The executioner of Stuttgart shows the mother of Kepler the instruments of torture he will use on her if she does not confess. Katharina Kepler (1546 - April 13, 1622), born Katharina Guldenmann, was an alleged German witch from Stuttgart. She was married to Heinrich Kepler and had one daughter and three sons; one of them was Johannes Kepler. In 1615, a witch trial was initiated by Lutherus Einhorn who in his reign as Vogt of Leonberg (1613 - 1629) accused 15 women of sorcery and executed 8 of them. Ursula Reinbold had accused Katharina Kepler of giving her a potion after an argument which had made her sick. Johannes Kepler defended his mother himself, and was allowed to take her away in December 1616. When she returned to Leonberg in the summer of 1620, she was arrested and imprisoned for 14 months. She was told how she would be tortured, as a means of frightening her, but she refused to confess anything. In October 1621, Kepler was able to effect her release. Katharina Kepler died the following year. This illustration is from Louis Figuier's 5 volume series "Vies des Savants Illustres" from 1866-1870.