The Transmission Of Alchemy To Medieval Europe

Though alchemy is typically associated, especially in the West, with transmutation of elements or a search for eternal life, it has rich historical roots in religion and has tussled with it, especially in the form of the Catholic Church of Europe during the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in Hellenistic Egypt, and closely tied to Hermes Trismegistus, who may have been a combination of Egyptian Thoth and Greek Hermes (Budge 414-415). However, the transmission of alchemy to Medieval Europe is believed to have occured in the early twelfth century, with Robert of Chester serving as one of the earliest translators of Arabic texts and knowledge that Spain, under Moorish control at the time, and Italy were exposed to (Holmyard, “Early
Western Alchemy.”). According to Alchemy, by Holmyard, “[a]lchemy is of a twofold nature, an outward or exoteric and a hidden or esoteric,” and the esoteric arose from a belief that the (philosopher’s) Stone could only be obtained through divine grace or favor became a system of beliefs in which the transmutation of metals was simply symbolic for the transformation of a sinful person into a more perfect person.
He continues to say that in some of the mystical treatisies it becomes clear that exoteric wording is simply for the purpose of expressing mystical or spiritual aspirations (Holmyard, “Introductory”). This seems to be a clear case of mazeway resynthesis, brought on by the appeal of alchemy to the new ideas of rationalism while still retaining Catholic spiritualism. Anselm of Canterbury was one such example of an individual predating Holmyard’s estimates of the translation of Arabic texts. He worked to reconcile experimental rationalism and spiritual faith, and encouraged rationalism, granted in a specifically Christian context
(Sadler). After the introduction of alchemy to medieval Europe, the attempts to reconcile theology and rationalism by those such as Anselm of Canterbury were applied to alchemy, as hinted by Holmyard. One such individual was Roger Bacon, who was a Master of Arts and one who taught Aristotle, born c. 1214/20. In 1248, he became “an independent scholar with an interest in languages and experimental-scientific concerns,” and investigated Arabic and Greek texts, likely coming into contact with the same references and ideas of alchemy as those such as Robert of Chester (Hackett). According to Hackett, an early reader of Bacon’s works on alchemy, Bonaventure, shared his goal of “seeking a ‘reduction’ of the sciences to theology, demonstrating that this cultural spread of how to reconcile theology and science had swept up the appealing idea of alchemy. According to Halmyard, Bacon recognized something similar to his eso and exoteric forms of alchemy, though he called them ‘speculative’ and ‘practical’. Bacon believed that speculative alchemy was unknown to the natural philosophers of Latin, and served a purpose more akin to the “hidden” or esoteric kind of alchemy, but, interestingly, spends more time on ‘practical' alchemy, even putting forth the idea of applying it to medicine, showing how the rough the transition between spiritual and experimental Europe was, with no clear in-between time of harmony with theology and rationality. As the practice of alchemy grew and became more refined, so the did the belief system.
As pointed out by Nasr’s review of Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, alchemy did indirectly give rise to chemistry, but it is important to note that alchemy was not a pure scientific precursor to chemistry, but rather a practice that made Europe familiar with chemical reactions, but also had a very definite spiritual aspect regarding the human soul. The argument put forth is that “events in the soul of man and in nature are inextricably connected,” and interesting departure that seems to be attempting to relate the human soul to nature, rather than the traditional view of the human soul and nature as a holistic part of the creation of God. It also appears that the soul can be purified like elements in order to reunited with God. Here we can see the results of the mazeway resynthesis of the culture that took place. It adopted the traditional opinion that humanity is imperfect and that we must work to reconcile ourselves with God in order to go to Heaven, but in this view the reconciliation does not have to be done with good deeds and spiritiual works, but rather wordly alchemy, something in which every step can be easily explained and is tangible. This is taking place during the 13th century, with the Renaissance of the 15th century impending, and some of the ideas necessary for it to occur are apparent in this
text.