Bernard Trevisan (''Bernard of Treviso'', ''Bernardus Trevisanus'') was a fictional Italian

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

who lived from 1406-1490. His biography has been composed by editors and commentators of alchemical texts from the 16th century. It is said that he was born into a noble family in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

and spent his entire life spending his family fortune in search of the Philosopher's stone. The mythical character emerged by a confusion with the alchemist called Bernard of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. A recent study founded a chronicle of his death in 1387. He has been identified with Eberhard I von der Mark (1305-1387), a law graduate and clergyman, who became chorbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. He resigned his positions in the Church to marry in 1346 with Maria de Looz-Agimont (ca.1336-1410), whose titles and territories counties were key points in feudal disputes involving Von der Marck family. From 1366 he was closely related to

Kuno II von Falkenstein Kuno II of Falkenstein (actually Konrad von Falkenstein, born in 1320 at Burg Falkenstein in Donnersberg, died on 21 May 1388 at Burg Maus) was a German theologian and from 1362 to 1388 the Roman Catholic Archbishop Elector of Trier.Claudia Bolgi ...

(ca.1320-1388), archbishop of Trier.

Biography

The fictional Bernard Trevisan began his career as an

at the age of fourteen. He had his family's permission, as they also desired to increase their wealth. He first worked with a monk of Cîteaux named Gotfridus Leurier. They attempted for eight years to fashion the Philosopher's stone out of hen eggshells and egg yolk purified in horse manure. He is believed to have been influential on the work of

Gilles de Rais Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 26 October 1440), Baron de Rais (), was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later convi ...

in the 1430s. He then worked with minerals and natural salts using

distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...

and

crystallization Crystallization is the process by which solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely deposi ...

methods borrowed from Jabir ibn Hayyan and

Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (full name: ar, أبو بکر محمد بن زکریاء الرازي, translit=Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī, label=none), () rather than ar, زکریاء, label=none (), as for example in , or in . In m ...

. When these failed he turned to vegetable and animal material, finally using human

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

and

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...

. He gradually sold his wealth to buy secrets and hints towards the stone, most often from swindlers. He traveled all over the known world, including the Baltics, Germany, Spain, France, Vienna, Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, to find hints left by past alchemists. His health had been deteriorating, most likely from the fumes he had created with his alchemy. He retired to the Island of Rhodes, still working on the Philosopher's stone until his death in 1490.

Attributed works

In the sixteenth century, several alchemical works were attributed to Bernard. For example, ''Trevisanus de Chymico miraculo, quod lapidem philosophiae appellant'' was edited in 1583 by

Gerhard Dorn Gerhard Dorn (c. 1530 – 1584) was a Belgian philosopher, translator, alchemist, physician and bibliophile. Biography The details of Gerhard Dorn's early life, along with those of many other 16th century personalities, are lost to history. ...

. ''The Answer of Bernardus Trevisanus, to the Epistle of Thomas of Bononia'', and ''The Prefatory Epistle of Bernard Earl of Tresne'', in English, appeared in the 1680 ''Aurifontina Chymica''.https://www.alchemywebsite.com/books/bk280.htm

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevisan, Bernard 1406 births 1490 deaths 15th-century alchemists Italian alchemists

Biography

Attributed works

Notes

Further reading

External links