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The Astronomer and the Witch: Kepler’s Mother
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In 1615 Katharina Kepler, illiterate mother of the astronomer Johannes Kepler, was accused of being a witch.
At that time in Germany, there was a witch ‘craze’. Over half of the c.50,000 executions in Europe for witchcraft between 1500 and 1700 took place in Germany. During the next 6 years Katharina fought her accusation.
The astronomer took over her legal defence in 1620. This lecture explores this astonishing story, and asks how the witch craze affected people’s lives.
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This event was on Tue, 01 Jun 2021
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