The time when Kepler's mother was put on trial as a witch.

Although the core story sounded interesting and it was put into context well, I found the book a bit of a chore to get through. It was never so bad that I wanted to abandon it, but I was never really looking forward to picking it back up again either. ( )

A readable work about the mother of the famed astronomer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who was accused of witchcraft in Germany. In 1615, his 73 year old mother, Katharina Kepler was accused of bewitching several people in town, and over the next six years a continuing trial and imprisonment was challenged by her son. Later, after a year of imprisonment, she was threatened with torture to confess her crimes. Only Johannes and his siblings kept up a steady opposition to the governor's accusations and attempts to have his mother convicted of the crime.
This is an interesting account of witch trials in Protestant Germany at the start of the 17th century. There is an examination of the evidence, how it was interpreted, and how it was refuted by one of the better mathematical minds living in Europe at that time. Some of the 24 witnesses were deemed to be irrelevant, but enough were thought competent for the charges to be prosecuted. Kepler spent much of his time trying to refute the witnesses and write up a point by point rebuttal to the accusations, and then reply to the attack of his rebuttal by the prosecution. Finally, it was decided to scare her into confession, not by torture, but by pretending to have sentenced her to torture, and showing her the devices to be used to force her to confess, hoping the mere sight of the devices and descriptions of enhanced interrogation by the executioner will frighten her into revealing her crime.
Refusing to be intimidated, she was eventually released after 14 months locked to a chain in a cell, and she died six months later.
This is an interesting study of how a witch trial was conducted, the types of evidence and methods of defense used, and how a counter-suit of defamation was used to protect Katharina Kepler. Afterwards, she was hailed as a local heroine in Eltingen, and even Nazi Germany put up a statue in her honor. While promoted as an example of work and industriousness, her steadfast denial of the charge of witchcraft had helped end the persecution of women as witches in Germany as a whole.
A recommended book for libraries of astronomy, German history, witchcraft trials and women's studies. Also for individuals interested in any or all of these subjects. ( )