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John Dastin
John Dastin (c.1293-c.1386) was an English alchemist of the fourteenth century. Little is known of his life beyond the texts which are attributed to him (A biographical notice ''De vita, aetate ac scripsis Johannis Dastin'' is found in a 17th-century manuscript: Ms Oxford, Bold. Libr., Ashmol. 1445, VIII, fol. 53). Dastin is known for correspondence with Pope John XXII and Cardinal Napoleone Orsini in defense of alchemical practice, dated to 1320. Work attributed to Dastin was included in the 1625 ''Harmoniae imperscrutabilis Chymico-Philosophicae'' of Hermannus Condeesyanus, the 1629 ''Fasciculus Chemicus'' of Arthur Dee, and the 1652 ''Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum'' of Elias Ashmole. Recent research has revealed that John Dastin lived around 1293-1386. He was born in the village of Greet, in the county of Gloucestershire and was ordained deacon in 1311. He studied at Oxford and was appointed vicar of the church of Bringhurst, Leicestershire. In mid-1317 he traveled to Avigno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lynn Thorndike
Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA – 28 December 1965, Columbia University Club, New York City) was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, and the younger brother of Ashley Horace Thorndike, an American educator and expert on William Shakespeare, and Edward Lee Thorndike, known for being the father of modern educational psychology. Education and teaching career Thorndike studied at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut (Bachelor of Arts, 1902), and then medieval history at Columbia University (Master of Arts 1903, Doctorate 1905). Thorndike's doctoral dissertation (1905) was about "The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe", which he went on to link with the historical development of experimental science. He began teaching medieval history at Northwestern University in 1907. He moved to Western Reserve University in 1909 and stayed there until 1924. Columbia Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.Principe, Lawrence M. The secrets of alchemy'. University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 9–14. Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical ''magnum opus'' ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of Cardinals, which was assembled in Lyon through the work of King Louis X's brother Philip, the Count of Poitiers. Like his predecessor, Clement V, Pope John centralized power and income in the Papacy and lived a princely life in Avignon. John excommunicated the enemies of Edward II of England, while warning Edward of a possible reassessment of the papal grant of Ireland. He opposed the political policies of Louis IV of Bavaria as Holy Roman Emperor, which prompted Louis to invade Italy and set up an antipope, Nicholas V. John opposed the Franciscan understanding of the poverty of Christ and his apostles passing multiple papal bulls to enforce his views. This led William of Ockham to write against unlimited papal power. Fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fasciculus Chemicus
''Fasciculus Chemicus'' or ''Chymical Collections. Expressing the Ingress, Progress, and Egress, of the Secret Hermetick Science out of the choicest and most famous authors'' is an anthology of alchemical writings compiled by Arthur Dee (1579–1651) in 1629 while resident in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ... as chief physician to Czar Michael I of Russia. ''Fasciculus Chemicus'' was revised by Dee sometime between 1631 and 1633 and translated from Latin into English by Elias Ashmole in 1650 under the anagrammatic pseudonym of "James Hasolle" (by substitution of the letter J for I). Arthur Dee however, was displeased with Ashmole's translation, and wrote to him: :''I am sorry you or any man should take pains to translate any book of that art into English, f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Dee
Arthur Dee (13 July 1579 – September or October 1651) was a physician and alchemist. He became a physician successively to Tsar Michael I of Russia and to King Charles I of England. Youth Dee was the eldest son of John Dee by his third wife, Jane, daughter of Bartholomew Fromond of East Cheam, Surrey. He was born at Mortlake on 13 July 1579. As a child he accompanied his father on travels through Germany, Poland and Bohemia. After his return to England he was placed at Westminster School, on 3 May 1592, under the tuition of Edward Grant and Camden. Anthony Wood was informed that he subsequently studied at Oxford, but he took no degree and it is not known which college he attended. Medicine Settling in London with the intention of practising "physic" (medicine), he exhibited at the door of his house a list of medicines which were said to be certain cures for many diseases. The censors of the College of Physicians summoned him to appear before them, but it is not known what the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elias Ashmole
Elias Ashmole (; 23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices. Ashmole was an antiquary with a strong Baconian leaning towards the study of nature. His library reflected his intellectual outlook, including works on English history, law, numismatics, chorography, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, and botany. Although he was one of the founding Fellows of the Royal Society, a key institution in the development of experimental science, his interests were antiquarian and mystical as well as scientific. He was an early freemason, although the extent of his involvement and commitment is unclear. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of curiosities and other artefacts. Many of these he acquired from the traveller, botanist, and collector John Tradescant the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Jacques Manget
Jean-Jacques Manget (or Johann Jacob Mangetus) (1652–1742) was a Genevan physician and writer. He was known for his work on epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague and tuberculosis. In addition to his own researches, he assiduously compiled preceding medical literature. With Théophile Bonet, he is considered one of the "great compilers" of knowledge in the areas of medicine, surgery and pharmacology. He also published a major collection of alchemical works, the ''Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa'' (1702). Life He was born in Geneva, the son of a merchant. He graduated as a physician at the University of Valence in 1678. Later he became the Dean of the Valence medical faculty. Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg made Manget his personal physician in 1699. Works Manget was one of the first doctors to carry out studies of the pathological anatomy of miliary tuberculosis. He coined the term based on his observation of widespread tiny lesions like millet seeds in the liver, lungs, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa
(Latin for “Curious Chemical Library”) is a collection of alchemical texts first published in Latin, in Geneva, 1702 by Chouet, edited by Jean-Jacques Manget. It is a two-volume work, each has more than 900 pages and contains 143 texts in total, which makes it one of the most comprehensive collections of alchemical texts in addition to the ''Theatrum Chemicum''. It is based on reprints of older publications, such as ''Theatrum Chemicum'' and ''Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum ''Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum'' first published in 1652, is an extensively annotated compilation of English alchemical literature selected by Elias Ashmole. The book preserved and made available many works that had previously existed only in pr ...''. The full Latin title, including the editor’s name, on the title page: “”. Gallery File:Bibliotheca chemica curiosa RGNb1035413x.01.vol 1.portrait Jean-Jacques Manget.tif, Portrait of Jean-Jaques Manget from ''Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa'' File: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnaldus De Villa Nova
Arnaldus de Villa Nova (also called Arnau de Vilanova in Catalan, his language, Arnaldus Villanovanus, Arnaud de Ville-Neuve or Arnaldo de Villanueva, c. 1240–1311) was a physician and a religious reformer. He was also thought to be an alchemist (his house in Montpellier, France, had a carved door showing a roaring lion and dragon that bit his tail, also known as Ouroboros, both recognized alchemical symbols). The fact that several renowned alchemists recognized him as an adept reinforces the thesis that he was an alchemist. He was also, like most wise men of his time, an astrologer. He was born in the Crown of Aragon, probably Villanueva de Jiloca (Aragon) or Valencia, and he studied medicine and he also took some courses of theology. After living at the court of Aragon and teaching for many years in the Montpellier School of Medicine, he went to Paris, where he gained a considerable reputation; but he incurred the enmity of ecclesiastics. In 1311 he was summoned to Avignon b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolas Flamel
Nicolas Flamel (; 1330 – 22 March 1418) was a French scribe and manuscript-seller. After his death, Flamel developed a reputation as an alchemist believed to have created and discovered the philosopher's stone and to have thereby achieved immortality. These legendary accounts first appeared in the 17th century. According to texts ascribed to Flamel almost 200 years after his death, he had learned alchemical secrets from a Jewish ''converso'' on the road to Santiago de Compostela. He has since appeared as a legendary alchemist in various fictional works. Life The historical Flamel lived in Paris in the 14th and 15th centuries, and his life is one of the best documented in the history of medieval alchemy. He ran two shops as a scribe and married Perenelle in 1368. She brought the wealth of two previous husbands to the marriage. The French Catholic couple owned several properties and contributed financially to churches, sometimes by commissioning sculptures. Later in life, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
