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Rafal T. Prinke Member 
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In the anonymous Vita Sendivogii Poloni the author says that Sendivogius was initiated in alchemy by a Greek Patriarch. I wonder if anyone can recall other instances of such references to (real or imaginary) Greek alchemical masters of late medieval or early modern periods (i.e. not to the Greek alchemical authors of late antiquity). I find two other examples: (1) the Greek monk Lascaris; (2) Cagliostro's master Althotas (though he is sometimes identified as an Armenian). There are also some references in Ben Jonson to "heathen Greek" but it is not exactly what I am looking for. Best regards, Rafał |
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Paul Ferguson Member 
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Rafal T. Prinke wrote:In the anonymous Vita Sendivogii Poloni the author says that Sendivogius was initiated in alchemy by a Greek Patriarch. I wonder if anyone can recall other instances of such references to (real or imaginary) Greek alchemical masters of late medieval or early modern periods (i.e. not to the Greek alchemical authors of late antiquity). I find two other examples: (1) the Greek monk Lascaris; (2) Cagliostro's master Althotas (though he is sometimes identified as an Armenian). 1. Johannes Archipresbyter http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1094&letter=A (under 'An Important manuscript') 2. Hieronymus Makropulos Pops up in an opera by Janáček (actually existed or just legendary?) 3. Was not Berthold Schwarz the gunpowder man half-Greek? 4. Michael Psellos. Last edited on Thu Oct 7th, 2010 06:06 pm by Paul Ferguson |
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Carl Lavoie Member
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. Hi Rafał, I found two mentions while skimming Figuier (L’Alchimie et les alchimistes, Bibliotheca Hermetica, 1970). Needless to say, you’ll have to check out with the ‘real’ authors. Bernard Trévisan (pp. 201-202, in Figuier) :
........................................................................ The other one is Denis Zachaire (p. 187) :
And there’s even a kind of link with Sendivogius : the murder of Zachaire has been retold by Mardochée de Delle ... Cet événement [the murder] fit beaucoup de bruit en Allemagne mais on ne put retrouver les traces de l’assassin. Mardochée de Delle, le poète de la cour de Rodolphe II, composa plus tard sur ce sujet une pièce de vers ... who also wrote about Sendivogius’ success. (Lives of the Alchemistical Philosophers, article ‘Michael Sendivogius’) : . |
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Rafal T. Prinke Member
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Hi Paul and Carl, Thanks a lot for those references, they are all helpful. I think Makropulos was invented by Capek -- but will try to check. |
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Paul Ferguson Member
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Possibly also of interest: Michèle Mertens's paper on the Byzantine reception of ancient Greek alchemy is available in its entirety on Google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=muGVUiKEYccC&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=%22alchemy+in+byzantium%22&source=bl&ots=q5Y5gVImf7&sig=p8nM7aX9qlOpI0mZe4xzYdD1dds&hl=en&ei=o8CvTK7-O9jPjAeSqoRG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22alchemy%20in%20byzantium%22&f=false Alan Pritchard may also want to note this one. |
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Rafal T. Prinke Member
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Thanks, Paul. Actually, I have that book but forgot about it :-) But I am more interested in the "archetype" of a Greek alchemical master in the West than genuine Greek alchemy. Still, it is important for background and comparison (reality check). |
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Alan Pritchard Guest
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Yes, got that one, Paul. Thanks Note that a downloadable copy of the paper is available from http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/bitstream/2268/14188/1/205-230%20M.%20Mertens1.pdf Alan |
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Carl Lavoie Member
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Salut Rafał, Maybe this one too, from the Compass of the Wise, by Adam Michael/Melchior BIRKHOLZ : . |
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Rafal T. Prinke Member
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Delayed thanks, Carl! |
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