135. John Kepler, or Keppler,[83] was born in 1571, seven years after Galilei, at Weil in Würtemberg; his parents were in reduced circumstances, though his father had some claims to noble descent. Though Weil itself was predominantly Roman Catholic, the Keplers were Protestants, a fact which frequently stood in Kepler’s way at various stages of his career. But the father could have been by no means zealous in his faith, for he enlisted in the army of the notorious Duke of Alva when it was engaged in trying to suppress the revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish persecution. John Kepler’s childhood was marked by more than the usual number of illnesses, and his bodily weaknesses, combined with a promise of great intellectual ability, seemed to point to the Church as a suitable career for him. After attending various elementary schools with great irregularity—due partly to ill-health, partly to the requirements of manual work at home—he was sent in 1584 at the public expense to the monastic school at Adelberg, and two years later to the more advanced school or college of the same kind at Maulbronn, which was connected with the University of Tübingen, then one of the great centres of Protestant theology. In 1588 he obtained the B.A. degree, and in the following year entered the philosophical faculty at Tübingen. There he came under the influence of Maestlin, the professor of mathematics, by whom he was in private taught the principles of the Coppernican system, though the professorial lectures were still on the traditional lines. In 1591 Kepler graduated as M.A., being second out of fourteen candidates, and then devoted himself chiefly to the study of theology.