manage to give an honest account of a past when superstitious beliefs were canon.
It is a common mistake to think witchcraft trials associated with the middle ages; actually most arose after the reformation. It is also nice to have a documented case where the rule of law prevailed, showing that even then accusations where not synonymous with a guilty verdict.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael A. Grayson
4.0 out of 5 stars Justice in the early 17th century
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2016
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Interesting description of events leading up to the trial of Kepler's mother. Provides a view of life for the common person during this era and the prevalence of superstition. I would have liked more details regarding the specific trials that his mother faced.
2 people found this helpful
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Book Editor
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2023
In the early 1600s, the time period described so eloquently in his play, Othello, William Shakespeare wrote, “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls.” Nothing could have been truer in Reformation Germany. There was deep religious and political unrest, crops were failing, people were starving, and life was ripe for a moral panic.

The moral panic manifested itself in the form of witch hunts. Medicine and alchemy were a popular pursuit between the Duke and Duchess of Württemberg and became popular with women who were excluded from the universities. During the unrest, it was not a far cry for women who dabbled with herbs for medical cures to be called witches practicing witchcraft leading to trials which could result in the “witches” being tortured or beheaded. It was a dangerous time to be the victim of someone with a metaphoric axe to grind.

Ulinka Rublack writes of one of these true, high-profile cases in her book, The Astronomer and the Witch, about the great astronomer and mathematician, Johannes Kepler and his defense of his mother Katharina. If her son failed in his mission, his mother could be either tortured, beheaded, or both. Witchcraft was not thought to be strictly a woman’s domain, and families could be implicated. This mind-set placed Johannes and his brother Christoph in peril.

Leading the cast of rabid accusers was one Ursula Reinbold. Christoph quarreled with her over a business dealing and accused her of a licentious life. Katharina joined the fray. As Rublack illustrates from her maps, these towns were near each other and the fact that Reinbold did prison time for her behavior was a big scandal. It would seem that Reinbold’s motive for the accusations was to transfer the focus on her former behavior to allegations that Katharina used witchcraft vengefully on her neighbors.

Rublack subtly suggests that Reinbold wanted to discredit and punish Katharina to save her own (Reinbold’s) reputation.

Rivka Galchen has recently written a fictional account of the Keplers’ ordeal, “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch.” It injects humor into imagined court proceedings with fictitious characters that serve to highlight the tragic results.
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R. Albin
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Microhistory; 4.5 Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2017
This well written and nicely illustrated book uses a single episode, the witchcraft trial of an elderly German woman in the early 17th century, to illuminate several aspects of life in early modern Europe. The woman, Katharina Kepler, was the mother of the great astronomer and much of the documentation related to her trial was preserved in Kepler's papers. Rublack uses the available documentation and concise contextualization based on prior scholarship to provide an insightful look at German society, and Kepler, during this period. A prominent feature is what might be called the premodern thinking of many participants. No one doubted the existence of witches and sorcery. Kepler, while following a rather optimistic version of Christian theology, also had what might be called somewhat animistic beliefs. Rublack shows very nicely how his theology and somewhat animistic views were important parts of his scholarship. Rublack shows as well the impact of different theological conceptions. In contrast to Kepler's optimistic view of God and the universe, many of his contemporaries were preoccupied with millenarianism and an intrinsically corrupt world. In this context, witchcraft allegations, trials, and executions were common events in many parts of Europe. Rublack also does very well in revealing important aspects of day to day life in these often small communities, particularly the challenges faced by women. This book is also illuminating about the anxieties of Protestants during the 30 Years War, the structure of government, and the nature of law in early modern Europe. The intelligent reconstruction and analysis of this one well documented episode casts a vivid light on many important issues.
4 people found this helpful
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David (Westlake, Ohio)
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016
Thank you, Professor Rublack, for this outstanding work on Johannes Kepler and his times. I believe the author has firmly accomplished her stated objective (p. 306) of presenting history by “…restoring nuance to our account of past lives and respect for different voices from a wide social spectrum…”

The complex characters in this book could hardly have been invented; instead they have been “rediscovered” from the author’s intense study of and extensive knowledge of local conditions and resources in the contentious times leading to the Thirty Years War in the central European states. Her understanding of Dr. Kepler, his colleagues, his antagonists and supporters, and particularly his mother, brothers and sister and other family is insightful and recognizes the push and pull of the trauma and dissension and conflict each of us faces in everyday life, as well as its joys and benefits.

And all this understanding is in the context of a compelling and historically captivating story, well presented with a sense of the reader being in the midst of the action.
7 people found this helpful
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emma2u
3.0 out of 5 stars Does not read tripingly through your mind
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2017
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Interesting look at German life in early 1600's. broad view of religion juxtaposed to scientific study. Also a good look a the life of women in that time period in that particular culture.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Carolyn
4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, remarkable, well-researched history
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
3.5 stars. Having recently read 'Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch,' written as literary fiction, I wanted to learn from a factual account more about the lives and society in the early 1600s in what is now Germany and surrounding areas. This is a thoroughly researched history that describes the turmoil and living conditions of that era with facts taken from archives and actual records relating to the trial of 73-year-old Katharina Kepler, who was accused of witchcraft in 1615.

Johannes Kepler, her son, led in his mother's defence. He was the most renowned astronomer and mathematician of the time and is still regarded as one of the world's leading scientific minds. During the trial, which lasted 6 years, Kepler felt obligated to return home and help free his mother. He had reached the peak of esteem as Imperial Court mathematician. She had spent over a year chained by her leg to a cold cell wall and was financially ruined as her property and assets had been seized. This was written in a dry textbook style, and I did not find it a compelling read, but the description of the unsettled times was interesting.

It was a time when science was becoming separate from superstition, although astronomy and astrology fitted into the same category. Johannes Kepler himself still held a belief in magic and never denied witchcraft might exist. Some of Katharina's adult children suspected the charges might have some truth to them and were concerned about how the trial might affect their livelihoods and reputations. Kepler had long been prepared to argue in defence of his scientific theories and felt capable of using these skills in defending his mother.

Older people were not held in high esteem for their wisdom as in some cultures. An elderly widow like Katharina might be accused through malice or greed of being a witch. A person suffering from illness, death in the family, an accident, sickness of livestock, or other misfortune often believed the cause must be from a nearby witch's spell. Once a spiteful woman accused her, rumours spread like wildfire, and soon others were blaming Katharina for their bad luck, the result of her consulting with the devil and casting evil spells. Rumours and 'false news' were held as facts by adherents.

Between 1500 and 1700, about 40,000 to 50,000 people were executed in Europe for being witches. At least half of these executions took place in Germany after prolonged torture and trial. 75% of those beheaded or burned as witches were women. One critic wrote that fires were burning everywhere.

There were in-depth accounts of the hostility between Catholics and Protestants and also between Lutherans and Calvinists. Religion played a part in Kepler gaining certain positions and also being dismissed from others. Regional wars and military service were described. It was near the beginning of the 30 Years War and a deadly plague was spreading. A woman's subservient role in the home, family life, property rights, inheritance, architecture, farming, meals, folk medicine, and fashion were well described, along with the various trades and politics. Relevant illustrations were included in the book. Religion mixed with superstition played a dominant part in the local mindset.

Katharina was eventually freed, but her reputation and property were lost she died a short time later.
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deermountain
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting history
Reviewed in Germany on February 18, 2019
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I loved the dense and highly detailed information on the lives of ordinary people from the period - Kepler, of course, was not ordinary, but the other people involved in this trial definitely were, and through the meticulous research, their world views and experience come to life.

The book is relatively short, and because it is excellently written, it's a very fast read.
One person found this helpful
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jens christian jensenius
5.0 out of 5 stars Really amazing how you get under the skin of early 17th ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2016
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Really amazing how you get under the skin of early 17th century Europe. A true horror story, which you cannot read through in one go.
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Valerie Bannister
5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2018
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arrived early - thanks
One person found this helpful
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René Malin
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book
Reviewed in Germany on December 15, 2015
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I learnt a lot on many aspects, like what was the daily life at that time and what witchcraft concretely meant. Very interesting was to understand that women, and especially widows were very strong and could have an independent life with no need of a man. I warmly recommend this great work.
One person found this helpful
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