family at Lawingen, in the Duchy of Neuburg, on the Danube. For the first
thirty years of his life he appeared remarkably dull and stupid, and it
was feared by every one that no good could come of him. He entered a
Dominican monastery at an early age; but made so little progress in his
studies, that he was more than once upon the point of abandoning them in
despair, but he was endowed with extraordinary perseverance. As he
advanced to middle age, his mind expanded, and he learned whatever he
applied himself to with extreme facility. So remarkable a change was not
in that age to be accounted for but by a miracle. It was asserted and
believed that the Holy Virgin, touched with his great desire to become
learned and famous, took pity upon his incapacity, and appeared to him in
the cloister where he sat almost despairing, and asked him whether he
wished to excel in philosophy or divinity. He chose philosophy, to the
chagrin of the Virgin, who reproached him in mild and sorrowful accents
that he had not made a better choice. She, however, granted his request,
that he should become the most excellent philosopher of the age; but set
this drawback to his pleasure, that he should relapse, when at the height
of his fame, into his former incapacity and stupidity. Albertus never took
the trouble to contradict the story, but prosecuted his studies with such
unremitting zeal, that his reputation speedily spread over all Europe. In
the year 1244, the celebrated Thomas Aquinas placed himself under his
tuition. Many extraordinary stories are told of the master and his pupil.
While they paid all due attention to other branches of science, they never
neglected the pursuit of the philosopher's stone and the _elixir vitæ_.
Although they discovered neither, it was believed that Albert had seized
some portion of the secret of life, and found means to animate a brazen
statue, upon the formation of which, under proper conjunctions of the
planets, he had been occupied many years of his life. He and Thomas
Aquinas completed it together, endowed it with the faculty of speech, and
made it perform the functions of a domestic servant. In this capacity it
was exceedingly useful; but, through some defect in the machinery, it
chattered much more than was agreeable to either philosopher. Various
remedies were tried to cure it of its garrulity, but in vain; and one day,
Thomas Aquinas was so enraged at the noise it made when he was in the
midst of a mathematical problem, that he seized a ponderous hammer and
smashed it to pieces.[31] He was sorry afterwards for what he had done,
and was reproved by his master for giving way to his anger, so unbecoming
in a philosopher. They made no attempt to re-animate the statue.
[31] Naudé, _Apologie des Grands Hommes accusés de Magie_,
chap. xviii.
[Illustration: ALBERTUS MAGNUS.]
Such stories as these shew the spirit of the age. Every great man who
attempted to study the secrets of nature was thought a magician; and it is
not to be wondered at that, when philosophers themselves pretended to
discover an elixir for conferring immortality, or a red stone which was to
create boundless wealth, that popular opinion should have enhanced upon
their pretensions, and have endowed them with powers still more
miraculous. It was believed of Albertus Magnus that he could even change
the course of the seasons, a feat which the many thought less difficult
than the discovery of the grand elixir. Albertus was desirous of obtaining
a piece of ground on which to build a monastery in the neighbourhood of
Cologne. The ground belonged to William Count of Holland and King of the
Romans, who for some reason or other did not wish to part with it.
Albertus is reported to have gained it by the following extraordinary
method: He invited the prince as he was passing through Cologne to a
magnificent entertainment prepared for him and all his court. The prince
accepted it, and repaired with a lordly retinue to the residence of the
sage. It was in the midst of winter, the Rhine was frozen over, and the
cold was so bitter, that the knights could not sit on horseback without
running the risk of losing their toes by the frost. Great, therefore, was
their surprise, on arriving at Albert's house, to find that the repast was
spread in his garden, in which the snow had drifted to the depth of
several feet. The earl in high dudgeon remounted his steed, but Albert at
last prevailed upon him to take his seat at the table. He had no sooner
done so, than the dark clouds rolled away from the sky--a warm sun shone
forth--the cold north wind veered suddenly round and blew a mild breeze
from the south--the snows melted away--the ice was unbound upon the
streams, and the trees put forth their green leaves and their
fruit--flowers sprang up beneath their feet, while larks, nightingales,
blackbirds, cuckoos, thrushes, and every sweet song-bird sang hymns from
every tree. The earl and his attendants wondered greatly; but they ate
their dinner, and in recompense for it, Albert got his piece of ground to
build a convent on. He had not, however, shewn them all his power.
Immediately that the repast was over, he gave the word, and dark clouds
obscured the sun--the snow fell in large flakes--the singing-birds fell
dead--the leaves dropped from the trees, and the winds blew so cold and
howled so mournfully, that the guests wrapped themselves up in their thick
cloaks, and retreated into the house to warm themselves at the blazing
fire in Albert's kitchen.[32]
[32] Lenglet, _Histoire de la Philosophie Hermétique_. See also
Godwin's _Lives of the Necromancers_.
Thomas Aquinas also could work wonders as well as his master. It is
related of him that he lodged in a street at Cologne, where he was much
annoyed by the incessant clatter made by the horses' hoofs, as they were
led through it daily to exercise by their grooms. He had entreated the
latter to select some other spot, where they might not disturb a
philosopher; but the grooms turned a deaf ear to all his solicitations. In
this emergency he had recourse to the aid of magic. He constructed a small
horse of bronze, upon which he inscribed certain cabalistic characters,
and buried it at midnight in the midst of the highway. The next morning a
troop of grooms came riding along as usual; but the horses, as they
arrived at the spot where the magic horse was buried, reared and plunged
violently--their nostrils distended with terror--their manes grew erect,
and the perspiration ran down their sides in streams. In vain the riders
applied the spur--in vain they coaxed or threatened, the animals would not
pass the spot. On the following day their success was no better. They were
at length compelled to seek another spot for their exercise, and Thomas
Aquinas was left in peace.[33]
[33] Naudé, _Apologie des Grands Hommes accusés de Magie_,
chap. xvii.
Albertus Magnus was made Bishop of Ratisbon in 1259; but he occupied the
see only four years, when he resigned, on the ground that its duties
occupied too much of the time which he was anxious to devote to
philosophy. He died in Cologne in 1280, at the advanced age of
eighty-seven. The Dominican writers deny that he ever sought the
philosopher's stone, but his treatise upon minerals sufficiently proves
that he did.
ARTEPHIUS.
Artephius, a name noted in the annals of alchymy, was born in the early
part of the twelfth century. He wrote two famous treatises; the one upon
the philosopher's stone, and the other on the art of prolonging human
life. In the latter he vaunts his great qualifications for instructing
mankind on such a matter, as he was at that time in the thousand and
twenty-fifth year of his age! He had many disciples who believed in his
extreme age, and who attempted to prove that he was Apollonius of Tyana,
who lived soon after the advent of Jesus Christ, and the particulars of
whose life and pretended miracles have been so fully described by
Philostratus. He took good care never to contradict a story which so much
increased the power he was desirous of wielding over his fellow-mortals.
On all convenient occasions, he boasted of it; and having an excellent
memory, a fertile imagination, and a thorough knowledge of all existing
history, he was never at a loss for an answer when questioned as to the
personal appearance, the manners, or the character of the great men of
antiquity. He also pretended to have found the philosopher's stone; and
said that, in search of it, he had descended to hell, and seen the devil
sitting on a throne of gold, with a legion of imps and fiends around him.
His works on alchymy have been translated into French, and were published
in Paris in 1609 or 1610.
ALAIN DE LISLE.
Contemporary with Albertus Magnus was Alain de Lisle of Flanders, who was
named, from his great learning, the "universal doctor." He was thought to
possess a knowledge of all the sciences, and, like Artephius, to have
discovered the _elixir vitæ_. He became one of the friars of the abbey of
Citeaux, and died in 1298, aged about one hundred and ten years. It was
said of him that he was at the point of death when in his fiftieth year,
but that the fortunate discovery of the elixir enabled him to add sixty
years to his existence. He wrote a commentary on the prophecies of Merlin.
ARNOLD DE VILLENEUVE.
This philosopher has left a much greater reputation. He was born in the
year 1245, and studied medicine with great success in the university of
Paris. He afterwards travelled for twenty years in Italy and Germany,
where he made acquaintance with Pietro d'Apone, a man of a character akin
to his own, and addicted to the same pursuits. As a physician, he was
thought, in his own lifetime, to be the most able the world had ever seen.
Like all the learned men of that day, he dabbled in astrology and alchymy,
and was thought to have made immense quantities of gold from lead and
copper. When Pietro d'Apone was arrested in Italy, and brought to trial as
a sorcerer, a similar accusation was made against Arnold; but he managed
to leave the country in time, and escape the fate of his unfortunate
friend. He lost some credit by predicting the end of the world, but
afterwards regained it. The time of his death is not exactly known; but it
must have been prior to the year 1311, when Pope Clement V. wrote a
circular letter to all the clergy of Europe who lived under his obedience,
praying them to use their utmost efforts to discover the famous treatise
of Arnold on _The Practice of Medicine_. The author had promised, during
his lifetime, to make a present of the work to the Holy See, but died
without fulfilling it.
[Illustration: ARNOLD DE VILLENEUVE.]
In a very curious work by Monsieur Longeville Harcouet, entitled _The
History of the Persons who have lived several centuries and then grown
young again_, there is a receipt, said to have been given by Arnold de
Villeneuve, by means of which any one might prolong his life for a few
hundred years or so. In the first place, say Arnold and Monsieur Harcouet,
"the person intending so to prolong his life must rub himself well, two or
three times a week, with the juice or marrow of cassia (_moëlle de la
casse_). Every night, upon going to bed, he must put upon his heart a
plaster, composed of a certain quantity of oriental saffron, red
rose-leaves, sandal-wood, aloes, and amber, liquified in oil of roses and
the best white wax. In the morning, he must take it off, and enclose it
carefully in a leaden box till the next night, when it must be again
applied. If he be of a sanguine temperament, he shall take sixteen
chickens; if phlegmatic, twenty-five; and if melancholy, thirty, which he
shall put into a yard where the air and the water are pure. Upon these he
is to feed, eating one a day; but previously the chickens are to be
fattened by a peculiar method, which will impregnate their flesh with the
qualities that are to produce longevity in the eater. Being deprived of
all other nourishment till they are almost dying of hunger, they are to be
fed upon broth made of serpents and vinegar, which broth is to be
thickened with wheat and bran." Various ceremonies are to be performed in
the cooking of this mess, which those may see in the book of M. Harcouet
who are at all interested in the matter; and the chickens are to be fed
upon it for two months. They are then fit for table, and are to be washed
down with moderate quantities of good white wine or claret. This regimen
is to be followed regularly every seven years, and any one may live to be
as old as Methuselah! It is right to state that M. Harcouet has but little
authority for attributing this precious composition to Arnold of
Villeneuve. It is not found in the collected works of that philosopher;
but was first brought to light by a M. Poirier, at the commencement of the
sixteenth century, who asserted that he had discovered it in MS. in the
undoubted writing of Arnold.
PIETRO D'APONE.
This unlucky sage was born at Apone, near Padua, in the year 1250. Like
his friend Arnold de Villeneuve, he was an eminent physician, and a
pretender to the arts of astrology and alchymy. He practised for many
years in Paris, and made great wealth by killing and curing, and telling
fortunes. In an evil day for him, he returned to his own country, with the
reputation of being a magician of the first order. It was universally
believed that he had drawn seven evil spirits from the infernal regions,
whom he kept enclosed in seven crystal vases until he required their
services, when he sent them forth to the ends of the earth to execute his
pleasure. One spirit excelled in philosophy; a second, in alchymy; a
third, in astrology; a fourth, in physic; a fifth, in poetry; a sixth, in
music; and the seventh, in painting: and whenever Pietro wished for
information or instruction in any of these arts, he had only to go to his
crystal vase and liberate the presiding spirit. Immediately all the
secrets of the art were revealed to him; and he might, if it pleased him,
excel Homer in poetry, Apelles in painting, or Pythagoras himself in
philosophy. Although he could make gold out of brass, it was said of him
that he was very sparing of his powers in that respect, and kept himself
constantly supplied with money by other and less creditable means.
Whenever he disbursed gold, he muttered a certain charm, known only to
himself, and next morning the gold was safe again in his own possession.
The trader to whom he gave it might lock it in his strong box and have it
guarded by a troop of soldiers, but the charmed metal flew back to its old
master. Even if it were buried in the earth, or thrown into the sea, the
dawn of the next morning would behold it in the pockets of Pietro. Few
people, in consequence, liked to have dealings with such a personage,
especially for gold. Some, bolder than the rest, thought that his power
did not extend over silver; but, when they made the experiment, they found
themselves mistaken. Bolts and bars could not restrain it, and it
sometimes became invisible in their very hands, and was whisked through
the air to the purse of the magician. He necessarily acquired a very bad
character; and, having given utterance to some sentiments regarding
religion which were the very reverse of orthodox, he was summoned before
the tribunals of the Inquisition to answer for his crimes as a heretic and
a sorcerer. He loudly protested his innocence, even upon the rack, where
he suffered more torture than nature could support. He died in prison ere
his trial was concluded, but was afterwards found guilty. His bones were
ordered to be dug up and publicly burned. He was also burned in effigy in
the streets of Padua.
RAYMOND LULLI.
[Illustration: RAYMOND LULLI.]
While Arnold de Villeneuve and Pietro d'Apone flourished in France and
Italy, a more celebrated adept than either appeared in Spain. This was
Raymond Lulli, a name which stands in the first rank among the alchymists.
Unlike many of his predecessors, he made no pretensions to astrology or
necromancy; but, taking Geber for his model, studied intently the nature
and composition of metals, without reference to charms, incantations, or
any foolish ceremonies. It was not, however, till late in life that he
commenced his study of the art. His early and middle age were spent in a
different manner, and his whole history is romantic in the extreme. He was
born of an illustrious family, in Majorca, in the year 1235. When that
island was taken from the Saracens by James I. king of Aragon, in 1230,
the father of Raymond, who was originally of Catalonia, settled there, and
received a considerable appointment from the crown. Raymond married at an
early age; and, being fond of pleasure, he left the solitudes of his
native isle, and passed over with his bride into Spain. He was made Grand
Seneschal at the court of King James, and led a gay life for several
years. Faithless to his wife, he was always in the pursuit of some new
beauty, till his heart was fixed at last by the lovely but unkind Ambrosia
de Castello. This lady, like her admirer, was married; but, unlike him,
was faithful to her vows, and treated all his solicitations with disdain.
Raymond was so enamoured, that repulse only increased his flame; he
lingered all night under her windows, wrote passionate verses in her
praise, neglected his affairs, and made himself the butt of all the
courtiers. One day, while watching under her lattice, he by chance caught
sight of her bosom, as her neckerchief was blown aside by the wind. The
fit of inspiration came over him, and he sat down and composed some tender
stanzas upon the subject, and sent them to the lady. The fair Ambrosia had
never before condescended to answer his letters; but she replied to this.
She told him that she could never listen to his suit; that it was
unbecoming in a wise man to fix his thoughts, as he had done, on any other
than his God; and entreated him to devote himself to a religious life, and
conquer the unworthy passion which he had suffered to consume him. She,
however, offered, if he wished it, to shew him the _fair_ bosom which had
so captivated him. Raymond was delighted. He thought the latter part of
this epistle but ill corresponded with the former, and that Ambrosia, in
spite of the good advice she gave him, had at last relented, and would
make him as happy as he desired. He followed her about from place to
place, entreating her to fulfil her promise: but still Ambrosia was cold,
and implored him with tears to importune her no longer; for that she never
could be his, and never would, if she were free to-morrow. "What means
your letter, then?" said the despairing lover. "I will shew you!" replied
Ambrosia, who immediately uncovered her bosom, and exposed to the eyes of
her horror-stricken admirer a large cancer which had extended to both
breasts. She saw that he was shocked; and, extending her hand to him, she
prayed him once more to lead a religious life, and set his heart upon the
Creator, and not upon the creature. He went home an altered man. He threw
up, on the morrow, his valuable appointment at the court, separated from
his wife, and took a farewell of his children, after dividing one-half of
his ample fortune among them. The other half he shared among the poor. He
then threw himself at the foot of a crucifix, and devoted himself to the
service of God, vowing, as the most acceptable atonement for his errors,
that he would employ the remainder of his days in the task of converting
the Mussulmans to the Christian religion. In his dreams he saw Jesus
Christ, who said to him, "Raymond! Raymond! follow me!" The vision was
three times repeated, and Raymond was convinced that it was an intimation
direct from heaven. Having put his affairs in order, he set out on a
pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostello, and afterwards lived
for ten years in solitude amid the mountains of Aranda. Here he learned
the Arabic, to qualify himself for his mission of converting the
Mahometans. He also studied various sciences, as taught in the works of
the learned men of the East, and first made acquaintance with the writings
of Geber, which were destined to exercise so much influence over his
future life.
At the end of this probation, and when he had entered his fortieth year,
he emerged from his solitude into more active life. With some remains of
his fortune, which had accumulated during his retirement, he founded a
college for the study of Arabic, which was approved of by the pope, with
many commendations upon his zeal and piety. At this time he narrowly
escaped assassination from an Arabian youth whom he had taken into his
service. Raymond had prayed to God, in some of his accesses of fanaticism,
that he might suffer martyrdom in his holy cause. His servant had
overheard him: and, being as great a fanatic as his master, he resolved to
gratify his wish, and punish him, at the same time, for the curses which
he incessantly launched against Mahomet and all who believed in him, by
stabbing him to the heart. He therefore aimed a blow at his master as he
sat one day at table; but the instinct of self-preservation being stronger
than the desire of martyrdom, Raymond grappled with his antagonist, and
overthrew him. He scorned to take his life himself; but handed him over to
the authorities of the town, by whom he was afterwards found dead in his
prison.
After this adventure Raymond travelled to Paris, where he resided for some
time, and made the acquaintance of Arnold de Villeneuve. From him he
probably received some encouragement to search for the philosopher's
stone, as he began from that time forth to devote less of his attention to
religious matters, and more to the study of alchymy. Still he never lost
sight of the great object for which he lived--the conversion of the
Mahometans--and proceeded to Rome, to communicate personally with Pope
John XXI. on the best measures to be adopted for that end. The Pope gave
him encouragement in words, but failed to associate any other persons with
him in the enterprise which he meditated. Raymond, therefore, set out for
Tunis alone, and was kindly received by many Arabian philosophers, who had
heard of his fame as a professor of alchymy. If he had stuck to alchymy
while in their country, it would have been well for him; but he began
cursing Mahomet, and got himself into trouble. While preaching the
doctrines of Christianity in the great bazaar of Tunis, he was arrested
and thrown into prison. He was shortly afterwards brought to trial, and
sentenced to death. Some of his philosophic friends interceded hard for
him, and he was pardoned upon condition that he left Africa immediately
and never again set foot in it. If he was found there again, no matter
what his object might be, or whatever length of time might intervene, his
original sentence would be carried into execution. Raymond was not at all
solicitous of martyrdom when it came to the point, whatever he might have
been when there was no danger, and he gladly accepted his life upon these
conditions, and left Tunis with the intention of proceeding to Rome. He
afterwards changed his plan, and established himself at Milan, where, for
a length of time, he practised alchymy, and some say astrology, with great
success.