CHAPTER XVII

ALCHEMISTS IN FORTUNE AND

MISFORTUNE

ACCORDING to Adam von Bremen, there was an official
alchemist appointed to the Court of Adalbert in Germany
as early as 1063. He was a baptized Jew named Paul, who gave
out that he had learned in Greece the art of transmuting copper
into gold. There were other Courts in the Middle Ages where
alchemists held important positions, such as that of Frederick,
Duke of Wiirtemberg, and of Anna of Denmark, who was her¬
self an ardent seeker of the Stone and built two laboratories
on her estate in which it is said “furnaces great and small were
kept glowing night and day.” But in the sixteenth century the
Imperial Court of the Emperor Rudolph II at Prague surpassed
all others as a centre of attraction for practitioners of the occult
arts.

The Emperor’s laboratory in the old city, Bolton tells us, was
housed in a one-storied building containing two rooms which
communicated with each other. The floors were flagged, and
on one side were several flues into which the brick furnaces,
arranged along the wall, discharged their fumes. One of these
was used for smelting ores, another for producing moderate heat
for a great water-bath, and a third for the distillation of volatile
liquids. This furnace supported a cucurbit capped by five
helms placed one above the other, their long necks terminating
in recipients for collecting the distillates. On the shelf-lined
walls stood an array of cucurbits, alembics, descensories,
matrasses, and pelicans, together with glass jars, bottles, and
gallipots, containing chemicals solid and liquid. On a wooden
block stood a great mortar, its pestle attached to a spring-beam

150

FORTUNE AND MISFORTUNE

fastened to the smoke-begrimed rafters. Near a window on a
ledge lay books and manuscripts for reference and study, while
a table near by was littered with flasks, funnels, sand-glasses,
and knives. In the corridor between the laboratories lay heaps
of charcoal, crucibles in nests, boxes of materials for lutes, and
utensils of iron, copper, and brass. Here worked such adepts
as were in favour, and sometimes their royal patron would pay
them a visit to watch their operations.

In the sixteenth century Prague retained the features of a
medieval city, with its narrow, winding alleys and ghetto. In
the Hradschin quarter, near the cloisters of St George’s Church,
ran a tortuous, steep street that was known as Gold Alley, for
here lodged many of the alchemists and other adventurers who
had been attracted to Prague. Among them may be mentioned
Daniel Prandtner, Christopher von Hirschenberg, Master Jere-
mias, Leonhard Vychperger von Erbach, and Michael Maier the
mystic. The last-named eventually became one of the secretaries
to the Emperor and later was an exponent of the Fraternity of
the Rosy Cross. Here also dwelt Claudius Syrrus, an Italian
alchemist in the service of Prince von Rosenberg, who had
made a contract with his master to discover the secret of
transmutation.

Among those who lived in or near the royal palace was Dr
Thaddeus von Hayck, a personage of great importance, who
held the office of Court physician and was director of the al¬
chemical laboratories. To him came those who sought the
Emperor’s favour and patronage, for von Hayck had great
influence with his royal master.

Among the visitors to his apartment one day were Dr John
Dee and Edward Kelly, who had journeyed from England to
give demonstrations in proof of their spagyric powers by the aid
of the “shew stone.” It was in the cellar laboratory in von
Hayck’s house that Kelly also gave a demonstration of his skill
in transmutation, and succeeded in deceiving his learned host so
effectively that he was thanked by the doctor, who told him that

I5I

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

as director of the laboratories of the Imperial Court he had
detected many kinds of frauds. Some impostors, he said, had
used double-bottomed crucibles, the false bottom being made of
powdered crucible, clay, and earth, mixed with wax, gold filings
being concealed in the space between. Another adept he had
detected in dropping into the crucible a piece of charcoal in
which gold-leaf had been hidden. Those who pretended to
make gold and silver without fire used aqua fortis in which silver
had been first dissolved. Others had a knife-blade made of two
metals soldered together, the golden half painted black with a
varnish soluble in alcohol ; the removal of the coating from the
gold by immersion in spirit of wine effected the deception. He
also told his visitors of another trick, bleaching copper with a
preparation of arsenic, and that the most common fraud of all
consisted in using an amalgam of gold and mercury, from which
when heated the mercury evaporated and left the precious metal
behind. Although the recounting of these exposures must have
made Kelly feel very uncomfortable, Dee’s success with his
“shew stone ” caused him to be received by the Emperor, with
whom he had a long audience. This was followed by con¬
versations at which hermetic philosophy and the Emerald
Table were discussed. It was arranged at length that Dee and
Kelly should give a demonstration with the “shew stone ” before
the Emperor and exhibit their powers. During the seance
Kelly professed to give, through the medium of the spirit
Zadkiel, a formula for making the Philosopher’s Stone which
was taken down by the Emperor for further investigation, and
for a time the two alchemists basked in the royal favour and
lived in luxury. After a while, however, Dee began to meddle
in Court intrigues and fell into disgrace, which resulted in their
hurried departure from the city.

Some of the adventurers at Prague were not without a sense
of humour, judging from the story of Mardocheus de Delle, the
Court poet, who one day announced that Benedict Topfer had
discovered that

*5*

RUDOLPH II, EMPEROR OF GERMANY, IN THE LABORATORY OF HIS ALCHEMIST

Vaczlar Brozik

By courtesy of the New York Public Library

THE ALCHEMIST

From the painting by Giovanni Stradano in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Photo Alinari

153

FORTUNE AND MISFORTUNE

gold could be made out of Jews. He had found by experiment
that twenty-four Jews yielded by proper treatment half an ounce
of gold, so that by repeating the process daily with a hundred
Jews, making due allowance for Holy Days, 624 ounces of gold
could be made in twelve months.

Other amusing stories have survived showing how even the
charlatans themselves were duped. It is said that one day an
imposing Arab, in gorgeous robes with turban complete, arrived
in Prague and established himself in a fine house, where he lived
in princely style. He appeared to have ample means and
soon became known to the many alchemists and adventurers
in the city, seeking their company and friendship. At length
he invited twenty-four of them to a banquet at his house, and
after the feast, at which a large quantity of wine had been con¬
sumed, he proposed to his guests an experiment in which he
declared that he would demonstrate to them a method of multiply¬
ing gold in which all could participate. Every one who contri¬
buted a hundred marks would certainly receive a thousand, and
he assured them that the operation was perfectly safe. Nearly
all agreed, some sending to their houses for the necessary
money, and others, who had it, lending to some who had not
sufficient.

The Arabian host, having collected the gold and added his
own contribution, led the way to his laboratory. His guests
noticed that it was well equipped with furnaces already glowing,
retorts, aludels, and apparatus of every description. Carefully
selecting a very large crucible, into which he apparently placed
all the golden coins, he added some aqua fortis , copperas,
mercury, lead, salt, eggshells, and dung, and placed the vessel
in one of the furnaces.

The eager guests crowded round, watching him with sup¬
pressed excitement. He seized the handle of the bellows
ready to blow, when suddenly there was a terrific explosion
which scattered the live coals and filled the laboratory with
suffocating gases that attacked all present. Some were burned

153

LURE e? ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

by the fiery embers, others were nearly asphyxiated by the
fumes, and utter darkness added to the confusion.

When lights were at length obtained the more venturesome
searched for the host to see if he was injured, but there was no
trace of him. The Arabian alchemist had disappeared in the
smoke, and all they could discover was an open window leading
to an alley, the fragments of the broken crucible, the ruins
of the furnace, and a mass of broken apparatus. In his rapid
flight the alchemist did not forget to take with him the 2400
marks which he had collected from the pockets of his guests, and
he was never seen in Prague again.

During the summer of 1590 another mysterious individual
made his appearance in the city and excited the curiosity of the
inhabitants. He was said to be a wealthy Italian who had dis¬
covered the great secret. His name was Alessandro Scotta. He
rented a splendidly furnished house and spent his money so
lavishly that most of the nobles and important people at the
Court hastened to call upon him and offer him hospitality. He
rode through the streets in a magnificent carriage lined with
crimson velvet, and this gorgeous equipage, with outriders, was
followed by three others filled with his attendants. The pro¬
cession wound up with an armed bodyguard. All this display
attracted great attention. His name naturally spread abroad in
the city, and he soon got an introduction to the Emperor, who
offered him the use of a laboratory to carry on his operations,
but after a while, being unable to produce any results, he
suddenly left Prague for Coburg, where he managed to dupe the
Duchess with the story of his discovery of the Stone and then
fled to his native country.

Another of the pseudo-alchemists who found his way to
Prague was an Italian, one Mamugna, who styled himself Count
Marco Bragadino, and declared that he was a Greek. This im¬
postor first sought fame in Vienna, where he asserted that he
had discovered the secret of transmutation. When in Prague
he was always accompanied in the streets by two large black

*54

FORTUNE AND MISFORTUNE

mastiffs who were supposed to be his familiar spirits. On
leaving Prague he travelled to Munich, where he procured an
introduction to the Duke of Bavaria and succeeded in obtaining
from him a large sum of money on the credit of his story that he
was in possession of the secret, but subsequently he was de¬
tected in his fraud, arrested, and sentenced to death in 1591.
The authorities staged a picturesque ending to the pseudo¬
alchemist, for he was brought to the gallows clad in gilt tinsel
and hanged with a yellow rope, his two black dogs being killed
at the foot of the gibbet and thrown into the same grave as their
master.

Thus many of these fraudulent practitioners, who travelled
from one country to another and lived in luxury for a time by
duping their wealthy and credulous patrons, eventually paid
the penalty and ended their days in prison or were put to death,
some after suffering horrible tortures.

Among these unfortunates was a woman named Marie Zie¬
gler, who, on failing to fulfil her promise to give Duke Julius
of Brunswick a recipe for transmuting base metals into gold,
was sentenced to be roasted alive in an iron chair, which sen¬
tence was carried out in 1575. George Honnauer, who in 1 597
promised the Prince of Wiirtemberg to transmute thirty-six
hundredweight of iron into gold, was detected by a boy who had
been concealed in the laboratory in the act of putting gold into
the crucibles. He was arrested and was sentenced to be hanged
on a gallows made of iron. Nine years later another impostor,
named Andreas von Muehlendorf, was executed at Stuttgart on
the same gallows for failing to carry out a similar contract.
About 1677 Colonel Krohnemann, who was in the service of
the Margrave of Brandenburg, claimed to have been successful
in transmuting base metals into gold and was subsequently
appointed Director of the Mint and Mines. In proof of his
statement he had seven medals struck from the gold he declared
he had made, but the last one, which he dedicated to the Mar-
gravess Sophia Louise of Brandenburg, proved his undoing, for

155

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

he was suspected of deception and imprisoned in the citadel of
Plassenburg in 1681. Here he obtained permission to continue
his experiments, which he carried on for five years ; then he
managed to escape. He was, however, recaptured, tried, and
found guilty of having used gold from the Margrave’s treasury
for his operations. The formula from which he claimed to
have produced his gold was made public at the time of his trial
and was as follows :

Mercury, verdigris, vitriol, and salt are to be digested with
strong vinegar in an iron pot and stirred with an iron rod until the
mass takes on the consistency of butter. The remaining liquid,
which is an amalgam of copper, is then to be pressed through
leather and put into a crucible with even parts of curcuma and
tutia, whereupon the crucible is to be heated by a blast. The
curcuma reduces the tutia (impure oxide of zinc), and the copper
in the amalgam unites with the zinc to form brass.

It was found that Krohnemann had added gold to this alloy of
copper and zinc in sufficient quantity to answer the tests and so
carried out his deception.

Another alchemist of this type, who, however, escaped the
extreme penalty for his frauds, was Leonhard Thurneisser, the
son of a Swedish goldsmith. He set out on his adventures
while a young man, and travelled from country to country,
adding to his knowledge of alchemy and medicine whenever he
had the chance. On reaching Germany he managed to secure
the confidence of the Archduke Ferdinand, who supplied him
with money and sent him to travel in the East. On his return
he entered the service of the Elector of Brandenburg and was
appointed the director of the laboratory built by his wife. He
commenced to practise medicine in Berlin and was at first very
popular, but his success excited the envy of the regular physi¬
cians, who denounced him as a quack, and in the end he left
the city in haste. We next hear of him in Rome, where he was
received by various notables, including the Cardinal Fernando
di’ Medici, who invited him to dine with him. After dinner

iS6

FORTUNE AND MISFORTUNE

the alchemist offered to entertain the distinguished company
gathered to meet him by transmuting half an iron nail into gold.
The guests, of course, were delighted. Thurneisser produced an
ordinary iron nail, and, after carefully warming it, dipped it into
an oily liquid which he had with him. On his withdrawing it
one half of the nail, to their astonishment, appeared to have
been changed into gold.

This was an old trick of the pseudo-alchemists which they
performed with a nail made partly of gold and partly of iron,
from which a solvent removed a black coating and disclosed the
yellow metal. However, he convinced his audience, for the
famous nail was long preserved in the palace of his Eminence,
accompanied by a certificate signed by the Cardinal and dated
at Rome November 20, 1586.

In spite of his cleverness Thurneisser fell on evil days in Italy,
and is said to have died in poverty in a monastery.

Richthausen, of Vienna, who is said to have sold the secret
of the Philosopher’s Stone, which he claimed to possess, to the
Emperor Ferdinand III, is stated to have acquired it from an
adept named Rusardier, who lived at Prague. While on his
deathbed Busardier sent Richthausen a message that he wished
to see him so that he might hand the secret over to him. Richt¬
hausen at once set off, but on arriving at Prague he found that
the alchemist was dead. He managed, however, to obtain some
of the ‘powder of projection,’ after which he immediately left
the city, but was pursued by the steward of Busardier’s noble
patron, who, pointing a pistol at his head, demanded its restora¬
tion. Richthausen, in fear for his life, handed him a packet
containing a small portion, but himself retained the greater part
of the precious powder.

Later on Richthausen returned to Prague and presented him¬
self at the Court. The Emperor, interested in his story, called
in the aid of Count Russe, his Master of Mines, and it was
arranged for Richthausen to give a demonstration of his skill.
According to the account, with a single grain of his powder he

157

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

succeeded in transmuting three pounds of mercury into gold,
and the Emperor was so delighted that he had a medal struck
from the metal to commemorate the event. It was inscribed,
“Divina metamorphosis exhibita. Prague Jan. 15. Anno 1648
in presentia Sac. Caes. Majest. Ferdinandi Tertii.” Richt-
hausen was afterward created a baron, and in 1651 made a
further demonstration at Mayence in the presence of the Elector
of that city. A more detailed account of this operation is re¬
corded, and it is thus described :

A small quantity of the powder was enclosed in gum tragacanth
and put into the wax of a taper, which was lighted and placed in
the bottom of the crucible. These preparations were carried out
by the Elector himself, who then poured four ounces of quick¬
silver into the crucible and placed it on a charcoal fire.

By blowing and raking the coals, in thirty minutes the contents
were over red ; the proper colour being green. Then the Baron
said the matter was “yet too high and that silver must be added.”

The Elector then threw in some coins , which melted and combined
with the contents of the crucible. When all was fused it was
poured into a ‘ lingot ’ and after cooling proved to be fine gold but
rather hard. On a second melting it became exceedingly soft, and
the Master of the Mint declared to the Elector that it was more
than twenty-four carats and that he had never seen so fine a
quality of the precious metal.

Although Richthausen, like many others of his kind, at first
succeeded in duping his Imperial and noble patrons, his frauds
were eventually discovered, and he ended his days in disgrace.

158