Lives of alchemystical philosophers / To which is added a bibliography of alchemy and hermetic philosophy

by Arthur Edward Waite; Francis Barrett

FOOTNOTES:

[I] Nam quadraturam circuli se ignorasse confitetur, quod his diebus scitur veraciter.

[J] Figuier, L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes, p. 97.

ALAIN OF LISLE.

An alchemical treatise, entitled Dicta de Lapide Philosophico, appeared in octavo at Leyden during the year 1600. It was attributed to Alanus Insulensis, and was reprinted in the Theatrum Chimicum, Argentorati, 1662. It is denied that this work is the production of that Alain de Lisle who was called the universal doctor, and who, after a brilliant period passed in the University of Paris, retired to a cloister as a lay brother, in order to be master of his time, and to devote himself entirely to philosophy. Migne’s Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes asserts that another Alanus flourished at the same period, but the existence of the alchemical volume is the sole ground for this statement. It cannot be shown, on the other hand, that Alain practised the Hermetic Science, but he was the author of a “Commentary on the Prophecies of Merlin.” He was made bishop of Auxerre, and died in 1278. The publishers of alchemical treatises were accustomed to trade upon brilliant reputations of the past by attributing worthless works to great authorities. The name of Alanus Insulensis appearing on the title-page of the Dicta de Lapide Philosophico may perhaps be accounted for in this manner.

The treatise itself is short and not of abnormal value. It represents the Hermetic art as the gift of God, and counsels the neophyte to love Him with all his heart and soul. It describes the mysteries of sublimation, and follows preceding authorities on the problem of the prima materia. Its generally indefinite and unprofitable character from any practical standpoint should make it an exceptional field for every species of fanciful interpretation.

RAYMOND LULLY.

The comparison of a brilliant but ephemeral reputation to “the comet of a season” has been transferred from the region of poetry into that of proverb, and is certainly applicable to no figure in the history of literature or science more completely than to the subject of this memoir. The name of Raymond Lully has indeed passed so completely into oblivion that it awakes no recollections whatever except in the minds of certain specialists in history and philosophy. Yet he exercised no small influence on his generation, while for a century after his death all intellectual Europe was acquainted with his method for the acquisition of the sciences and his voluminous literary and evangelistic labours. Raymond Lully united the saint and the man of science, the philosopher and the preacher, the apostle and the itinerant lecturer, the dialectician and the martyr; in his youth he was a courtier and a man of pleasure; in mature age he was an ascetic who had discovered the universal science through a special revelation from God; after his death he was denounced as a heretic, and then narrowly escaped beatification as a saint. While his relics worked miracles in Majorca, colleges were founded in various parts of Europe for teaching the Ars Lulliana, which was to replace the scholastic method; but the miracles ceased, the universal science fell into neglect, and, as the last scene in this eventful history, Raymond Lully appears in popular legends as an adept in alchemy, whose age was prolonged through centuries by the discovery of the elixir of life.

Having succeeded in rescuing from oblivion and misrepresentation this singular man, whose sanctity was as eminent as his attainments were unique, I shall here present the first true history of his life and works to the reading public of England; the romantic narrative will be as interesting to the general student as to the occultist and the man of letters.

The father of Raymond Lully was a gentleman of Barcelona, who, having served under the banner of John I., King of Arragon, at the conquest of the Balearic Isles from the Mohammedans, was gifted with lands in Majorca, and there settled. He was of an old and noble Catalonian family, and was wedded to a lady whose name is not known. Though possessed of considerable wealth, his happiness was marred by the sterility of his wife; but, addressing themselves to the goodness of God, the lady was eventually delivered of a son, who was named, like his father, Raymond Lully. He was born, according to Ségui, in 1229, but according to Jean Marie de Vernon, and other authorities, in 1235, which, on the whole, is the more probable date. When the young Raymond had attained the use of reason, his parents endeavoured to imbue him with love for the liberal arts, but his mercurial and impetuous disposition was unsuited to serious study, and he was permitted to follow his father’s profession of arms. He was made page to the King, with whom he acquired such high favour that he was installed as Grand Prevôt, or Master of the Palace, and subsequently as Seneschal of the Isles; but he employed the advantages of these distinguished positions in the dissipations of a youth without curb or restraint. The flower of his manhood was wasted in the gaieties of court life, in winning the favours of ladies, and in composing amorous verses in their honour. He spared no pains to make himself pleasing to those who were beautiful, and his excesses were so glaring that his parents, and King James II. himself, were forced to make great complaints to him. As a remedy for the irregularities of his life, it was proposed that he should marry, and a wife at once beautiful, virtuous, and wealthy was selected by his advisers and friends. She was named Catherine de Sabots. Though he became much attached to this lady, the bond of marriage did not prove strong enough to confine his errant inclinations, and there was one person in particular for whom he conceived a great passion, though he was already the father of two male children and of one girl. This was the Signora Ambrosia Eleonora de Castello de Gênes, whose virtue was superior to her personal attractions, though she eclipsed in loveliness all the beauties of the Court. She was married to a man whom she loved, but such was the infatuation of Raymond Lully that he paid her the most marked attentions, and on one occasion, lost to all around him except the object of his admiration, he is said to have followed her on horseback into the church of Palma, a town in Majorca, where she had gone one morning to mass. So outrageous an act could not fail to cause great scandal, more particularly on account of the high rank of both parties concerned. The lady, thus suddenly raised to such undesirable notoriety, took counsel with her husband as to the course which she should pursue to put an end to the persecutions of her admirer. In the meantime, Raymond Lully, conscious no doubt that he had exceeded all bounds of moderation, wrote an incoherent apology, accompanied with a sonnet, in which he particularly described the beauty of her neck. To this the lady replied by a letter, written in the presence of her husband, and which is here copied verbatim from the old French writer who relates this portion of the story.