Alchemy was known as the 'royal art' and was the earliest form of chemistry. Khem was the original name for Egypt, the first country in history to specialise in the use of chemicals.
Alchemy was burdensome and secretive, often working over stills and furnaces with poisons and unknown chemical reactions. Serious illness or death could ensue. These were the great adventurers of yesterday. It was considered to be extremely expensive and it bestowed great power, therefore its processes were kept secret and were considered magical. Wealthy patrons were promised marvellous things in return for their patronage, such as turning cheap metal into gold, and an elixir which would give eternal life.
When I was young, I was fascinated by mediaeval alchemy. It visited the British Library to read ancient texts and I saw illustrations of extraordinary monsters, crowned kings, wolves, lepers, strange marriages, peacocks, the slaughter of children, dragons, mermaids, and other wonderful and disturbing images. Could base metals ever be turned into pure gold? It is said in occult circles that Albertus Magnus in 1280, could change lead into gold but this, of course, is impossible (though the British Museum has a medallion that belonged to the alchemist, John Dee that was said to have been created from alchemical gold.) There was a lot of false claims because the alchemists were paid vast sums to research, and as their health deteriorated, they became more desperate to pretend they had found a great secret.
Alchemy was burdensome and secretive, often working over stills and furnaces with poisons and unknown chemical reactions. Serious illness or death could ensue. These were the great adventurers of yesterday. It was considered to be extremely expensive and it bestowed great power, therefore its processes were kept secret and were considered magical. Wealthy patrons were promised marvellous things in return for their patronage, such as turning cheap metal into gold, and an elixir which would give eternal life.
When I was young, I was fascinated by mediaeval alchemy. It visited the British Library to read ancient texts and I saw illustrations of extraordinary monsters, crowned kings, wolves, lepers, strange marriages, peacocks, the slaughter of children, dragons, mermaids, and other wonderful and disturbing images. Could base metals ever be turned into pure gold? It is said in occult circles that Albertus Magnus in 1280, could change lead into gold but this, of course, is impossible (though the British Museum has a medallion that belonged to the alchemist, John Dee that was said to have been created from alchemical gold.) There was a lot of false claims because the alchemists were paid vast sums to research, and as their health deteriorated, they became more desperate to pretend they had found a great secret.
