Page 58 - Charnock alchemical letter

Notes

1. Matthew 10: 26: 'for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid,
that shall not be known'.

2. Elizabeth I (1533-1603), Queen of England from 1558-1603.
3. haec scientia pauperi et egenti non connenit, sed potius est illis inimica = this

science is not conducive to the poor and needy, but rather it is harmful to them.
4. Et est donn spiritus sancti = It is the gift of the holy spirit.
5. aurum potabile = drinkable gold.
6. dd. from the Latin dono dedit = give as a gift.
7. Albertus Magnus, Count of Bollstädt (1193 or 1206-1280). Famous as a philosopher

of great intellectual powers, a follower of Aristotle, incredibly well-read, pious, and
tutor to Thomas Aquinas. His writings are on subject matter ranging from theology
to metaphysics and geology.
8. Roger Bacon (ca 1214-1292) was born in Somerset, England, studied at Oxford and
in Paris, and joined the Franciscan order around 1247. In 1278 Bacon was
imprisoned by his fellow Franciscans, the charge being of suspected magic or
conjuring in his mathematical teachings. The popular opinion of Bacon as a sorcerer
is exemplified in the story that Charnock relates of the talking brass head, which was
later satirised in a play by Robert Greene (1560-92), The Honourable Historie of
Frier Bacon and Frier Bongay (1594).
9. Sir George Ripley (ca 1415-1490) was Canon of Bridlington Cathedral in Yorkshire.
One of the most eminent of the English alchemists, he was influential during his
lifetime and for many years after his death. He popularised the works ascribed to
Ramon Lully and was a tutor to Thomas Norton (both also mentioned by Charnock).
His work, The Compound of Alchymy (1470-1), is described by Charnock on p. 35.
10. Thomas Daulton, or Dalton (fl. 1450) was a monk who studied alc hemy at an abbey
in Gloucestershire.
11. Sir John Delves was a courtier to Edward IV and was beheaded at Tewkesbury in
1471.
12. Thomas Herbert was a courtier to Edward IV.
13. Thomas Norton (ca 1433-1513) was, it is alleged, Edward IV's privy councillor.
14. Gebers cooks = a derogatory name given to laboratory workers who used alchemical
methods for the purpose of changing metal into gold.
15. Thomas Norton wrote the Ordinall of Alchimy in 1477.
16. Ramon Lully (ca 1232-1315). A Spanish missionary and philosopher often
associated with fellow Catalan, Arnold of Villanova (see note to p. 38). Lully was
reported to have turned twenty-two tons of metal into gold in the Tower of London
for King Edward II or III in order to fund a crusade against the Turks.
17. Sir George Ripley's The Compound of Alchymy (1471) was widely read in its time. It
includes a dedicatory epistle to King Edward IV, and is structured into Twelve
Gates, corresponding to twelve parts of the alchemical process. In the section of
Charnock's book that follows, Charnock quotes freely from Ripley's Fifth Gate.
18. Sir Geoffrey Chaucer (ca 1340-1400), 'The Canon Yeoman's Tale', in The
Canterbury Tales (1387-1400).
19. Geber is the medieval name given to the influential Islamic alchemist Jabir Ibn
Hayyan (ca 721-815).
20. Arnold of Villanova (ca 1235-1311) was an important early alchemist. Born near

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