| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

October 16 Alchemy in the Middle Ages

This version was saved 15 years, 5 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Grant Berry
on October 18, 2008 at 12:28:00 pm
 

 Summary


Alchemy can be a difficult subject for modern people to understand, as its goals and ideals are not commonplace and seem unusual today.  The root of the word "alchemy" is unknown. Alchemy has ties to ancient Greek "quimia", meaning fusion, and the Egyptian "Kimi," meaning "black matter." However, today the Arabic Al-kimiya is what is most commonly used as the root. Alchemy developed in the Arabic world after being introduced by the Greeks, and was eventually transmitted to West in roughly the twelfth century A.D.  Huge numbers of texts on the subject exist, yet are difficut to interpret due to the fact that they often contradict each other and were sometimes written in metaphors or code. Many alchemical texts were written in such codes because they were meant to be read by only those deeply emersed in the subject and therefore had an understanding of its literature. Texts were also rarely attributed to their true writers, and instead were written with the name of famous natural philosophers or alchemists (e.g. Geber). This was done in order to get better circulation and credibility.

     The Leiden and Stockholm Papyri (4th century A.D.) are two of the earliest extisting texts on the subject of Alchemy, and contain recipes from earlier texts instructive in the making of dyes, fake gems, fake gold, etc.  They also discuss the problem mimicry vs. true reproduction. Mimicry was known as Aurifiction, and the true transmutation of a substance was knowns as aurifaction. The possibility of nature being reproduced was based on Aristotelian matter theory and metal formation as a natural process.  Even while reproduction was considered theoretically possible, it was still a highly debated topic.

     Though the concept of alchemy origionated in ancient Greece, the Arabic world truly developed the practice.  Perhaps the most influential of the Arabic alchemists was Jabir ibn Hayyam (8th century A.D.-known also as Geber).  Geber worked with animals and plants to isolate their properties and became so influential that hundreds of texts were attributed to his name after his death.  His sulfur-mercury theory of metals was a modification of the Aristotelian matter theory and stated that all metals were made up of some combination of elemental sulfur and elemental mercury, gold being the metal with the most perfect proportions.  By knowing a metal's "interior" and "exterior" properties, it would be possible to change those properties, creating gold.  These properties were taken to be Aristotle's hot/cold and wet/dry dichotomies for the elements. Abu Bakr al-Razi, in the ninth century, added a third element, salt, to Geber's original two.  His work, Secretum secretorum, also contained descriptions of Alchemical procedures and apparati.  Providing a commentary on the Works of earlier Arabic alchemists was Avicenna, whose writings on Alchemy were once attributed to Aristotle.  He argued that transmutation and replication were limited, and emphasized the differences between artificial and natural products, claiming the inferiority of man made products. Avicenna made many arguments including the fact that we do not know the essences or construction of metals and therefore copying is impossible, and also identification of products after alchemical processes would be impossible as well.

     In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A.D.  Arabic works were translated and assimilated into western culture.  Several additions to the canon were made by Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and others, but the most important was Summa perfectionis, attributed to Geber, but now believed to have been written by Paul of Taranto.  The subject matter of Summa perctionis shifted away from plants and animals, which Greber studied, and towards metal.  The text is overall Corpuscular and atomistic.  In Paul's view, the original tiny particles retain their identity within the larger corpuscle. It is these larger corpuscles that then form tight clusters with other large corpuscles in different proportions to form the makeup of metals. The mercury alone theory expressed in this work contained the premise that philosophical mercury would act upon any metal and turn it to gold.  It became the cornerstone of Alchemical theories for the middle ages. Summa perfectionis itself did not contain matters of spirituality, but the idea of Donum Dei, alchemical success being a gift of God, soon took hold.  For this reason and others, Alchemical texts became very secretive as amny considered the gift too sacred to share with others.  This also played the role of later fusing religion and alchemy. Paul of Taranto was also the author of "Theorica et Practica" in which he declares that alchemy can most certainly exceed the powers of nature in manufacturing metals.

     Although Alchemy has disappeared over the past centuries, it has appeared in various pop culture works.  J. K. Rowling references aspects of alchemy through out her Harry Potter series.  However, unless knowledgable in alchemy, one would not pick notice the refereces.  The main figure of alchemy mentioned throughout Harry Potter, is Nicholas Flamel.  Flamel is considered the only person to achieve alchemical immortality through the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.  Other more subtle references to alchemy is the belief in three main phases of the chemical reaction, and three main characters representing these reactions.  Sirus Black is believed to represent the first phase of a chemical reaction, the nigredo phase.  Sirius dies in the a later book, much like the first phase of the reaction "dies" in a chemical reaction.  Following the nigredo phase is the albedo phase, represented by Dumbledore.  The last phase is the rudedo phase, represented by Hagrid and the red-haired Wesley family.  Harry, Ron and Hermionie also represent the three main elements needed for an alchemical reaction.  Ron and Hermionie are the sulfur and mercury originially believed to create gold when combine in the perfect combination.  Later, al Razi believed that salt, Harry, made the last element to create an alchemical reaction. 

     

  

     

 

Primary Sources

 


 

Key Terms and Definitions

Aurifiction:  a term in alchemy meaning to mimic something rather than produce the real substance

Aurifaction:  This is a term meaning to produce a real reproduction, or a genuine clone of something in alchemy 

occultum:  interior properties asociated with metals

manifestum:  the exterior properties associated with metals

Mercury:  one of the elemental things that makes up metals in proportion with other elements such as sulfur according to Geber.  Mercury is responsible for conveying maleability.

Sulfur: the other element other that mercury said to compose all metals in different proportions according to Geber.

Salt:  a third element introduced by Al-Razi in his elemental theory of metals. 


 

Relevant Links

http://hogwartsprofessor.com/?cat=4

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.