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Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions

C >> Charles Mackay >> Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions




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 vitae. 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.

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 (moelle 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 to be 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.

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 show 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 show 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.

Most writers who believed in the secrets of alchymy, and who have
noticed the life of Raymond Lulli, assert, that while in Milan, he
received letters from Edward King of England, inviting him to settle
in his states. They add, that Lulli gladly accepted the invitation,
and had apartments assigned for his use in the Tower of London, where
he refined much gold; superintended the coinage of "rose-nobles;" and
made gold out of iron, quicksilver, lead, and pewter, to the amount
of six millions. The writers in the "Biographie Universelle," an
excellent authority in general, deny that Raymond was ever in England,
and say, that in all these stories of his wondrous powers as an
alchymist, he has been mistaken for another Raymond, a Jew, of
Tarragona. Naude, in his "Apologie," says, simply, "that six millions
were given by Raymond Lulli to King Edward, to make war against the
Turks and other infidels:" not that he transmuted so much metal into
gold; but, as he afterwards adds, that he advised Edward to lay a tax
upon wool, which produced that amount. To show that Raymond went to
England, his admirers quote a work attributed to him, "De
Transmutatione Animae Metallorum," in which he expressly says, that he
was in England at the intercession of the King. [Vidimus omnia ista
dum ad Angliam transiimus, propter intercessionem Domini Regis Edoardi
illustrissimi.] The hermetic writers are not agreed whether it was
Edward I, or Edward II, who invited him over; but, by fixing the date
of his journey in 1312, they make it appear that it was Edward II.
Edmond Dickenson, in his work on the "Quintessences of the
Philosophers," says, that Raymond worked in Westminster Abbey, where,
a long time after his departure, there was found in the cell which he
had occupied, a great quantity of golden dust, of which the architects
made a great profit. In the biographical sketch of John Cremer, Abbot
of Westminster, given by Lenglet, it is said, that it was chiefly
through his instrumentality that Raymond came to England. Cremer had
been himself for thirty years occupied in the vain search for the
philosopher's stone, when he accidentally met Raymond in Italy, and
endeavoured to induce him to communicate his grand secret. Raymond
told him that he must find it for himself, as all great alchymists had
done before him. Cremer, on his return to England, spoke to King
Edward in high terms of the wonderful attainments of the philosopher,
and a letter of invitation was forthwith sent him. Robert
Constantinus, in the "Nomenclatore Scriptorum Medicorum," published in
1515, says, that after a great deal of research, be found that Raymond
Lulli resided for some time in London, and that he actually made gold,
by means of the philosopher's stone, in the Tower; that he had seen
the golden pieces of his coinage, which were still named in England
the nobles of Raymond, or rose-nobles. Lulli himself appears to have
boasted that he made gold; for, in his well-known "Testamentum," he
states, that he converted no less than fifty thousand pounds weight of
quicksilver, lead, and pewter into that metal. [Converti una vice in
aurum ad L millia pondo argenti vivi, plumbi, et stanni. -- Lullii
Testamentum.] It seems highly probable that the English King,
believing in the extraordinary powers of the alchymist, invited him to
England to make test of them, and that he was employed in refining
gold and in coining. Camden, who is not credulous in matters like
these, affords his countenance to the story of his coinage of nobles;
and there is nothing at all wonderful in the fact of a man famous for
his knowledge of metals being employed in such a capacity. Raymond
was, at this time, an old man, in his seventy-seventh year, and
somewhat in his dotage. He was willing enough to have it believed that
he had discovered the grand secret, and supported the rumour rather
than contradicted it. He did not long remain in England; but returned
to Rome, to carry out the projects which were nearer to his heart than
the profession of alchymy. He had proposed them to several successive
Popes with little or no success. The first was a plan for the
introduction of the Oriental languages into all the monasteries of
Europe; the second, for the reduction into one of all the military
orders, that, being united, they might move more efficaciously against
the Saracens; and, the third, that the Sovereign Pontiff should forbid
the works of Averroes to be read in the schools, as being more
favourable to Mahometanism than to Christianity. The Pope did not
receive the old man with much cordiality; and, after remaining for
about two years in Rome, he proceeded once more to Africa, alone and
unprotected, to preach the Gospel of Jesus. He landed at Bona in 1314;
and so irritated the Mahometans by cursing their prophet, that they
stoned him, and left him for dead on the sea-shore. He was found some
hours afterwards by a party of Genoese merchants, who conveyed him on
board their vessel, and sailed towards Majorca. The unfortunate man
still breathed, but could not articulate. He lingered in this state
for some days, and expired just as the vessel arrived within sight of
his native shores. His body was conveyed with great pomp to the church
of St. Eulalia, at Palma, where a public funeral was instituted in his
honour. Miracles were afterwards said to have been worked at his tomb.

Thus ended the career of Raymond Lulli, one of the most
extraordinary men of his age; and, with the exception of his last
boast about the six millions of gold, the least inclined to quackery
of any of the professors of alchymy. His writings were very numerous,
and include nearly five hundred volumes, upon grammar, rhetoric,
morals, theology, politics, civil and canon law, physics, metaphysics,
astronomy, medicine, and chemistry.

ROGER BACON.

The powerful delusion of alchymy seized upon a mind still greater
than that of Raymond Lulli. Roger Bacon firmly believed in the
philosopher's stone, and spent much of his time in search of it. His
example helped to render all the learned men of the time more
convinced of its practicability, and more eager in the pursuit. He was
born at Ilchester, in the county of Somerset, in the year 1214. He
studied for some time in the university of Oxford, and afterwards in
that of Paris, in which he received the degree of doctor of divinity.
Returning to England in 1240, he became a monk of the order of St.
Francis. He was by far the most learned man of his age; and his
acquirements were so much above the comprehension of his
contemporaries, that they could only account for them by supposing
that he was indebted for them to the devil. Voltaire has not inaptly
designated him "De l'or encroute de toutes les ordures de son siecle;"
but the crust of superstition that enveloped his powerful mind, though
it may have dimmed, could not obscure the brightness of his genius. To
him, and apparently to him only, among all the inquiring spirits of
the time, were known the properties of the concave and convex lens. He
also invented the magic-lantern; that pretty plaything of modern days,
which acquired for him a reputation that embittered his life. In a
history of alchymy, the name of this great man cannot be omitted,
although, unlike many others of whom we shall have occasion to speak,
he only made it secondary to other pursuits. The love of universal
knowledge that filled his mind, would not allow him to neglect one
branch of science, of which neither he nor the world could yet see the
absurdity. He made ample amends for his time lost in this pursuit by
his knowledge in physics and his acquaintance with astronomy. The
telescope, burning-glasses, and gunpowder, are discoveries which may
well carry his fame to the remotest time, and make the world blind to
the one spot of folly -- the diagnosis of the age in which he lived,
and the circumstances by which he was surrounded. His treatise on the
"Admirable Power of Art and Nature in the Production of the
Philosopher's Stone" was translated into French by Girard de Tormes,
and published at Lyons in 1557. His "Mirror of Alchymy" was also
published in French in the same year, and in Paris in 1612, with some
additions from the works of Raymond Lulli. A complete list of all the
published treatises upon the subject may be seen in Lenglet du
Fresnoy.

Pope John XXII.

This Prelate is said to have been the friend and pupil of Arnold
de Villeneuve, by whom he was instructed in all the secrets of
alchymy. Tradition asserts of him, that he made great quantities of
gold, and died as rich as Croesus. He was born at Cahors, in the
province of Guienne, in the year 1244. He was a very eloquent
preacher, and soon reached high dignity in the Church. He wrote a work
on the transmutation of metals, and had a famous laboratory at
Avignon. He issued two Bulls against the numerous pretenders to the
art, who had sprung up in every part of Christendom; from which it
might be inferred that he was himself free from the delusion. The
alchymists claim him, however, as one of the most distinguished and
successful professors of their art, and say that his Bulls were not
directed against the real adepts, but the false pretenders. They lay
particular stress upon these words in his Bull, "Spondent, quas non
exhibent, divitias, pauperes alchymistae." These, it is clear, they
say, relate only to poor alchymists, and therefore false ones. He died
in the year 1344, leaving in his coffers a sum of eighteen millions of
florins. Popular belief alleged that he had made, and not amassed,
this treasure; and alchymists complacently cite this as a proof that
the philosopher's stone was not such a chimera as the incredulous
pretended. They take it for granted that John really left this money,
and ask by what possible means he could have accumulated it. Replying
to their own question, they say triumphantly, "His book shows it was
by alchymy, the secrets of which he learned from Arnold de Villeneuve
and Raymond Lulli. But he was as prudent as all other hermetic
philosophers. Whoever would read his book to find out his secret,
would employ all his labour in vain; the Pope took good care not to
divulge it." Unluckily for their own credit, all these gold-makers are
in the same predicament; their great secret loses its worth most
wonderfully in the telling, and therefore they keep it snugly to
themselves. Perhaps they thought that, if everybody could transmute
metals, gold would be so plentiful that it would be no longer
valuable, and that some new art would be requisite to transmute it
back again into steel and iron. If so, society is much indebted to
them for their forbearance.

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