Alchemy and Privacy at the Court of Saxony

[Paul Ferguson]

"The sixteenth century witnessed the ‘alchemical opening’ due to changes brought about by the Reformation,in which alchemical knowledge left the clerical environment and established itself within the European courts. Alchemy be-came more‘public’ and settled in the princely courts of Europe. From Florence to Prague and Vienna, alchemy became a real fad, and an experienced and capable al-chemist was a sought-after resource among the high nobility. Alchemy was no longer the exclusive domain of clerics but was also increasingly used by university professors, pedagogues, merchants, physicians, goldsmiths, and mining scientists. Partly in connection with their practicing professions but partly also coming from distant professional fields, it was those groups of educated people who made alchemy so desirable at the European courts."

Open-source chapter from the book Privacy in Early Modern Saxony:


https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/1...6-004/html

[Paul Ferguson]

Another chapter:

"Between 1635 and 1637, a court distiller in the Electoral laboratories in Dresden named Andreas Orthelius carried out an alchemical experiment he called his Opera philosophica. The Opera took place within three covered glass flasks, each of which contained a“philosophical field” in which Orthelius planted seeds of gold."

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/1...Ktyd9wwvt8