Video: How the Inquisition Tried to Destroy Alchemy

[Paul Ferguson]

"In 1396 the Inquisitor General Nicholas Eymerich lashed out against Alchemy. He argued that alchemy was a fool's errand because the transmutation of metals was impossible given how God had created nature. Thus, alchemists were at best frauds but at worst something profoundly sinful: heretics who would eventually forge pacts with Satan. In this episode I explore the most forceful attempt by the Inquisition to outlaw alchemy and condemn the alchemists to torture and being burned alive."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kLbQxKNthg