Alchemy. Alchemy is an amazing "science" that has passed through the ages

Alchemy and alchemists

Among the mysteries of natural science, none has caused so much thought and controversy for one and a half millennia as the art that is called alchemy.

Carl Schmider. History of Alchemy, 1832

Throughout the history of mankind, two desires have constantly overwhelmed mortals - to gain immortality and receive gold in unlimited quantities. This is an old dream of mankind, rooted in antiquity. For thousands of years, alchemists have been trying to find something that would give a person not only sparkling gold, but also eternal youth, immortality. To live forever... Probably, this is the first thing that a person began to dream about as soon as he descended from a monkey. Since then, he has been at war with time and death, and by any means. available means. Ancient queens bathed in the blood of slaughtered babies, believing that this would prolong their youth. Medieval alchemists equated the elixir of immortality in value with the philosopher's stone, which produces gold. No other metal possessed such a magical attraction!

Today it is difficult to find a person who has not heard what magic is in general and alchemy in particular. Unfortunately, few people can clearly explain what alchemy is. This is where we'll start.

Alchemy (Arab. AGkyshua - produced or from the word ket! native (Coptic) name of Egypt, or from Greek????? - liquid, juice) - this was the name of chemistry in the Middle Ages, up to

XVII century. But since the latter received a scientific substantiation and clothed itself in the forms of exact knowledge, the former, ancient, term began to denote the imaginary art of turning base metals into gold and silver, which, in fact, limited the task of chemistry until the 16th century. Thus alchemy is to modern chemistry what astrology is to astronomy.

So, the main task of medieval alchemists was to obtain gold in unlimited quantities. And if all kinds of magicians and sorcerers hoped to get gold from nothing, to turn shards or dirt into gold at the wave of a witch's wand, then alchemists, as people who understand something about the structure of substances, hoped to get gold from base metals with the help of a kind of catalyst - the so-called philosophical stone. Moreover, he had to have the ability to turn into gold not only silver, but also base (imperfect) metals, such as lead, mercury, etc. In addition to the familiar name philosopher's Stone, this substance also had many other names: red lion, great elixir, or magisterium, red tincture, panacea of life And life elixir. A powerful force was attributed to this remedy: it was supposed not only to ennoble metals, but also to serve as a universal medicine. Its solution, diluted in a certain proportion, was called golden drink. Taken orally in small doses, it was supposed to heal all diseases, rejuvenate and make life longer. There are more than enough legends about those who invented this magical medicine. Most often they mention the name of Master Raymond Lull, who lived in the 13th century. He, says the legend, possessed the secret of the elixir of life. But the master, during the treatment, blindfolded his patients so that they would not see the healing drink, which allegedly bestowed eternal life. However, the most curious still managed to see it - it was gold dust, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. Of course, after the death of the magician, no recipes for a magic potion were preserved. But still lived the hope of finding this elixir.

Another mysterious remedy of the alchemists, already secondary in its properties, was called white lion, white tincture or small magisterium. It was able to turn all base metals into silver.

The philosopher's stone is a means of instant enrichment - it just had to be "found". Otherwise, the very existence of alchemists became unjustified. Here is an approximate logical chain of an average alchemist: “The goal is enrichment, the means is gold. The goal is gold, the means is the philosopher's stone. The goal is the philosopher's stone, the means is unknown ... "

How to get the Philosopher's Stone, no one knew, but everyone was looking for this way. Searched wherever possible and impossible. The richer alchemists experimented with all kinds of overseas rarities, while the poorer ones used what was at hand. But everyone was invariably attracted to the yellow color, because gold, as the alchemists believed, could only be generated by a yellow substance. What has not been tried as starting materials, even human feces and urine! Sometimes this actually led to chemical discoveries. So, Henning Brand was sure that he got the philosopher's stone from urine, but in fact he got phosphorus.

With the development of the concept of the "philosopher's stone", the belief in the possibility of the transformation of metals received a "scientific" basis, and pundits began to look for a method for "ennoblement" of base non-ferrous metals. The more "precious properties" (for example, a beautiful shine) a metal had, the higher, according to alchemists, was the possibility of its complete transformation. Thus, yellow brass was considered “imperfect gold”, and tin was considered a “transitional” metal from lead to silver.

But what was the philosopher's stone supposed to look like? What are the characteristics to have? Its recipe complex manufacturing was described in numerous alchemical treatises and thick tomes, but in such a form that no one, and often the alchemist himself, could understand anything.

It should be noted that in some details all recipes are the same. So, it is often indicated that the philosopher's stone is a bright red non-hygroscopic substance. A grey-red "very heavy" powder is usually referred to, sometimes referred to as shiny. Upon receipt of it from mercury and other constituent parts the substance changes its color several times - from black to white, then yellow and finally turns red. Professor K. van Nievenburg from the Netherlands in 1963 took it upon himself to repeat the numerous operations of alchemists using methods modern science. In one of the experiments, he actually observed the described color changes. After removing all the mercury prescribed by the alchemists, as well as its salts, by decomposition at high temperatures or by sublimation, he obtained a very beautiful red non-hygroscopic substance. The glittering prismatic crystals were chemically pure silver chloraurate Ag. It is possible that this compound was the same philosopher's stone, which, due to its high gold content (44%), could cause the desired transformation - it was surface gilding or fusion with base metals. Of course, with the help of this compound, it was impossible to "conjure" more gold than it contained.

Where does the mysterious "science" come from? Ancient Egypt is considered the birthplace of alchemy. The Roman emperor Diocletian ordered in 296 AD. e. burn all Egyptian manuscripts relating to the art of making gold. The founder of alchemy is the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, therefore the art of making gold was called hermetic.

The first attempts to rationally explain the transformation of metals were made by the ancient Greeks. They are based on the teachings of Greek philosophers about nature. Empedocles spoke of the four elements: fire, air, earth and water, which are the basis of all things. Plato imagined that the four elements come from the transformation of the same basic, original matter. Aristotle supplemented this theory with ether - the fifth principle, for celestial bodies.

Before the spread of Christianity, neither in Greece nor in Rome, proper alchemical studies were carried out; at the same time, Greek culture left its philosophy as a legacy to the East. Thus, Aristotelian physics conveyed to the Alexandrian school the idea of the transformation of one element into another.

Such a theory, by means of which the transformations of metals could be easily explained, was accepted by the ancient alchemists. They recognized that from the primitive matter (materia prima) the four elements came into being, and then, through their various combinations, all the other substances. Thus, every substance contains all the elements. If it is required to transform one metal into another, then it is only necessary to subtract a certain part of some elements and add parts of some others. If it is possible to turn the metal into its original form, then it can be transformed into any other metal. When mercury became known to scientists, it was in it that some saw the “original form”. Mercury generally easily enters into compounds with other metals, forming amalgams with properties that differ sharply from the original metals. Then sulfur acted as such a “universal” component. According to alchemists, mercury and sulfur of different purity, combined in different quantities, give rise to metals. Somewhat later than the third integral part metals began to be considered arsenic; he served mainly for the preparation of alloys that had the color of gold and silver.

The Greeks became the teachers of the Arabs, who cherished alchemy with love. The Arabs not only gave this "science" the name by which we know it now, but also practically determined the path of its development. In this last respect, the works of the Arab Abu Muza Jafar al-Sofi, commonly called Geber, are especially important. He lived in Seville in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and was probably a Greek convert to Islam. In the time of Geber, metals were considered substances that change their nature. Geber believed that they all consist of mercury (mercury) and sulfur, and therefore they can be added to what they lack and take away what is in excess.

The West adopted alchemy from the Arabs in the 10th or 11th century. Arab alchemy became a link between medieval and ancient traditions. The wisdom of the Greeks came to Europe precisely from Arabic writings.

So, in Europe, a wide interest in alchemy arose at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, and soon the “alchemical fever” began. In the Middle Ages, the development of alchemy received a huge impetus, firstly, due to an increase in demand for precious metals caused by population growth and the expansion of trade exchange associated with this, and secondly, due to a decrease in the productivity of old gold-bearing deposits. The continuous demand for gold on the part of the rulers also had to push the representatives of practical metallurgy to implement the theory of the transformation of elements. More precisely, not to implementation (which was realized only in the era of nuclear fusion), but to the search for the possibility of its implementation.

Most seekers of the philosopher's stone had nothing to do with science. They were dilettantes who blindly believed that his secret could indeed be found in ancient scriptures. The Church, however, to the ideas of the alchemists no longer showed such hostility as in the first centuries of our era. At that time, it was believed that many characters in the Bible were related to alchemical experiments. In addition, some churchmen were not averse to interpreting individual places from Holy Scripture in favor of alchemy. Medieval alchemical theory differed little from that once proposed by Aristotle. One more “beginning” was added to the discovered mercury and sulfur - salt. The earth (that is, the soil itself) was also classified as a chemical element. Oddly enough, but metals (gold, silver, iron, etc.) were considered not the original elements, but derivatives!

Since in those days every outstanding scientist possessed the entire amount of knowledge of his time, we often meet the names of famous philosophers and theologians in the history of alchemy. The famous medieval philosophers Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were also the most famous alchemists of their time. Arnoldo de Villanova, an eminent physician who died in 1314, published over 20 alchemical works. Raymond Lull, whom we have already mentioned, the most famous alchemist of the XIII-XIV centuries (born in 1235, died in 1315, according to other sources - no later than 1333), was, as they say, the author of 500 works, mainly alchemical content. His long life, according to contemporaries, was proof that he had found the notorious elixir of immortality.

Lull served King Edward I, who reigned until 1307. The king was able to attract Lull with a promise to start a campaign against the infidels - the Turks. As a result, Lully entered into a kind of agreement with the English crown: the alchemist undertook to make 60,000 pounds of gold from mercury, tin and lead, which would be best quality than gold from mines. Ships were to be equipped with this gold and warriors were to be paid for the holy war against the infidels.

In honor of the victory at sea over the French in 1340, the English king Edward III (reigned from 1327 to 1377) ordered the minting of special gold coins, the so-called nobles. These coins were allegedly made from the gold of Raymond Lull, although it is known that Edward III raised funds for this by raising taxes and imposing debt obligations, he did not hesitate to confiscate gold objects from churches and monasteries. But still, a lot of gold coins were minted, especially considering that England at that time practically did not conduct maritime trade and did not have any colonies or gold mines, and Hanseatic goods usually paid for with tin.

The oracle of the alchemists of the 15th century (and of the subsequent time!) is the Benedictine Basil Valentine, who can be considered the most outstanding alchemist of the Middle Ages and, in general, the last scientist who devoted himself entirely to alchemy.

Already Paracelsus cannot be ranked among the typical alchemists, since he clearly says that the true goal of science is not to find ways to make gold, but to prepare medicines.

In general, not all those in power treated the alchemical art with reckless trust; there was also a healthy skepticism. For example, when the alchemist and poet Augurelli presented Pope Leo X with a poem in which he stated, as he claimed, the methods of obtaining gold known to him by alchemical means, he received an empty bag as a reward - a very necessary item, according to the pope, for someone who owns such a great art...

Since the 16th century, there has been no unity among alchemists. And from scientists who have not yet completely parted with unrealizable alchemical dreams, a numerous class of adventurers (for the most part itinerant) separates, abusing the universal belief in the possibility of making gold and presenting false evidence of their art. Transmutation, or the transformation of base metals into gold, and especially mercury into gold, was the most spectacular trick invented in the early days of alchemy. The trick can be explained by a fact now known to any schoolchild, the essence of which is the almost instantaneous dissolution of gold in mercury without changing the characteristic silvery color of the latter. From the amalgam thus obtained, after the evaporation of mercury, gold was obtained. The rest was a matter of sleight of hand, psychological processing of the audience, ready for the perception of a miracle, and ... arrogance.

At the same time, the adventurer was exposed to a terrible risk, because the alchemist, convicted of fraud, was waiting for an inevitable and terrible death. Sometimes alchemists used wooden sticks with hidden holes hollowed out there, where gold powder was hidden. The hiding place was masked with wax. The heated mercury was stirred with this stick. In the process of stirring, the stick burned completely, the traces of fraud were thus completely swept away. Mercury then contained right amount gold. Double-bottom crucibles were also used (gold powder was hidden in this cache, and at high temperatures it completely dissolved in mercury), bellows, which fanned the fire and through the pipes of which right moment golden sand or powder was blown into the crucible.

In general, without a good knowledge of chemistry, it was impossible to become a good alchemist!

The victims of alchemical deceptions were, mainly, the nobility and sovereign princes. In addition, in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, many crowned persons were themselves zealously engaged in alchemy. So, for example, the English king Henry VI was interested in alchemy, during whose reign, thanks to the efforts of a whole gang of gold makers, the country was flooded with counterfeit gold and counterfeit coins. The metal that played the role of gold in this case was, in all likelihood, a copper amalgam. Charles VII of France acted in a similar way at the same time, along with the famous Jacques le Coeur. Even women, such as Empress Barbara, the widow of Emperor Sigismund, were considered adepts in alchemy. And more often than others, the rulers of small medieval states and principalities of Central Europe became victims of deception. Among them - Emperor Rudolph II, Elector August of Saxony, Elector of Brandenburg ... Burg-Count John of Nuremberg himself was engaged in alchemical experiments in the hope of obtaining the coveted metal.

Emperor Rudolph II (1576-1612) was a patron of itinerant alchemists, and his residence represented the center of alchemical science of the time. After the death of the emperor, 84 centners of gold and 60 centners of silver remained in the form of ingots. The mysterious liquid, which was in the same place, was considered made from the philosopher's stone. Rudolf II, who had lived in Prague since 1576 as German emperor, was famous for being an ardent devotee of the arcane sciences. In those days, astrologers, soothsayers, clairvoyants and alchemists crowded in a motley succession at his court. Therefore, it seemed certain to many that the remaining gold and silver were of alchemical origin. Approximate emperor called him the German Hermes Trismegistus.

Rudolf II found numerous followers at the German princely courts. One of them was the Saxon elector Augustus of Saxony (reigned from 1553 to 1586), who personally experimented with the philosopher's stone and was said to be successful. The professional alchemist Schwerzer also worked for him. Yes, and the Elector's wife Anna of Denmark was also actively involved in alchemy. August - in his own Dresden laboratory, which the people called only the Golden Palace (Goldhaus), and Anna - in her no less luxuriously equipped laboratory at the dacha in Annaberg. Elector Augustus wrote in 1577 to an Italian alchemist: “I have already become so well-informed that I can make three ounces of full-weight gold out of eight ounces of silver.”

Augustus left 17 million thalers worth of gold, a significant sum in those days. The whole world believed that the elector had found a recipe for the transformation of metals. His successors, including Augustus II, called the Strong, were very eager to learn this secret. As Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1701 August II, in a well-known state dispute with the Prussian King Frederick I, took Johann Betger from that alchemist. The latter was a prisoner in Dresden, and later in the Königstein fortress. He received porcelain, which the German princes at that time valued worth its weight in gold. Appointed director of the Meissen porcelain manufactory, founded in 1710, Betger apparently remained true to his inclinations towards alchemy. The Dresden State Porcelain Collection still holds a bar of pure gold weighing about 170 g, which Betger allegedly obtained in 1713 through alchemical manipulations.

What is the true origin of Augustus' gold? The apothecary and historian Johann Christian Wiegleb also asked himself the same question. We find the exact answer in his Historical-Critical Study of Alchemy, or the Imaginary Art of Making Gold, which appeared in 1777. To refute the legend of the alchemists' gold, Wigleb rummaged through historical sources and found that there is a very prosaic explanation for the gold treasure of the Saxon elector.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the development of silver ores in the Saxon ore-bearing mountains reached its peak. In the mines in Schneeberg,

Freiberg and Annaberg produced large quantities of silver. The tenth part - the so-called tithe - was supposed to go to the ruler. The elector received the same amount from the mint for the privilege of minting coins. It has been proven that in the years 1471-1550 the Saxon electors received more than 4 billion thalers from the Schneeberg silver mines alone.

During the reign of Elector Augustus, silver in the ore-bearing mountains did not decrease. Therefore, according to Wigleb, “it is no longer a mystery how Augustus, after many years of rule and an equally long exploitation of the mines ... was able to leave 17 million thalers ... One can be surprised that he did not leave more.”

The Schneeberg pyrargyrite also contained a considerable amount of gold, which was also extracted. Schwerzer, appointed court alchemist by the grace of the elector, had a special fondness for this silver ore and "transmuted" it until gold began to sparkle in the melting crucible.

The fate of the unlucky alchemists, who were looking for rich patrons for their work, was, as a rule, sad. The Duke of Württemberg, having spent 60 thousand livres on the alchemist Genader to no avail, hung him on a gilded gallows. The Margrave of Bayreuth did the same with his alchemist, and even ordered to nail a plaque to the gallows with the inscription: “Once I knew how to make mercury more permanent, but now I myself have been made more permanent.” In 1709, the Neapolitan Cayetano, who called himself Count Ruggiero, landed on the gallows.

However, not all the greats of this world were so gullible, although, of course, they thirsted for gold no less than others. Another ruler was in no hurry to fork out in response to the ardent assurances of the alchemist that he would be able to make his benefactor rich, but immediately asked bluntly: can you make a counterfeit coin? Sometimes the ruler was also satisfied.

Around alchemy, in general, a lot of scammers divorced. Casting in astrological, mystical and religious fog, they actively tried to get their piece of the pie. The fruitless attempts of alchemists to turn base metals into gold and silver, the outright fraud of all sorts of adventurers and charlatans eventually led to the fact that this occupation was already perceived in the Middle Ages as an art based on deception. “Let me not forget the deception of a swindler, covered with alchemy,” wrote Sebastian Brand in his famous satirical work “Ship of Fools”. The French scientist Nicolas Lemery in 1675 commented on alchemy as follows: "Alchemy is an art without art, which lies in the beginning, works in the middle and ends in poverty." And Bernard Pernot, one of those unfortunates who sincerely believed in an idea and, having spent a fortune on it, became a beggar, advised with gloomy wit: “He who wishes death for someone, but cannot dare to openly attack his enemy, must induce him to engage in the manufacture of gold.

In the present state of chemistry, when metals are considered as elements, i.e. as chemically simple substances, it is possible to obtain gold only from compounds containing gold. Even if it turned out that metals could be decomposed, then even in this case it can be said with certainty that the paths for this should be completely different from those followed by the alchemists. Until now, it has never been possible to obtain gold from base metals, although this was firmly believed in the Middle Ages. But no matter how chimerical the goal pursued by the alchemists, with their experiments, they brought significant benefits to chemistry: the alchemists laid the foundation for this science.

author Yuten Serge

Doctors-alchemists Among the alchemists in the Middle Ages there were many professional doctors. A fact that does not contain anything surprising: it was the doctors, by virtue of their professional activities, who showed a special interest in alchemy. We have already seen how the medieval