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Wood Brown - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: An Enquiry into The Life and Legend of Michael Scot - -Author: J. Wood Brown - -Release Date: August 6, 2017 [EBook #55280] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<h1>THE LIFE AND LEGEND<br /> -OF MICHAEL SCOT</h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>: Printed by T. and A. <span class="smcap">Constable</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">FOR</span><br /> -DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -<table summary="Publishers" class="smaller"> - <tr> - <td>LONDON</td> - <td>SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LTD.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>CAMBRIDGE</td> - <td>MACMILLAN AND BOWES</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>GLASGOW</td> - <td>JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;" id="illus1"> -<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="450" height="650" alt="Frontispiece: A Magician" /> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger">An Enquiry into<br /> -The Life and Legend of<br /> -Michael Scot</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">By Rev. J. WOOD BROWN, M.A.</span></p> - -<p class="center smaller">AUTHOR OF ‘AN ITALIAN CAMPAIGN,’ ‘THE COVENANTERS -OF THE MERSE,’ ETC.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;" id="illus2"> -<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="The Eildons, from an engraving" /> -<p class="caption">‘Michael next ordered that Eildon Hill, which was then a uniform -cone, should be divided into three.’—<cite>Lay of Last Minstrel, note.</cite></p> -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS<br /> -1897</p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller">[<i>All rights reserved</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">D. D. D.<br /> -ALMAE MATRI SUAE<br /> -EDINBURGENSI<br /> -HAUD IMMEMOR<br /> -AUCTOR</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p>After some considerable time spent in making -collections for the work which is now submitted to -the public, I became aware that a biography of -Michael Scot was in existence which had been -composed as early as the close of the sixteenth -century. This is the work of Bernardino Baldi -of Urbino, who was born in 1553. He studied -medicine at Padua, but soon turned his attention -to mathematics, especially to the historical developments -of that science. Taking holy orders, -he became Abbot of Guastalla in 1586, and in the -quiet of that cloister found time to produce his -work ‘De le vite de Matematici’ of which the -biography of Scot forms a part. He died in -1617.</p> - -<p>This discovery led me at first to think that my -original plan might with some advantage be -modified. Baldi had evidently enjoyed great -advantages in writing his life of Scot. His time -lay nearer to that of Scot by three hundred years -than our own does. He was a native of Italy, -where so large a part of Scot’s life was passed. -He had studied at Padua, the last of the great -schools in which Averroës, whom Scot first introduced -to the Latins, still held intellectual sway.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> -All this seemed to indicate him as one who was -exceptionally situated and suited for the work of -collecting such accounts of Michael Scot as still -survived in the south when he lived and wrote. -The purpose he had in view was also such as -promised a serious biography, not entirely, nor even -chiefly, occupied with the recitation of traditional -tales, but devoted to a solid account of the philosopher’s -scientific fame in what was certainly one -of the most considerable branches of science which -he followed. It occurred to me therefore that an -edition of Baldi’s life of Scot, which has never yet -been printed, might give scope for annotations and -digressions embodying all the additional material -I had in hand or might still collect, and that a -work on this plan would perhaps best answer the -end in view.</p> - -<p>A serious difficulty, however, here presented -itself, and in the end proved insuperable, as I was -quite unable to gain access to the work of Baldi. -It seems to exist in no more than two manuscripts, -both of them belonging to a private library in -Rome, that of the late Prince Baldassare Boncompagni, -who had acquired them from the Albani -collection. The Boncompagni library has been now -for some time under strict seal, pending certain -legal proceedings, and all my endeavours to get -even a sight of the manuscripts were in vain. In -these circumstances I fell back upon a printed -volume, the <cite>Cronica de Matematici overo Epitome -dell’Istoria delle vite loro</cite>, which is an abbreviated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> -form of Baldi’s work and was published at Urbino -in 1707. The account of Michael Scot which it -gives is not such as to increase my regret that I -cannot present this biography to the reader in its -most complete form. Thus it runs: ‘Michele -Scoto, that is Michael the Scot, was a Judicial -Astrologer, in which profession he served the -Emperor Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II</span>. He wrote a most learned -treatise by way of questions upon the <cite>Sphere</cite> of -John de Sacrobosco which is still in common use. -Some say he was a Magician, and tell how he used -to cause fetch on occasion, by magic art, from the -kitchen of great Princes whatever he needed for his -table. He died from the blow of a stone falling on -his head, having already foreseen that such would be -the manner of his end.’ Now Scot’s additions to the -<cite>Sphere</cite> of Sacrobosco are among the more common -of his printed works, while the tales of his feasts -at Bologna, and of his sudden death, are repeated -almost <i lang="la">ad nauseam</i> by almost every early writer -who has undertaken to illustrate the text of Dante. -So far as we can tell, therefore, Baldi would seem to -have made no independent research on his own -account regarding Scot’s life and literary labours, -but to have depended entirely upon very obvious -and commonplace printed authorities. To crown -all, he assigns 1240 as the <i lang="la">floruit</i> of Michael Scot, -a date at least five years posterior to that of -his death! On the whole then there is little cause -to regret that his work on this subject is not more -fully accessible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> - -<p>My study of the life and times of Scot thus -resumed its natural tendency towards an independent -form, there being no text known to me -that could in any way supply the want of an -original biography. It is for the reader to judge -how far the boldness of such an attempt has been -justified by its success. The difficulties of the -task have certainly been increased by the want of -any previous collections that could be called satisfactory. -Boece, Dempster, and Naudé yield little -in the way of precise and instructive detail; their -accounts of Scot fall to be classed with that of -Baldi as partly incorrect and partly commonplace. -Schmuzer alone seems by the title of his work<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -to promise something more original. Unfortunately -my attempts to obtain it have been defeated by the -great rarity of the volume, which is not to be found -in any of the libraries to which I have access.</p> - -<p>This failure in the department of biography -already formed has obliged me to a more exact and -extensive study of original manuscript sources for -the life of Scot than I might otherwise have thought -necessary, and has proved thus perhaps rather of -advantage. It is inevitable indeed that a work of -this kind, undertaken several ages too late, should -be comparatively barren in those dates and intimate -details which are so satisfactory to our curiosity -when we can fall upon them. In the absence of -these, however, our attention is naturally fixed, -and not, as it seems to me, unprofitably, on what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> -is after all of higher or more enduring importance. -The mind is free to take a wider range, and in -place of losing itself in the lesser facts of an -individual life, studies the intellectual movements -and gauges the progress of what was -certainly a remarkable epoch in philosophy, science, -and literature. The almost exact reproduction in -Spain during the thirteenth century of the Alexandrian -school of thought and science and even -superstition; the part played by the Arab race -in this curious transference, and the close relation -it holds to our modern intellectual life—if the -volume now published be found to throw light -on subjects so little understood, yet so worthy of -study, I shall feel more than rewarded for the pains -and care spent in its preparation.</p> - -<p>In the course of researches among the libraries -of Scotland and Italy, of England and France, of -Spain and Germany, I have received much kindness -from the learned men who direct these institutions. -I therefore gladly avail myself of this opportunity to -express my thanks in general to all those who have -so kindly come to my help, and in particular to -Signor Comm. G. Biagi, and Signor Prof. E. -Rostagno of the Laurentian Library; to Signore -L. Licini of the Riccardian Library; to the Rev. -Padre Ehrle of the Vatican Library; to Signor -Cav. Giorgi, and the Conte Passerini of the Casanatense; -to Signor Prof. Menghini of the Vittorio -Emanuele Library, Rome; and to Signor Comm. -Cugnoni of the Chigi Library. I am also much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> -indebted to the kindness of Professor R. Foerster -of Breslau; of Mr. W. M. Lindsay, Fellow of -Jesus College, Oxford, and the Rev. R. Langton -Douglas of New College, who have furnished me -with valuable notes from the libraries of that university, -and, not least of all, to the interest taken -in my work by Mr. Charles Godfrey Leland, who -has been good enough to read it in manuscript, -and to favour me with curious material and valuable -suggestions.</p> - -<p>If the result of my studies should prove somewhat -disappointing to the reader, I can but plead -the excuse with which Pliny furnishes me, it is -one having peculiar application to such a task as is -here attempted: ‘Res ardua,’ he says, ‘vetustis novitatem -dare, novis auctoritatem, obsoletis nitorem, -obscuris lucem, fastiditis gratiam, dubiis fidem, -omnibus vero naturam, et naturae suae omnia.’</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">17 Via Montebello</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Florence</span>, <i>November 17th, 1896</i>.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">State of Scotland in the twelfth century—Necessity of foreign - travel to scholars bred there—Michael Scot: his Nation - and Birthplace.—The account given by Boece, how far it is - to be believed—The date of Scot’s birth and nature of his - first studies—Scot at Paris: his growing fame, and the - degrees he won in that school—Probability that further - study at Bologna formed the introduction to his life in the - south,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">The position held by Scot at the Court of Sicily—His service - under the Clerk Register, who seems to have been the same - as Philip of Tripoli—Scot appointed tutor to Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>—Advantages - of such a position—He teaches the Prince - mathematics and acts as Court Astrologer—Publication of - the <cite>Astronomia</cite> and <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite>—Frederick’s - marriage—Scot produces the <cite>Physionomia</cite> and presents it - on this occasion—Account of this the most popular of his - books, and of the sources from which it was derived—Scot - quits Sicily for Spain,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">An important moment—The history of the Arabs in their influence - on the intellectual life of Europe—The school of Toledo—Scot - fixes his residence in that city—The name and fame - of Aristotle—Scot engages in translating Arabic versions of - the works of Aristotle on Natural History—The <cite>De Animalibus</cite> - and its connection with the <cite>Physionomia</cite>—The - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span><cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> and its relation to former versions of - the Toledo school—The date when Scot finished this work.—Frederick’s - interest in these books—The <cite>De partibus - animalium</cite>—Did Scot know Greek?—How the Arabian - Natural History contrasts with the modern—Toledo,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Alchemy: its history, both primitive and derivative—The - Gnostics influence it, and it passes by way of the Syrians to - the Arabs—Disputes divide their schools in the twelfth - century regarding the reality of this art—Spain the scene of - this activity and the place where alchemy began to become - known among the Latins—The time when the work of - translation commenced, and the course it followed—Scot’s - position in the history of this art, and an examination of his - chemical works: the spurious <cite>De natura solis et lunae</cite>, the - <cite>Magisterium</cite>, the <cite>Liber Luminis Luminum</cite>, and the <cite>De - Alchimia</cite>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Connection between alchemy and astronomy—Scot’s interest - in the latter science—Toledo a favourable place for such - study—Progress made by the Moors in astronomy—Scot - translates Alpetrongi—Relation of this author to those who - had preceded him: to Albategni; to Al Khowaresmi and to - Alfargan—The fresh contributions made by Alpetrongi to a - theory of the heavenly motions—His solution of the problems - of recession and solstitial change—The date of Scot’s - version of the <cite>Sphere</cite>, and its possible coincidence with that - of the great astronomical congress at Toledo,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Averroës of Cordova and the fame he enjoyed among the Latins—His - works condemned by the Church—Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II</span>. - likely to have been attracted by this philosophy—Michael - Scot at Cordova—Constitution of a new College at Toledo - under imperial patronage for the purpose of translating the - works of Averroës into Latin—Correspondence between - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span>this and the similar enterprise of a hundred years - before—Andrew the Jew interprets for Scot—Defence of this - literary method—Versions of the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite>, the - <cite>De anima</cite>, the <cite>Parva Naturalia</cite> and others—The <cite>Quaestiones - Nicolai Peripatetici</cite>: with a summary of this important - treatise—Works found in the Venice manuscript—The - <cite>Nova Ethica</cite>—Michael Scot shines as a translator from - the Greek—Comparison between him and Bacon in regard - to this,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Scot returns from Spain to the Imperial Court—Dante’s reference - to this and to the costume worn by the philosopher—Probability - that he is represented in the fresco at S. Maria - Novella. The Latin Averroës suppressed and Scot resumes - his post as Imperial Astrologer—He publishes on this - subject—Remarks on Scot by Mirandola, Salimbene, and - Bacon—He comments on the <cite>Sphere</cite> of Sacrobosco—A - legend of Naples and its interpretation—Testimony of - Leonardo Pisano—Scot’s medical studies and skill—He - composes a treatise in that science—Two prescriptions, and - some account of the plagues then prevalent,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Scot on the way to ecclesiastical preferment—Honorius <span class="smcapuc">III.</span> exerts - himself to obtain a benefice for the philosopher—He refuses - the Archbishopric of Cashel—A similar case of conscience in - the same age.—Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span> applies again to Canterbury but - without result—Effect of these disappointments on Scot.—His - prophecies in verse and prose—The <cite>Cervilerium</cite>—His - mental state at this time; and an attempt to estimate his - real character—The publication of Scot’s version of Averroës - now possible—Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> indites a circular letter to the - Universities—Scot travels through Italy, France, and England - to the borders of Scotland—His death—The Emperor - permits a copy of the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> to be made as - a tribute to Scot’s memory,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">The legendary fame of Scot—Nature of the magic then studied in - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span>Spain—Reasons for thinking that Scot’s fame as a magician - is mostly mythical—Origin of the story in his connection with - the Emperor, and from the place and nature of his Spanish - studies—Probability that he composed a work on algebra, - which was afterwards mistaken for something magical—His - association with the Arthurian legend in its southern development - confirms his character as a magician, and may have - suggested several details in the stories that are told concerning - him,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">How Dante used the legend of Michael Scot—The nature of - subjective magic or <em>glamour</em>—Stories told by those who - commented on the <cite>Divine Comedy</cite>—Boccaccio’s reference - to Scot, and sundry tales of court and camp—The fifteenth - century produces spurious magical works under Scot’s name—Folengo - introduces him into the <cite>Baldus</cite>.—Dempster and the - Scottish tales.—The tasks of Scot’s familiar spirit.—His - embassy to Paris—Story of the witch of Falsehope—The <cite>Book - of Might</cite>—Two stories of Scot as told by an old woman - of Florence in the present year of grace—Conclusion,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdtoc"><span class="smcap">Appendix</span>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#APPENDIX">231</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdtoc"><span class="smcap">Index</span>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#INDEX">277</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<p><a href="#illus1">Frontispiece</a>, A Magician, from the S. Maria Novella Fresco—Photogravure -by Alinari, Florence</p> - -<p><a href="#illus2">Vignette on Title</a>—The Eildons, from an engraving kindly lent -by Messrs. A. and C. Black, London</p> - -<p>Facsimile of colophon to Scot’s <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> (Fondo -Vaticano 4428, p. 158 recto), <a href="#illus3"><i>to face page 55</i></a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="smaller">BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY STUDIES OF MICHAEL SCOT</span></h2> - -<p>In the Borders of Scotland it is well known that -any piece of hill pasture, if it be fenced in but for a -little from the constant cropping of the sheep, will -soon show springing shoots of forest trees indigenous -to the soil, whose roots remain wherever -the plough has not passed too deeply. Centuries -ago, when nature had her way and was unrestrained, -the whole south-eastern part of the country was -covered with dense forests and filled with forest-dwellers; -the wild creatures that form the prey of -the snare and the quarry of the chase. In the deep -valleys, and by the streams of Tweed and Teviot, -and many another river of that well-watered land, -stood the great ranks and masses of the oak and -beech as captains and patriarchs of the forest, -mingled with the humbler whitethorn which made a -dense undergrowth wherever the sun could reach. -On the heights grew the sombre firs; their gnarled -and ruddy branches crowned with masses of bluish-green -foliage, while the alders followed the water-courses, -and, aided by the shelter of these secret -valleys, all but reached the last summits of the hills, -which alone, in many a varied slope and peak and -swelling breast, rose eminent and commanding over -these dark and almost unbroken woodlands.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such was south-eastern Scotland in the twelfth -century: a country fitted to be the home of men -of action rather than of thought; men whose joy -should lie in the chase and the conflict with nature -as yet unsubdued, who could track the savage -creatures of the forest to their dens, and clear the -land where it pleased them, and build, and dwell, -and beget children in their own likeness, till by the -labours of generations that country should become -pastoral, peaceful, and fit for fertile tillage as we -see it now.</p> - -<p>Already, at the early time of which we speak, -something of this work had been begun. There -were gaps in the high forest where it lay well to -the sun: little clearings marked by the ridge and -furrow of a rude agriculture. Here and there a -baron’s lonely tower raised its grey horn on high, -sheltering a troop of men-at-arms who made it -their business to guard the land in war, and in -peace to rid it of the savage forest-creatures that -hindered the hind and herd in their labour and -their hope. In the main valleys more than one -great monastery was rising, or already built, by the -waters of Tweed and Teviot. The inmates of these -religious houses took their share in the whole duty -of peaceful Scottish men by following trades at -home or superintending the labours of an army of -hinds who broke in and made profitable the wide -abbey lands scattered here and there over many a -lowland county. All was energy, action, and progress: -a form of life which left but little room for -the enterprises of the mind, the conflicts and conquests -which can alone be known and won in the -world of thought within.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<p>These conditions we know to have reared and -trained generations of men well fitted to follow -the pursuits of hardy and active life, yet they -cannot have been so constraining as to hinder -the birth of some at least who possessed an altogether -different temper of mind and body. The -lowland Scots were even then of a mixed race: -the ancestry which tends more than any other to -the production of life-eddies, where thought rather -than activity naturally forms and dwells, while the -current of the main stream sweeps past in its -ordinary course. Grant the appearance of such -natures here and there in these early times, and it -is easy to see much in the only life then possible -that was fit to foster their natural tendencies. -The deep woodlands were not only scenes of labour -where sturdy arms found constant employment, -they were homes of mystery in which the young -imagination loved to dwell; peopling them with -half-human shapes more graceful than their -stateliest trees, and half-brutal monsters more -terrible than the fiercest wolf or bear. The -distant sun and stars were more than a heavenly -horologe set to mark the hours for labour or vigil, -they were an unexplored scene of wonder which -patient and brooding thought alone could reach and -interpret. The trivial flight and annual return of -birds, tracing like the wild geese a mysterious wedge -against the sky of winter, gave more than a signal -for the chase, which was all that ordinary men saw -in it. To these finer natures it brought the awakening -which those know who have learned to ask the -mighty questions—Why? Whence? and Whither? -demands which will not be denied till they have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -touched the heights and fathomed the depths of -human life itself. <cite>Our life is a bird</cite>, said one in -these early ages, <cite>which flies by night, and, entering -lighted hall at one end, swiftly passeth out at the -other. So come we, who knoweth whence, and so pass -we, who knoweth whither? From the darkness we -come and to the darkness we go, and the brief light -that is meanwhile ours cannot make the mystery -plain.</cite></p> - -<p>But though the nature of this primitive life in -early Scottish days could not hinder the appearance -of men of thought, and even helped their development -as soon as they began to show the movements -of active intellect, yet on the other hand Scotland -had not reached that culture which affords such -natures their due and full opportunity. Centuries -were yet to pass before the foundation of St. -Andrews as the first Scottish university. The -grammar-schools of the country<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> were but a step to -the studies of some foreign seat of learning. The -churchmen who filled considerable positions at -home were either Italians, or had at least been -trained abroad, so that everything in those days -pointed to that path of foreign study which has -since been trodden by so many generations of -Scottish students. The bright example of Scotus -Erigena, who had reached such a high place in -France under Charles the Bald, was an incitement -to the northern world of letters. Young men of -parts and promise naturally sought their opportunity -to go abroad in the hope of finding like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -honourable employment, or, better still, of returning -crowned with the honours of the schools to -occupy some distinguished ecclesiastical position in -their native country.</p> - -<p>This then was the age, and these were the -prevailing conditions, under which Michael Scot -was born. To the necessary and common impulse -of Scottish scholars we are to trace the disposition -of the great lines on which his life ran its remarkable -and distinguished course. He is certainly one of -the most notable, as he is among the earliest, -examples of the student Scot abroad.</p> - -<p>There can be little doubt regarding the nation -where he had his birth. Disregarding for a moment -the varying accounts of those who lived centuries -after the age of Scot himself, let us make a commencement -with one whose testimony is of the very -highest value, being that of a contemporary. Roger -Bacon, the famous scientist of the thirteenth century, -introduces the name of Michael Scot in the -following manner: ‘Unde, cum per Gerardum -Cremonensem, et Michaelem Scotum, et Aluredum -Anglicum, et Heremannum (Alemannum), et Willielmum -Flemingum, data sit nobis copia translationum -de omni scientia.’<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> In this passage the -distinctive appellation of each author is plainly -derived from that of his native country. That -Bacon believed Michael to be of Scottish descent is -therefore certain, and his opinion is all the more -valuable since he was an Englishman, and not likely -therefore to have confused the two nations of Great -Britain as a foreigner might haply have done. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -the same purpose is the testimony of Guido Bonatti, -the astrologer, who also belonged to the age of -Bacon and Scot. ‘Illi autem,’ he says,<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> ‘qui fuerunt -in tempore meo, sicut fuit Hugo ab Alugant, Beneguardinus -Davidbam, Joannes Papiensis, Dominicus -Hispanus, Michael Scotus, Stephanus Francigena, -Girardus de Sabloneta Cremonensis, et multi alii.’ -Here also the significance of <em>Scotus</em>, as indicating -nationality, is one that hardly admits of question. -It was in all probability on these or similar -authorities that Dempster relied when he said of -Michael:<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> ‘The name Scot, however, is not a -family one, but national,’ though he seems to have -pressed the matter rather too far, it being plainly -possible that <em>Scotus</em> might combine in itself both -significations. In Scotland it might indicate that -Michael belonged to the clan of Scott, as indeed has -been generally supposed, while as employed by men -of other nations, it might declare what they believed -to have been this scholar’s native land.</p> - -<p>At this point, however, a new difficulty suggests -itself. It is well known that the lowland Scots -were emigrants from the north of Ireland, and that -in early times <em>Scotus</em> was used as a racial rather -than a local designation. May not Michael have -been an Irishman? Such is the question actually -put by a recent writer,<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and certainly it deserves a -serious answer. We may commence by remarking -that even on this understanding of it the name is -an indefinite one as regards locality, and might -therefore have been applied to one born in Scotland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -just as well as if he had first seen the light in the -sister isle. So certainly is this the case that when -we recall the name of John Scotus we find it was -customary to add the appellative <em>Erigena</em> to determine -his birthplace. At that time the separation -of race was much less marked than it had become -in Michael’s day, and it seems certain therefore -that if <em>Michael Scotus</em> was thought a sufficient -designation of the man by Bacon and Bonatti, they -must have used it in the sense of indicating that he -came of that part of the common stock which had -crossed the sea and made their home in Scotland. -But to find a conclusive answer to this difficulty we -need only anticipate a little the course of our -narrative by mentioning here a highly curious fact -which will occupy our attention in its proper place. -When Michael Scot was offered high ecclesiastical -preferment in Ireland he declined it on the ground -that he was ignorant of the vernacular tongue of -that country.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> This seems to supply anything that -may have been wanting in the other arguments we -have advanced, and the effect of the whole should -be to assure our conviction that there need be now -no further attempt made to deny Scotland the -honour of having been the native land of so distinguished -a scholar.</p> - -<p>Nor are we altogether without the means of -coming to what seems at least a probable conclusion -regarding the very district of the Scottish lowlands -where Michael Scot was born. Leland the antiquary -tells us that he was informed on good authority -that Scot came from the territory of Durham.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> -Taken literally this statement would make him an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -Englishman, but no one would think of quoting it -as of sufficient value to disprove the testimony of -Bacon and Bonatti who both believed Michael to -have been born in Scotland. If, however, there -should offer itself any way in which both these -apparently contending opinions can be reconciled, -we are surely bound to accept such an explanation -of the difficulty, and in fact the solution we are -about to propose not only meets the conditions of -the problem, but will be found to narrow very -considerably the limits of country within which the -birthplace of Scot is to be looked for.</p> - -<p>The See of Durham in that age, and for long -afterwards, had a wide sphere of influence, extending -over much of the south-eastern part of the Scottish -Borders. Many deeds relating to this region of -Scotland must be sought in the archives that belong -to the English Cathedral. To be born in the -territory of Durham then, as Leland says Scot had -been, was not necessarily to be a native of England, -and the anonymous Florentine commentator on -Dante uses a remarkable expression which seems to -confirm this solution as far as Scot is concerned. -‘This Michael,’ he says, ‘was of the Province of -Scotland’;<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and his words seem to point to that -part of the Scottish lowlands adjacent to the See -of Durham and in a sense its <em>province</em>, as subject to -its influence, just as Provence, the analogous part -of France, had its name from the similar relation -it bore to Rome. The most likely opinion therefore -that can now be formed on the subject leads -us to believe that Scot was born somewhere in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -valley of the Tweed; if we understand that geographical -expression in the wide sense which makes -it equivalent to the whole of the south-eastern -borders of Scotland.</p> - -<p>Nor is this so contrary as might at first appear -to the tradition which makes Scot a descendant of -the family of Balwearie in Fife. Hector Boëce, -Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen, who first -gave currency to the story,<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> could hardly have -meant to imply that Michael was actually born at -Balwearie. It is to be presumed that he understood -<em>Scotus</em> to have been a family name; and the Scotts, -who became of Balwearie by marriage with the -heiress of that estate, did not enter into possession -of it till long after the close of the twelfth century.<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> -To call Michael a son of Balwearie in the genealogical -sense, however, is in perfect agreement with the -conclusion regarding his origin which we have -just reached; for the original home of the Scotts -who afterwards held that famous property as their -<i lang="fr">chef lieu</i>, lay by the upper streams of Tweed in the -very district which every probability has already -indicated to us as that of Michael’s birthplace. In -1265 we find an entry of money paid by the Crown -‘to Michael Scot and Richard Rufus who have -occupied the waste lands at Stuth,’ near Peebles.<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> -Identification is here out of the question, as Michael -the scholar, of whom we write, was by this time -long in his grave, but the entry we have quoted -shows that a family of this surname, who still used -the Christian name of Michael, was flourishing in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -this part of Scotland during the second half of the -thirteenth century.</p> - -<p>It is to be remarked, too, that the Scottish tales -of wonder relating to Michael Scot have a local -colour that accords well with the other signs -we have noticed. The hill which the sorcerer’s -familiar spirit cleaves in sunder is the triple peak of -Eildon; the water which he curbs is that of Tweed; -from Oakwood he rides forth to try the witch of -Falsehope, and in Oakwood tower may still be seen -the <em>Jingler’s room</em>: a curious anachronism, for -Oakwood is a building much more recent than the -days of Michael Scot, yet one which fixes for us in -a picturesque and memorable way the district of -country where, according to the greatest number of -converging probabilities, this remarkable man was -born.</p> - -<p>As to the date of his birth, it is difficult to be -very precise. The probability that he died suddenly, -and before he had completed the measure of -an ordinary lifetime, prevents us from founding our -calculations upon the date of his decease, which can -be pretty accurately determined. A more certain -argument may be derived from the fact that Scot had -finished his youthful studies, made some figure in the -world, and entered on the great occupation of his life -as an author, as early as the year 1210.<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Assuming -then that thirty was the least age he could well -have attained at the period in question, the year -1180 would be indicated as that of his birth, or rather -as the latest date to which it can with probability be -referred; 1175 being in every way a more likely -approximation to the actual time of this event.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in the -same position with regard to the interesting question -of Scot’s early education, having only the -suggestions derived from probable conjecture to -offer on this subject also. Du Boulay indeed, in -his account of the University of Paris,<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> pretends -to supply a pretty complete account of the schools -which Scot attended, but, as he adds that this -was the usual course of study in those days, we -find reason to think that he may have been guided -in his assertions, rather by the probabilities of the -case, than by any exact evidence. Nor is it likely -that any more satisfactory assurance can now be -had on this point: the time being too remote and -the want of early material for Scot’s biography -defeating in this respect all the care and attention -that can now be given to the subject.</p> - -<p>We know, however, that there was a somewhat -famous grammar-school at Roxburgh in the twelfth -century,<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and considering the rarity of such an -opportunity at so early a period, and the proximity -of this place to the district in which Scot was born, -we may venture to fancy that here he may have -learned his rudiments, thus laying the foundation of -those deeper studies, which he afterwards carried -to such a height.</p> - -<p>With regard to Durham, the matter may be considered -to stand on firmer ground. The name of -Michael Scot, as we have already seen, has for many -ages been associated with this ancient Cathedral<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -city by the Wear. If the question of his birthplace -be regarded as now determined in favour of Scotland, -no reason remains for this association so convincing -as that which would derive it from the fact -that he pursued his education there. The Cathedral -School of Durham was a famous one, which no -doubt exerted a strong attraction upon studious -youths throughout the whole of that province. In -Scot’s case the advantages it offered may well have -seemed a desirable step to further advances; his -means, as one of a family already distinguished from -the common people, allowing him to plan a complete -course of study, and his ambition prompting him to -follow it.</p> - -<p>The common tradition asserts that when he left -Durham, Scot proceeded to Oxford. This is not -unlikely, considering the fame of that University, -and the number of students drawn from all parts of -the land who assembled there.<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> The only matters, -however, which offer themselves in support of this -bare conjecture are not, it must be said, very convincing. -Roger Bacon shows great familiarity with -Scot, and Bacon was an Oxford scholar, though his -studies at that University were not begun till long -after the time when Scot could possibly have been -a student there. It is quite possible, however, that -the interest shown by Bacon in Scot’s labours and -high reputation—not by any means of a kindly sort—may -have been awakened by traditions that were -still current in the Schools of Oxford when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -younger student came there. Near the end of his -life, Scot visited in a public capacity the chief -Universities of Europe, and brought them philosophic -treasures that were highly thought of by the -learned. It seems most probable, from the terms -in which Bacon speaks of this journey,<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> that it may -have included a visit to Oxford. This might of -course be matter of mere duty and policy, but one -cannot help observing how well it agrees with the -tradition that these schools were already familiar to -Scot. As a recognised alumnus of Oxford, he would -be highly acceptable there, being one whose European -fame shed no small lustre upon the scene of -his early studies.</p> - -<p>As to Paris, the next stage in Scot’s educational -progress, the historian of that University becomes -much more convincing when he claims for <cite>Lutetia</cite> -the honour of having contributed in a special sense -to the formation of this scholar’s mind. For here -tradition has preserved one of those sobriquets -which are almost invariably authentic. Scot, it -seems, gained here the name of <em>Michael the Mathematician</em>,<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -and this corresponds, not only with what -is known concerning the character of his studies, but -also with the nature of the course for which Paris -was then famous. There is another circumstance -which seems to point strongly in the same direction. -Every one must have noticed how invariably the -name of Scot is honoured by the prefix of <em>Master</em>. -This is the case not only in his printed works, but -also in popular tradition, as may be seen in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -well-known rhyme:—‘Maister Michael Scot’s man.’<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> -A Florence manuscript, to which we shall presently -refer more fully, throws some light upon the meaning -of this title, by describing Scot as that scholar, -‘who among the rest is known as the chief Master.’<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> -It is matter of common knowledge, that this degree -had special reference to the studies of the <i lang="la">Trivium</i> -and <i lang="la">Quadrivium</i>, being the scholastic crown reserved -for those who had made satisfactory progress in the -liberal arts. Scot then, according to the testimony -of early times, was the supreme Master in this -department of knowledge. But it is also certain -that Paris was then recognised as the chief school -of the <i lang="la">Trivium</i> and <i lang="la">Quadrivium</i>, just as Bologna had -a like reputation for Law, and Salerno for Medicine.<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> -We are therefore warranted to conclude that Michael -Scot could never have been saluted in European -schools as ‘Supreme Master,’ had he not studied -long in the French capital, and carried off the highly -esteemed honours of Paris.</p> - -<p>Another branch of study which tradition says -Scot followed with success at Paris was that of -theology. Du Boulay declares, indeed, that he -reached the dignity of doctor in that faculty, and -there is some reason to think that this may actually -have been the case. There can be no doubt that -an ecclesiastical career then offered the surest road -to wealth and fame in the case of all who aspired to -literary honours. That Scot took holy orders<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> seems -very probable. He may well have done so even -before he came to Paris, for Bacon makes it one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -his reproaches against the corruption of the times, -that men were ordained far too readily, and before -they had reached the canonical age: from their tenth -to their twentieth year, he says.<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> It is difficult to -verify Dempster’s assertion that Scot’s renown as -a theologian is referred to by Baconthorpe the -famous Carmelite of the following century.<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> This -author was commonly known as the <i lang="la">Princeps -Averroïstarum</i>. If he really mentions Michael, and -does not mean Duns Scotus, as there is some reason -to suspect, his praise may have been given quite -as much on the ground of profane as of religious -philosophy. On the other hand we find abounding -and unmistakable references to Scripture, the -Liturgy, and ascetic counsels in the writings of -Scot, from which it may safely be concluded that -he had not merely embraced the ecclesiastical -profession as a means of livelihood or of advancement, -but had seriously devoted himself to sacred -studies. It is true that we cannot point to any -instance in which he receives the title of doctor, -but this omission may be explained without -seriously shaking our belief in the tradition that -Scot gained this honour at Lutetia. During the -twelfth century the Bishop of Paris forbade the -doctors of theology to profess that faculty in any -other University.<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> Scot may well, therefore, have -been one of those philosophical divines who taught -<i lang="fr">entre les deux ponts</i>, as the same statute commanded -they should, though in other lands and -during his after-life, he came to be known simply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -as the ‘Great Master’: the brightest of all those -choice spirits of the schools on which Paris set -her stamp.</p> - -<p>At this point we may surely hazard a further -conjecture. Bacon tells us that in those days it -was the study of law, ecclesiastical and civil, rather -than of theology, which opened the way to honour -and preferment in the Church.<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Now Paris was -not more eminently and distinctly the seat of arts -than Bologna was the school of laws.<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> May not -Michael Scot have passed from the French to the -Italian University? Such a conjecture would be -worth little were it not for the support which -it undoubtedly receives from credible tradition. -Boccaccio in one of his tales<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> mentions Michael -Scot, and tells how he used to live in Bologna. -Many of the commentators on the <cite>Divine Comedy</cite> -of Dante dwell on the theme, and enrich it with -superstitious wonders.<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> It would be difficult to -find a period in the scholar’s life which suits better -with such a residence than that we are now -considering. On all accounts it seems likely -that he left Paris for Bologna, and found in the -latter city a highly favourable opening, which led -directly to the honours and successes of his after-life.</p> - -<p>He was now to leave the schools and enter a -wider sphere, not without the promise of high and -enduring fame. A child of the mist and the hill, -he had come from the deep woods and wild outland -life of the Scottish Border to what was already no -inconsiderable position. He knew Paris, not, need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -it be said, the gay capital of modern days, but Paris -of the closing years of the twelfth century, <i lang="la">Lutetia -Parisiorum</i>: her low-browed houses of wood and -mud; her winding streets, noisome even by day, -and by night still darker and more perilous; her vast -Latin Quarter, then far more preponderant than -now—a true cosmopolis, where fur-clad barbarians -from the home of the north wind sharpened wits -with the Latin races haply trained in southern -schools by some keen-browed Moor or Jew. And -Paris knew him, watched his course, applauded -his success, crowned his fame by that coveted -title of <em>Master</em>, which he shared with many others, -but which the world of letters made peculiarly his -own by creating for him a singular and individual -propriety in it. From Paris we may follow him -in fancy to Bologna, yet it is not hard to believe -he must have left half his heart behind, enchained -in that remarkable devotion which Lutetia could -so well inspire in her children.<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Bologna might -be, as we have represented it, the gate to a new -Eden, that of Scot’s Italian and Spanish life, yet -how could he enter it without casting many a -longing glance behind to the Paradise he had -quitted for ever when he left the banks of the -Seine?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="smaller">SCOT AT THE COURT OF SICILY</span></h2> - -<p>All tradition assures us that the chief occupation -of Scot’s life was found at the Court of Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, -King of Sicily, and afterwards Emperor of Germany: -a Prince deservedly famous, not only for -his own talent, but for the protection and encouragement -he afforded to men of learning. A -manuscript in the Laurentian Library,<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> hitherto -unnoticed in this connection, seems to throw some -light upon the time and manner of this employment: -points that have always been very obscure. -The volume is a collection of <i lang="la">Occulta</i>, and at p. 256 -we find the following title, ‘An Experiment of -Michael Scot the magician.’ What follows is of -no serious importance: such as it has we shall -consider in speaking of the Master’s legendary -fame. The concluding words, however, are of great -interest, especially when we observe that this part -of the manuscript, though written between 1450 -and 1500, is said<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> to have been copied ‘from a -very ancient book.’ The colophon runs thus: -‘Here endeth the necromantic experiment of the -most illustrious doctor, Master<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Michael Scot, who -among other scholars is known as the supreme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -Master; who was of Scotland, and servant to his -most distinguished chief Don Philip,<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> the King -of Sicily’s clerk;<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> which experiment he contrived<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> -when he lay sick in the city of Cordova. Finis.’</p> - -<p>Taking the persons here named in the order of -their rank, we notice first the great Emperor -Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, the patron of Michael Scot. It is -worth remark that he is styled simply ‘King of -Sicily,’ a title which belongs to the time previous -to 1215, when he obtained the Imperial crown. -This is a touch which seems to give high originality -and value to the colophon. We may feel sure that -it was not composed by the fifteenth century scribe, -who would certainly have described Frederick in -the usual style as Emperor and Lord of the World. -He must have copied it, and everything leads one -to suppose that he was right in describing the -source from which he drew as ‘very ancient.’</p> - -<p>Next comes Don Philip, whom we have rightly -described as the clerk of Sicily, for the word <i lang="la">coronatus</i> -in its mediæval use is derived from <i lang="la">corona</i> in the sense -of the priestly tonsure, so that <i lang="la">Philippus coronatus</i> -is equivalent to <i lang="la">Philippus clericus</i>.<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Of this distinguished -man we find many traces in the historical -documents of the period.<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Two deeds passed the -seals of Sicily in the year 1200 when the King, -then a boy of five years old, was living under the -care of his widowed mother the Queen Constantia. -These are countersigned by the royal notary, who -is described as ‘Philippus de Salerno, notarius et -fidelis noster scriba.’ His name is found in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -same way, apparently for the last time, in 1213. -This date, and the particular designation of Philip -the Notary as ‘of Salerno,’ connect themselves very -naturally with the title of a manuscript belonging -to the De Rossi collection.<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> It is as follows: ‘The -Book of the Inspections of Urine according to the -opinion of the Masters, Peter of Berenico, Constantine -Damascenus, and Julius of Salerno; which -was composed by command of the Emperor -Frederick, Anno Domini 1212, in the month of -February, and was revised by Master Philip of -Tripoli and Master Gerard of Cremona at the -orders of the King of Spain,’ etc. The person -designed as Philip of Salerno was very likely to be -put in charge of the revision of a medical treatise, -and as he disappears from his duties as notary for -some time after 1213 we may suppose that it was -then he passed into the service of the King of Spain. -This conjecture agrees also with the mention of -Cordova in the Florence manuscript, and with other -peculiarities it displays, such as the spelling of the -name <i lang="la">Philippus</i> like <i lang="es">Felipe</i>, and the way in which -the title <i lang="la">Dominus</i> is repeated, just as <i lang="es">Don</i> might -be in the style of a Spaniard. There is, in short, -every reason to conclude that Philip of Salerno and -Philip of Tripoli were one and the same person. -We may add that Philip was the author of the first -complete version in Latin of the book called <cite>Secreta -Secretorum</cite>, the preface of which describes him as a -<i lang="la">clericus</i> of the See of Tripoli. As will presently -appear, Michael Scot drew largely from this work -in composing one of his own;<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> another proof that -in confronting with each other these three names—Philippus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -coronatus or clericus; Philippus de -Salerno, and Philippus Tripolitanus—and in concluding -that they belong to one and the same -person, we have a reasonable amount of evidence -in our favour.</p> - -<p>From what has just been said it is plain that -three distinct periods must have composed the life -of Philip so far as we know it: the first when he -served as an ecclesiastic in Tripoli of Syria or its -neighbourhood; the second when he came westward, -and, not without a certain literary reputation, held -the post of Clerk Register in Sicily; the last when -Frederick sent him, in the height of his powers and -the fulness of his fame, to that neighbouring -country of Spain, then so full of attraction for every -scholar. In which of these periods then was it that -Michael Scot first came into those relations with -Philip of which the Florentine manuscript speaks? -The time of his residence in Spain, likely as it might -seem on other accounts, would appear to be ruled -out by the fact that it was too late for Philip to -be then described as servant of the <em>King of Sicily</em>. -Nor did he hold this office, so far as we can tell, -until he had left Tripoli for the West. We must -pronounce then for the Sicilian period, and precisely -therefore for the years between 1200 and 1213. -This conclusion, however, does not hinder us from -supposing that the relation then first formally -begun between Michael and Philip continued to -bind them, in what may have been a friendly co-operation, -during the time spent by both in Spain.</p> - -<p>The period thus determined was that of the -King’s boyhood, and this opens up another line of -argument which may be trusted not only to confirm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -the results we have reached, but to afford a more -exact view of Scot’s occupation in Sicily. Several -of his works are dedicated to Frederick, from which -it is natural to conclude that his employment -was one which brought him closely in contact -with the person of the King. When we examine -their contents we are struck by the tone which Scot -permits himself to use in addressing his royal -master. There is familiarity when we should expect -flattery, and the desire to impart instruction instead -of the wish to display obsequiousness. Scot -appears in fact as one careless to recommend himself -for a position at Court, certain rather of one -which must have been already his own. What can -this position have been?</p> - -<p>A tradition preserved by one of the commentaries -on Dante<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> informs us that Michael Scot was -employed as the Emperor’s tutor, and this explanation -is one which we need feel no hesitation in -adopting, as it clears up in a very convincing way -all the difficulties of the case. His talents, already -proved and crowned in Paris and Bologna, may well -have commended him for such a position. The -dedication of his books to Frederick, and the -familiar style in which he addresses the young prince, -are precisely what might be expected from the pen -of a court schoolmaster engaged in compiling -manuals <i lang="la">in usum Delphini</i>.<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> Nay the very title of -‘Master’ which Scot had won at Paris probably -owed its chief confirmation and continued employment -to the nature of his new charge. Since the -fifth century there had prevailed in Spain the habit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -of committing children of position to the course of -an ecclesiastical education.<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> They were trained by -some discreet and grave person called the <i lang="la">magister -disciplinae</i>, deputed by the Bishop to this office. -Such would seem to have been the manner of -Frederick’s studies. His guardian was the Pope; -he lived at Palermo under charge of the Canons of -that Cathedral,<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> and no doubt the ecclesiastical -character of Michael Scot combined with his -acknowledged talents to point him out as a suitable -person to fill so important a charge. It was his -first piece of preferment, and we may conceive that -he drew salary for his services under some title -given him in the royal registry. This would explain -his connection with Philip, the chief notary, on -which the Florentine manuscript insists. Such -fictitious employments have always been a part of -court fashion, and that they were common in Sicily -at the time of which we write may be seen from -the case of Werner and Philip de Bollanden, who, -though in reality most trusted and confidential -advisers of the Crown, were known at Court as the -chief butler and baker, titles which they were proud -to transmit to their descendants.<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> - -<p>It was at Palermo, then, that Michael Scot -must have passed the opening years of the thirteenth -century; now more than ever ‘Master,’ since he was -engaged in a work which carried with it no light -responsibility: the early education of a royal youth -destined to play the first part on the European -stage. The situation was one not without advantages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -of an uncommon kind for a scholar like Scot, -eager to acquire knowledge in every department. -Sicily was still, especially in its more remote and -mountainous parts about Entella, Giato, and Platani, -the refuge of a considerable Moorish population, -whose language was therefore familiar in the island, -and was heard even at Court; being, we are assured, -one of those in which Frederick received instruction.<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> -There can be little doubt that Scot availed -himself of this opportunity, and laid a good foundation -for his later work on Arabic texts by acquiring, -in the years of his residence at Palermo, at least the -vernacular language of the Moors.</p> - -<p>The same may be said regarding the Greek -tongue: a branch of study much neglected even by -the learned of those times. We shall presently -produce evidence which goes to show that Michael -Scot worked upon Greek as well as Arabic texts,<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> -and it was in all probability to his situation in -Sicily that he owed the acquisition of what was -then a very rare accomplishment. Bacon, who -deplores the ignorance of Greek which prevailed in -his days, recommends those who would learn this -important language to go to Italy, where, he says, -especially in the south, both clergy and people are -still in many places purely Greek.<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The reference -to <i lang="la">Magna Grecia</i> is obvious, and to Sicily, whose -Greek colonies preserved, even to Frederick’s time -and beyond it, their nationality and language. So -much was this the case, that it was thought necessary -to make the study of Greek as well as of Arabic -part of Frederick’s education. We can hardly err<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -in supposing that Scot profited by this as well as -by the other opportunity.</p> - -<p>In point of general culture too a residence at -Palermo offered many and varied advantages. Rare -manuscripts abounded, some lately brought to the -island, like that of the <cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite>, the -prize of Philip the Clerk, which he carried with -him when he came from Tripoli to Sicily, and -treasured there, calling it his ‘precious pearl’;<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> -others forming part of collections that had for some -time been established in the capital. As early as -the year 1143, George of Antioch, the Sicilian -Admiral, had founded the Church of St. Maria della -Martorana in Palermo, and had enriched it with a -valuable library, no doubt brought in great part -from the East.<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> A better opportunity for literary -studies could hardly have been desired than that -which the Prince’s Master now enjoyed.</p> - -<p>The society and surroundings in which Michael -Scot now found himself were such as must have -communicated a powerful impulse to the mind. -The Court was grave rather than gay, as had -befitted the circumstances of a royal widow, and -now of an orphan still under canonical protection -and busied in serious study, but this allowed the -wit and wisdom of learned men free scope, and thus -invited and encouraged their residence. Already, -probably, had begun that concourse and competition -of talents, for which the Court of Frederick was -afterwards so remarkable. Amid delicious gardens -at evening, or by day in the cool shade of courtyards: -those <i lang="it">patios</i> which the Moors had built so -well and adorned with such fair arabesques, all that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -was rarest in learning and brightest in wit, held -daily disputation, while the delicate fountains played -and Monte Pellegrino looked down on the curving -beauties of the bay and shore. A strange contrast -truly to the arcades of Bologna, now heaped with -winter snow and now baked by summer sun; to the -squalor of mediæval Paris, and much more to the -green hillsides and moist forest-clad vales of southern -Scotland. Here at last the spirit of Michael Scot -underwent a powerful and determining influence -which left its mark on all his subsequent life.</p> - -<p>As royal tutor, his peculiar duty would seem to -have been that of instructing the young Prince in -the different branches of mathematics. This we -should naturally have conjectured from the fact -that Scot’s fame as yet rested entirely upon the -honours he had gained at Paris, and precisely in -this department of learning; for ‘Michael the -Mathematician’ was not likely to have been called -to Palermo with any other purpose. We have -direct evidence of it however in an early work -which came from the Master’s pen, and one which -would seem to have been designed for the use of -his illustrious pupil. This was the <cite>Astronomia</cite>, or -<cite>Liber Particularis</cite>, and in the Oxford copy,<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> the -colophon of that treatise runs thus: ‘Here endeth -the book of Michael Scot, astrologer to the Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -Frederick, Emperor of Rome, and ever August; -which book he composed in simple style<a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> at the -desire of the aforesaid Emperor. And this he -did, not so much considering his own reputation, as -desiring to be serviceable and useful to young -scholars, who, of their great love for wisdom, desire -to learn in the Quadrivium the Art of Astronomy.’ -The preface says that this was the second book -which Scot composed for Frederick.</p> - -<p>The science of Astronomy was so closely joined -in those times with the art of Astrology, that it is -difficult to draw a clear distinction between them -as they were then understood. The one was but -the practical application of the other, and in -common use their names were often confused and -used interchangeably. We are not surprised then -to find the title of Imperial Astrologer given to -Michael Scot in the colophon to his <cite>Astronomia</cite>; he -was sure to be employed in this way, and the fact -will help us to determine with probability what -was the <em>first</em> book he wrote for the Emperor, that -to which the <cite>Liber Particularis</cite> was a sequel. For -there is actually extant under Scot’s name an astrological -treatise bearing the significant name of the -<cite>Liber Introductorius</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> This title agrees exceedingly -well with the position we are now inclined to give -it, and an examination of the preface confirms our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -conjecture in a high degree. It commences thus: -‘Here beginneth the preface of the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> -which was put forth by Michael Scot, -Astrologer to the ever August Frederick, Emperor -of the Romans, at whose desire he composed it concerning -astrology,<a name="FNanchor_54" id="FNanchor_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> in a simple style<a name="FNanchor_55" id="FNanchor_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> for the sake -of young scholars and those of weaker capacity, and -this in the days of our Lord Pope Innocent <span class="smcapuc">IV.</span>’<a name="FNanchor_56" id="FNanchor_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> -One cannot help noticing the close correspondence -between this and the colophon of the <cite>Astronomia</cite>. -The two treatises were the complement each of the -other. They must have been composed about the -same time, and were doubtless meant to serve as -text-books to guide the studies of Frederick’s youth. -That this royal pupil should have been led through -astrology to the higher and more enduring wonders -of astronomy need cause no surprise, for such a -course was quite in accordance with the intellectual -habits of the age. It may be doubted indeed -whether the men of those times would have shown -such perseverance in the observations and discoveries -proper to a pure science of the heavens, had it -not been for the practicable and profitable interest -which its application in astrology furnished. Astronomy, -such as it then was, formed the last and -highest study in the Quadrivium.<a name="FNanchor_57" id="FNanchor_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> It was here that -Scot had carried off honours at Paris, and now in -his <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> and <cite>Astronomia</cite>, we see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -him imparting the ripe fruits of that diligence to his -royal charge, whose education, so far as regarded -formal study, was thereby brought to a close.</p> - -<p>In the year 1209, when Frederick was but -fourteen years of age, the quiet study and seclusion -in which he still lived with those who taught him -was brought to an abrupt and, one must think, -premature conclusion. The boy was married, and -to a lady ten years his senior, Constance, daughter -of the King of Aragon, and already widow of the -King of Hungary. It is not hard to see that such -a union must have been purely a matter of arrangement. -The Prince of Palermo, undergrown and -delicate as he was,<a name="FNanchor_58" id="FNanchor_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> promised to be, as King of -Sicily and possibly Emperor, the noblest husband of -his time. Pope Innocent <span class="smcapuc">III.</span>, his guardian, foresaw -this, and chose a daughter of Spain as most fit to -occupy the proud position of Frederick’s wife, queen, -and perhaps empress. Had the wishes of Rome -prevailed at the Court of Aragon from the first, -this marriage would have taken place even earlier -than it did. The delay seems to have been owing, -not to any reluctance on the part of the bride’s -parents, but solely to the doubt which of two sisters, -elder or younger, widow or maid, should accept the -coveted honour.</p> - -<p>It was in spring, the loveliest season of the year -in that climate, that the fleet of Spain, sent to bear -the bride and her suite, rose slowly over the sea -rim and dropped anchor in the Bay of Palermo. -Constantia came with many in her company, the -flower of Catalan and Provençal chivalry, led by her -brother, Count Alfonso. The Bishop of Mazara,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -too, was among them, bearing a commission to -represent the Pope in these negotiations and -festivities. And now the stately Moorish palace, -with its courtyard, its fountains, and its gardens, -became once more a scene of gaiety, as—in the great -hall of forty pillars, beneath a roof such as Arabian -artists alone could frame, carved like a snow cave, -or stained with rich and lovely colour like a mass of -jewels set in gold—the officers of the royal household -passed solemnly on to offer homage before their -Prince and his bride. In the six great apartments of -state the frescoed forms of Christian art: Patriarchs -in their histories, Moses and David in their exploits, -and the last wild charge of Barbarossa’s Crusade,<a name="FNanchor_59" id="FNanchor_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> -looked down upon a moving throng of nobles and -commons who came to present their congratulations, -while the plaintive music of lute, of pipe, and tabor, -sighed upon the air, and skilful dancers swam before -the delighted guests in all the fascination of the -voluptuous East.</p> - -<p>What part could Michael Scot, the grave ecclesiastic, -and now doubly the ‘Master’ as Frederick’s -trusted tutor, play in the gay scene of his pupil’s -marriage? For many ages it has been the custom -among Italian scholars, the attached dependants of a -noble house, to offer on such occasions their homage -to bride and bridegroom in the form of a learned -treatise; any bookseller’s list of <i lang="it">Nozze</i> is enough to -show that the habit exists even at the present day. -This then was what Scot did; for there is every reason -to think that the <cite>Physionomia</cite>, which he composed -and dedicated to Frederick, was produced and -presented at the time of the royal marriage. No -date suits this publication so well as 1209, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -nothing but the urgent desire of Court and people -that the marriage should prove fruitful can explain, -one might add excuse, some passages of almost -fescennine licence which it contains.<a name="FNanchor_60" id="FNanchor_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> We seem to -find in the advice of the preface that Frederick should -study man, encouraging the learned to dispute in -his presence what may well have been the last -word of a master who saw his pupil passing to scenes -of larger and more active life at an unusually early -age, and before he could be fully trusted to take his -due place in the great world of European politics.</p> - -<p>The <cite>Physionomia</cite>, however, is too important a -work to be dismissed in a paragraph. Both the -subject itself, and the sources from which Scot -drew, deserve longer consideration. The science of -physiognomy, as its name imports, was derived -from the Greeks. Achinas, a contemporary of the -Hippocratic school, and Philemon, who is mentioned -in the introduction to Scot’s treatise, seem to have -been the earliest writers in this department of -philosophy. It was a spiritual medicine,<a name="FNanchor_61" id="FNanchor_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> and -formed part of the singular doctrine of <em>signatures</em>, -teaching as it did that the inward dispositions of -the soul might be read in visible characters upon -the bodily frame. The Alexandrian school made a -speciality of physiognomy. In Egypt it attained a -further development, and various writings in Greek -which expounded the system passed current during -the early centuries of our era under the names of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -Aristotle and Polemon. Through the common -channel of the Syriac schools and language it -reached the Arabs, and in the ninth century had -the fortune to be taken up warmly by Rases and -his followers, who made it a characteristic part of -their medical system. From this source then Scot -drew largely; chapters xxiv.-xxv. in Book <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> of his -<cite>Physionomia</cite> correspond closely with the <cite>De Medicina -ad Regem Al Mansorem</cite><a name="FNanchor_62" id="FNanchor_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> of Rases.<a name="FNanchor_63" id="FNanchor_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> - -<p>Among ancient texts on physiognomy, however, -perhaps the most famous was the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite>, or -<cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite>, which was ascribed to Aristotle. -Its origin, like that of other pseudo-Aristotelic -writings, seems to have been Egyptian. When -the conquests of Alexander the Great had opened -the way for a new relation between East and -West, Egypt, and especially its capital, Alexandria, -became the focus of a new philosophic influence. -The sect of the Essenes, transported hither, had -given rise to the school of the Therapeutae, where -Greek theories developed in a startling direction -under the power of Oriental speculation. The Therapeutae -were sun-worshippers, and eager students -of ancient and occult writings, as Josephus<a name="FNanchor_64" id="FNanchor_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> tells us -the Essenes had been. We find in the <cite>Abraxas</cite> -gems, of which so large a number has been preserved, -an enduring memorial of these people and -their system of thought.<a name="FNanchor_65" id="FNanchor_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> - -<p>The preface to the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite> affords several -matters which agree admirably with what we know -of the Therapeutae. The precious volume was the -prize of a scholar on his travels, who found it in -the possession of an aged recluse dwelling in the -<i lang="la">penetralia</i> of a sun-temple built by Æsculapius.<a name="FNanchor_66" id="FNanchor_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> -All this is characteristic enough, and when we -examine the substance of the treatise it appears -distinctly Therapeutic. Much of it is devoted to -bodily disease, to the regimen of the health, and to -that science of physiognomy which professed to -reveal, as in a spiritual diagnosis, the infirmities of -the soul. The ascription of the work to Aristotle, -Alexander’s tutor, seems quite in accordance with -this theory; in short, there is no reason to doubt -that it first appeared in Egypt, where it probably -formed one of the most cherished texts of the -Therapeutae.</p> - -<p>The preface to the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite> throws light -not only upon the origin of the treatise but also -upon its subsequent fortunes. It is said to have -been rendered from the Greek into Chaldee or -Syriac,<a name="FNanchor_67" id="FNanchor_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> and thence into Arabic, the usual channel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -by which the remains of ancient learning have -reached the modern world. The translator’s name -is given as Johannes filius Bitricii, but this can -hardly have been the well-known Ibn-el-Bitriq, -the freedman of Mamoun. To this latter author -indeed, the <cite>Fihrist</cite>, composed in 987, ascribes the -Arabic version of Aristotle’s <cite>De Cœlo et Mundo</cite>, -and of Plato’s <cite>Timaeus</cite>, so that his literary -faculty would seem to accord very well with -the task of translating the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite>. But -Foerster has observed<a name="FNanchor_68" id="FNanchor_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> that we find no trace of -this book in Arabian literature before the eleventh -century. Now the famous Ibn-el-Bitriq lived in the -ninth, as appears from several considerations. His -works were revised by Honain ibn Ishaq (873), -and, if we believe in the authenticity of the <cite>El -Hawi</cite>, where he is mentioned by name, then he -must have belonged to an age at least as early -as that of Rases who wrote it. In these perplexing -circumstances, Foerster gives up the attempt to -determine who may have been the translator of -the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite>, contenting himself with the conjecture -that some unknown scholar had assumed -the name of El Bitriq to give importance to the -production of his pen. We may be excused, -however, if we direct attention to two manuscripts -of the British Museum<a name="FNanchor_69" id="FNanchor_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> which do not seem to -have been noticed by those who have devoted -attention to this obscure subject. One of these, -which is written in a hand of the thirteenth -century, informs us that the man who transcribed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -it was a certain Said Ibn Butrus ibn Mansur, a -Maronite priest of Lebanon in the diocese of -Tripolis, a prisoner for twelve years in the place -where the royal standards were kept (? at Cairo), -who was released from that confinement in the -time of <em>al Malik an Nazir</em>. The other—a mere -fragment—contains a notice of the priest Yahyā, -or Yuhannā, ibn Butrus, who died in the year -1217 <span class="smcapuc">A.D.</span> It is not unlikely that some confusion -might arise between the names Patrick and Peter, -often used interchangeably. ‘Filius Patricii’ then -may have been no assumed designation, but the -equivalent of Ibn Butrus, the real name of this priest -of Tripoli, who was perhaps the translator of the -<cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite> at the close of the twelfth century.</p> - -<p>Those chapters of the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite> which relate -to regimen were translated into Latin by Johannes -Hispalensis. Jourdain identifies this author with -John Avendeath, who worked for the Archbishop -of Toledo between the years 1130 and 1150.<a name="FNanchor_70" id="FNanchor_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> But -Foerster shows that caution is needed here.<a name="FNanchor_71" id="FNanchor_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> The -Latin version was dedicated to Tarasia, Queen of -Spain. A queen of this name certainly lived contemporaneously -with John Avendeath, but she -was Queen of Portugal. Another Tarasia, however, -was Queen of Leon from 1176 to 1180. We may -observe that this latter epoch agrees well enough -with the lifetime of Ibn Butrus, who died in 1217, -and we find trace of another Johannes Hispanus, -who was a monk of Mount Tabor in 1175. Such -a man, who from his situation in Syria could -scarcely have been ignorant of Arabic, and whose -nationality agrees so well with a dedication to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -the Queen of Spain, and who was a contemporary -of Tarasia of Leon, may well have translated the -<cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite> into Latin. That part of the book -thus made public in the West appeared under -the following title: ‘De conservatione corporis -humani, ad Alexandrum.’ It is found in several -manuscripts of the Laurentian Library in Florence.<a name="FNanchor_72" id="FNanchor_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p>Soon afterwards, and probably in the opening -years of the thirteenth century, the whole book -was published in a Latin version by the same -Philippus Clericus, with whom we have already -become acquainted. We may recall the fact that -he belonged to the diocese of Tripoli, as Ibn -Butrus also did, and as Johannes Hispanus was -also a monk of Syria, these three scholars are seen -to be joined by a link of locality highly increasing -the probability that they actually co-operated in -the publication of this hitherto unknown text. -In his preface, Philip speaks of the Arabic manuscript -as a precious pearl, discovered while he -was still in Syria. This leads us to think that -his work in translating it was done after he had -left the East, and possibly in the course of his -voyage westward. We know that the Hebrew -version of Aristotle’s <cite>Meteora</cite> was produced in -similar circumstances. Samuel ben Juda ben -Tibbun says he completed that translation in the -year 1210, while the ship that bore him from -Alexandria to Spain was passing between the -isles of Lampadusa and Pantellaria.<a name="FNanchor_73" id="FNanchor_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> However -this may be, Philip of Tripoli dedicated his version -of the <cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite>, which he called the <cite>Secreta<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -Secretorum</cite>, to the Bishop under whom he had -hitherto lived and laboured: ‘Guidoni vere de -Valentia, civitatis Tripolis glorioso pontifici’: a -name and title little understood by the copyists, -who have subjected them to strange corruptions.<a name="FNanchor_74" id="FNanchor_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p>It is highly in favour of our identifying, as -we have already done, Philip of Tripoli, the -translator of the <cite>Secreta</cite>, with Philip of Salerno, -the Clerk Register of Sicily, that we find Michael -Scot, who stood in an undoubtedly close relation -to the Clerk Register, showing an intimate acquaintance -with the <cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite>. Foerster has -given us a careful and exact account of several -passages in different parts of the <cite>Physionomia</cite> of -Scot, which have their correspondences in the -works of Philip, so that it is beyond question that -the Latin version of the <cite>Secreta</cite> was one of the -sources from which Scot drew. Before leaving -this part of the subject, we may notice that translations -of Philip’s version into the vernacular -languages of Italy, France, and England were -made at an early date, both in prose and verse.<a name="FNanchor_75" id="FNanchor_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -The English version of the <cite>Secreta</cite> came from the -hand of the poet Lydgate.</p> - -<p>Another treatise of the same school, to which -Scot was also indebted, is to be found in the <cite>Physionomia</cite> -ascribed, like the <cite>Secreta</cite>, to Aristotle. The -Latin version of this apocryphal work was made, it -is said, directly from a Greek original, by Bartholomew -of Messina. This author wrote for Manfred -of Sicily, and at a time which excludes the -notion that Scot could have seen or employed his -work. Yet several passages in the preface to -Book <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> of Scot’s <cite>Physionomia</cite> have evidently -been borrowed from that of the Pseudo-Aristotle. -As no Arabic version of the treatise is known to -exist, the fact of this correspondence is one of -the proofs on which we may rely in support of -the conclusion that Scot must have known and -used the Greek language in his studies.</p> - -<p>The last two chapters of Book <span class="smcapuc">I.</span> in the <cite>Physionomia</cite> -of Scot show plainly that he had the -Arabic version of Aristotle’s <cite>History of Animals</cite> -before him as he wrote. We shall recur to this -matter when we come to deal with the versions -which Scot made expressly from these books. -Meanwhile let us guard against the impression -naturally arising from our analysis of the <cite>Physionomia</cite>, -that it was a mere compilation. Many -parts of the work show no correspondence with any -other treatise on the subject that is known to us, -and these must be held as the results of the author’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -own observations. The arrangement of the whole -is certainly original, nor can we better conclude our -study of the <cite>Physionomia</cite>, than by giving a comprehensive -view of its contents in their order. The -work is divided into three books, each having its -own introduction. The first expounds the mysteries -of generation and birth, and reaches, as we have -already remarked, even beyond humanity to a considerable -part of the animal world so much studied -by the Arabians. The second expounds the signs -of the different complexions, as these become visible -in any part of the body, or are discovered by -dreams. The third examines the human frame -member by member, explaining what signs of the -inward nature may be read in each. The whole -forms a very complete and interesting compendium -of the art of physiognomy as then understood, and -must have seemed not unworthy of the author, nor -unsuitable as an offering to the young prince, who -by marriage was about to enter on the great world -of affairs, where knowledge of men would henceforth -be all-important to his success and happiness. The -book attained a wide popularity in manuscript, and -the invention of printing contributed to increase its -circulation in Europe:<a name="FNanchor_76" id="FNanchor_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> no less than eighteen editions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -are said to have been printed between 1477 and -1660.<a name="FNanchor_77" id="FNanchor_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> - -<p>In the copy preserved at Milan, the <cite>Physionomia</cite> -is placed immediately after the <cite>Astronomia</cite>, or -<cite>Liber Particularis</cite>. A similar arrangement is found -in the Oxford manuscript. This fact is certainly in -favour of the view we have adopted, and would seem -to fix very plainly the date and relation of these -works. They stand beside the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite>, -and, together with it, form the only remains -we have of Scot’s first literary activity, being publications -that were called out in the course of his -scholastic duty to the King of Sicily. The <cite>Liber -Introductorius</cite> opens this series. It is closely -related by the nature of its subject-matter to the -<cite>Astronomia</cite>, or <cite>Liber Particularis</cite>, while the <cite>Physionomia</cite> -forms a fitting close to the others with which -it is thus associated. In this last treatise Michael -Scot sought to fulfil his charge by sending forth -his pupil to the great world, not wholly unprovided -with a guide to what is far more abstruse and incalculable -than any celestial theorem, the mystery of -human character and action.</p> - -<p>In presenting the <cite>Physionomia</cite> to Frederick, -Scot took what proved a long farewell of the Court; -for many years passed before he saw the Emperor -again. The great concourse of the Queen’s train, -together with the assembly of Frederick’s subjects -at Palermo, bred a pestilence under the dangerous -heats of spring. A sudden horror fell on the -masques and revels of these bright days, with the -death of the Queen’s brother, Count Alfonso of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -Provence, and several others, so that soon the fair -gardens and pleasant palace were emptied and -deserted as a place where only the plague might -dare to linger. The King and Queen, with five -hundred Spanish knights and a great Sicilian following, -passed eastward; to Cefalù first, and then -on to Messina and Catania, as if they could not -put too great a distance between themselves and -the infected spot. Meanwhile Michael Scot, whose -occupation in Palermo, and indeed about the King, -was now gone, set sail in the opposite direction and -sought the coast of Spain. Whether the idea of -this voyage was his own, was the result of a royal -commission, or had been suggested by some of the -learned who came with Queen Constantia from her -native land, it is now impossible to say. It was in -any case a fortunate venture, which did much, not -only for Scot’s personal fame, but for the general -advantage in letters and in arts.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="smaller">SCOT AT TOLEDO</span></h2> - -<p>In following the course which Michael Scot held in -his voyage to Spain, we approach what was beyond -all doubt the most important epoch in the life of -that scholar. Hitherto we have seen him as the -student preparing at Paris or Bologna for a brilliant -future, or as the tutor of a youthful monarch, essaying -some literary ventures, which justified the -position he held in Sicily, and recommended him -for future employment. But the moment was now -come which put him at last in possession of an -opportunity suitable to his training and talents. -We are to see how he won in Spain his greatest -reputation in connection with the most important -literary enterprise of the age, and one which is -indeed not the least remarkable of all time.</p> - -<p>The part which the Arabs took in the intellectual -awakening of Europe is a familiar theme of -early mediæval history. That wonderful people, -drawn from what was then an unknown land of the -East, and acted on by the mighty sense of religion -and nationality which Mohammed was able to -communicate, fell like a flood upon the weak remains -of older civilisations, and made huge inroads upon -the Christian Empire of the East. Having reached -this point in their career of conquest they became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -in their turn the conquered, not under force of arms -indeed, but as subdued by the still vital intellectual -power possessed by those whom they had in -a material sense overcome. In their new seat by -the streams of the Euphrates they learned from -their Syrian subjects, now become their teachers, -the treasures of Greek philosophy which had been -translated into the Aramaic tongue. Led captive -as by a spell, the Caliphs of the Abassid line, especially -Al Mansour, Al Rachid, and Al Mamoun, -encouraged with civil honours and rewards the -labours of these learned men. Happy indeed was -the Syrian who brought to life another relic of the -mighty dead, or who gave to such works a new -immortality by rendering them into the Arabic -language.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the progress of the Ommiad arms, -compelled to seek new conquests by the defeat they -had sustained in the East from the victorious -Abbassides, was carrying the Moors west and ever -westward along the northern provinces of Africa. -Egypt and Tripoli and Tunis successively fell before -their victorious march; Algiers and Morocco shared -the same fate, and at last, crossing the Straits of -Gibraltar, the Moors overran Spain, making a new -Arabia of that western peninsula, which in position -and physical features bore so great a likeness to -the ancient cradle of their race.</p> - -<p>It is true indeed that long ere the period of -which we write the Moorish power in the West had -received a severe check, and had, for at least a -century, entered on its period of decay. The battle -of Tours, fought in 732, had driven the infidels -from France. The Christian kingdoms of Spain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -itself had rallied their courage and their forces, -and, in a scene of chivalry, which inspired many a -tale and song, had freed at least the northern -provinces of that country from the alien power. -But weapons of war, as we have already seen in -the case of the Arabs themselves, are not the only -means of conquest. The surest title of the Moors -to glory lies in the prevailing intellectual influence -they were able to exert over that Christendom -which, in a political sense, they had failed to -subdue and dispossess. The scene we have just -witnessed in the East was now repeated in Spain, -but was repeated in an exactly opposite sense. -The mental impulse received from the remains of -Greek literature at Bagdad now became in its -turn the motive power which not only sufficed to -carry these forgotten treasures westward in the -course of Moorish conquest, but succeeded, through -that nation, in rousing the Latin races to a sense of -their excellence, and a generous ambition to become -possessed of all the culture and discipline they were -capable of yielding.</p> - -<p>The chief centre of this influence, as it was the -chief scene of contact between the two races, -naturally lay in Spain. During the ages of Moorish -dominion the Christians of this country had lived -in peace and prosperity under the generous protection -of their foreign rulers. To a considerable -extent indeed the Moors and Spaniards amalgamated -by intermarriage. The language of the -conquerors was familiarly employed by their -Spanish subjects, and these frequented in numbers -the famous schools of science and literature established -by the Moors at Cordova, and in other cities<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -of the kingdom. Proof of all this remains in the -public acts of the Castiles, which continued to be -written in Arabic as late as the fourteenth century, -and were signed by Christian prelates in the same -characters;<a name="FNanchor_78" id="FNanchor_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> in the present language of Spain which -retains so many words of eastern origin; but, above -all, in the profound influence, now chiefly engaging -our attention, which has left its mark upon almost -every branch of our modern science, literature, and -art.</p> - -<p>This result was largely owing to a singular -enterprise of the twelfth century with which the -learned researches of Jourdain have made us familiar.<a name="FNanchor_79" id="FNanchor_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> -Scholars from other lands, such as Constantine, -Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, Adelard of -Bath, Hermann, and Alfred and Daniel de Morlay, -had indeed visited Spain during that age and the one -which preceded it, and had, as individuals, made -a number of translations from the Arabic, among -which were various works in medicine and mathematics, -as well as the first version of the Koran. -But in the earlier half of the twelfth century, and -precisely between the years 1130 and 1150, this -desultory work was reduced to a system by the -establishment of a regular school of translation in -Toledo. The credit of this foundation, which did -so much for mediæval science and letters, belongs -to Don Raymon, Archbishop of Toledo and Primate -of Spain. This enlightened and liberal churchman -was by origin a French monk, born at Agen, whom -Bernard, a previous Primate, had brought southward -in his train, as he returned from a journey<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -beyond the Pyrenees. Don Raymon associated with -himself his Archdeacon, Dominicus Gundisalvus, and -a converted Jew commonly known as Johannes -Hispalensis or John of Seville, whom Jourdain has -identified with Johannes Avendeath: this latter -being in all probability his proper name. These -formed the heads of the Toledo school in its earliest -period, and the enterprise was continued throughout -the latter half of the century by other scholars, of -whom Gherardus Cremonensis the elder was probably -the chief. Versions of the voluminous works of Avicenna, -as well as of several treatises by Algazel and -Alpharabius, and of a number of medical writings, -were the highly prized contribution of the Toledo -school to the growing library of foreign authors -now accessible in the Latin language.</p> - -<p>It is probable that when Michael Scot left Sicily -he did so with the purpose of joining this important -enterprise. His movements naturally suggest such -an idea, as he proceeded to Toledo, still the centre -of these studies, and won, during the years of his -residence there, the name by which he is best -known in the world of letters, that of the chief -exponent of the Arabo-Aristotelic philosophy in the -West.</p> - -<p>The name and fame of Aristotle, never quite forgotten -even in the darkest age,<a name="FNanchor_80" id="FNanchor_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and now known and -extolled among Moorish scholars, formed indeed the -ground of that immense reputation which Arabian -philosophy enjoyed in Europe. The Latin schools -had long been familiar with the logical writings of -Aristotle, but the modern spirit, soon to show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -itself as it were precociously in Bacon and Albertus -Magnus, was already awake, and under its influence -men had begun to demand more than the mere -training of the mind in abstract reasoning. Even -the application of dialectics to evolve or support -systems of doctrine drawn from Holy Scripture -could not content this new curiosity. Men were -becoming alive to the larger book of nature which -lay open around them, and, confounded at first by -the complexity of unnumbered facts in sea and sky, -in earth and air, they began to long for help from -the great master of philosophy which might guide -their first trembling footsteps in so strange and -untrodden a realm of knowledge. Nor was the hope -of such aid denied them. There was still a tradition -concerning the lost works of Aristotle on physics. -The Moors, it was found, boasted their possession, -and even claimed to have enriched these priceless -pages by comments which were still more precious -than the original text itself.</p> - -<p>The mere hope that it might be so was enough -to beget a new crusade, when western scholars vied -with each other in their efforts to recover these lost -treasures and restore to the schools of Europe the -impulse and guidance so eagerly desired. Such -had, in fact, been the aim of Archbishop Raymon -and the successive translators of the Toledan school. -The important place they assigned to Avicenna -among those whose works they rendered into Latin -was due to the fact that this author had come to be -regarded in the early part of the twelfth century as -the chief exponent of Aristotle, whose spirit he had -inherited, and on whose works he had founded his -own.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p>The part of the Aristotelic writings to which -Michael Scot first turned his attention would seem -to have been the history of animals. This, in the -Greek text, consisted of three distinct treatises: -first the <cite>De Historiis Animalium</cite> in ten books; next -the <cite>De Partibus Animalium</cite> in four books; and -lastly, the <cite>De Generatione Animalium</cite> in five books. -The Arabian scholars, however, who paid great -attention to this part of natural philosophy and -made many curious observations in it, were accustomed -to group these three treatises under the -general title <cite>De Animalibus</cite>, and to number their -books or chapters consecutively from one to nineteen, -probably for convenience in referring to them. -As Scot’s work consisted of a translation from -Arabic texts it naturally followed the form which -had been sanctioned by the use and wont of the -eastern commentators.</p> - -<p>At least two versions of the <cite>De Animalibus</cite> appeared -from the pen of Scot. These have sometimes -been confounded with each other, but are -really quite distinct, representing the labours of -two different Arabian commentators on the text of -Aristotle. We may best commence by examining -that of which least is known, the <cite>De Animalibus ad -Caesarem</cite>, as it is commonly called, and this the -rather that there is good reason to suppose it represents -the first Arabian work on Natural History -which came into Scot’s hands.</p> - -<p>Nothing is known certainly regarding the author -of this commentary. Jourdain and Steinschneider -conclude with reason that the text must have been -an Arabic and not a Hebrew one, as Camus<a name="FNanchor_81" id="FNanchor_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -Wüstenfeld<a name="FNanchor_82" id="FNanchor_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> contend. No one, however, has hitherto -ventured any suggestion throwing light on the -personality of the writer. The colophon to the -copy of Scot’s version in the <cite>Bibliotheca Angelica</cite> of -Rome contains the word <em>Alphagiri</em>, which would -seem to stand for the proper name Al Faquir. -But in all probability, as we shall presently show, -this may be merely the name of the Spanish Jew -who aided Michael Scot in the work of translation.</p> - -<p>The expression ‘secundum extractionem Michaelis -Scoti,’ which is used in the same colophon, would -seem to indicate that this version, voluminous as it -is, was no more than a compend of the original. -The title of the manuscript too: ‘Incipit flos primi -libri Aristotelis de Animalibus’ agrees curiously with -this, and with the word <em>Abbreviatio</em> (<em>Avicennae</em>), -used to describe Scot’s second version of the <cite>De -Animalibus</cite> of which we are presently to speak. Are -we then to suppose that in each case the translator -exercised his faculty of selection, and that the form -of these compends was due, not to Avicenna, nor to -the unknown author of the text called in Scot’s -version the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, but to -Scot himself? The expressions just cited would -seem to open the way for such a conclusion.</p> - -<p>The contents of the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite> -may be inferred from the Prologue which is as -follows: ‘In Nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi -Omnipotentis Misericordis et Pii, translatio tractatus -primi libri quem composuit Aristoteles in -cognitione naturalium animalium, agrestium et -marinorum, et in illo est conjunctionis animalium -modus et modus generationis illorum cum coitu,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -cum partitione membrorum interiorum et apparentium, -et cum meditatione comparationum eorum, et -actionum eorum, et juvamentorum et nocumentorum -eorum, et qualiter venantur, et in quibus locis sunt, -et quomodo moventur de loco ad locum propter dispositionem -presentis aetatis, aestatis et hiemis, et -unde est vita cuiuslibet eorum, scilicet modorum -avium, et luporum, et piscium maris et qui ambulant -in eo.’ It seems tolerably certain that the substance -of this prologue came from the Arabic -original, which must have commenced with the -ascription of praise to God so commonly employed -by Mohammedans: ‘Bi-smilláhi-r-rahhmáni-r-rahheém’ -(In the Name of God, the Compassionate; -the Merciful).<a name="FNanchor_83" id="FNanchor_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> The clumsiness of the -Latin, which here, as in the body of the work, seems -to labour heavily in the track of a foreign text,<a name="FNanchor_84" id="FNanchor_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> adds -force to this assumption. The hand of Scot is seen, -however, where the name of our Saviour has been -substituted for that of Allah, and also in the closing -words, which ring with a strong reminiscence of the -eighth Psalm. The churchman betrays himself here -as in not a few other places which might be quoted -from his different writings.</p> - -<p>By far the most interesting matter, however, -which offers itself for our consideration here, lies in -the comparison we are now to make between this -book and a former work of Scot, the <cite>De Physionomia</cite>. -This comparison, which has never before been attempted, -will throw light on both these texts, but -has a special value as it affords the means of dating,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -at least approximately, the composition of Scot’s -version of the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>.</p> - -<p>We have already remarked that the last two -chapters of the first book of the <cite>Physionomia</cite> suggest -that in compiling them the author had before -him an Arabic treatise on Natural History. A -natural conjecture leads us further to suppose that -this may have been the original from which he -translated the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, and -this idea becomes a certainty when we pursue the -comparison a little more closely. Take for example -this curious passage from the <cite>Physionomia</cite> (Book <span class="smcapuc">I.</span> -chap, ii.): ‘Incipiunt pili paulatim oriri in pectine -unitas quorum dicitur femur … item sibi vox -mutatur.’ Its obscurity disappears when we confront -it with the corresponding words in the <cite>De Animalibus -ad Caesarem</cite>, and thus discover what was no doubt -the original source from which Scot derived it: -‘Incipiunt pili oriri in pectore <em>Kameon alkaratoki</em>, -et in isto tempore mutatur vox eius.’<a name="FNanchor_85" id="FNanchor_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> There is no -need to extend the comparison any further than -this significant passage. Doubt may arise regarding -the depth and accuracy of Scot’s knowledge of the -Arabic tongue, the nature of the text that lay -before him, or the reason he may have had for -retaining foreign words in the one version which he -translated in the other; but surely this may be -regarded as now clearly established, that some part -of the first book of the <cite>Physionomia</cite> was derived by -compilation from the same text which appeared in -a Latin dress as the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, -and that this source was an Arabic one.</p> - -<p>This point settled, it becomes possible to establish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -another. One of the copies of the <cite>De Animalibus -ad Caesarem</cite><a name="FNanchor_86" id="FNanchor_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> has the following colophon: ‘Completus -est liber Aristotelis de animalibus, translatus -a magistro michaele in tollecto de arabico in -latinum.’ Now if the version was made in Toledo, -it was probably posterior in date to the <cite>Physionomia</cite>. -This indeed is no more than might have been asserted -on the ground of common likelihood; for, -when a compilation and a complete version of one -of the sources from which it was derived are both -found passing under the name of the same author, -it is but natural to suppose that the first was made -before the other, and that in the interval the author -had conceived the idea of producing in a fuller form -a work he had already partially published.</p> - -<p>Resuming then the results we have reached, it -appears that Scot had met with this Arabic commentary -on the Natural History of Aristotle while -he was still in Sicily, and had made extracts from -it for his <cite>Physionomia</cite>. Coming to Spain he probably -carried the manuscript with him, and as his -version of the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite> seems to -have been the first complete translation he made -from the Arabic, and to have been published shortly -after he came to the Castiles, he may possibly have -begun work upon it even before his arrival there. -On every account, there being no positive evidence -to the contrary, we may conjecture that the <cite>De -Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, like the <cite>Physionomia</cite>, -belongs to the year 1209. If the latter work -appeared at Palermo in time for the royal marriage, -which took place in spring, the former may well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -have been completed and published towards the end -of the same year, when Scot had no doubt been -already some time settled in Toledo.</p> - -<p>The second form in which Michael Scot produced -his work upon the Natural History of Aristotle was -that of a version called the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite>. -The full title as it appears in the printed copy<a name="FNanchor_87" id="FNanchor_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> is: -‘Avicenna de Animalibus per Magistrum Michaelem -Scotum de Arabico in Latinum translatus.’ Like -the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite> it consists of -nineteen books, thus comprehending the three -Aristotelic treatises in one work.</p> - -<p>The name of <em>Ibn Sina</em> or Avicenna, the author -of the Arabic original, is significant, as it enables -us to connect in a remarkable way the present -labours of Scot’s pen with those which had in a -past age proceeded from the school of translators at -Toledo, and to place the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> in its true -relation with the system of versions which had been -published there nearly a century before. We have -already remarked that Don Raymon directed the -attention of his translators to Avicenna as the best -representative, both of Aristotle himself and of the -Arabian wisdom which had gathered about his -writings. A manuscript of great interest preserved -in the library of the Vatican<a name="FNanchor_88" id="FNanchor_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> shows what the -labours of Gundisalvus, Avendeath, and their coadjutors -had been, and how far they had proceeded -in the task of making this author accessible to -Latin students. From it we learn that the <cite>Logic</cite>, -the <cite>Physics</cite>, the <cite>De Cœlo et Mundo</cite>, the <cite>Metaphysics</cite>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -the <cite>De Anima</cite>, called also <cite>Liber sextus de -Naturalibus</cite>; and the <cite>De generatione Lapidum</cite> of -Avicenna, had come from the school of Toledo -during the twelfth century in a Latin dress. The -last-named treatise was apparently a comment on -the <cite>Meteora</cite> of Aristotle, and the whole belonged to -that <cite>Kitab Alchefâ</cite>, which was called by the Latins -the <cite>Assephae</cite>, <cite>Asschiphe</cite> or <cite>Liber Sufficientiae</cite>. This -collection was said to form but the first and most -common of the three bodies of philosophy composed -by Avicenna. It represented the teaching of -Aristotle and the Peripatetics, while the second -expounded the system of Avicenna himself, and -the third contained the more esoteric and occult -doctrines of natural philosophy.<a name="FNanchor_89" id="FNanchor_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> Of these the -first alone had reached the Western schools.</p> - -<p>It is plain then that until Michael Scot took the -work in hand Toledo had not completed the Latin -version of Avicenna by translating that part of the -<cite>Alchefâ</cite> which concerned the Natural History of -Animals. The <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> thus came to -supply the defect and to crown the labours of the -ancient college of translators. This place of honour -is actually given to it in the Vatican manuscript -just referred to, where it follows the <cite>De generatione -Lapidum</cite>, and forms the fitting close of that remarkable -series and volume. Thus, while the <cite>De -Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite> connects itself with the -<cite>Physionomia</cite>, and with Scot’s past life in Sicily, the -<cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> joins him closely and in a -very remarkable way with the whole tradition of -the Toledo school, of which, by this translation, he -at once became not the least distinguished member.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;" id="illus3"> -<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="700" height="550" alt="Facsimile of colophon to Scot’s Abbreviatio Avicennae" /> -<p class="caption">FROM M.S. FONDO VATICANO 4428, p. 158, <i lang="la">recto</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<p>The authority of this manuscript, now perhaps -for the first time appealed to, is sufficient not only -to determine the relation of Scot’s work to that of -the earlier Toledan school, but even, by a most -fortunate circumstance, enables us to feel sure of -the exact date when the translation of the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> -was made. For the colophon to the Vatican manuscript, -brief as it is, contains in one line a fact of -the utmost interest and importance to all students -of the life of Scot. It is as follows: ‘<span id="erratum">Explicit -anno Domini mºcºcºx</span>.’<a name="FNanchor_90" id="FNanchor_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> The researches of Jourdain -had the merit of making public two colophons from -the manuscripts of Paris, containing the date of -another and later work of Scot,<a name="FNanchor_91" id="FNanchor_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> but since the days -of that savant no further addition of this valuable -kind has been made to our knowledge of the -philosopher’s life. The date just cited from the -Vatican copy of the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> shows, however, -that further inquiry in this direction need not be -abandoned as useless. We now know accurately -the time when this version was completed, and find -the date to be such as accords exactly with our idea -that Scot must have quitted Sicily soon after the -marriage of Frederick; for the year 1210 may be -taken as a fixed point determining the time when -he first became definitely connected with the Toledo -school. It will be remembered that we anticipated -this result of research so far as to use it in our -attempt to conjecture the date of Scot’s birth.<a name="FNanchor_92" id="FNanchor_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> - -<p>Like the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, the <cite>Abbreviatio -Avicennae</cite> bears a dedication to Frederick -conceived in the following terms: ‘<cite>O Frederick,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -Lord of the World and Emperor, receive with -devotion this book of Michael Scot, that it may be -a grace unto thy head and a chain about thy neck.</cite>’<a name="FNanchor_93" id="FNanchor_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> -It will always be matter of doubt whether in this -address Scot appealed to a taste for natural history -already formed in his pupil before he left Palermo, -or whether the interest subsequently shown by this -monarch in studying the habits of animals was -awakened by the perusal of these two volumes. In -any case they must have done not a little to guide -both his interest and his researches. The chroniclers -tell us of Frederick’s elephant, which was sent to -Cremona, of the cameleopard, the camels and -dromedaries, the lions, leopards, panthers, and rare -birds which the royal menagerie contained, and of -a white bear which, being very uncommon, formed -one of the gifts presented by the Emperor on an -important occasion. We hear too that Frederick, -not content with gathering such rarities under his -own observation, entered upon more than one curious -experiment in this branch of science. Desiring to -learn the origin of language he had some children -brought up, so Salimbene tells us, beyond hearing -of any spoken tongue. In the course of another -inquiry he caused the surgeon’s knife to be ruthlessly -employed upon living men that he might lay -bare the secrets and study the process of digestion. -If these experiments do not present the moral -character of the Emperor in a very attractive light, -they may at least serve to show how keenly he was -interested in the study of nature.</p> - -<p>This interest indeed went so far as to lead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -Frederick to join the number of royal authors by -publishing a work on falconry.<a name="FNanchor_94" id="FNanchor_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> In it he ranges -over all the species of birds then known, and insists -on certain rarities, such as a white cockatoo, which -had been sent to him by the Sultan from Cairo. -He thus appears in his own pages, not merely as a -keen sportsman, but as one who took no narrow -interest in natural history. Clearly the dedication -of the <cite>De Animalibus</cite> and the <cite>Abbreviatio -Avicennae</cite> was no empty compliment as it flowed -from the pen of Scot. He had directed his first -labours from Toledo to one who could highly appreciate -them, and to these works must be ascribed, -in no small measure, the growth of the Emperor’s -interest in a subject then very novel and little -understood.</p> - -<p>As regards the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> indeed, -we have actual evidence of the esteem in which -Frederick held it. The book remained treasured in -the Imperial closet at Melfi for more than twenty -years, and, when at last the Emperor consented to -its publication, so important was the moment -deemed, that a regular writ passed the seals giving -warrant for its transcription.<a name="FNanchor_95" id="FNanchor_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> Master Henry of -Colonia<a name="FNanchor_96" id="FNanchor_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> was the person selected by favour of -Frederick for this work, and, as most of the manuscripts -of the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> now extant have a -colophon referring in detail to this transaction, we -may assume that Henry’s copy, made from that -belonging to the Emperor, was the source from -which all others have been derived.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p>This Imperial original would seem to be more -nearly represented by the Vatican copy<a name="FNanchor_97" id="FNanchor_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> than by -any other which remains in the libraries of Europe. -From it we discover that the Arabic names with -which the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> abounds were given in Latin -in the margin of the original manuscript, which -Scot sent to the Emperor.<a name="FNanchor_98" id="FNanchor_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> These hard words and -their explanations were afterwards gathered in a -glossary, and inscribed at the end of the treatise; an -improvement which was probably due to Henry of -Colonia. The glossary has, however, been quite -neglected by later copyists, nor does it appear in -the printed edition of the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite>. -The completeness with which it is found in the -Vatican manuscript shows the close relation which -that copy holds to the one first made by the -Emperor’s permission. The Chigi manuscript<a name="FNanchor_99" id="FNanchor_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> -seems to be the only other in which the glossary is -to be found. It therefore ranks beside that of the -Vatican, but is inferior to it as it presents the -glossary in a less complete form.</p> - -<p>The originality of the Vatican text perhaps -appears also in the curious triplet with which it -closes: ‘Liber iste inceptus est et expletus cum -adiutorio Jesu Christi qui vivit, etc.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Frenata penna, finito nunc Avicenna</div> -<div class="verse">Libro Caesario, gloria summa Deo</div> -<div class="verse">Dextera scriptoris careat gravitate doloris.’<a name="FNanchor_100" id="FNanchor_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Several other copies of the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> have the -first two lines, but this alone contains the third.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -In the Chigi manuscript, the place of these verses -is occupied by a curious feat of language:—</p> - -<table summary="Extract from the Chigi manuscript"> - <tr> - <td>latinum</td> - <td>arabicum</td> - <td>sclauonicum</td> - <td>teutonicum</td> - <td>arabicum</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Felix</td> - <td>el melic</td> - <td>dober</td> - <td>Friderich</td> - <td>salemelich.<a name="FNanchor_101" id="FNanchor_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>To whatever period it belongs, the writer’s purpose -was doubtless to recall to the mind the four nations -over which Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> ruled, and the splendid -kingdoms of Sicily, Germany, and Jerusalem which -he gathered in one under his imperial power.</p> - -<p>In the Laurentian Library there is a valuable -manuscript, written during the summer and autumn -of 1266, for the monks of Santa Croce.<a name="FNanchor_102" id="FNanchor_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> It contains -the <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>; the <cite>Abbreviatio -Avicennae</cite>, and, as a third and concluding -article, an independent version of the <cite>Liber de -Partibus Animalium</cite>, corresponding, as has been -said, to books xi.-xiv. of the other versions which the -volume contains. Bandini, in the printed catalogue -of the library, asserts that this third translation, -unlike the two which precede it, was made from -the Greek. This is probably correct, as it was only -the Greek text which treated these four chapters of -the Natural History as a distinct work. He further -ascribes the version to Michael Scot, relying no -doubt on the general composition of the volume, -for this particular translation does not seem to contain -any direct evidence of authorship. Thus the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -doubt expressed by Jourdain in this matter<a name="FNanchor_103" id="FNanchor_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> is not -without reason, though the balance of probability -would seem to incline in favour of Bandini’s opinion; -for such a volume can scarcely be assumed to have -been a mere miscellany without clear evidence that -the contents come from more than one author. -Taking it for granted then that the <cite>De Partibus -Animalium</cite> came from Scot’s pen, then this is the -third form in which his labours on the Natural -History of Aristotle appeared.</p> - -<p>In any case, however, his chief merit in this -department of study belonged to Michael Scot as -the exponent of the Arabian naturalists. It is -difficult for any one who has not read the books in -question to form an adequate idea of their contents, -and still more of their style; even from the most -careful description. We are made to feel that the -task of the translator must have been a very difficult -one. There is a concentration combined with -great wealth of detail, and withal a constant nimble -transition from one subject to another, seemingly -remote, under the suggestion of some subtle connection, -which result in a style almost baffling to one -who sought to reproduce it in his comparatively -slow and clumsy Latin.</p> - -<p>No greater contrast could be imagined than that -which separates such works from those which are the -production of our modern writers on the same subject. -Nor does this difference depend, as one might -suppose, on the fact that a wider field of observation -is open to us, and more adequate collections of -facts are at our disposal. Rather is it the case that -between ancients and moderns, between the eastern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -and western world, there is an entirely different -understanding of the whole subject. A different -principle of arrangement is at work, and results in -the wide diversity of manner which strikes us as -soon as we open the <cite>De Animalibus</cite> or the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite>. -We find ourselves in the presence of a -system of ideas, more or less abstract, which a -wealth of facts derived from keen and wide observation -of the world of nature is employed to illustrate. -There is a finer division than with us. -The unit in these works is not the species nor even -the individual, but some single part or passion. -This the author follows through all he knew of the -multitudinous maze of nature, comparing and discerning -and recording with a <i lang="fr">bizarrerie</i> which comes -to resemble nothing so much as the fantastic dance -of form and colour in a kaleidoscope.</p> - -<p>‘Birds,’ says Avicenna,<a name="FNanchor_104" id="FNanchor_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> ‘have a way of life that -is peculiar to themselves. Those that are long-necked -drink by the mouth, then lift their head till -the water runs down their neck. The reason of this -is that their neck is long and narrow, so that they -cannot satisfy their thirst by putting beak in water -and straightway drinking. There is, however, a -great difference between different birds in their -way of drinking, and the mountain hog loveth roots -to which his tusk helpeth, wherewith he turneth up -the ground and breaketh out the roots. Six days -or thereabout are proper for his fattening, wherein -he drinketh not for three, and there are some who -feed their hogs and yet will not water them for -perchance seven days on end. And in their fattening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -all animals are helped by moderate and gentle -exercise, save the hog, who fatteneth lying in the -mud, and that mightily, for thereby his pores are -shut upon him so that he loseth nothing by evaporation. -And the hog will fight with the wolf, -and that is his nature, and cows fatten on every -windy thing, such as vetches, beans, and barley, -and if their horns be anointed with soft wax, -straightway, even while still upon the living animal, -they become soft, and if the horns of ox or cow be -anointed with marrow, oil, or pitch, this easeth -them of the pain in their feet after a journey.’</p> - -<p>In another place<a name="FNanchor_105" id="FNanchor_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> he continues: ‘Some animals -have teeth which serve them not save for fighting, -and not for the mastication of their food. Such are -the hog and the elephant, for the elephant’s tusks -are of use to him in this matter as we have said. -And there are animals which make no use of their -teeth save for eating or fighting, nay, I believe -that every animal having teeth will fight with -them upon occasion, and some there are whose -teeth are sharp and stand well apart, so that they -are therewith furnished to tear prey: such is the -lion. And those animals that have need to crop -their food, as grass and the like, from the ground, -have level and regular teeth, and not long tusks -or canines, which would hinder them from cropping; -and since in some kinds the males are more apt -to anger than the females, tusks have been given -them that they may defend the females, because -these are weaker in themselves and of a worse -complexion, and this is true in a general way of -all animals, even in those kinds that eat no flesh,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -and need not their tusks for eating, but only for -defence, such as boars, and this is the reason why -they have the strength of which we have just -spoken. It is the same with the camel, and so -we pass to speak of this general truth as it -appears with regard to all other means of defence. -Hence hath the stag his horn and not the hind; -the ram and not the ewe; the he-goat and not -his female, and fish which eat not flesh have no -need of teeth that are sharp.’</p> - -<p>The city where these strange writings were -deciphered and translated into Latin, being itself -so strange and remote from the ways of modern -life, had a certain poetic fitness as the scene -where Michael Scot undertook his labours upon -the Arabian authors. No passage of all their -texts was more bizarre and tortuous than the -mass of intricate lanes which formed then, as -they form to-day, the thoroughfares of communication -in Toledo. No hidden jewel of knowledge -and observation could surprise and reward -the translator in the midst of his tedious labours -with a flash of sudden light and glory more -unexpectedly delicious than that felt by the -traveller, when, after long wandering in that maze -and labyrinth, he finds a wider air; a stronger -light beats before him, beckoning, and in a moment -he stands in the full sunshine of the <i lang="es">plaza mayor</i>, -with space to see and light to show the wonders -of mind and hand, and all the toil of past ages -in the fabric of the great cathedral.</p> - -<p>Such as it now stands, the Cathedral of Toledo -had not yet begun to rise above ground when -Michael Scot had his residence there, but enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -of the ancient city remains to show what Toledo -must have been like in these early days. The -splendid and commanding site, swept about by -the waves of the Tagus; the famous bridge of -Alcantara; the steep slope of approach crowned -by ancient fortifications; and above all the massed -and massive houses of the old town, so closely -crowded together as hardly to give room for -streets that should rather be called lanes; all -this, beneath the unchanging sky of the south, -recalls sufficiently what must have been the surroundings -of Scot’s life during ten laborious years. -Even yet, where white-wash peels and stucco fails, -strange records of that forgotten past reveal themselves -in the walls and on the house fronts: -sculptured stones of every age; bas-reliefs, arabesques; -windows in the delicate Moorish manner -of twin arches, and a central shaft with carved -cornices, long built up and forgotten till accident -has revealed them.</p> - -<p>Here then, perhaps in some house still standing, -the scholar come from Sicily made his home. -The quiet courtyard is forgotten; the <i lang="es">azulejos</i> -have disappeared from walls and pavement; the -rich wood-work of the ceilings, still bearing dim -traces of colour and gold, looks down on the life -of another age; even the curious cedar book-chest -has crumbled to dust, for all its delicate defence -of ironwork spreading away like a spider’s web -from hinges and from lock. But the name and -the fame endure, and the years which Michael -Scot spent in Toledo have left a deep mark upon -that and every succeeding age.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE ALCHEMICAL STUDIES OF SCOT</span></h2> - -<p>The Moorish schools of Spain were famous, not -only for their researches in natural history, but -also for the interest they took in chemistry, then -called alchemy: a name which sufficiently indicates -the nation which chiefly pursued these studies, -and the language that recorded their progress. -The practical turn taken by alchemy, as the foundation -of a scientific <i lang="la">materia medica</i> in minerals, is -shown by the writings of Rases. This author, -who belonged to the ninth and tenth centuries -(860-940), produced a considerable work on medicine -in which he devoted special attention to the -diseases of children. Under his name appeared -several alchemical writings, either his own or the -productions of the school which followed his teaching -and borrowed his name.</p> - -<p>Michael Scot, as we know, had become familiar -with the works of Rases while still in Sicily, and -thought so highly of the <cite>De Medicina</cite> as to borrow -thence for his treatise on physiognomy no fewer -than thirty-one chapters relating to that subject.<a name="FNanchor_106" id="FNanchor_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> -It is a natural conjecture then which leads us to -find in his acquaintance with this author’s writings -the starting-point of Scot’s interest both in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -medicine and in alchemy. Leaving for the present -what may hereafter be said of his name and fame as -a physician, let us examine the origin and nature of -his work as a student of the Arabian chemistry. -We have reached what would seem to be the -proper moment for such an inquiry. The treatises -of Michael Scot on this subject are not dated -indeed, but their form shows them to belong to the -epoch of his work as a translator. They were -therefore probably produced during the period of -his residence at Toledo, and as there is a long -interval, otherwise unaccounted for, between 1210, -when the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicenna</cite> appeared, and the -date of his next publication some seven years -later, this blank cannot be better filled than -by supposing that it was during these years he -found time for the study of alchemy, and for the -translation or composition of the writings in that -branch of science which still bear his name.</p> - -<p>In this, as in almost all his other studies, -Michael Scot sat at the feet of Eastern masters. -But the Arabians themselves had derived their -chemical science, at least in its first principles and -primitive processes, from still older peoples. If we -are to understand the progress of human thought in -this science we must trace it from the beginning, -following again that beaten track of tradition by -which not physiognomy and alchemy alone, but -almost all the secrets of early times, have reached -the modern world.</p> - -<p>Primitive chemistry was closely connected with -the still older art of metallurgy, out of which it -arose by a natural process of development. Those -who worked with ores soon discovered the secret of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -alloys, whereby a considerable quantity of baser -metal, such as copper, lead or tin, could be added -to gold or silver, so as greatly to increase the bulk -of the whole without injuring either its appearance -or usefulness. The problem of the crown set before -Archimedes, and happily solved by that philosopher -in the bath, shows how dexterously alloys were -used by the Greeks, and what subtle means were -necessary for their detection.</p> - -<p>M. Berthelot has reminded us<a name="FNanchor_107" id="FNanchor_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> that the transmission -of receipts for such processes from early -times to our own has been naturally and inevitably -secured by the unbroken continuity of practice in -the arts which gave them birth, and that they thus -passed safely from generation to generation, and -even spread from the tribes that originated them to -other and distant peoples. He cites in support of -this observation a papyrus of the third century, -preserved at Leyden, which, he says, contains what -are substantially the same directions as those of the -chief mediæval authorities in such matters: the -<cite>Mappae Clavicula</cite> and the <cite>Compositiones ad Tingenda</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_108" id="FNanchor_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> -These receipts are not unnaturally entitled -‘How to make Gold,’ and it is curious to -find in them the veritable starting-point of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -dreams which made so many a furnace smoke, and -so many a crucible glow during the course of -centuries, in the vain hope of effecting an actual -transmutation of substance.</p> - -<p>Thus it was that in the first ages, long before -authentic record, in the dimness of early Egyptian -history, or of that still more ancient Pelasgic civilisation -from which the pyramid-builders learned so -much, the germs of this science may already be -perceived. Only one source of genuine gold seems -then to have been known: the mines of Ophir. This -circumstance, by making the supplies of precious -metal small and uncertain, mightily encouraged the -art which taught men to counterfeit its appearance -in a colourable way. How this was done may be -judged of by the receipts themselves. The <cite>Mappae -Clavicula</cite>, for instance, has the following: ‘To -make gold. Silver, one pound; copper, half-a-pound; -gold, a pound; melt, etc.’ Here indeed a -considerable proportion of the precious metal itself -was required, but there are other receipts which -dispense with any such admixture. It is said, for -example, that one hundred parts of copper and -seventeen of zinc joined in a state of fusion with -divers small proportions of magnesia, sal ammoniac, -quicklime, and tartar, yield an alloy which is fine -in grain and malleable, which may be polished and -used in damascening just as if it were the pure -gold that it has all the appearance of being. Such -then were the receipts which formed the hereditary -riches of the mighty clan of the <em>Smiths</em>. It is easy -to see how the famous ‘powder of projection,’ so -much sought in later times, was, in fact, but the -transfiguration of one of these formulae.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<p>When, during the early centuries of the -Christian era, the traditions of Greece found a new -home in lower Egypt, and especially in Alexandria, -they were profoundly influenced by the still more -ancient philosophy of the East. We have already -remarked this in the case of another science, that of -physiognomy, but the same influence may also be -traced in the modification it brought to the notions -of primitive chemistry. The Chaldæans and -Persians had long believed that the heavens influenced -the earth, and were capable of producing -strange effects in the lower spheres of being.<a name="FNanchor_109" id="FNanchor_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> Their -wise men considered that an individual connection -could be established between the stars and the -elements, the planets and the metals. It was in -contact with this new doctrine and under its influence -that there arose the hope, soon hardening -into a settled belief, that the rules of art might be -sufficient to effect an actual transmutation of the -baser into the nobler metals, of copper into gold, -and of tin or lead into silver.</p> - -<p>This opinion must have been immensely -heightened, and its authority reinforced, by the -secrecy with which the receipts for alloying -metals were guarded. These were handed down -orally from father to son; were not committed to -writing till a comparatively late period, and even -then remained for the most part the cherished -treasures of temple guilds. On the well-known -principle of the proverb, ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico’ -this secrecy tended to confirm the impression -that, however much had been communicated,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -more remained untold, to await discovery by the -patient and undaunted chemist. The Therapeutæ -or Essenes were among the earliest representatives -of this new tendency, as appears from the -testimony of Josephus,<a name="FNanchor_110" id="FNanchor_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> who describes them as not -only devoted to ancient writings, but eager to investigate -the properties of minerals. The chief -object of their inquiries, the maintenance of health -by medicines thus derived from the vegetable and -mineral kingdoms, is not only an early instance of the -connection between chemistry and pharmacy, but is -remarkable as the probable starting-point of the -search for the elixir of life: that other and nobler -dream which so much of the enthusiastic energy -of the mediæval alchemists was spent to realise.</p> - -<p>The point of connection between these speculations -of Eastern philosophy and the practice of the -primitive chemistry may with probability be sought -in the fire which of necessity played so large a part -in the operations of the metal-worker. Fire bore a -highly sacred character in the philosophy and religion -of the East. This element, it soon came to be -thought by those whom Eastern speculation influenced, -might be trusted not only to melt, to -calcine and to sublime in the vulgar way, but to -form the long-sought link of sympathy between the -stars of heaven, themselves compact of fire, and the -elements of earth, as these were subjected to its -piercing and transforming power. In its due employment -the suspected connection between the -higher and lower worlds would become an accomplished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -fact. Thus, under the power of the planets, -in some favourable hour and fortunate conjunction, -the mighty work would be done: the philosopher’s -stone discovered, the metals transmuted, and the -elixir of life produced.</p> - -<p>It is highly curious to find this idea presented in -a novel and perhaps an exaggerated form by a writer -of the sixteenth century. This was Fra Evangelista -Quattrami of Gubbio, <i lang="it">semplicista</i>, or master of the -still-room, to the Cardinal d’Este. He wrote a -book entitled, <cite>The true declaration of all the -metaphors, similitudes, and riddles of the ancient -Alchemical Philosophers, as well among the Chaldeans -and Arabians as the Greeks and Latins</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_111" id="FNanchor_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> -According to this work, the potable gold; the elixir -of life; the quintessence, and the philosopher’s -stone were nothing but fantastic names for the fire -itself which was used in distillation and other -chemical operations. In this the Frate may possibly -have touched the true sense of Al Kindi at least, -who, in his commentary on the <cite>Meteora</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_112" id="FNanchor_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> speaks of -fire as if it were the all in all of the alchemist.</p> - -<p>While the primitive chemical practice followed -the progress of the arts which it served, the new -theory of alchemy, with the ever-growing tradition -of fantastic experiments arising out of it, found -different and less direct channels in its descent from -ancient to modern times. It has been customary -to speak of the Arabs as if that nation had been the -chief means of transmitting the knowledge of Greek -doctrine to our mediæval scholars, but we now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -know that there was a previous link in the chain of -intellectual succession. This was supplied by the -care and industry of the Syrian subjects of the early -Caliphs, nor did their learned men play a less important -part in the history of chemistry than in -that of the other sciences. Sergius of Resaina, a -scholar of the fifth century, was, it is said, the first -Syrian who attempted to translate the Greek -chemists, several of whom mention him by name. -The chief development of this work belongs, however, -to the ninth and tenth centuries, and its glory -must ever remain with the great school of Bagdad. -Chemical treatises composed by Democritus and -Zosimus<a name="FNanchor_113" id="FNanchor_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> were there and then rendered into Syriac, -as may be seen by the manuscripts still preserved -in the British Museum and at Cambridge.</p> - -<p>It was not long before the Arabs themselves -began to feel powerfully the intellectual impulse -thus communicated to them in the heart of a -country which they had made their own. Khaled -ben Yezid ibn Moauia, who died in the year 708, is -said by their historians to have been the first of that -nation who devoted his attention to chemistry. In -his case the filiation of doctrine would seem very -plain, as he was the pupil of a Syrian monk named -Mariannos. Djabar, the <em>Geber</em> of Western writers, -followed in the same line of study, and from the -ninth century there was a regular school of Arabian -chemists whose labours may be studied in the -manuscript collections of Paris and Leyden.</p> - -<p>In the eleventh century appeared a curious phenomenon, -in the shape of a dispute among the -Arabians of that day regarding the truth of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -tradition which pronounced the transmutation of -metals possible. The unwearied but still unavailing -experiments which had now been carried on through -several ages, produced at last their inevitable effect -in the shape of philosophic doubt, eagerly urged on -the one part and as eagerly repelled on the other. -The chemical school was now divided according to -these opposite opinions, and each party in their -writings sought to give weight to what they taught -by borrowing in support of their arguments the -names of the mighty dead. In this conflict it was -left to the followers of Rases to sustain the affirmative -and to assert the possibility of transmutation. -These were the apologists for the past, and the -advocates, in the name of their great master, of -that hope which had inspired previous research and -borne fruit in so many important discoveries.</p> - -<p>The defence of the new doubt belonged on the -other hand to the school of Al Kindi. This chemist -lived and died during the ninth century. He was -probably the earliest Arabian commentator on -Aristotle, and seems to have paid special attention -to the <cite>Meteora</cite> of that author. The treatise <cite>De -Mineralibus</cite>, so often appended to the <cite>Meteora</cite> as -a supplement, is ascribed to Al Kindi in the Paris -manuscript.<a name="FNanchor_114" id="FNanchor_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> It represents the alchemy of the -time.</p> - -<p>Between these two contending parties stood the -school of Avicenna, which now occupied an intermediate -position and doubted of the doubt. That -this had not always been the opinion of Avicenna -himself is plain, however, from a passage which -occurs in his <cite>Sermo de generatione lapidum</cite>, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -the author unhesitatingly pronounces against the -theory of transmutation. ‘Those of the chemical -craft,’ he says, ‘know well that no change can be -effected in the different species of things, though -they can produce the appearance of them: tinging -that which is ruddy with yellow till it looks like -gold, and that which is white with colour at their -pleasure till the same effect is in great measure produced. -Nay, they can also remove the impurity -from lead, so that it looks like silver, though it be -lead still, and can endue it with such strange -qualities as to deceive men’s senses, and this by the -use of salt and sal ammoniac.’<a name="FNanchor_115" id="FNanchor_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Avicenna was -evidently well acquainted with the secrets of art -and held them at their proper value. Had his -followers in the eleventh century done the same -they would have supported the school of Al Kindi -instead of taking a less definite position.</p> - -<p>This view of the later Arabian schools and their -differences is forced upon us by the fact, that works -are extant under the names of Rases, Al Kindi, and -Avicenna, which evidently belong to the eleventh -century, the period when they first appeared, and -could not therefore have been written by authors -who lived at an earlier date. They are plainly the -production of later chemists who followed more or -less intelligently the doctrine of these great masters -in alchemy. The artifice involved in this ascription -of authorship is one which has always been common -in Eastern literature.</p> - -<p>We have a direct interest in observing that -Spain was the country where these developments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -of the later Arabian chemistry arose, contended and -flourished. Spain, therefore, during the eleventh -and twelfth centuries, became, by the attraction -she offered to European scholars, the country where -these theories first reached the Latin races, and -began to find an entrance among them. M. -Berthelot indeed, by a happy citation, has enabled -us to fix, almost with certainty, the very moment -of this important event. Robert Castrensis, the -author alluded to, remarks: ‘Your Latin world -has not as yet learned the doctrine of Alchemy.’ -These words are taken from the preface to this -author’s version of the <cite>Liber de Compositione -Alchimiae</cite>, and a colophon informs us that the -translation was completed on the 11th of February -1182. We may add that the same year, corrected, -however, in one copy to 1183, was the date of -another of these versions of the Arabian chemistry: -that of the treatise called <cite>Interrogationes Regis -Kalid, et responsiones Morieni</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_116" id="FNanchor_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> Here then we -stand on the threshold of a new age, and find ourselves -in presence of an intellectual movement -which was certainly of the greatest importance, -since in it we may trace the origin of our modern -chemistry. The knowledge of what had already -been gained by Greek and Arabian alchemists was -the first step to independent research among the -Latins. The closing years of the twelfth century -saw that knowledge at last beginning to unfold -itself in a form intelligible to the Western schools.</p> - -<p>As in Bagdad during the ninth century, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -palmy period of Syrian studies, so in Spain three -hundred years later, the work was in its commencement -essentially one of interpretation, and the -first age of these labours was distinguished by the -number of versions which were then produced. -From 1182, through the whole of the following -century, students laboured in the translation of -Moorish books on chemistry. Only towards the -close of this period did a tendency become apparent -which led in the direction of improvement and -innovation. The seed already sown had begun to -bear fruit. The material thus derived from Eastern -sources was now treated with a new freedom, enriched -by the results of original experiment, and edited -in forms which betray the influence of scholastic -philosophy. The criticism, however, which would -determine the precise point when this change -began to be operative, and the extent to which -it proceeded, attempts what is perhaps an impossible -and certainly a difficult task. For it -is a remarkable fact that no Arabic texts -have been preserved to us which can be regarded -as the originals from which these earlier Latin -versions were made. This want is probably due -to the widespread destruction which overtook the -Moorish libraries of Spain.<a name="FNanchor_117" id="FNanchor_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> That such originals -did at one time exist, however, is made certain -by the correspondence which the Latin translations -show with those which have come down to us in -another language, the Hebrew. The labours of -these Latin translators during a hundred years -may be found in the manifold collections of chemical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -treatises, containing some forty or fifty articles -apiece, which were arranged and copied out at -the beginning of the fourteenth century. These -volumes became, after the invention of printing, -the chief quarry whence were composed the <cite>Ars -Aurifera</cite>; the <cite>Theatrum Chemicum</cite> of Zetzner, and -the <cite>Bibliotheca</cite> of Manget.</p> - -<p>We are now in a position to understand, not -only the nature and progress of the work in which -Michael Scot took part, but the exact development -which alchemy had reached in his day, and therefore -the relation which his chemical publications -bore to the general direction of study in this -department of science. The time and care which -our survey of the field has demanded need not -be thought ill spent. It has prepared the way for -a more intelligent appreciation of Scot’s labours as -a chemist, and has furnished us with the means -of coming to a true judgment regarding their -authenticity and value.</p> - -<p>To put the matter to the proof: we may begin -by dismissing altogether from consideration a -treatise which has long been attributed to Scot, -and still appears in the most recent list of his -works: the <cite>Quaestio curiosa de natura Solis et -Lunae</cite>. It has probably received more attention -than it deserves since it appeared under Scot’s -name in the <cite>Theatrum Chemicum</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_118" id="FNanchor_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> The subject<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -of this treatise is indeed an alchemical one; for -the <em>sun</em> and <em>moon</em> of which it speaks are not these -heavenly bodies themselves, but, by an allegorical -use common in the Middle Ages, and derived from -the Eastern theories of sympathy already mentioned, -stand for the nobler metals of gold and silver. -A brief examination, however, shows that Scot -could not have been the author. The very style -suggests this conclusion; for it is distinctly scholastic, -and proper therefore to a later age than -that which aimed at the direct and simple reproduction -of Eastern texts. It is satisfactory to find -that this criticism, hardly convincing <i lang="la">per se</i>, is -fully borne out by what occurs in the substance -of the work itself. The author quotes from the -<cite>De Mineralibus</cite> of Albertus. Now Albertus Magnus, -by common testimony, produced this treatise after -the year 1240, and we may anticipate what is -afterwards to be told of Michael Scot’s death -so far as to say here that he had then been -long in his grave. The <cite>De Natura Solis et -Lunæ</cite> then must be ascribed to some other and -later alchemist, who lived in the end of the -thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth -century. A more careful examination of the -treatise than has been necessary for our purpose -might succeed in fixing its date with greater precision, -and might possibly throw some light upon -the person of its true author.</p> - -<p>Another work ascribed to the pen of Michael -Scot, and one which seems likely to be authentic, -is that contained in the Speciale Manuscript. This -volume is one of those collections of alchemical -tracts made in the fourteenth century to which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -we have already alluded. It belonged to the -library of the Speciale family in Palermo, and has -been made the subject of an interesting monograph -by Carini.<a name="FNanchor_119" id="FNanchor_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> No. 44 of this manuscript is entitled -<cite>Liber Magistri Miccaelis Scotti in quo continetur -Magisterium</cite>. The term <em>Magisterium</em>, or supreme -secret of art, would seem to carry with it a certain -reference to Aristotle, ‘Il <em>Maestro</em> di color che -sanno,’ as Dante calls him.<a name="FNanchor_120" id="FNanchor_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> Curious as the appearance -of such a name in connection with alchemy -may seem to us, it is certain that Aristotle held -a high place in the chemical traditions of the -Middle Ages. The <cite>Meteora</cite> afforded a text which -lent itself readily to large commentaries by the -Arabian chemists. The tract <cite>De Mineralibus</cite>, -which we noticed when speaking of Al Kindi, was -one of these commentaries, and it is easy to see how -it became confused with the text which it illustrated -so as in time to be considered the work of Aristotle -himself. This, we may believe, was the ground on -which so many alchemical works were afterwards -published under the same mighty name.<a name="FNanchor_121" id="FNanchor_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> An interesting -example appears in the Speciale collection -itself which contains the following title: <cite>Liber -perfecti Magisterii Aristotelis qui incipit cum studii -solertis indigere</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_122" id="FNanchor_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> The treatise <cite>Cum studii</cite> is also -found in the Paris manuscript,<a name="FNanchor_123" id="FNanchor_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> where it is ascribed -to Rases. To the school of Rases then we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -inclined to attribute the works on the <cite>Magisterium</cite>, -and among the rest therefore, this treatise in the -Speciale Manuscript, which bears the name of -Michael Scot, seemingly because he translated it -from the Arabic. This conclusion is confirmed -when we notice the character of some of the chapter -headings as given by Carini; for example: ‘Qualiter -<em>Venus</em> mutatur in <em>Solem</em>’; and again, ‘Transformatio -<em>Mercurii</em> in <em>Lunam</em>.’ These show beyond all -doubt that the doctrine which Michael Scot published -by means of this version was that held by -the school of Rases.</p> - -<p>A curious question here offers itself for our consideration. -In the times of Robert Castrensis -alchemy was as yet unknown to the Latins. -Michael Scot, as we shall presently see, described it -in one of his works as meeting with but a poor -reception at its first introduction among them.<a name="FNanchor_124" id="FNanchor_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> -How then did it come to pass that in a few years -the theory of Rases became so popular in the West, -and continued for so many ages to direct the progress -of chemical study among the European nations -with enduring power? We find the explanation of -this sudden change in the fact that human thought -has always been subject to the tyranny of ruling -ideas. In our own day the place of direction is -filled by a doctrine of development which is eagerly -made use of in every department of knowledge. In -those earlier ages the same place seems to have -been held by a doctrine of <em>transformation</em>. This -idea ruled the thoughts of men like an obsession, in -whatever direction they turned their minds. We -see it in their superstitions, suggesting the wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -tales of were-wolves and of other animal forms -assumed at will by wizard and witch. We find it -in religion, infusing a new meaning into the hyperbolical -language of still earlier times, till, under this -direction, there came to be fastened upon the -Church a full-formed doctrine of Transubstantiation.<a name="FNanchor_125" id="FNanchor_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> -It is the operation of the same idea then -that we are to remark also in the scientific sphere. -As soon as the first shock of their surprise was -over, the Latins greedily embraced a theory of -chemical change which related itself so naturally to -the prevailing habit of their minds, and which -promised to show as operative in the mineral -kingdom a law already conceived to hold good in -the world of organic life.</p> - -<p>The Riccardian Library of Florence possesses -another of those volumes to which we have already -referred: a collection of alchemical treatises formed -in the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the -fourteenth century.<a name="FNanchor_126" id="FNanchor_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> Among these appears one -called the <cite>Liber Luminis Luminum</cite>. It is said to -have been translated by Michael Scot, and, as there -is no reason to doubt this ascription, we have now -the means of determining with some fulness and -accuracy the lines on which the philosopher proceeded -in his chemical researches.</p> - -<p>The book opens with a preface somewhat scholastic,<a name="FNanchor_127" id="FNanchor_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> -and one which, on this ground as well as on -others, is probably to be ascribed to Scot himself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -In this part of the work he informs us that he took -as his basis in the following compilation a text called -the <cite>Secreta Naturae</cite>. To it he added material -derived from other sources, which seemed necessary -in order to complete the doctrine of chemistry contained -in the <cite>Secreta</cite>. In this way he endeavoured -to present his readers with a full and practical body -of Alchemy according to the teaching of the school -to which he belonged.</p> - -<p>In the study of a composite work, such as the -<cite>Liber Luminis</cite> is thus declared to be, our first -problem is naturally to determine and separate the -original text from the additions which have been -made to it. Which then are those parts of the -<cite>Liber Luminis</cite> that represent the <cite>Secreta Naturae</cite>? -Very fortunately the volume where the <cite>Liber -Luminis</cite> is found contains another treatise that -throws considerable light on the matter. This is -the <cite>Liber Dedali Philosophi</cite>. The correspondences -between that book and the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> are so -many, close, and verbal, that it is evident both have -borrowed from the same source. This source can -hardly have been other than the <cite>Secreta Naturae</cite>, -so that a comparison of these two books such as is -attempted in the Appendix<a name="FNanchor_128" id="FNanchor_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> should go far to determine -what that hitherto unknown text was.</p> - -<p>The question of the chemical doctrine contained -in the <cite>Secreta</cite> is an interesting one, and we shall -return to it, but meanwhile, let us observe that the -<cite>Liber Luminis</cite> contains hints which seem to carry -us further still, and throw some light upon the -source from which the <cite>Secreta</cite> was itself derived. -One of the authors quoted is a certain ‘Archelaus.’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -Now there was a veritable chemist of this name who -lived during the fifth century. This author wrote a -treatise on his art in Greek verse. In later times -his name seems to have become common property, -as did so many others distinguished in alchemy, and -to have been freely used by some who wrote long -after his day. Thus the Riccardian manuscript -itself contains no less than three books ascribed to -this author: the <cite>Liber Archelai Philosophi de arte -alchimiae</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_129" id="FNanchor_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> called also in the margin <cite>Practica -Galieni in Secretis secretorum</cite>;<a name="FNanchor_130" id="FNanchor_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> the <cite>Summula</cite>, ‘quam -ego Archilaus transtuli de libro secretorum’;<a name="FNanchor_131" id="FNanchor_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> and -finally the <cite>Mappa Archilei nobilis philosophi</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_132" id="FNanchor_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></p> - -<p>The fact that these titles mention the <cite>Secreta</cite> is -enough to show us that in following up the alchemy -of the Pseudo-Archelaus, we are on the right track. -As we proceed the traces become still more interesting -and significant. The <cite>Summula</cite> offers the following -curious passage: ‘Et hoc feci amore Dei et -cuidam compatri meo, qui pauper sint [<i lang="la">sic</i>] et -infortunatus, et postea fortunatus fortuna bona et -amore Imperatoris Emanuelis et Frederici.’<a name="FNanchor_133" id="FNanchor_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> - -<p>The name Emanuel is found in other alchemical -writings. The <cite>De Perfecto Magisterio</cite>, for example,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -which has been reprinted by Zetzner, embodies -another work, the <cite>Liber duodecim aquarum</cite> which -is expressly said to be taken from the ‘Liber -Emanuelis.’ Pursuing the matter further still, we -come to the <cite>Liber Aristotelis</cite> which commences, -‘Cum de sublimiori atque precipuo.’ The author of -this treatise, we find, claims not only the <cite>Liber -duodecim aquarum</cite> (‘quae qualiter se habeant in -libro quem <span class="smcapuc">XII.</span> aquarum vocabulo descripsimus, -prudens lector intelligere poterit’), but also, it -would seem, the very one of which we are in search -(‘in libro secretorum a nobis dictum est’). Everything -inclines us to the belief that we here touch -the source from which the main part of the <cite>Liber -Luminis</cite> was drawn, and this conclusion is not a -little strengthened when we observe that the -treatise ‘Cum de sublimiori’ is called the <cite>Lumen -Luminum</cite> in the Riccardian copy.<a name="FNanchor_134" id="FNanchor_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p> - -<p>The <cite>Secreta</cite>, however, was not the only source -from which the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> and the <cite>Liber Dedali</cite> -were drawn, and the assertion of the preface that -the former was composed of extracts from many -different philosophers is fully borne out when we -examine the substance of the books themselves. A -strain of Greek influence is to be traced, for example, -in the names of Archelaus, Dedalus, Plato, and -Hermes, as well as in the use of <em>ciatus</em> as an equivalent -for the word ‘cup,’ and this reminds us -strongly of the <cite>Summula</cite> with its reference to the -Emperor Manuel. It is not impossible that Scot -may have borrowed much from the Byzantine -chemists of the twelfth century. With this notion -agrees the passage of the <cite>Liber Dedali</cite> where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -Saracens are spoken of as foreigners. On the other -hand, much had evidently been taken from Arabic -sources, as is plain from the names given to several -of the vessels used in alchemy, such as the <em>alembic</em> -and <em>aludel</em>. Indeed, Unay and Melchia, who are -quoted in the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite>, must have been Moors, -for the corresponding passage of the <cite>Liber Dedali</cite> -describes them as from ‘Lamacha of the Saracens.’ -Both these texts agree in showing such familiarity -with the process of refining sulphur that one is led -to suppose the <cite>Secreta</cite>, their common original, may -have been composed in Sicily. The <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> -says of one of the alums that it is ‘brought from -Spain:’ an expression agreeing well with the notion -of a Sicilian author, who would naturally speak of -Spain as a foreign land.</p> - -<p>Leaving, however, these questions of origin and -derivation, let us come to that of the chemical -doctrine taught in the book which Michael Scot -compiled, or at least translated. The title of the -<cite>Liber Luminis Luminum</cite> is a significant one, and -has a real relation to the contents of the work -itself.<a name="FNanchor_135" id="FNanchor_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> To discover the sense which it must be held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -to bear we have only to turn to the passage in -which, speaking of alum, the author says: ‘sicut -illuminat pannos, ita illuminat martem ut recipiat -formam lunae. Ut enim lana illuminatur ita et -metalla illuminantur.’<a name="FNanchor_136" id="FNanchor_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> A distinction is clearly -present in the writer’s mind between the substance -and the form of the metals. He probably held -that there existed but one common metallic substance, -which assumed the appearance of iron, -gold, or silver, according to the form which it had -received. His employment of the title <cite>Liber -Luminis Luminum</cite> was meant to indicate that -the purpose of his book was that of teaching the -student how metals might best be purified and -improved. Their inferiority, when of the baser -kind, he conceived as an impurity, manifesting itself -in the imperfect forms of lead, iron, tin, and copper. -He believed that this being removed or changed by -art, they might be made to shine with the lustre -and indeed possess the only distinctive quality of -gold and silver. That we have rightly read the -meaning of this title seems plain from a curious -spelling which may be noticed in the <cite>Liber Dedali</cite>. -‘Illuminantur’ there appears as ‘aluminantur.’ -The chemistry taught in these books did in fact prescribe -the use of alum as a great means of purifying -and refining the metals.</p> - -<p>The preface of the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> closes with a -brief summary of the chapters which compose the -work itself. The first of these deals with the -different salts used in this chemistry: common salt; -rock salt; alkali; sal ammoniac; nitre and others. -The second treats in like manner of the various<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -kinds of alum, the third describes the vitriols, and -the fourth the powders or spirits, by which we are to -understand those minerals which are capable of -being sublimed or made volatile, such as sulphur, -arsenic, and mercury. Two supplementary chapters, -the one on the preparation of the salts, alums, and -vitriols, and the other on that of the remaining -class of chemicals, complete the whole book. This -supplement seems genuinely such, as it is not mentioned -in the general contents, as these appear in -the preface. Perhaps we do not err if we suppose -it to have embodied the result of Scot’s own -experiments in alchemy.</p> - -<p>It is indeed the practical nature of the alchemical -doctrine taught in the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> which strikes -us most strongly when we read this book. A large -part of it is taken up with exact descriptions of the -minerals, according to their various forms and the -countries from which they were derived. The rest -consists of receipts for their employment in refining -metals. Whatever we may think of the validity -and use of these processes, we cannot fail to notice -that they are described in a perfectly straightforward -and simple style. Here are none of the mysteries, -the riddles and ridiculous allegories so common in -chemical works written at a later time. The truth -of the matter may probably be that, in following -the doctrine here set forth, Michael Scot and the -alchemists of his time did obtain results which were -then so surprising, as to excuse a certain exaggeration -in those who described them. Tests that could -touch and reveal the real nature of the metals under -any change of outward appearance were not then so -well known as now. Copper that had been made to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -shine like gold, or to assume the appearance of -silver, was practically gold or silver to those who had -no means of discovering that the real nature of the -metal itself remained unchanged. Thus then are to -be understood the assertions of the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> -regarding transmutation. They are plainly made -in all good faith, and depend on the doctrine already -mentioned, which held that the differences between -the metals were an affair of the superficial form -rather than of the underlying substance. To -change the appearance of one metal to that of -another, was therefore to effect a real transmutation: -the only one conceivable by the philosophers -of that time. When the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> speaks of -giving copper ‘a good colour,’ or preparing iron to -‘receive the appearance (<i lang="la">formam</i>) of silver,’ these -expressions reveal with frank sincerity the conceptions -of this alchemy and the results it endeavoured -to obtain.</p> - -<p>One other alchemical work attributed to the pen -of Michael Scot remains to be noticed; the <cite>De -Alchimia</cite>, contained in a manuscript of Corpus -Christi College, Oxford.<a name="FNanchor_137" id="FNanchor_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> Tanner in his <cite>Bibliotheca</cite> -has noticed this work in the following terms: -‘Chymica quaedam ex interpretatione Michaelis -Scoti dedicata Theophilo regi Scotorum. Corpus -Christi <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 125. In eodem codice <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> fol. est haec -nota “Explicit tractatus magistri Michaelis Scoti -de aelchali,” huius vero tractatus, a priore diversi, -hoc tantum fol. extat.’ This account is erroneous -in several particulars. ‘Scotorum’ should be -‘Saracenorum,’ and ‘de aelchali’ is a misreading of -‘de alkimia,’ as a glance at the manuscript informs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -us. Nor is it the case that we have here to deal -with two distinct works. The last leaf, to which -Tanner more particularly refers (fol. 119, old -numeration), shows a hand of the fourteenth century, -and forms the only remainder of the original. The -rest of the manuscript (fol. 116-118) has been -supplied by a scribe of the fifteenth century, but -the whole is perfectly continuous, as appears plainly -when we notice that the first words of the original -(fol. 119 <i lang="la">recto</i>), ‘et cum siccatus,’ have also been -written by the later scribe at the bottom of page -118 <i lang="la">verso</i>.</p> - -<p>In spite of the highly suspicious dedication, -‘Theophilo Regi Saracenorum,’ several reasons -incline us to regard the <cite>De Alchimia</cite> as, in substance -at least, a genuine work of Michael Scot. -To begin with, it clearly belongs to a very early -period; for, in the opening words of his preface, -the author describes alchemy as a science, noble -indeed, but as yet neglected and contemned by the -Latins (‘apud Latinos penitus denegatam’). In -the same sentence we find him referring to the -<i lang="la">secreta naturae</i>, just as Scot does in the <cite>Liber -Luminis</cite>, and declaring his purpose to furnish the -world with a commentary on it in the work he now -attempts (‘secreta naturae intelligentibus revelare’). -In the opening paragraph of the book itself he -seems to refer plainly to the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> as a -work written by him (‘notitia de salibus vel salium -prout in aliquo libro a me translato dixi’). Nor -should we overlook the distinctly ecclesiastical tone -which is to be observed in the <cite>De Alchimia</cite>. Part -of the preface is conceived almost in the form of a -prayer, commencing thus: ‘Creator omnium rerum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -Deus qui cuncta ex nihilo condidit,’ and in at least -one passage, a well-known text of Scripture is reproduced -(‘et haec est res quae erigit de stercore -pauperem et ipsum regibus equiparat’). This style -is a noticeable characteristic of all the works of -Michael Scot.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the <cite>De Alchimia</cite> shows -several doubtful features which, on the supposition -that it came from Scot’s pen, can only have been -due to some interference with the text at a subsequent -time. Such is the dedication to Theophilus, -King of the Saracens, which we have already -noticed, and the latter part of the preface shows a -turgid passage (‘hic est puteus Salomonis et -fimi acervus, et hic est fons in quo latet anguis -cuius venenum omnia corpora interficit,’ etc.) that -strongly recalls the fancies of the later alchemy.</p> - -<p>The body of the work, however, is no doubt -genuine, and offers matters of considerable interest. -The first of these is perhaps the distinction drawn -here between the greater and the lesser mystery -(magisterium) of alchemy. The former, it seems, -was the transmutation of <em>Venus</em> into the <em>Sun</em>; -that is, of copper into gold. The latter comprehended -the fixation of mercury and its transmutation -into the <em>Moon</em>, or silver.</p> - -<p>We soon notice too that the author addresses -himself not, as one would at first expect, to ‘Theophilus,’ -but to a certain Brother Elias (‘tibi Fratri -Helya’)—another proof, if any were needed, that -the dedication to the apocryphal King of the -Saracens was due to some other and later hand. -‘Brother Elias,’ however, was far from being a -merely imaginary personage. He was an Italian,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -born (for accounts vary) either at Bivillo near -Assisi, Cellullae or Ursaria near Cortona, or in Piedmont. -In 1211 he joined the Order of St. Francis, -then just formed, thus becoming one of its earliest -members. His history as a Franciscan was rather -an eventful one. On the death of St. Francis -in 1226 he succeeded the Founder as General of -the Order, but was deposed by the Pope in 1230 -on some suspicion that he favoured schism among -his brethren. The Order re-elected him in 1236, -but he was finally removed from office by Gregory -three years later, and profited by the occasion -to join himself openly to the party of the Emperor. -For this he suffered excommunication in 1244, and -was not restored to the privileges of the Church till -1253, when he lay on his death-bed at Cortona. -There is no doubt that he had the reputation of -possessing skill in alchemy, as a treatise is extant -called the <cite>Liber Fratris Eliae de Alchimia</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_138" id="FNanchor_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> This -renown would not tend to his honour in religion. -It seems indeed to invest with a cruel and pointed -meaning the words used by the Pope on the -occasion of his first deposition.<a name="FNanchor_139" id="FNanchor_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> He is said to have -been sent in early days on an embassy to the -Emperor of the East. Perhaps this may have been -the occasion when he first acquired a taste for those -chemical studies which that nation still pursued. -Michael Scot addresses him in the <cite>De Alchimia</cite> as a -pupil (‘Et ego, Magister Michael Scotus, sum operatus -super solem, et docui te, Fr. Elia, operari et tu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -mihi saepius retulisti te instabiliter multis viabus -operasse’), while at the same confessing that he was -not above learning some of the secrets of art from -the well-known Franciscan. This relation between -two such distinguished men has not hitherto been -noticed, and is certainly a curious point in the -history of the times.</p> - -<p>The <cite>De Alchimia</cite> presents several features which -distinguish it from the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite>. One of -these is an early passage which refers to the correspondence -between the metals and the planets, and -explains that when the latter are named we must -understand that the former are intended. Near -the end of the treatise a description of the <i lang="la">materia -chemica</i> occurs, but it would seem as if this had -been written to supplement that given in the <cite>Liber -Luminis</cite>, for it deals, not with salts, alums, vitriols, -or volatile substances, but with the different -varieties of what the author calls ‘gummae,’ which, -however, are mineral substances;<a name="FNanchor_140" id="FNanchor_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> and with ‘tuchia’ -in all its various kinds.</p> - -<p>Many words and phrases, however, might be -cited to show how the strain of doctrine observable -in the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> is continued with scarcely -any change in the <cite>De Alchimia</cite>. We have -hardly read a line in the first receipt before we meet -with the expression ‘sanguinem hominis rufi’ recalling -the ‘sanguinem hominis rubei’ of the <cite>Liber -Luminis</cite>. The ‘pulvis bufonis’ indeed is here replaced -by another ingredient derived from the -animal kingdom, the ‘sanguis bubonis’; but, reading -a little further, we find the familiar ‘urina taxi’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -again recommended as an almost universal solvent -and detergent. Evidently both works proceeded -from one and the same alchemical school. The -number of Arabian chemists<a name="FNanchor_141" id="FNanchor_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> cited in the <cite>De -Alchimia</cite> seems to show that if these books came -from a Greek source it was not that of ancient times, -but some Byzantine school that had borrowed much -from Eastern alchemists.</p> - -<p>To give a substantial idea of the <cite>De Alchimia</cite> -let us translate one of the formulae which it -contains: ‘Medibibaz the Saracen of Africa used -to change lead into gold [in the following manner]. -Take lead and melt it thrice with caustic (‘comburenti’), -red arsenic, sublimate of vitriol, sugar of -alum, and with that red tuchia of India which is -found on the shore of the Red Sea, and let the -whole be again and again quenched in the juice -of the <i lang="la">Portulaca marina</i>, the wild cucumber, a -solution of sal ammoniac, and the urine of a young -badger. Let all these ingredients then, when well -mixed, be set on the fire, with the addition of some -common salt, and well boiled until they be reduced -to one-third of their original bulk, when you must -proceed to distil them with care. Then take the -marchasite of gold, prepared talc, roots of coral, -some carcha-root, which is an herb very like the -<i lang="la">Portulaca marina</i>; alum of cumae something red -and saltish, Roman alum and vitriol, and let the -latter be made red; sugar of alum, Cyprus earth, -some of the red Barbary earth, for that gives a good -colour; Cumaean earth of the red sort, African<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -tuchia, which is a stone of variegated colours and -being melted with copper changeth it into gold; -Cumaean salt which is …; pure red arsenic, the -blood of a ruddy man, red tartar, <i lang="la">gumma</i> of Barbary, -which is red and worketh wonders in this art; salt -of Sardinia which is like …. Let all these be beaten -together in a brazen mortar, then sifted finely and -made into a paste with the above water. Dry this -paste, and again rub it fine on the marble slab. -Then take the lead you have prepared as directed -above, and melt it together with the powder, adding -some red alum and some more of the various salts. -This alum is found about Aleppo (‘Alapia’), and in -Armenia, and will give your metal a good colour. -When you have so done you shall see the lead -changed into the finest gold, as good as what comes -from Arabia. This have I, Michael Scot, often put -to the proof and ever found it to be true.’</p> - -<p>If such a receipt is valuable as indicating the -chemical practice of those days, it is no less interesting -as it throws light upon the life and occupations -of Scot. He must have set up a complete -chemical laboratory at Toledo, with crucibles for -the melting of metals, and alembics for the distillation -of the substances which his art required -him to mix with them. His situation was one very -favourable to these pursuits, not only because Spain -was one of those countries where the doctrine of -alchemy made its greatest progress, and attracted -most powerfully the concourse of foreign adepts, -but also from the facility with which the necessary -<i lang="la">materia chemica</i> could there be procured. The -<i lang="es">sierras</i> of that country were full of mineral wealth -of all kinds, especially quicksilver, which was one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -of the substances most frequently chosen to become -the subject of the transmuter’s art. In the <i lang="es">Alpujarras</i>, -a mountainous district lying under the soft -climate of Granada, grew plenty of these rare herbs -employed in alchemy, as they were also in the -medicine of the Arabians. Ibn Beithar of Malaga -describes them in his botanical thesaurus, and -it is said that after the Moors had lost that fair -kingdom their herbalists, even as late as our -own times, made yearly journeys from Africa to -gather in these hills the plants which ancient -science taught them to value highly. But the -days of the ‘ultimo sospiro del Moro’ were yet in -the far future, and meanwhile Michael Scot in his -laboratory at Toledo could easily command all these -treasures for the purposes of experiment. Nor was -it in vain that he fanned his fires, and watched the -metals melt and the menstruum distil in the process -of the lesser or greater mystery. If he never saw -<em>Venus</em> blush into the true substance of <em>Sol</em>, or -<em>Mercury</em>, the fickle and obstinate, congeal into -a veritable <em>Luna</em>, his chemical practice, and the records -in which he has embodied it, mark none the -less true and significant a moment in the history -of scientific progress.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE ASTRONOMICAL WRITINGS OF SCOT</span></h2> - -<p>The alchemy of the thirteenth century, to the progress -of which Michael Scot contributed not a little, -bore a close relation to the opinions then entertained -in another branch of science: that of astronomy. We -have already noticed how chemistry, as practised in -Egypt, was largely influenced by Eastern theories -regarding the stars and their power over earthly -elements. That this connection and sympathy was -still a matter of common belief at the time Scot -wrote is not only probable but can readily be -established by direct evidence. The treatise ‘Cum -studii solertis indagine,’ already referred to,<a name="FNanchor_142" id="FNanchor_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> has a -curious passage which bears directly on the point in -question. We find in the preface the following -remarkable statement: ‘For the art of alchemy -belongs to the deeper and more hidden physics, and -in particular to that division thereof which … is -called the lower astronomy,’ It is plain then that -no chemist could in those days be considered fully -competent for the task he undertook unless to a -knowledge of the customary theories and processes -of his art he added some acquaintance with the -mysteries of the heavenly spheres as well.</p> - -<p>To Michael Scot, even before he came to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -Toledo, the science of astronomy was already a -beaten path. His progress in mathematical studies -naturally led him to this, the highest sphere in -which they could be exercised. At the court of -Frederick he had made many an observation and -cast many a horoscope. In the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> -and <cite>Liber Particularis</cite> he had produced two -manuals expounding in a popular way the twin -sciences of astrology and astronomy; publications -which no doubt reproduced pretty exactly the -teaching he had given to the Emperor.</p> - -<p>In Spain he not only kept up his interest in -this subject but lost no opportunity of improving -his past acquirements. He was constantly on the -watch for new astronomical works. He read them, -not only as a student eager to extend his knowledge, -but as a translator anxious to find the opportunity -of adding to the resources of other scholars -by the production of some important book in a -Latin dress.</p> - -<p>As a resident in Toledo, Scot found himself -very favourably situated for such studies. That -city was now indeed to become what may be called -the classic ground of Moorish astronomy. A -Spanish author would have us believe that there -presently assembled there an incredible number of -astronomers drawn, not only from all parts of Spain, -but from France as well, and especially from Paris. -The king himself is said to have presided over this -congress. The works of Ptolemy, with the commentaries -of Montafan and Algazel, were translated -into Latin for the use of those scholars who -did not understand Arabic. Discussions were held -in the Alcazar of Galiana upon the various theories<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -of the heavenly bodies and their movements. -These labours, which commenced in 1218, and are -said to have lasted till 1262, resulted in a more -exact series of observations than had hitherto been -made. They were published, and became generally -known as the <cite>Tables of Toledo</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_143" id="FNanchor_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p> - -<p>It was in such a direction indeed that the line -of true progress lay. As alchemy rose into a real -chemistry rather by the practice of the laboratory -than by the theory of the schools, so it was with -regard to astronomy. The scheme of Ptolemy with -its various modifications necessarily held the field, -imperfect and erroneous as it was, till wider and more -exact observations, such as those for which the wise -king of Castile thus provided had, in the course -of after ages, furnished adequate ground for the -magical and illuminative speculations of Copernicus, -Galileo, and Newton.</p> - -<p>Favourable, however, as Scot’s situation in -Toledo undoubtedly was, much of what we are considering -lay beyond his reach, being yet in the -womb of the future. The Moorish astronomers, and -he doubtless with them, felt far from satisfied -with the Ptolemaic system as expounded in the -<cite>Almagest</cite>. While no one as yet ventured to -interfere with its fundamental conception of the -earth as the centre of the universe, every fresh -observation, by bringing into view more of the -delicacy and subtlety of the heavenly movements, -made additions and modifications of that theory -constantly necessary. Hence arose a series of -Arabian works on the <em>sphere</em>, each superseding that -which had preceded it, and reflecting the last results<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -obtained with the astrolabe. Such a line of progress -could not but lead to the time when the -Ptolemaic theory no longer lent itself by any -modification to the full explanation of ascertained -facts. Then and then only arose the new astronomy -of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which is -thus seen to be vitally connected, even in its highest -reach and most splendid developments with the -now forgotten theories of the Moorish schools.</p> - -<p>Considering then the epoch at which he lived, -and the incomplete material which existed in his -days for a true science of the heavens, Michael Scot -did all that could be reasonably expected of him. -He sat at the feet of those who were then the best -authorities on this subject. He used his opportunities -at Toledo to make the last and most subtle -theories of the Moors intelligible to those less -fortunate scholars whose attention these must -otherwise have escaped.</p> - -<p>His services to astronomy appeared in the Latin -version which he made from a treatise on the <cite>Sphere</cite> -lately composed by Alpetrongi. This author’s -name is said to have been, in its Arabic form, Nured-din -el Patrugi. Munk, in his <cite>Mélanges</cite>, tells us -that the latter designation was derived from a -village called Petroches lying a little to the north -of Cordova.<a name="FNanchor_144" id="FNanchor_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> The Latins corrupted the name in -different ways, so that among them it became -<em>Avenalpetrandi</em>, <em>Alpetrongi</em>, or <em>Alpetragius</em>. The -astronomer who bore it flourished about the year -1190, and is said to have been a renegade, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -scholar of the celebrated Ibn Tofail, the author of -the curious Sufic romance called <cite>Hay Ibn Yokhdan</cite>.</p> - -<p>In the preface to his book on the <cite>Sphere</cite> Alpetrongi -begs to be excused if he has ventured to -differ from the tradition of the ancients in his -theory of the heavenly movements, and especially -from Ptolemy the great master of this science. -His apology reminds us that it may be well to -examine more exactly than we have yet done the -various advances which had been made up to this -time by the Arabian astronomy.</p> - -<p>As early as the ninth century the mathematicians -of that nation had simplified the problems -of the circle by discovering the way of measurement -by sine and tangent instead of by the chord. -This improvement is ascribed to Albategni who lived -between the years 877 and 929. Calculation was -soon made still easier by the invention of algebra. -The year 820 is given as the age of Mohammed ben -Moussa, surnamed Al Khowaresmi, who had the -honour of this important discovery. From the -surname of this mathematician the Latins afterwards -formed by corruption their common noun -<i lang="la">Algorisma</i> or <i lang="la">Algorithmus</i>, from which our word -arithmetic is derived.</p> - -<p>These improved methods of calculation were -soon applied to astronomy. Al Mamun, whose reign -commenced in the year 813, summoned an assembly -of scholars learned in that science. They met in the -great Babylonian plain, having chosen that place as -suitable for their observations, and measured the declination -of the ecliptic, which they determined to be -23° 33ʺ. About the same time the secular motion of -the heavens began to attract attention. Albategni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -corrected the observations of Ptolemy here, and -showed that the retrograde movement amounted to -one degree, not in a century as the Greek philosopher -had said, but in a shorter period which is variously -stated as sixty-six or seventy years. Alfargan repeated -this calculation, and amended that relating -to the declination of the ecliptic, which he computed -at 23° 35ʺ.</p> - -<p>This was the progress and these the data which -led the Moorish astronomers to abandon the earlier -and simpler theories of the <em>sphere</em> as inconsistent -with ascertained facts. They were aware of -motions among the heavenly bodies not to be -explained by the mere supposition that round the -earth as a centre moved the concentric spheres -on the axes of their poles. It is true that -even Ptolemy himself had felt something of this -difficulty and had endeavoured to meet it by a -theory of eccentrics and epicycles. As knowledge -increased, however, this primitive explanation was -felt to be cumbrous and unsatisfactory. Aboasar<a name="FNanchor_145" id="FNanchor_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> -and Azarchel gained fame by boldly striking out in -new paths, and later Moorish astronomers eagerly -followed the lead thus given them, each adding -some modification of his own.</p> - -<p>Thus then we return to the preface of Alpetrongi -prepared to understand his position when he -declares himself obliged to depart from previous -traditions. He proceeds to avow himself a scholar -of Azarchel, but when we examine his work we find -that the theory he proposes differs considerably -even from that taught by his immediate master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -It was one which, through the labours of Michael -Scot, as translator of Alpetrongi, exercised no small -influence on the study of astronomy among the -Latins, and we may well spend a moment in considering -the chief features which it presents.</p> - -<p>One of the most important problems which -called for solution at the hands of the Moorish -astronomers was that of the recession of the -heavenly bodies, by which, when observed at -sufficient intervals of time, they were seen to fall -short of the positions they might have been -expected to reach. This recession, as we have -remarked already, had been very accurately studied, -and computed as exactly as the methods of the -time allowed; but a reason for so remarkable a -phenomenon was yet to seek. Alpetrongi boldly -declared that the eastward motion was apparent -only and not real. He explained that the source -of power lay in the <i lang="la">primum mobile</i> or ninth sphere; -that lying outside the sphere of the fixed stars. -From hence the force producing circular motion -was derived to the eighth, and so to the inferior -spheres; each handing on a part of the impulse -to that which lay beneath it. In the course of -transmission, however, the prime force became -gradually exhausted. Thus, said Alpetrongi, it -happens that each sphere moves rather more -slowly than the one above it, and so the apparent -recession is accounted for in a way which shows it -to be relative only and not absolute.</p> - -<p>Another matter which exercised the minds of -those who studied the heavens was the difference -of elevation which the heavenly bodies showed -according to the seasons of summer and winter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -The sun, for example, at noonday of the summer -solstice stood, they saw, at his highest point in the -heavens, while he sank to his lowest on the shortest -day of winter. Between these extremes he held -gradually every intermediate position, and as he was -meanwhile supposed to be moving in a circular path -round the earth, his course came to be conceived of -as a spiral alternately rising and declining. How -was this spiral motion to be explained?</p> - -<p>Each sphere, said Alpetrongi, has its own -poles, which differ from those of the <i lang="la">primum mobile</i>, -and thus each, while following the motion of the -ninth sphere, accomplishes at the same time -another revolution about its own proper poles. -From the combination of these two movements -arises one of the nature of a spiral which fully -accounts for the seeming deviations of the heavenly -bodies to north or south.<a name="FNanchor_146" id="FNanchor_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> - -<p>Such were the contributions of this philosopher -to the astronomy of his time. They were the fruit, -he assures us, of patient study of the ancients, and -specially of Aristotle and his commentators. He -offered them to his age as a distinct improvement -on the cumbrous theories of Ptolemy, and as an -advance even upon that of Azarchel, whom, in -the main, he acknowledges as his master in science. -Antiquated and childish as his explanations may -seem to us, we cannot help feeling that he had at -least grasped firmly some of the chief problems of -the sky. He stood in the line of that inquiry -and patient progress which have issued in the marvellous -discoveries of later times.</p> - -<p>Scot’s version of the <cite>Sphere</cite> of Alpetrongi has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -reached us accompanied by the date of its composition; -a distinction which belongs to only one -other among his translations, that of the <cite>Abbreviatio -Avicennae</cite>. M. Jourdain had the merit of being -the first who drew attention to this fortunate -circumstance,<a name="FNanchor_147" id="FNanchor_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> and he did so by quoting the colophons -of two manuscripts of the <cite>Sphere</cite> discovered -by him in the Paris library.<a name="FNanchor_148" id="FNanchor_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> One of these closes -thus: ‘Praised be Jesus Christ who liveth for ever -throughout all time:<a name="FNanchor_149" id="FNanchor_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> on the eighteenth day of August, -being Friday, at the third hour, <i lang="la">cum aboleolente</i>,<a name="FNanchor_150" id="FNanchor_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> -in the year one thousand two hundred and fifty-five.’ -The other gives the date thus: ‘The year of -the Incarnation of Christ twelve hundred and -seventeen.’ These two epochs coincide exactly, as -the apparent difference arises from the date being -expressed in the first manuscript according to the -era of Spain. It is therefore doubly certain that -Scot’s version of the <cite>Sphere</cite> of Alpetrongi was made -in the year 1217.<a name="FNanchor_151" id="FNanchor_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p> - -<p>In completing this translation Michael Scot -anticipated by one year only the great astronomical -congress which the King of Castile presently -caused to assemble at Toledo. It may very possibly -therefore have been one of the versions prepared -with a view to this great occasion and designed for -the use of the Latin astronomers who might come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -there. Certain it is that the author was not less -fortunate in this than in his previous literary -ventures. The text was well chosen, the time of -publication opportune, and the <cite>Sphere</cite> of Alpetrongi -as it came from Scot’s hand had a wide circulation -and influenced profoundly the astronomical beliefs -of the day.<a name="FNanchor_152" id="FNanchor_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="smaller">SCOT TRANSLATES AVERROËS</span></h2> - -<p>We have already noticed how the commentaries of -Avicenna on Aristotle had been translated into -Latin at Toledo during the twelfth century, and -how Michael Scot had completed that work by his -version of the books relating to Natural History. -Since the beginning of the thirteenth century, however, -another Arabian author of the first rank had -become the object of much curiosity in Europe. -This was the famous Averroës of Cordova, whose -history might fill a volume, so full was it of romantic -adventure and literary interest.<a name="FNanchor_153" id="FNanchor_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> He was but lately -dead, having closed a long and laborious life on the -10th of December 1198, at Morocco, where his body -was first laid to rest in the cemetery outside the -gate of Tagazout. Born at Cordova in 1126, his -name was closely associated with that of his native -city, so that after three months had elapsed his -corpse was brought thither from Africa, and given -honourable and final burial in the tomb of his fathers -at the cemetery of Ibn Abbas.</p> - -<p>Two reasons combined to raise the fame of -Averroës among the Latins, and to inspire them -with a high curiosity regarding his works. He was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -known to have devoted his life to the study and -exposition of Aristotle; then, as for many ages, the -idol of the Christian schools. His philosophy was -further understood to embody the strangest and -most daring speculations regarding the origin of the -universe and the nature of the soul. For these he -had suffered severely at the hands of the Moslem -orthodox. They had proscribed his works and compelled -him to leave his employment and pass the -most precious years of his life in exile.</p> - -<p>These common impressions regarding Averroës -were in the main correct. His labours had appeared -in three forms; a paraphrase, and a lesser and -greater commentary on the books of Aristotle, and -the philosophy which these writings contained was -undoubtedly Manichæan, if not in a measure Pantheistic. -Like that of all the Arabian philosophers, -to whose teaching Averroës gave its final and most -characteristic form, this doctrine was really Greek: -the Aristotelic scheme of the universe as it had been -conceived anew by Porphyry of Alexandria. At -the foundation lay a mighty Duality: that of the -opposing powers of Good and Evil. With the -notion of exalting Him above the possibility of -blame, God, the Centre of the Universe, about -whom all revolves, was declared to be the Absolute -and unconditional Being; while over against Him -was set Matter, also eternal, from which, in its -stubborn resistance to the Divine Will, all evil had -arisen. Any direct action of Deity upon matter -could not be thought of; so the interval between -them was conceived of as occupied by several -Emanations proceeding from God, among which we -may notice those of the Divine Wisdom and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -Divine Power. This Wisdom was said to be impersonal; -one common to all intelligent creatures; -the Light that lighteneth every man that cometh -into the world. This Power was regarded as -supreme, seated high above the spheres, and, -through the <i lang="la">Primum Mobile</i>, entering into touch -with matter and deriving its force downward from -one heavenly circle to another till it reaches earth -itself.</p> - -<p>The origin of created beings was a problem -which received much attention from Averroës. His -ideas on this subject will be seen when we come to -speak of the important digression he wrote under -the title of <cite>Quaestiones Nicolai Peripatetici</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_154" id="FNanchor_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> In -every man he perceived the existence of a passive -intellect or reason, in relation to which the other -Heavenly Intelligence, or Divine Wisdom, presented -itself to him as the Active Reason: that in whose -motions Thought was always accompanied by Power. -The one was Impersonal and Eternal, the other -individual and perishable, yet Averroës taught that -a close relation subsisted between them, and a consequent -sympathy and attraction, in which the -passive intelligence strove to unite itself with the -active and thus achieve eternity and immortality.<a name="FNanchor_155" id="FNanchor_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p> - -<p>This union was known as the <i>ittisal</i>: the supreme -object of the wise man’s desire, and in connection -with it emerged for the first time a distinction between -Averroës and his predecessors. Ibn Badja, -with whom he held the closest relation, had proposed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -a course of moral discipline as the best way -of attaining the <i>ittisal</i>: the same ascetic practice -which Ibn Tofail so remarkably illustrated and commended -in his mystical romance <cite>Hay Ibn Yokhdan</cite>. -Gazzali on the other hand, who was the sceptic of -these schools, boldly declared that the <i>ittisal</i> was -only to be reached by an intellectual and spiritual -confusion attained in the <i>zikr</i>, or whirling dance of -the Dervishes. It was left then for Averroës to -vindicate once more the validity of human reason, -and this he did by proclaiming that science, rightly -understood, was the true way of entering into intellectual -communion with the Deity. All, however, -agreed in teaching that the soul of man was but -an individual and temporary manifestation of the -Divine, from which it had proceeded, and into -which it would again be absorbed.</p> - -<p>It is plain that the way to this consummation -proposed by Averroës had much in common with -the ancient theories of the Alexandrian Gnosis. -The Albigenses and other sects of the time, -especially that called the Brotherhood of the Holy -Ghost, had already done much to familiarise the -West with these essentially Eastern speculations. -A taste for such flights of the mind had been -formed, and, as soon as it became known that a -new teacher had arisen to advocate a theory of this -kind among the Moors, Christianity too was alive -with curiosity to know what the doctrine of Averroës -might be.</p> - -<p>In these circumstances the anathema of the -Church proved powerless to restrain so strong an -impulse of the human spirit. The Council of Paris -in 1209 had sounded the first note of warning and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -of censure. In 1215 Robert de Courçon published -a statute in that university by which the name of -<em>Mauritius Hispanus</em>, understood by Renan to mean -Averroës, was associated with those of David of -Dinant and Almaric of Bena the French Pantheists -of the day, and all men were warned to have nothing -to do with their writings under pain of censure. In -spite of these enactments five years had not passed -since the date of the latter proclamation, before the -commentaries of Averroës were rendered into Latin -and the secrets of his remarkable philosophy laid -open to the scholastic world.</p> - -<p>The credit of this bold and successful enterprise -belongs, it would be hard to say in what -proportions, to the Emperor Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> and to -Michael Scot his faithful servant. Frederick had -indeed every reason to feel an interest in the works -of Averroës. His mind was naturally keen and of -a speculative cast. He showed little inclination to -subject his curiosity to the restraints of custom or -ecclesiastical authority, and was thus at least as -likely as any of the wise and noble of his day to -indulge his passion for what promised to be both -original and curious. We are to remember also -that he stood in close relation with the peculiar -religious opinions already noticed, which were then -so prevalent both in south-eastern France and the -adjoining parts of Spain. His brother-in-law, who -died so suddenly at Palermo, was Count of -Provence, and, whatever place the unfortunate -Alphonso may have held with regard to the heresy -so common in his dominions, we may feel sure that -among the host of Provençal knights who formed -his train when he came to Sicily there must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -have been some at least who were adherents of -the Albigensian party. No religious opinion ever -made so striking a progress among the wealthy and -noble as this, and none was ever commended in a -way more fit to win the sympathy and interest of a -youthful monarch inclined to letters and gallantry. -The doctrine of the Albigenses was in fact a late -revival of the <em>Gnosis</em> of Alexandria. It flattered -the pride of those who desired distinction even in -their religion. Its representatives and advocates -were no repulsive monks or sour ascetics but men -of birth and breeding, who excelled in manly -exercises, and were famous for their success in the -courts of love and in the <em>gay saber</em>. It would not -have been wonderful if Frederick himself had -become an Albigensian. He is known to have -caught a taste for Provençal poetry if nothing -more, and it is certain that he remained, to the -close of his life, and even beyond it, a grateful -and sympathetic figure among those who, after the -great persecution, still represented Albigensian -doctrine.<a name="FNanchor_156" id="FNanchor_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> Something of this may have been due -to the influence of his wife Constantia, whose father, -Don Pedro of Aragon, had fallen gallantly in 1213 -under the walls of Murel, during an expedition in -which he led the Spanish chivalry to aid the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -Counts of Toulouse and Foix the champions of the -Albigensian party.</p> - -<p>The probability that the Emperor had early felt -an interest in Averroës is confirmed by a curious -statement of Gilles de Rome,<a name="FNanchor_157" id="FNanchor_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> who tells us that the -sons of the Moorish philosopher received a cordial -welcome from Frederick and lived in honour at his -Court. Renan indeed finds reason to doubt the -truth of this statement,<a name="FNanchor_158" id="FNanchor_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> yet we may remember -that the chronicler could not in any case have -ventured upon it unless the Emperor’s sympathy -for Averroës had been matter of common knowledge.</p> - -<p>As to Michael Scot we may feel sure that he -was every whit as eager as his master could be to -honour the philosopher’s memory and to gain a -nearer acquaintance with his writings. The manuscript -in the Laurentian library to which we have -already referred<a name="FNanchor_159" id="FNanchor_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> speaks, it will be remembered, of a -visit paid by Scot to the city of Cordova. It is not -difficult to determine with a high degree of probability -the reason that may have led him thither. -Had he lived three hundred years earlier indeed, -the fame of Cordova as a centre of learning might -well have proved a sufficient attraction to account -for this journey. In the tenth century that city -shone as the seat of a great Jewish school: one of -those lately transferred to Spain from the eastern -cities of Pombeditha and Sura. The Caliph Hakim, -under whose protection this change took place, -gave royal encouragement to the learned men who -came to Cordova. Thousands of students assembled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -in the great Mosque, and Hakim collected for their use -a magnificent library which was said to contain four -hundred thousand volumes. Al Mansour, however, -who succeeded to Hakim’s throne, fell under the -influence of orthodox scruples. He burnt much -of the great library, and the rest perished at the -disastrous sack of Cordova in the following century. -The ruin of the Rabbinical academies was completed -a little later by the cruel edict of Abd-el-Mumen, -who expelled the Jews from his realm. -The most famous teachers of Cordova and Lucena -then betook themselves to Castile. Alphonso <span class="smcapuc">VII.</span> received -them kindly and gave them liberty to settle -in his capital. These events took place before 1150, -and from that date the ancient schools which had -given such fame to Cordova and Lucena became -one of the chief attractions of Toledo.</p> - -<p>The sole glory which Cordova still retained in -the days when Scot visited it was the memory of -departed greatness, and of Averroës, whose fame -must yet have endured as a living tradition in the -place of his birth and burial. We may therefore -believe that it was as a pilgrim to the shrine of that -illustrious name that the traveller came hither. -As he wandered amid the countless columns of the -great Mosque, or stayed his steps by the tomb of -Ibn Abbas, he must have found a melancholy -pleasure in recalling the mighty past, when these -aisles were crowded with eager students and when, -still later, the last scion of the Cordovan schools had -appeared in the person of the Master whose writings -were now the object of so much curiosity. It -is quite possible that something of a practical -purpose may have combined with these sentiments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -to determine the direction of Scot’s journey. -Twenty years had not passed, we must remember, -since the body of Averroës was laid in its last -resting-place. What if those who directed and -composed the solemn funeral procession from -Morocco to Cordova had brought with them the -books which the philosopher was engaged in completing -at the time of his death? The hope of a -great literary discovery could hardly have been -absent from the mind of Michael Scot as he travelled -southward to seek the white walls of the Moorish -city.<a name="FNanchor_160" id="FNanchor_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> - -<p>There is no reason to think that the story of -the spell framed by Scot at Cordova was literally -and historically true; it seems to belong rather to -the department of his legendary fame as a necromancer. -Yet, read as a parable, this conjuration is -not without interest and perhaps importance. It -professes to compel the appearance of spirits from -the nether deep, and to command an answer to -any question the sage or student might choose to -ask. A slight effort of fancy will find here the -picturesque representation of Scot’s mental and -physical state while at Cordova, and especially under -the stress of the illness from which we are assured -he then suffered.<a name="FNanchor_161" id="FNanchor_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> What wonder if, in the vertigo -of fever, he felt prisoned with swimming brain in -magic circles; or is it strange that one so intent -upon the doctrine of the departed Averroës should, -in the height of his delirium, have planned to force<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -the grave itself, and summon the dead philosopher -to tell the secret of his lost works? Something of -the Greek δεινότης, something terrible, superhuman -almost, we discover in a spirit so fully roused and -determined, and if we have read rightly the mind -of Scot, no wonder that he and the Emperor were -fully at one in regard to what they had to do. We -have no means of knowing which of the two first -conceived the idea of translating the works of -Averroës: as master and servant they fairly share -the fame of that great enterprise. It was one -which demanded, not only means, talent, and -unwearied labour, but high courage as well, considering -the suspect character of that philosophy -and the censures under which it already lay. In -the event indeed this proved to be a matter -highly creditable to those who promoted it, but -one which carried serious and far-reaching consequences -both for Michael Scot and for the -Emperor himself in the ecclesiastical and political -sphere.</p> - -<p>When Scot returned to Toledo it was not with -the purpose of attempting single-handed a task for -which not only time, but the co-operation of several -scholars, was evidently necessary. There is reason -to think that the Emperors commission conveyed -some instruction to this effect; for, as a matter of -fact, we know that at least two other hands were -associated with Scot in the translation of Averroës.</p> - -<p>One of these was Gerard of Cremona, not of -course the Cremonese who died in 1187, but the -younger scholar of the same name, perhaps a son -or nephew of the elder. He is distinguished as -Gherardus <em>de Sabloneta</em> Cremonensis. The Victorine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -manuscript<a name="FNanchor_162" id="FNanchor_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> supplies evidence that he contributed to -the work in which Michael Scot was now engaged.</p> - -<p>It is not impossible that Philip of Tripoli may -have joined in the new enterprise. His name does -not indeed appear in any of the manuscripts which -contain the Latin Averroës, but we have seen that -he was certainly in Spain about this time and even -at work with Gerard of Cremona.<a name="FNanchor_163" id="FNanchor_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> His intimate -relation to Michael Scot is also beyond question, -and, upon the whole, it seems reasonable to suppose -that the Emperor may have engaged him to help in -the work now going forward.</p> - -<p>However this may have been as regards the -exact details of time and persons, we may regard it -as a matter now for the first time brought to light -and established, that in the years between 1217 -and 1223 there existed a college of translators in -Toledo just such as that which had done so much -excellent work there a century before. In the new -school Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> held the honourable place of -patron, as Archbishop Raymon had done in his -day, while Michael Scot and Gerard of Cremona -aided each other in completing the version of -Averroës as Dominicus Gundisalvus had lent his -help to form that of Avicenna. This view of the -matter should be found very interesting, not only -in itself, but with regard to the conclusions arrived -at by Jourdain, whose discoveries in the literary -history of the twelfth century it so remarkably -repeats and extends to the following age.</p> - -<p>This correspondence between the earlier and -later schools of Toledo is even more close and exact -than we have yet observed. It appears also in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -fact that a Jewish interpreter was attached to each, -and rendered important service as a member of the -college. Under Don Raymon this place was held -by Johannes Avendeath, or Johannes Hispalensis -as he is commonly called, who worked along with -the Archdeacon. ‘You have then,’ says Avendeath, -addressing the Archbishop, ‘the book which has -been translated from the Arabic according to your -commands: I reading it word by word into the -vernacular (Spanish), and Dominic the Archdeacon -rendering my words one by one into Latin.’<a name="FNanchor_164" id="FNanchor_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> The -same division of labour seems to have been followed -in the new school which Frederick promoted. The -Emperor drew the attention of these learned men to -Averroës, and signified his desire that a version of -this author should be prepared like that which had -been made from Avicenna. Michael Scot and Gerard -of Cremona were responsible, the former probably in -a special sense, both for the general conduct of the -undertaking, and, in particular, for the accuracy of -the Latin. Now these scholars also, like their -predecessors, availed themselves of the help of a -Jewish interpreter. This was one Andrew Alphagirus, -who seems to have taken the same part that -Avendeath had formerly done, by translating the -Arabic of Averroës into current Spanish, which Scot -and his coadjutor then rendered into Latin.</p> - -<p>Such at least appear to be the suggestions -which offer themselves naturally to one who peruses -the colophon to the copy of the <cite>De Animalibus -ad Caesarem</cite> preserved in the <cite>Bibliotheca Angelica</cite><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -of Rome. Thus it runs: ‘Here endeth the book -of Aristotle concerning animals, according to the -abbreviation of Michael Scot Alphagirus.’ The -form of expression is curious, but may be exactly -matched from the versions produced by the earlier -Toledan translators: that is, if we are to believe -Bartolocci. This author, in the first volume of his -<cite>Bibliotheca Rabbinica</cite>, mentions a manuscript of the -Fondo Urbinate in the Vatican which, he says, contains -the four books of Avicenna on Physics -translated by ‘Johannes Gundisalvi.’ This name -has evidently, like that of ‘Scoti Alphagiri,’ been -formed by composition from those of the two -translators, <em>Johannes</em> Avendeath and Dominicus -<em>Gundisalvi</em> who aided each other in the work.<a name="FNanchor_165" id="FNanchor_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> - -<p>As to the personality of Alphagirus, the only -ground of conjecture seems to be that supplied by -Romanus de Higuera, who, speaking of the learned -men assembled in 1218 at Toledo for the astronomical -congress, mentions that one of them was -‘el Conhesso Alfaquir’ of Toledo.<a name="FNanchor_166" id="FNanchor_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> The place, the -date, and the similarity of name, are all in favour -of our supposing these two to be one and the same -person. Nay further, as Alfaquir was of Toledo, -and did not need to be summoned thither in 1218, -there is no reason why he should not, as the -‘Alphagirus’ of 1209, have assisted Michael Scot in -producing the <cite>De Animalibus</cite> for Frederick.</p> - -<p>It is from a remark made by Roger Bacon that -we know the first name of the Toledan interpreter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -to have been Andrew, and that he was a Jew. -Bacon gives us this information in no kindly spirit, -but in order to lead up to the bitter conclusion -that Scot’s work was not original, but borrowed -from one whose labours and just fame he had -appropriated. ‘Michael Scot,’ he says, ‘was ignorant -of languages and science alike. Almost all -that has appeared in his name was taken from a -certain Jew called Andrew.’<a name="FNanchor_167" id="FNanchor_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></p> - -<p>A sufficient answer to this serious accusation -may be found in what we already know of the -literary fashions of the day, and, in particular, of -the traditional methods of work pursued by the -Toledan translators. It was precisely thus that -the Archdeacon Gundisalvus had used the aid of -Avendeath. A little later too, we find the same -system adopted in the translation of the Koran -promoted by Peter the Venerable. That ecclesiastic -thus expresses himself in sending a copy of his book -to St. Bernard: ‘I had it translated by one skilled -in both tongues; Master Peter of Toledo; but since -he was not as much at home in the Latin, and did -not know it as well as the Arabic, I appointed one -to help him … Brother Peter our Notary.’ To -his Koran Peter the Venerable joined a <cite>Summa -Brevis</cite> of the Christian controversy with the Mohammedans. -This work also came from the pen of -Master Peter, and with regard to it he makes the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -following remarks: ‘By giving elegance and order -to what had been rudely and confusedly stated by -him (<i lang="la">i.e.</i> by Master Peter) he (<i lang="la">i.e.</i> Brother Peter -the Notary) has completed an epistle, or rather a -short treatise, which, as I believe, will be very useful -to many.’<a name="FNanchor_168" id="FNanchor_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> - -<p>This correspondence throws a clear light upon -the case of Michael Scot in regard to the charge of -plagiarism. Like Master Peter, he was familiar with -both the Latin and the Arabic language. His weak -point, however, we may suppose to have made itself -felt with regard to the latter, which he probably -knew better in its colloquial than its literary -form, and this must have been the reason why -he availed himself of the aid of a Spanish Jew -to secure the accuracy of his work. Such collaboration -seems to have produced nearly all the -previous versions which came from Toledo, and it -is obvious that the honour due to the various contributors -who combined in forming these translations -can only be determined by those who have -it in their power to make a careful and unprejudiced -valuation of their individual labours in each case. -We may gravely doubt whether this was what -Bacon did before he sat down to pen his sharp -censure on Michael Scot. Certainly such an -estimate is now out of the question. We can only -affirm the undoubted fact that the critic was wrong -when he said Scot did not know Arabic. The -contrary appears, not only from the probability we -have already drawn from his Sicilian residence, but -by actual testimony of a very honourable kind.<a name="FNanchor_169" id="FNanchor_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -Nor must we forget to notice that the openness -with which this copartnery was carried on affords a -proof that no deceit could have been thought of in -the matter. Considering the past history of the -Toledan School, it must have been taken for -granted that every version which came from thence -under the name of a Christian scholar owed something -to the care of his Moorish scribe.</p> - -<p>Even had we not been able to make such an -appeal to the use and wont of the times in vindication -of Scot’s method of work, might not a little -consideration of what was natural and inevitable -in such a task have served to explain what Bacon -found so objectionable? The scholars from distant -lands who came to Toledo could not, as a rule, -afford to spend much time there, and were anxious -to use every moment of their stay to the best -advantage. They naturally therefore secured on -their arrival the services of a Jew or Moor for the -purpose of learning Arabic. Needing a knowledge -of that tongue not so much in its colloquial as its -literary dialect, they must have been engaged from -the first in the study of a text rather than in conversing -with their teachers. What then could -have been more suitable than that these scholars -should begin by attacking the very books of which -they desired to furnish a Latin version? This -method had the merit of gaining two objects at -once. The students learned to read Arabic, following -the text as it was translated to them by the -interpreter. Writing in Latin from his vernacular, -and polishing as they wrote, they engaged from -the day of their arrival in the very work of translation -which had brought them to Spain. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -plain too that any modification of this method -which the case of Michael Scot might demand would -depend on the knowledge of Arabic he already -possessed. It must therefore have been such as left -him more and not less credit in the result of his -labours than that which commonly belonged to the -Christian translators in Toledo.</p> - -<p>The whole matter of these versions, and of the -fame belonging to Michael Scot in connection with -them, seems to receive some further light when -we compare the Toledan practice with that which -distinguished the most famous schools of painting. -It would surely be a strange freak of criticism -which should deny to any of the great masters his -well-earned fame because of the ground on which -it was raised, or the numerous scholars whom it -attracted to his studio. Yet we know well what -this relation between the master and his school -implied in the palmy days of pictorial art. There -were apprentices who stretched canvas, mixed -colours, and pricked and pounced designs. There -were pupils, to whom, according to their talents -and proficiency, varied parts of the execution -were assigned. To the master alone belonged -the oversight and responsibility of the whole. -Giving a general design, were it only in a sketch -from his hand, he watched the progress of the -work with jealous eye, and caught the decisive -moment to interpose by executing with his own -pencil such parts of the painting as might give a -distinctive character, a <i lang="fr">cachet</i>, to the whole. Not -till he was satisfied that the desired effect had been -secured might the picture leave his studio, and who -shall say that he did wrong to sign his name to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -works produced in such a way? Thus, at any rate, -have the highest reputations in the world of art -risen into their deserved and enduring fame.</p> - -<p>Now, as it is certain that the Toledan School -pursued similar methods in their literary labours, -right requires that the reputation of its members -should be judged by the same canons of criticism -which we apply without hesitation to pictorial art. -His own day unhesitatingly gave Scot the chief -credit in the version of Averroës without inquiring -too curiously what parts had been executed by -the Cremonese, or other scholars, and what share -belonged to Andrew the Jew. It may make us -the more ready to accept this verdict and adopt it -as our own when we remember the intellectual -qualities of the Emperor for whom this work was -done. It is certainly out of the question to suppose -that a reputation in letters, such as Michael Scot -undoubtedly enjoyed at the court of Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, -could have been gained by any but legitimate and -honourable means.</p> - -<p>Coming to an examination then of the various -versions which came from the new Toledan School, -we find that two of them expressly bear to have -been the work of Scot himself. The first of these -is the treatise commencing ‘Maxima cognitio -naturae et scientiae.’ It is the commentary of -Averroës on the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite> of Aristotle,<a name="FNanchor_170" id="FNanchor_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> and -Scot has prefaced it by an introduction conceived -as follows: ‘To thee, Stephen de Pruvino, I, -Michael Scot, specially commend this work, which -I have rendered into Latin from the sayings of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -Aristotle. And should Aristotle have delivered -somewhat in an incomplete form concerning the -fabric of the world in this book, thou mayest have -what is wanting to complete it from that of -Alpetragius which I have likewise rendered into -Latin; and, indeed, it is one with which thou art -well acquainted.’ As we know when the version -of Alpetrongi on the <cite>Sphere</cite> was produced, this -fortunate reference to that previous work enables -us to determine, at least approximately, that of -the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite>, and hence of these translations -of Averroës in general. The year 1217 is the -first limit, before which they cannot have appeared, -and 1223 is the last; for by that time Michael Scot -had already left Spain. Between these two dates -then, and probably nearer the former than the -latter, must his labours and those of his coadjutors -have been devoted to this important work.</p> - -<p>Stephanus de Provino has been happily identified -by M. Bourquelot with a somewhat notable -ecclesiastic of the Church of Nôtre Dame du Val -de Provins, whose name occurs in various documents -dated between the years 1211 and 1233. Renan -conjectures that he may be the same as a certain -Etienne de Rheims, who, it seems, was born at -Provins.<a name="FNanchor_171" id="FNanchor_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> Perhaps he is the <cite>Stephanus Francigena</cite> -of Guido Bonatti.<a name="FNanchor_172" id="FNanchor_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> Scot’s friendship with him, to -which the dedication of the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite> -bears witness, was probably begun in their student -days at Paris.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> - -<p>The second version bearing the name of Scot is -that which commences with the words: ‘Intendit -per subtilitatem demonstrare;’ being the commentary -of Averroës on the <cite>De Anima</cite> of Aristotle.<a name="FNanchor_173" id="FNanchor_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> -In the Victorine manuscript this treatise offers a -curious title: ‘Here beginneth the Commentary of -the Book of Aristotle the Philosopher concerning -the Soul, which Averroës commented on in <em>Greek</em>, -and Michael Scot translated into Latin.’</p> - -<p>In the same manuscript the version of Averroës’s -Commentary on the various books which compose -the <cite>Parva Naturalia</cite> of Aristotle is ascribed to -Gerard of Cremona. Renan observes that this -ascription does not occur in any other copy, and -supposes it to have been a mistake. He seems -influenced in this conclusion by the fact that -Gerard of Cremona died in 1187. It is curious to -find such an eminent scholar forgetful of the -existence of a younger Cremonese; and he is not -alone in this error, for it has been repeated even -of late years. Yet in 1851 Prince Baldassare -Boncompagni had distinguished well between the -elder and younger Gerard of Cremona in an excellent -monograph on the subject.<a name="FNanchor_174" id="FNanchor_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> Even had this -work not been published, the learned world had -already reason enough to suspect the truth. In a -well-known passage of his <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_175" id="FNanchor_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -Roger Bacon speaks of Gerard of Cremona as a -contemporary of Michael Scot, Alured of England, -William the Fleming, and Herman the German, -adding that those who were still young had nevertheless -known Gerard, who was the eldest of this -company of scholars. Now the <cite>Compendium Studii</cite> -is commonly assigned to the year 1292, but even -if we carry this passage back to 1267, when the -most of Bacon’s works were written, it still appears -evidently impossible that any one still young in -that year could have seen a man who died in -1187. Boncompagni, as we have said, explains the -difficulty by acquainting us with the younger -Gerard, called <em>de Sabloneta</em> Cremonensis. He was -undoubtedly a contemporary of Michael Scot, and -the De Rossi manuscript, already referred to,<a name="FNanchor_176" id="FNanchor_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> shows -that he was in Spain about this time. There is -therefore no reason to distrust the testimony of the -Victorine codex when it gives Gerard the honour -of having translated Averroës on the <cite>Parva Naturalia</cite>. -In accomplishing this work he vindicated -his right to the place we have already ventured to -assign him as a member of the Toledan College.</p> - -<p>The manuscript collections where the <cite>De Coelo et -Mundo</cite>, the <cite>De Anima</cite>, and the <cite>Parva Naturalia</cite> -of Averroës are found in a Latin dress, contain also -versions of several other commentaries by the same -author: those concerning the <cite>De Generatione et -Corruptione</cite>, the four books of the <cite>Meteora</cite>, the <cite>De -Substantia Orbis</cite>, and the <cite>Physica</cite> and <cite>Metaphysica</cite> -of Aristotle.<a name="FNanchor_177" id="FNanchor_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> We may safely ascribe them to the -Toledo College. They were translated either by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -Michael Scot, Gerard of Cremona, or some other -scholar who worked under these masters.</p> - -<p>Renan, relying on the authority of Haureau,<a name="FNanchor_178" id="FNanchor_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> -has shown good reason to believe that at least the -commentaries on the <cite>Physica</cite> and <cite>Metaphysica</cite> in -their Latin versions came from the pen of Scot. -Albertus Magnus, in a passage of high censure, -delivers himself in the following terms: ‘Vile -opinions are to be found in the book called -<cite>Quaestiones Nicolai Peripatetici</cite>. I have been wont -to say that the author of it was not Nicholas but -Michael Scot, who in very deed knew not natural -philosophy, nor rightly understood the books of -Aristotle.’<a name="FNanchor_179" id="FNanchor_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> The doctrine thus condemned is undoubtedly -that of Averroës on the <cite>Physica</cite> and -<cite>Metaphysica</cite>. A manuscript of the Paris library has -a treatise commencing thus: ‘Haec sunt extracta -de libro Nicolai Peripatetici,’ and it seems that a -close correspondence exists between this and a -certain digression in the commentary by Averroës -on the twelfth book of the Metaphysics. This -digression, says Renan, often occurs in the manuscripts -as a separate treatise called ‘Sermo de -quaestionibus quas accepimus a Nicolao et nos -dicemus in his secundum nostrum posse.’ These -words have been omitted from the printed editions -of the Commentaries of Averroës, and thus the -identity of this treatise with the book censured by -Albertus Magnus was not recognised till Haureau -discovered it.</p> - -<p>The only result then of this sharp criticism is to -assure us that the versions of the <cite>Physica</cite> and -<cite>Metaphysica</cite> must also be reckoned to the credit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -of Michael Scot. For undoubtedly the opinions to -which Albert took such exception were those of -Averroës, and not of the translator. But if so, -then what becomes of the censure passed upon -Scot? The truth is that if he was more original -than Bacon gave him credit for, on the other hand -he escapes the force of Albert’s blame by proving -to have been less original than the latter critic had -supposed. His was indeed a hard case. He could -not form versions from the Arabic but either he -was accused of plagiarism or else held up to the -indignation of Christianity as if he had been the -author of the opinions he rendered into Latin. -This steady determination to find fault overreaches -itself. We begin to discover in it the bitter fruit -of some <i lang="la">odium philosophicum</i>, and of that envy -which even a just reputation seldom fails to excite.</p> - -<p>Some curiosity may be felt with regard to the -doctrine contained in the <cite>Quaestiones Nicolai Peripatetici</cite> -which gave ground for such adverse opinions. -M. Renan’s <i lang="fr">résumé</i> of this treatise is clear and -sufficient,<a name="FNanchor_180" id="FNanchor_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> and we may reproduce it here, as it will -afford a useful supplement to the account already -given of the philosophy of Averroës. ‘As to the -origin of the different kinds of being,’ says Averroës, -‘there are two exactly opposite opinions, as well as -others occupying an intermediate position. The -one explains the world by a theory of development, -the other by creation. Those who hold the former -say that generation is nothing but the outcome and -in a sense the multiplication of being; the Agent, -according to this hypothesis, doing no more than -extricate being from being and make a distinction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -between them,<a name="FNanchor_181" id="FNanchor_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> so that the Agent, thus conceived, -has the function of a mere motive power. As to -those who hold the hypothesis of creation, they say -that the Agent produces being without having any -recourse to pre-existent matter. This is the view -taken by our <em>Motecallemin</em>, and by the followers of -the Christian religion: for example, by Johannes -Christianus (Philopon), who asserts that the possibility -of creation lies in the Agent alone.’</p> - -<p>‘The intermediate views may be reduced to two -only, though the first of these admits several -subdivisions which show considerable differences. -These opinions agree in affirming that generation is -only a change of substance; that all generation -implies a subject; and that everything begets in its -own likeness. The first opinion asserts, however, -that the part of the Agent is to create form, and to -impress it upon already existent matter. Some of -those who hold this view, as Ibn Sina,<a name="FNanchor_182" id="FNanchor_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> make an -entire separation between matter in generation and -the Agent, calling the latter the <em>source of form</em>, -while others, among whom we may notice Themistius -and perhaps Alfarabi, maintain that the Agent is -in some cases conjoined with matter, as when fire -produces fire, or man begets man; and in others -separate from it, as in the generation of creeping -things and plants, <i lang="la">i.e.</i> those not produced from -seed,<a name="FNanchor_183" id="FNanchor_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> which all owe their being to causes that are -unlike themselves.’</p> - -<p>‘The third theory is that of Aristotle, who -holds that the Agent produces at once both form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -and substance, by impressing motion on matter, and -begetting a change therein which rouses its latent -powers to action. In this way of thinking the -function of the Agent is only to make active that -which already existed potentially, and to realise a -union between matter and form. Thus all creation -is reduced to motion of which heat is the principle. -This heat, shed abroad in the waters and in the -earth, begets both the animals and the plants -which are not produced by seed. Nature puts forth -all these both orderly and with perfection, just as -if guided by a controlling mind; though nature -itself has no intelligence. The proportions and -productive power which the elements owe to the -motion of the sun and stars are what Plato called -by the name of <em>Ideas</em>. According to Aristotle the -Agent cannot create forms, for in that case something -would be produced from nothing.</p> - -<p>‘It is, in fact, the notion that forms could be -created which has led some philosophers to suppose -that forms have a substantive existence of their -own, and that there is a separate source of these. -The same error has infected all the three religions -of our day,<a name="FNanchor_184" id="FNanchor_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> leading their divines to assert that -nothing can produce something. Starting from -this principle our theologians have supposed the -existence of one Agent producing without intermediary -all kinds of creatures; an Agent whose -action proceeds by an infinity of opposite and contradictory -acts done simultaneously. In this way -of thinking it is not fire that burns, nor water that -moistens; all proceeds by a direct act of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -Creator. Nay more, when a man throws a stone, -these teachers attribute the consequent motion not -to the man but to the universal Agent, and thus -deny any true human activity.</p> - -<p>‘There is even a more astounding corollary of -this doctrine; for if God can cause that which is -not to enter into being, He can also reduce being -to nothing; destruction, like generation, is God’s -work, and Death itself has been created by -Him. But in our way of thinking destruction is -like generation. Each created thing contains in -itself its own corruption, which is present with it -potentially. In order to destroy, just as to create, -it is only necessary for the Agent to call this -potentiality into activity. We must in short -maintain as co-ordinate principles both the Agent -and these potential powers. Were one of the -two wanting, nothing could exist at all, or else -all being would reduce itself to action; either of -which consequences is as absurd as the other.’</p> - -<p>We cannot wonder that Albertus Magnus, and -all who held the Christian faith, were alarmed by -doctrine of this kind and fiercely opposed it. The -orthodox beliefs of Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans -alike were declared false by this bold -writer, whom several expressions which we have -embodied in the above summary show clearly to -have been Averroës, and not Michael Scot. In one -passage indeed we seem to discover what may -have suggested the widely spread fable that -Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, or Scot, or some other of their -company and party, had produced an atheistic -work called <cite>De Tribus Impostoribus</cite>. The imputation -was a false one, yet most natural were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -the feelings of prejudice which the publication of -this philosophy aroused against the great Emperor -and Michael Scot who had acted as his agent in the -matter.</p> - -<p>Pursuing our investigation of the works which -came from the Toledan College we discover that these -were not confined to the books of Aristotle already -noticed, but that the translators took a wider range -in their labours. The Venice manuscript of Averroës,<a name="FNanchor_185" id="FNanchor_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> -besides the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite>, the <cite>De Anima</cite>, -the <cite>Meteora</cite>, the <cite>De Substantia Orbis</cite>, the <cite>De -Generatione et Corruptione</cite>, and the <cite>Parva Naturalia</cite>, -contains several other treatises that deserve -attention. Two of these were compositions of -Averroës; the one a commentary on the book of -Proclus, <cite>De Causis</cite>, then commonly ascribed to -Aristotle,<a name="FNanchor_186" id="FNanchor_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> and the other an independent work, as -it would seem, bearing the following title: -‘Qualiter intellectus naturalis conjungitur Intelligentiae -abstractae,’ in short a treatise on the <i>ittisal</i>. -The volume also contains the Latin version of a -book by the Rabbi Moses Maimonides, entitled -‘De Deo Benedicto, quod non est Corpus, nec -Virtus in Corpore.’<a name="FNanchor_187" id="FNanchor_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> Maimonides, like Averroës, -was a native of Cordova, and hence no doubt arose -the interest that was felt in his works by the -Toledan translators.</p> - -<p>That the Venice manuscript is to be understood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -as a collection of the versions which came from that -school appears plainly in the dedication to Stephen -of Provins. This is generally prefixed to the <cite>De -Coelo et Mundo</cite>, thus forming an introduction to -the versions which follow; but here it has been -placed at the end of the volume, occurring immediately -after the short article <cite>De Vita Aristotelis</cite> -which closes the whole series. We may see in this -fact a certain probability that some at least of these -additional versions may have been the work of -Michael Scot himself. Nor will the five years which -he spent at Toledo appear too scant a space of time -for the production of the whole body of the Latin -Averroës and something more, when we remember -the ample and able assistance he enjoyed in the -prosecution of his labours as a translator.</p> - -<p>There is one other version of which we must -speak before leaving the subject which has engaged -our attention so long. The library of St. Omer -contains a manuscript collection of the works of -Aristotle in Latin which was written during the -thirteenth century.<a name="FNanchor_188" id="FNanchor_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> The fly-leaf at the commencement -of this volume shows the same handwriting -as the other pages, and has proved upon examination -to be the last relic of a work which has unfortunately -perished. What that work was may be -seen from the closing words, which are as follows: -‘Here end the <cite>Nova Ethica</cite> of Aristotle, which -Master Michael Scot translated from the Greek -language into the Latin.’ This colophon opens a -curious question. Are we to consider that the -scribe wrote <em>Greek</em> when he should rather have said -<em>Arabic</em>? It was by a mistake of such a kind that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -the writer of the Victorine manuscript asserted -that Averroës had commented on the <cite>De Anima</cite> in -<em>Greek</em>.<a name="FNanchor_189" id="FNanchor_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> Taking it in this way the version of the -<cite>Nova Ethica</cite> would fall into line with the others -which Scot and Gerard of Cremona composed at -Toledo. But it deserves notice that none of the -manuscript collections usually considered to contain -the work of that school comprises among its contents -the <cite>Nova Ethica</cite>. We know, further, that a -Latin version of the Ethics with the commentary -of Averroës was made from the Arabic by Hermannus -Alemannus.<a name="FNanchor_190" id="FNanchor_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> This work was completed on the -third of June 1240, and we can hardly suppose -that it would have been entered on if Michael Scot -had already accomplished the same task but twenty -years earlier. These facts and considerations make -it very unlikely that the St. Omer fragment represents -a version of the Arabic text.</p> - -<p>Assuming then the literal truth of this interesting -colophon, we are confirmed in the conclusion -to which an examination of the <cite>De Partibus Animalium</cite> -in the Florence manuscript has already -inclined our minds.<a name="FNanchor_191" id="FNanchor_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> Michael Scot, it must now be -held, did not confine his studies altogether to the -Arabian authors, but undertook to form translations -directly from the Greek. These two versions, -and especially that of the <cite>Nova Ethica</cite>, open up -a new and striking view of the scholar’s literary -activity. When Aquinas moved Pope Urban to -order a new translation of Aristotle from the original, -William of Moerbeka and those others who presently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -entered upon this work were tilling no virgin soil, -but a familiar field in which the plough of Scot at -least had left deep furrows. Even the renowned -Grostête, Bishop of Lincoln, who executed a version -of the <cite>Ethica</cite> from the Greek about 1250, was but -following in the path which this earlier master -had opened up. Michael Scot here takes rank with -Boëthius and Jacobus de Venetiis, who were among -the first to seek these pure and original sources of -Aristotelic doctrine. He appears as one who not -only completed the knowledge of his time with -regard to the Arabian philosophy by translating -Averroës, but who gave some help at least to lay -the foundation of a more exact acquaintance with -the works of Aristotle by opening a direct way to -the Greek text. We may even see a sign of this -remarkable position in the place of honour given, -perhaps accidentally, to Scot’s version of the <cite>Nova -Ethica</cite> at the opening of the St. Omer manuscript. -He stands between two ages, and lays a hand of -power upon each.</p> - -<p>It is hardly necessary to add that in this he -shines all the more brightly when compared with -his great detractor. Roger Bacon, secure in the -consciousness of his commanding abilities, attacks -with a rare self-confidence, not Michael Scot alone, -but all the scholars of his time. Not four of them, -he says, know Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic.<a name="FNanchor_192" id="FNanchor_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> Those -who pretend to translate from these tongues are -ignorant even of Latin, not to speak of the sciences -treated of in the books which they pretend to -render intelligible. Busy in penning these diatribes, -Bacon does not seem to have reflected that the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -way of reproving the imperfections of which he -complained would have been to shame these scholars -to some purpose by producing better versions on -his own account. But the truth of the matter lies -here, that Bacon was no linguist. This appears -plainly from the tale he tells against himself in the -<cite>Compendium Studii</cite>; how a hard word in Aristotle -had baffled him till one day there came some outlandish -students to hear him lecture, who laughed -at his perplexity, telling him it was good Spanish -for the plant called Henbane.<a name="FNanchor_193" id="FNanchor_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> ‘Hinc illae lachrymae’ -then, and a plague on Michael Scot and all -his tribe, who know Spanish so well they will not -put a plain Latin word for the puzzled professor -to understand. No wonder that to Scot rather than -to Bacon, for all his genius, that age owed the chief -part of the first translation of Aristotle and a good -beginning of the second.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="smaller">SCOT AGAIN AT COURT</span></h2> - -<p>The return of Michael Scot from Spain to the Imperial -Court was doubtless a striking moment, not -only in the life of the philosopher himself, but in -the history of letters. He then appeared fresh from a -great enterprise, and bringing with him the proofs of -its success in the form of the Latin Averroës. We -cannot doubt that his reception was worthy of the -occasion and of one who had served his master so -faithfully.</p> - -<p>Frederick was now returned to his dominions in -the south. He had established his imperial rights -in Germany at the cost of a campaign in which the -pretensions of Otho were successfully overcome, -and, on his return homeward in 1220, he had -received the crown once more in Rome at the hands -of the supreme ecclesiastical authority. His progress -was indeed a continual scene of triumph. -Arrived at Palermo, the court gave itself up to -feasting and gaiety of every kind.</p> - -<p>Two ancient romantic authorities<a name="FNanchor_194" id="FNanchor_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> choose with -dramatic instinct this moment, and these gay and -voluptuous surroundings, as the <i lang="fr">mise en scène</i> amid -which they show us Scot again appearing to resume<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -the place he had quitted more than ten years before. -It is quite possible that there may be a measure of -historic truth here, as well as the art which can seize -or create an occasion, and which loves to contrast the -triumph of arms with the more peaceful honours of -literary fame. Frederick, we must remember, in a -sort represented both. He was Maecenas as well as -Caesar. In welcoming Michael Scot and doing him -honour at these imperial banquets he was but crowning -the success of an enterprise in which his own -name and interest were deeply engaged.</p> - -<p>Traces of the impression made by this highly -significant incident have been preserved in the arts -of poetry and painting as well as in that of prose -romance. Dante, who wrote his <cite>Divine Comedy</cite> less -than a century later than the time of Scot, has -given the philosopher a place in his poem, describing -him as:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Quell’altro, che ne’ fianchi è così poco,</div> -<div class="verse">Michele Scotto fu.’<a name="FNanchor_195" id="FNanchor_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The commentators, with great reason, refer the -epithet ‘poco’ to the manner of Scot’s dress. It -would seem that the Spaniards of those days differed -from the other European nations in their habit. -They wore a close girdle about the waist, like the -<i>hhezum</i> of the East; and indeed they had probably -taken the fashion from long familiarity with their -Moorish masters and neighbours.<a name="FNanchor_196" id="FNanchor_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> Scot must have -adopted such a dress while at Toledo, and thus, -when he returned to Palermo, the singularity of his -appearance struck the eyes of the court at once. -The impression proved a remarkably enduring one, -since, even in Dante’s day, it still persisted, offering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -itself, as we have seen, to the poet as a picturesque -means of presenting the famous scholar to the world, -not without a hidden reference to what was certainly -one of the crowning moments of his life.</p> - -<p>We may suspect indeed that the fashion of Scot’s -dress was more than simply Spanish; for the mode -of Aragon at least must surely have been too familiar -at Frederick’s court to excite so much attention. -The philosopher had lived long in close company -with the Moors of Toledo and Cordova. What he -wore was probably no mere fragment of Eastern -fashion but the complete costume of an Arabian sage. -The flowing robes, the close-girt waist, the pointed -cap, were not unknown in Sicily where there was -still a considerable Moorish population, yet they -must have sat strangely enough upon Scot when -once he declared himself for what he was: the -reverend ecclesiastic, the Master of Paris, the native -of the far north.</p> - -<p>There is a fresco on the south wall<a name="FNanchor_197" id="FNanchor_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> of the Spanish -Chapel in the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella of -Florence which contains a figure answering nearly -to this conjecture regarding Scot’s appearance. It -is that of a man in the prime of life, slight and dark, -with a short brown beard trimmed to a point. He -wears a long close-fitting robe of a reddish colour, -noticeably narrow at the waist, with a falling girdle. -On his head is a tall red pointed cap from which the -ringlets of his dark hair escape on each side. He -stands among the converts of the Dominican preachers -and bends towards the spectator with an intense -expression and action as he tears the leaves out of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -heretical book<a name="FNanchor_198" id="FNanchor_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> that rests on his knee. It would be -too much to assert that the figure we have described -was meant as a portrait of Michael Scot, yet considering -the place he holds in the <cite>Divine Comedy</cite>, it -is not impossible that such an idea may have crossed -the artist’s mind and left these traces in his work. -Certainly no better pictorial illustration can be -found, at once of Dante’s lines, and of the somewhat -equivocal reputation which began to haunt Scot from -the time of his return to court. There was indeed -a singular fitness in the Moslem dress considered as -the daily wear of one who, though a Christian and -a Churchman, had just done more than any living -scholar to introduce the Moorish science and philosophy -in the West. His choice of such a fashion -is evidence that Michael Scot possessed a ready -adaptability to his circumstances, and even a vein of -aesthetic and dramatic instinct which we might not -otherwise have suspected. But it is not to be forgotten -that his versions of Averroës were already -condemned by the Church, and that the very manner -of Scot’s appearance when he brought them from Spain -must have heightened the suspicions of heresy which -began to attach themselves to the translator of these -forbidden works. The only hope for such a man was -that he might be induced to tear his book and turn -to less dangerous pursuits. This is exactly the idea -which the painter of the Spanish Chapel has expressed, -and in a form which accords so remarkably with the -picturesque description of Michael Scot by Dante.<a name="FNanchor_199" id="FNanchor_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<p>If the philosopher did not actually take such -extreme measures with the creatures of his brain -and pen, the versions he brought to Sicily were at -least suppressed in the meantime, being concealed -in the imperial closet till a more suitable opportunity -should occur for their publication. This -done, their author devoted himself to pursuits less -likely to attract unfavourable notice than those in -which he had been lately engaged.</p> - -<p>The place and duty which most naturally offered -themselves to Scot were those of the Court -Astrologer. We have seen him occupied in this -way already, before he left Palermo for Spain, and -there seems no reason to doubt the tradition which -says that such was indeed the standing occupation -of his life, and one which he resumed at once on his -return. To this application of celestial science the -opinion of the times attached no sinister interpretation, -and Scot, finding himself the object of suspicion -on account of his late studies and achievements, -must have fallen back with a sense of security, -strange as it may seem, upon the casting of horoscopes -and the forming of presages founded on the -flight of birds and the motion of animals.<a name="FNanchor_200" id="FNanchor_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></p> - -<p>It is therefore in all likelihood to this period -in his life that we are to ascribe several works on -astrology and kindred subjects which bear the -name of Scot. They may have come from his pen -by way of supplement to the doctrine which he -had expounded so many years before in the <cite>Liber<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -Introductorius</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_201" id="FNanchor_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> Such are the <cite>Astrologia</cite> of the -Munich Library,<a name="FNanchor_202" id="FNanchor_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> and a curious volume preserved -in the Hof-Bibliothek of Vienna with the following -title: ‘Michaelis Scoti Capitulum de iis quae -generaliter significantur in partibus duodecim Caeli, -sive Domibus.’<a name="FNanchor_203" id="FNanchor_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> The <cite>De Presagiis Stellarum et -Elementaribus</cite>, and the <cite>Notitia convinctionis Mundi -terrestris cum Coelesti</cite>, cited by the writer on Scot -in the <cite>Encyclopedia Britannica</cite>, belong apparently -to the same class.</p> - -<p>We shall probably commit no error in assuming -that the astrological views of Scot at this period -were substantially the same as those embodied in -his earlier writings on that subject.<a name="FNanchor_204" id="FNanchor_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> In after ages -they were severely censured by Pico della Mirandola,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -who says of Scot’s doctrine concerning the -stellar images: ‘These invisible forms can be discerned -neither by the senses nor by right reason, -and there is no agreement regarding them by their -inventors, who were not the Chaldeans or Indians -but only the Arabs.’ … ‘Michael Scot mentions -all these (images) as things most effectual, and with -him agree many astrologers, both Arabian and Latin. -I had heard somewhat of this doctrine, and thought -at first that it was meant merely as a convenient -means of mapping out the sky, and not that these -figures actually existed in the heavens.…’ -‘From the Greeks astrology passed to the Arabs -and was taught with ever-growing assurance.…’ -‘Aboasar, a grammarian and historical writer, took -this science from the Greeks, corrupting it with -countless trifling fables, and made thereof an -astrology much worse than that of Ptolemy.…’ -‘In those days the study of mathematics, like that -of philosophy in general, made great progress in -Spain under King Alphonso, a keen student in the -calculus, especially as applied to the movements of -the heavenly bodies. He had also a taste for the -vain arts of the Diviner, having learned no better; -and to please him in this many of the most important -treatises of that kind, both Greek and -Arabic, have been handed down to our own day, -chiefly by the labours of Johannes Hispalensis and -Michael Scot, the latter of whom was an author -of no weight and full of superstition. Albertus -Magnus at first was somewhat carried away with -this doctrine, for it came with the power of -novelty to his inexperienced youth, but I rather -think that his opinions suffered change in later<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -life.’<a name="FNanchor_205" id="FNanchor_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> Mirandola belonged to another age than -that of Scot, when purer conceptions of astronomical -science were already beginning to prevail, but the -very opinions he condemned held a real relation to -that progress. They encouraged in early times, as -may be seen in the case of Alphonso himself, a -study of the heavenly motions without which no -true advance could have been made.</p> - -<p>A story told by the chronicler Salimbene may, -if rightly understood, show us that Michael Scot -too, for all his astrological dreams, was a clever -calculator and thus stood well in the line on which -true advance in astronomy was even then proceeding. -The Emperor asked him one day to determine -the distance of the <i lang="la">coelum</i>, which probably means -the height of the roof, in a certain hall of the -palace where they happened to be standing together. -The calculation having been made and the result -given, Frederick took occasion to send Scot on a -distant journey, and, while he was away, the proportions -of the room were slightly but sufficiently -altered. On his return the Emperor led him where -they had been before and asked that he should -repeat his solution of the problem. Scot unhesitatingly -affirmed that a change had taken place; -either the floor was higher or the <i lang="la">coelum</i> lower than -before: an answer which made all men marvel at -his skill.<a name="FNanchor_206" id="FNanchor_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> Greek science had taught the art of -measuring inaccessible distances by means of angular -observations, and this art was well understood by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -the Arabs. The <cite>Optica</cite> of Ptolemy were already -translated into Latin from an Arabic version by -Eugenio, admiral to King Robert of Sicily during -the twelfth century,<a name="FNanchor_207" id="FNanchor_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> and mathematical instruments -were known in that kingdom whereby angles could -be taken and measured with some nicety. Scot -must have possessed such an <em>astrolabe</em> and the -skill to use it with great delicacy, if we have -rightly read the terms of the problem he solved so -unhesitatingly. There is no cause for wonder -then in the fact that, where pure and legitimate -astronomy was concerned, this philosopher, who -had won fame in his student days as the mathematician -of Paris, who was now widely known as -the translator of Alpetrongi, and who as a keen -observer and ready calculator was well qualified for -original research, should have taken a high place in -these studies on his own account, and should have -come to be acknowledged as a master in them. -Even Bacon, who blamed Michael Scot so bitterly -when language or philosophy were in question, -speaks in a different way here, calling him a -‘notable inquirer into matter, motion, and the -course of the constellations.’</p> - -<p>This well-earned celebrity may have been owing -in no small degree to a mathematical and astronomical -work produced by the philosopher after his -return to court. Sacrobosco, the famous English -astronomer, had just risen into notice by his -treatise on the <cite>Sphere</cite>. This book was not indeed -very remarkable in itself, but it obtained an extraordinary -currency during the Middle Ages, and after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -the invention of printing as well as before it:<a name="FNanchor_208" id="FNanchor_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> a -popularity chiefly due, we may believe, to its -suggestiveness, which caused many of the learned -to enrich the <cite>Sphere</cite> of Sacrobosco with their own -notes and observations. One of the first to do so -was Michael Scot. His commentary on the work -of Holywood contains several subtle inquiries and -determinations regarding the source of heat, the -sphericity of the heavenly bodies, and other matters, -which have been repeated by Libri with the remark -that their author must have been far in advance of -his times.<a name="FNanchor_209" id="FNanchor_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p> - -<p>We may notice here a curious legend of Naples -to which Sir Walter Scott has drawn attention in -the account he gives of his great namesake.<a name="FNanchor_210" id="FNanchor_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> It -would seem to suggest that this age, perhaps by -means of Michael Scot, was acquainted with philosophical -instruments rarer if not more useful than -the astrolabe. The romance of <cite>Vergilius</cite> tells how -that hero founded ‘in the middes of the see a fayer -towne, with great landes belongynge to it; … and -called it Napells. And the fandacyon of it was of -egges, and in that towne of Napells he made a tower -with iiii corners, and in the toppe he set an apell -upon an yron yarde, and no man culd pull away -that apell without he brake it; and thoroughe that -yren set he a bolte, and in that bolte set he a egge. -And he henge the apell by the stauke upon a cheyne, -and so hangeth it still. And when the egge styrreth, -so shoulde the towne of Napells quake; and when the -egge brake, then shulde the towne sinke,’ The -reference here is of course to the <em>Castel del Ovo</em> at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -Naples, a fortress which we know to have been -built, or at least strengthened, by Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> -What if the rest of the legend embalm, like a fly -in amber, the tradition, strangely altered, of some -instrument set up there to measure the force of -the earthquakes so prevalent in that part of Italy?</p> - -<p>Such a notion is not the pure matter of conjecture -it may at first sight seem to be. Frederick was -in relation with those who might well have put him -in possession of this among other secrets. When -the Tartars stormed the <em>Vulture’s Nest</em>, as it was -called, in the Syrian castle of Alamout, they found -an observatory well supplied with instruments of -precision, and that of all kinds.<a name="FNanchor_211" id="FNanchor_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> Now this place -was the last refuge of the Assassins, that strange -sect who owned obedience to the Old Man of the -Mountain. Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> when in the East paid -these people a visit,<a name="FNanchor_212" id="FNanchor_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> and again at Melfi, in his own -dominions, he received their ambassadors and entertained -them at a great banquet.<a name="FNanchor_213" id="FNanchor_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> Considering then -the Emperor’s well-known curiosity in all matters -of physical science, we may feel sure he would -profit by any improvements or discoveries the observers -at Alamout could communicate. If the -contrivance set up at Naples was really a <em>seismometer</em>, -this would furnish a curious comment on -Bacon’s statement that Michael Scot excelled in -investigating the movements of matter.<a name="FNanchor_214" id="FNanchor_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></p> - -<p>Passing to what rests on more certain evidence, -we find Scot’s fame in those days attested by one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -of his most distinguished contemporaries, and that -in a way which makes him appear as an honoured -master in the science of algebra, then lately introduced -from the Moorish schools. This improvement -and testimony were both of them due to a certain -Leonardo of the Bonacci family of Pisa, who was, -perhaps, the first to bring the new method of calculation -to the knowledge of his countrymen. His -father had been overseer of the customs at Bougie, -in Barbary,<a name="FNanchor_215" id="FNanchor_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> on behalf of the Pisan merchants who -traded thither. Observing the superior way of -reckoning used by the Moors in that country, he -sent home for his son that the boy might be trained -in this admirable way of counting. Leonardo perfected -his art in after years by travel and study in -Egypt, Syria, and Greece, as well as in Sicily and -Provence. The ripe fruit of this knowledge saw -the light in 1222, when he published for the -first time his famous <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite>. It consisted of -fifteen chapters, in which the author declared the -secret of the Indian numerals as well as the fundamental -processes of algebra.<a name="FNanchor_216" id="FNanchor_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></p> - -<p>This brief account of one who must ever hold an -honourable place in the history of mathematical -science may enable us to value at its true worth -the praise which Leonardo bestowed on Michael -Scot. It seems that the first edition of the <cite>Liber -Abbaci</cite> was not entirely satisfactory. Scot wrote -a letter to the author which possibly contained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -strictures on the work, and asked that a copy of -the emended edition should be sent him. Pisano -replied by dedicating the book to his correspondent. -It appeared in 1228, and contained a prefatory -letter, in which the author addresses Scot in the -highest terms of respect, calling him by that title -of <em>Supreme Master</em> which he had won at Paris, -and submitting the <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite>, even in this its -final form, to his further emendation. This <i lang="la">laudari -a laudato</i> must have been most grateful to -the philosopher, and it enables us to see the standing -he had among the mathematicians of his time. -One would almost be disposed to infer, from the -respect Pisano paid him, that Scot himself had -composed or translated some lost work on algebra. -In another connection we shall find reason to think -that this conjecture may be well founded.<a name="FNanchor_217" id="FNanchor_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></p> - -<p>Besides the practice of astrology and his deeper -researches in astronomy and mathematics, Michael -Scot devoted himself to another profession, that of -medicine. This was then a science very imperfectly -understood, yet here too, in the years that followed -his return to court, Scot made a name for himself -as a physician, and contributed something to the -advancement of human knowledge in one of its most -important branches. The healing art in Europe had -only just begun to emerge from that primitive state -in which savage peoples still possess it; overlaid by -charms and incantations; the peculiar department -of the wise woman, the sorcerer, and the priest. -Among the Latin races the lady of the castle and -the <i lang="it">bella donna</i> of the village still cared for rich -and poor in their various accidents and sicknesses,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -as indeed they continued to do for several ages -more. Only crowned heads, the wealthiest of the -nobility, or the rich merchants of the cities, began -to require and employ the services of regular -physicians. These were generally Jews, sometimes -Moors;<a name="FNanchor_218" id="FNanchor_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> and thus fashion and experience alike began -to make popular among our ancestors the superior -claims of science in medicine. Such science had undoubtedly -survived from the days and in the works -of Hippocrates, Galen, and Celsus, and was now -preserved in the theory and practice of the Arabian -schools.</p> - -<p>This point once reached, a further advance soon -became inevitable. Attention had been called to -a deeper source of medical knowledge than that -generally possessed in the West. Learned men, -whose tastes led them this way, naturally sought -to inform their minds by procuring translations of -the Arabic works on medicine. The just fame of -Salerno, a medical school which had been founded -in the closing years of the eleventh century by -Robert Guiscard, depended on the intelligent zeal -with which this plan of research was then pursued.<a name="FNanchor_219" id="FNanchor_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> -The kingdom of Sicily indeed occupies as important -a place in the progress of the healing art as Spain -itself does with regard to the history of philosophy -and of science in general.</p> - -<p>Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, as might have been expected, did -much to encourage and regulate these useful studies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -We have already noticed the bent of his mind towards -comparative physiology, and the daring experiments -he carried out, <i lang="la">in corpore vili et vivo</i>. -One of the first literary and scientific works which -he commanded, or at least accepted when it was -dedicated to him, was a compilation from three -ancient authors upon a medical subject.<a name="FNanchor_220" id="FNanchor_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> He was -then but eighteen years of age. As time went on -his interest in this science continued, and became -the motive to a liberal and enlightened policy. He -regarded medicine as a matter of national importance, -and strove by wise laws to make the practice -of that profession as intelligent and useful as possible. -He protected the faculty at Salerno and -created that of Naples. None might lecture elsewhere -in the Sicilies, and every physician in the -kingdom must hold testimonials from one or other -of these schools, as well as a government licence -to practise. The course preliminary to qualification -consisted of three years in arts and five in -medicine and surgery. As a guide to the professors, -the doctrine of Hippocrates and Galen was declared -normal in the schools; yet, lest this should become -merely formal and traditional, directions were given -that the students should have practice in anatomy. -Regarding the related trade of the apothecary, the -laws denounced the adulteration of drugs. Physicians -might not claim a greater fee than half a <i lang="it">taren</i> of -gold per diem, which gave the patient a right to -be visited thrice in the day. The poor were to be -attended free of charge. We have thought it right -to be particular in these details, as they throw -light on the times, and on Scot’s own practice as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -a physician. Considering indeed the place he held -about the Emperor’s person, and the high estimation -in which his master held him, it seems not at all -improbable that his may have been the hand which -drew these wise enactments, or his at least the -suggestion which commended them to Frederick. -They must in any case have been the rules under -which he carried on his work as a doctor of medicine.</p> - -<p>This branch of Michael Scot’s activity relates -itself easily and naturally to what we already know -of his acquirements and familiarity with the Arabian -authors. It was from the <cite>De Medicina</cite> of Rases -that he borrowed so much material for his <cite>Physionomia</cite>. -The <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> too, which he -translated for Frederick in 1210, was in no small -part a treatise on comparative anatomy and physiology, -nor is it likely that he can have missed reading -the famous <em>canon</em> of the same author, in which -Avicenna expounds a complete body of practical -medicine. We need not wonder then to find that, -on Scot’s return to court, his work on Averroës -done, he added the practice of physic to his duties -as Imperial Astrologer. This new profession must -have offered itself to him as another means of -securing a general forgetfulness of the questionable -direction in which his philosophical studies -had lately carried him.</p> - -<p>He seems in fact to have won almost as much -fame in medicine as he had made for himself in the -study of mathematics. Lesley says ‘he gained much -praise as a philosopher, astronomer, and physician.’ -Dempster speaks of his ‘singular skill,’ calling -him ‘one of the first physicians for learning’<a name="FNanchor_221" id="FNanchor_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -and adding that Camperius<a name="FNanchor_222" id="FNanchor_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> had the highest -opinion of him. An anonymous writer, <cite>De claris -Doctrina Scotis</cite>, is even more precise, telling us -that Scot was noted for the cures he effected in -difficult cases, and that he excelled in the treatment -of leprosy, gout, and dropsy.<a name="FNanchor_223" id="FNanchor_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></p> - -<p>Some slight remains of this skill are to be found -in the libraries of Europe; for Michael Scot was -a writer on the science of his art as well as a -practising physician. The chief of these relics is -a considerable work on the urine. This subject -had been widely, if not deeply, studied by the more -ancient medical authorities, whose investigations -appear in the <cite>Ketab Albaul</cite> of Al Kairouani,<a name="FNanchor_224" id="FNanchor_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> and in -a book to which we have already more than once -referred: the <cite>De Urinis</cite> compiled for Frederick in -1212.<a name="FNanchor_225" id="FNanchor_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> The same title belongs to one of the treatises -by Avicenna, which has been reprinted in the present -century.<a name="FNanchor_226" id="FNanchor_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></p> - -<p>The <cite>De Urinis</cite> of Michael Scot seems now -extant in the form of an Italian translation alone. -The exact title is as follows: ‘Della notitia e prognosticatione -dell’orine, secondo Michele Scoto, così -de’ sani, come delli infermi,’ or, more briefly, ‘El -trattato de le urine secondo Michaele Scoto.’<a name="FNanchor_227" id="FNanchor_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -author enumerates no less than nineteen divisions -of his subject, which he seems to have studied very -exactly. This work long remained an authority in -the medical schools, as appears, not only from the two -translations we have noticed, but also in the fact that -large use was made of it in a later collection which -commences thus: ‘In the name of the Lord, Amen. -These are certain recipes taken from the book of -Master Michael Scot, Physician to the Emperor -Frederick, and from the works of other Doctors.’<a name="FNanchor_228" id="FNanchor_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></p> - -<p>There has also come down to us a prescription called -<cite>Pillulae Magistri Michaelis Scoti</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_229" id="FNanchor_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> It enumerates -about a dozen ingredients and the scribe has added<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -an extravagant commendation of its healing powers. -Mineral medicines were evidently not in fashion in -those days; for the recipe speaks only of simples -derived from herbs of different kinds. It is to be -observed that this agrees exactly with the practice -of Salerno, as the Materia Medica of that school -was chiefly drawn from the botany of Dioscorides -afterwards expounded by Ibn Beithar of Malaga, -the great Moorish authority on the healing virtues -of plants. There is no reason then to doubt the -truth of the title which ascribes the prescription -for these pills to Michael Scot. It is in any case -a curious relic of early medical practice.</p> - -<p>It is possible that the great plague which fell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -upon Palermo at the time of Frederick’s marriage -may have been, in part at least, the occasion of -that interest which both the Emperor and his -astrologer took in the healing art. These epidemics, -which in several of their most fatal forms are now -only known by tradition, were the dreaded scourge -of the Middle Ages; their prevalence being no doubt -due to the rude and insanitary habits of life which -were then universal. We read of another infectious -sickness which attacked Frederick and his crusaders -when they were on the point of sailing from Brindisi -in 1227. The season was one of terrible heat, so -great indeed that one chronicle says the rays of the -sun melted solid metal! Lying in the confinement -of their galleys on an unhealthy coast the troops -suffered severely. At last rain fell, but immediately -poisonous damps arose from the steaming soil, -and the plague began to show itself. Two bishops -and the Landgrave of Thuringia were among the -victims of the pestilence, and very many of the -crusaders died. Frederick himself ran considerable -risk of his life. Against the advice of his physician -he had exposed himself to the sun in the course of -his journey to Brindisi. After three days with the -fleet he was obliged to return on account of the -state of his health, when he at once went to the -waters at Pozzuoli, which proved a successful cure. -Michael Scot must have entered into these affairs -with a large concern and responsibility for his -master’s health, and we shall think much of the -importance and consequence he enjoyed at this time -when we remember that the chief object of his care -as a physician was the life of one on whom interests -that were more than European then depended.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE LAST DAYS OF MICHAEL SCOT</span></h2> - -<p>The various occupations in which Michael Scot -engaged upon his return to court were not without -their due and, as we believe, designed effect. The -part he had taken in producing the Latin Averroës -was soon forgotten when it appeared that no -immediate publication of these proscribed works -was intended by the Emperor. Scot now stood -boldly before the world in no suspicious character; -distinguished only by his great learning and the -fidelity with which he discharged his offices of -astrologer and physician about the Imperial person.</p> - -<p>This rehabilitation of his fame opened the way -to further honours and emoluments which Frederick -soon began to seek on his servant’s behalf. Scot -had never quite lost character as a churchman, and -the member of a great religious Order, though his -studies had carried him far from the somewhat -narrow and beaten track of an ordinary ecclesiastical -education. Like Philip of Tripoli, he was probably -in holy orders, and even held a benefice, while, -as we see from the dedication of his <cite>De Coelo et -Mundo</cite> to Stephen of Provins, he was careful, even -in the wildest heats of his work on Averroës, to keep -in touch with those who held high positions in the -Church. Soon after his return from Spain a resolute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -and repeated attempt was made to secure for him -some ecclesiastical preferment.</p> - -<p>Honorius <span class="smcapuc">III.</span> then sat in the Chair of St. Peter. -In 1223 a dispensation was granted by the Curia -allowing Michael Scot to hold a plurality. At -the same time the Pope wrote to Stephen Langton -the Primate of England, desiring that Scot should -be preferred to the first suitable place which might -fall vacant in that country.<a name="FNanchor_230" id="FNanchor_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> Honorius was then -at peace with the Emperor, and we may believe -that it was in consequence of some strong representation -made by Frederick that he took such an -interest in the fortunes of this Imperial <i lang="fr">protégé</i>.</p> - -<p>The application to Canterbury was entirely in -accordance with the habits of the time; for England -was then the constant resource of the Popes when -they wished to confer a favour on any of their -clergy. Many and deep were the complaints which -this practice awakened among the priesthood of -the north. A like abuse of influence appeared in -Scotland as well. Theiner reports the case of a -clerk named Peter, the son of Count George of -Cabaliaca, on whose behalf the Pope wrote in -1259 to the Canons of St. Andrews, desiring that -he might be reinstated in his benefice of Chinachim -(Kennoway in Fife) which he had forfeited -as an adherent of the Empire.<a name="FNanchor_231" id="FNanchor_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> It is only fair, -however, to notice that there were instances of -the contrary practice. In 1218, for example, one -Matthew, a Scot, was recommended by Honorius -to the University of Paris for the degree of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -Doctor, that he might teach there in the faculty of -Divinity.</p> - -<p>It may seem remarkable that the Pope did -not address his application in Scot’s favour to -St. Andrews rather than to Canterbury. We are -to recollect, however, that in 1223, the relations -between Scotland and the See of Rome were -still somewhat strained. The North had not -yet forgotten what took place in 1217, when -Gualo came thither as Legate to lay the Interdict -upon Scotland. Churches were closed by this -severe sentence; the sacraments forbidden; even -that of extreme unction denied to the people; -the dead were buried without service, and all -marriages were celebrated in the churchyards. -When the interdict was removed in the following -year, the duty of proclaiming that remission was -intrusted to the Prior of Durham and the Dean -of York, who made a solemn progress in the -Kingdom to announce the Pope’s clemency. We -may feel sure that these events were not forgotten -in five years by a proud and independent -nation like the people of Scotland, and Honorius -must be thought to have judged rightly in supposing -his application on Scot’s account had a -better chance of being effected by the English -than by the Scottish Primate. Nothing indeed -was overlooked that might give force to the -recommendation. The Pope accompanied his request -with a generous testimony to the scholar’s -ability, saying that he was distinguished, even -among learned men, for his remarkable gifts and -knowledge.<a name="FNanchor_232" id="FNanchor_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> Thus everything seemed to promise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -that Michael Scot would soon enjoy a rich English -living; the <i lang="es">El dorado</i> of the foreign clergy in -those easy days of sinecures secured by dispensations -of plurality and non-residence.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however, a much more favourable -occasion offered itself to the Pope for securing -the interests of Frederick’s <i lang="fr">protégé</i>, and one which -dispensed with any concurrence of the English -Primate in the matter. In the same year which -witnessed his application to Stephen Langton a -vacancy occurred in the Archbishopric of Cashel. -The chapter of that see proposed a candidate of -their own to Honorius, probably the Bishop of -Cork, but the Pope saw his opportunity and named -Michael Scot for the vacant benefice. The obedient -Chapter at once proceeded to elect him. The -consequence being to their apprehension a foregone -conclusion, the Curia issued another dispensation -permitting this favourite of fortune to hold the -Archbishopric along with all his other benefices.<a name="FNanchor_233" id="FNanchor_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> -So nearly did Scot come to the possession of a -high place in the Church, and an office which would -surely have altered his fame in the ages that were -to come.</p> - -<p>But those who thus took into their hands the -shaping of the future for Michael Scot were soon -to learn that the man they had to deal with was -of another nature than their own; a very Scot -in his scruples and the conscientiousness with which -he gave effect to them. Incredible as it must -then have seemed, remarkable as it would be even -in our own day, Michael Scot refused Cashel,<a name="FNanchor_234" id="FNanchor_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -this for a reason which showed how high was the -conception he had formed of the pastoral office. -His <i lang="la">nolo episcopari</i> proceeded on the ground that -he was ignorant of the Irish language. He would -not, it seems, be a chief pastor without the power -to teach and feed the flock committed to his -care. He would not consent to be intruded upon a -people to whom he must have proved unacceptable, -nor would he, in the too common fashion of the -day, commit his duties in Ireland to a suffragan, -while enjoying ample revenues and a lordly title -in Italy.</p> - -<p>It is somewhat startling to find a principle -not unheard of in the Scotland of our own century -so clearly grasped and so conscientiously followed -by this <em>non-intrusionist</em> countryman of ours six -hundred years ago. Yet Michael Scot did not -stand alone in his sacrifice even in these slack -times, as may be seen by the case of his namesake, -John Scot, who was Bishop of Dunkeld during -the pontificate of Clement <span class="smcapuc">III.</span><a name="FNanchor_235" id="FNanchor_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> This earlier Prelate -ruled a vast diocese which included the country -of Argyll as well as the more eastern parts of -central Scotland. His conscience became uneasy -under the responsibility, and, unwilling to continue -the spiritual overseer of those whom from his -ignorance of their language he could not edify, -he wrote to the Pope, desiring that Argyll might -be disjoined from Dunkeld, and that Ewaldus his -chaplain, who knew Erse, might have charge of -the new diocese as its Bishop. This was actually -done in 1200, and the good Bishop died in great -peace two years later. ‘How can I give a comfortable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -account to the Judge of the world at -the last day,’ so he had written to Clement, ‘if -I pretend to teach those who cannot understand -me? The revenues suffice for two Bishops, if -we are content with a competency, and are -not prodigal of the patrimony of Christ. It is -better to lessen the charge and increase the -number of labourers in the Lord’s Vineyard.’ In -some such terms must Michael Scot too have -declined Cashel. His case, as well as that of -Dunkeld, is enough to show that ecclesiastical -corruption, though widespread, was not, even in -those days, universal. May no Cervantes of the -Church ever arise in Scotland to laugh such -sacred chivalry away!</p> - -<p>The disappointment he nevertheless felt on this -occasion may probably have encouraged Scot in -his attachment to the court and to his new duties -there as astrologer and physician, in which, as we -have seen, he rose to such acknowledged eminence. -Frederick did not, however, lose sight of his purpose -to procure him preferment. The first application -to Canterbury having met with no response -it was renewed four years later in 1227, by -Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span>, who in that year succeeded Honorius -in the Chair of St. Peter. This new Pontiff was -destined to become the Emperor’s most bitter and -relentless foe, but as yet he remained on good -terms with Frederick and inclined to show him -favour. He seems to have made no difficulty in -taking up the case of Michael Scot, and even -added on his own account a eulogy meant to -forward the scholar’s claim; representing him as -a distinguished student, not only in Latin letters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -but also of the Hebrew and Arabic languages.<a name="FNanchor_236" id="FNanchor_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> -So far as can be seen, however, the attempt of -1227 shared the fate of that which had been -made in 1223. Canterbury gave no signs of acquiescence, -and Michael Scot, for all his distinction, -remained without the preferment which his friends -so constantly sought to obtain for him.</p> - -<p>There is reason to think that from this time a -change took place in the spirit of the philosopher. -The natural chagrin he must have felt as it became -plain that no position he could accept would be -offered to him in the Church affected deeply his -fine and sensitive nature. He soon passed into -a brooding and despondent mood, which remained -unaffected by all the praise and fame paid by the -learned world as a tribute to his remarkable talents -and achievements. It is in this change of temper -to a morbid depression that we are to find the -occasion and inspiring spirit of those strange prophetical -verses which bear his name and which -differ so widely from all the other productions of -his pen.</p> - -<p>Such compositions were indeed far from being -uncommon in Italy. The reputed prophecies of -the Erythræan Sibyl were extant in the form of -an epistle supposed to be addressed to the Greeks -under the walls of Troy. This curious composition -is said to have been rendered into the Greek -language from the Syriac by a certain Doxopatros. -His version was one of those volumes which had -reached Sicily from the library of Manuel Comnenus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -Emperor of Constantinople, and was then -translated into Latin during the twelfth century -by Eugenio, admiral to King Roger. A series of -poets from Giovacchino di Fiora<a name="FNanchor_237" id="FNanchor_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> to Jacopone da -Todi<a name="FNanchor_238" id="FNanchor_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> then chose the prophetic lyre and made -it resound with dark sayings and predictions of -misfortune and ruin. Especially worthy of study -in this connection are the verses ascribed to <em>Merlin</em>, -which declare the fate of many Italian cities.<a name="FNanchor_239" id="FNanchor_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> That -Michael Scot gave his talents to this kind of composition -rests on evidence as convincing as any -which establishes the other events of his life. -Pipini the chronicler says that ‘he was reputed -to have the gift of prophecy, for he published -verses in which he foretold the ruin of certain -Italian cities as well as other circumstances.’<a name="FNanchor_240" id="FNanchor_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> An -earlier, indeed a contemporary, authority, Henry -Abrincensis, in a poem presented to Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> -in 1235 or the early months of the following year, -speaks of Michael Scot as ‘another Apollo,’ ‘a -prophet of truth’ possessed of ‘hidden secrets’ and -the author of ‘certain predictions regarding thee, -O Caesar.’<a name="FNanchor_241" id="FNanchor_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></p> - -<p>Quotations from the prophecies of Scot were -made by Villani.<a name="FNanchor_242" id="FNanchor_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> The lines referring to Florence -may still be read in a manuscript of the Riccardian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -Library in that city,<a name="FNanchor_243" id="FNanchor_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> and in another, preserved in -Padua,<a name="FNanchor_244" id="FNanchor_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a> we find the following title: ‘Here begin -certain prophecies of Michael Scot, the most illustrious -astrologer of Lord Frederick the Emperor, -which declare somewhat of the future, to wit, of -certain Italian cities.’ This shows that verses, -bearing to have been composed by Scot, were -current at an early date, though the scribe of -the Paduan manuscript has forgotten to fulfil the -promise he makes in his title, for that which -follows it is not the poetry of Scot but only a dull -treatise on Latin prosody.</p> - -<p>It is to Salimbene that we owe the preservation -of these verses in their most complete form. He -must have taken much interest in them, as he is -careful to give, not only the original Latin, but -an Italian translation as well. From his pages -then we shall borrow the text of these curious lines.<a name="FNanchor_245" id="FNanchor_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> -According to Salimbene they are these:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Regis vexilla timens, fugiet velamina Brixa,</div> -<div class="verse">Et suos non poterit filios, propriosque, tueri.</div> -<div class="verse">Brixia stans fortis secundi certamine Regis,</div> -<div class="verse">Post Mediolani sternentur moenia gryphi.</div> -<div class="verse">Mediolanum territum cruore fervido necis,</div> -<div class="verse">Resuscitabit viso cruore mortis.</div> -<div class="verse">In numeris errantes erunt atque silvestres.</div> -<div class="verse">Deinde Vercellus veniunt Novaria Laudum.</div> -<div class="verse">Affuerit dies, quod aegra Papia erit,</div> -<div class="verse">Vastata curabitur moesta dolore flendo.</div> -<div class="verse">Munera quae meruit diu parata vicinis,</div> -<div class="verse">Pavida mandatis parebit Placentia Regis.</div> -<div class="verse">Oppressa resiliet, passa damnosa strage,</div> -<div class="verse">Cum fuerit unita in firmitate manebit.</div> -<div class="verse">Placentia patebit grave pondus sanguine mixtum.</div> -<div class="verse">Parma parens viret, totisque frondibus uret</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Serpens in obliquo tumido, exitque draconi.</div> -<div class="verse">Parma, Regi parens, tumida percutiet illum</div> -<div class="verse">Vipera Draconem, Florumque virescet amoenum.</div> -<div class="verse">Tu ipsa Cremona patieris flammae dolorem</div> -<div class="verse">In fine praedito, conscia tanti mali,</div> -<div class="verse">Et Regis partes insimul mala verba tenebunt.</div> -<div class="verse">Paduae magnatum plorabunt filii necem</div> -<div class="verse">Duram et horrendam, datam catuloque Veronae.</div> -<div class="verse">Marchia succumbet, gravi servitute coacta</div> -<div class="verse">Ob viam Antenoris quamque secuti erunt.</div> -<div class="verse">Languida resurget, catulo moriente, Verona.</div> -<div class="verse">Mantua, vae tibi, tanto dolore plena,</div> -<div class="verse">Cur ne vacillas nam tui pars ruet?</div> -<div class="verse">Ferraria fallax, fides falsa nil tibi prodiat,</div> -<div class="verse">Subire te cunctis cum tua facta ruent</div> -<div class="verse">Peregre missura quos tua mala parant</div> -<div class="verse">Faventia iniet tecum, videns tentoria pacem</div> -<div class="verse">Corruet in festem ducto velamine pacis.</div> -<div class="verse">Bononia renuens ipsam vastabitur agmine circa</div> -<div class="verse">Sed dabit immensum, purgato agmine, censum.</div> -<div class="verse">Mutina fremescet sibi certando sub lima</div> -<div class="verse">Quae dico tepescet tandem trahetur ad ima.</div> -<div class="verse">Pergami deorsum excelsa moenia cadent</div> -<div class="verse">Rursus, et amoris ascendet stimulus arcem.</div> -<div class="verse">Trivisii duae partes offerent non signa salutis</div> -<div class="verse">Gaudia fugantes vexilla praebenda ruinae.</div> -<div class="verse">Roma diu titubans, longis terroribus acta</div> -<div class="verse">Corruet, et mundi desinet esse caput.</div> -<div class="verse">Fata monent, stellaeque docent, aviumque volatus,</div> -<div class="verse">Quod Fridericus malleus orbis erit.</div> -<div class="verse">Vivet Draco magnus cum immenso turbine mundi.</div> -<div class="verse">Fata silent, stellaeque tacent, aviumque volatus</div> -<div class="verse">Quod Petri navis desinet esse caput.</div> -<div class="verse">Reviviscet Mater: malleabit caput Draconis.</div> -<div class="verse">Non diu stolida florebit Florentia florum.</div> -<div class="verse">Corruet in feudum dissimulando vivet.</div> -<div class="verse">Venecia aperiet venas, percutiet undique Regem.</div> -<div class="verse">Infra millenos ducenos sexque decennos</div> -<div class="verse">Erunt sedata immensa turbina mundi</div> -<div class="verse">Morietur Gripho, aufugient undique pennae.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It would be difficult to determine how much of -the original composition of Scot these verses preserve, -and how much they owe to later hands. We -cannot be mistaken, however, in remarking their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -uniform tone of melancholy and apprehension, with -the burden of its constantly recurring ‘corruet,’ or -in taking this as a true index to the state of the -author’s mind.</p> - -<p>Pipini records two other prophecies of Michael -Scot which serve to confirm this observation in a -high degree.<a name="FNanchor_246" id="FNanchor_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> The astrologer, he says, forecast the -manner of the Emperor’s death, which was to take -place <i lang="la">ad portas ferreas</i>, at certain gates of iron, in -a town named after Flora. This prediction was -generally understood of Florence; the rather perhaps -that the church of Santo Stefano there was called <i lang="la">ad -portam ferream</i>; and Frederick accordingly avoided -coming to that city.<a name="FNanchor_247" id="FNanchor_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a> During his last campaign in -1250, however, he fell sick at the town of Fiorentino -or Firenzola in Apulia, and lay in a chamber of the -castle. His bed stood against a wall recently built -to fill up the ancient gateway of the tower, while -within the wall there still remained the iron staples -on which the gate had been hung. Uneasy at the -progress of his disease, and hearing something of -these particulars, the Emperor fell into deep thought -and then exclaimed, ‘This is the place where I shall -make an end, as it was told me. The will of God be -done; for here I shall die,’ and soon afterwards he -breathed his last.</p> - -<p>The other prediction which the chronicler attributes -to Scot relates to the occasion of his own death. -This, he said, would take place by the blow of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -stone falling on his head. His calculations were -so exact as even to furnish him with the precise -weight of this instrument of fate. Being in church -one day, with head uncovered at the sacring of the -Mass, a stone, agreeing in all particulars with his -prediction, was shaken from the tower by the -motion of the bellrope and wounded Scot to death.</p> - -<p>There is much in these tales which lies apart -from the course of a sober biography; belonging -rather to that legendary and mystic fame of the -philosopher which we shall immediately proceed to -consider. Something, however, in which all these -prophecies agree deserves our attention here, and -that is their sombre and menacing character. ‘Ruinam -predixit,’ says Pipini, referring to Scot’s verses -on the Italian cities, and his thoughts, whether -engaged with Frederick’s fate or his own, seem at -this time to have followed the same dark and -ominous course. Death and destruction now filled -all his mind, much as if he had been a Highlander -gifted with the fatal power of the <i lang="ga">Taisch</i>: a seer to -whom all things looked darkly, and all men wore a -shroud, longer or shorter, to mark the time and the -manner of their end.</p> - -<p>With Michael Scot’s account of his own fate -Pipini joins another curious matter, that of the <i lang="la">cervilerium</i>.<a name="FNanchor_248" id="FNanchor_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a> -This was a plate or cap of steel meant to -be worn under the ordinary covering of the head as -an additional defence, and the chronicle says that -Scot invented and wore it that he might be safe -from the danger he foresaw. Taking this together<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -with the prophecies, both general and personal, we -can find no better explanation than that which bids -us see in the whole what indicates a case of ecstatic -melancholy such as would seem to be the sad heritage -of not a few finer natures sprung of the stock from -which Michael Scot descended. We hear the same -sad note in the strange jingle he wove so long before -in the preface of his <cite>Physionomia</cite>: ‘Nos ibimus -ibitis, ibunt. Omnia pereunt, praeter amare Deum,’ -and one would fain hope that in his frequent fits of -depression Scot may have indeed found rest in what -he thus declares to be the only abiding portion of -the soul. The wild account of his illness at Cordova, -and of the dreams which then visited him is not to -be neglected in this connection. Perhaps the cloud -then first fell which in after-years returned upon -him with such redoubled gloom. Thus the traits of -Scot’s youth fit well the picture we are now constrained -to form, and the whole gives promise that -here at last we may have touched upon the man -himself as he was, physically, mentally, and spiritually. -A slight worn body spent with arduous -study, like a sheath which the sword has almost -broken through; a soul possessed with the sense of -Divine things, yet sad, and subject to strange illusions; -a conscience morbidly awake and painfully -scrupulous; a mind to which almost every branch -of knowledge was familiar, and not incapable of -striking out here and there in a path of its own: if -these be not Michael Scot, scholar in the court and -courtier in the schools, then it may safely be said -that no indications exist which can ever reveal to -us this striking personality as he lived and moved -in the world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>We seem to see in him a Pascal of the thirteenth -century; and this all the more that Michael Scot -resembled that great genius not only in the mystical -and superstitious side of his nature but in his devotion -to mathematical science. How piquant is the -contrast between this mighty and gifted child of the -mist and the northern hills and those sunny southern -lands of grape and fig, of white cliff, marble column -and laughing summer sea, where most of his life was -spent. No wonder that those among whom Michael -Scot lived found him somewhat of a mystery at all -times, and, especially in these later days of his -burdened spirit, took him for a Mage, weaving his -dark sayings into regular prophecies. The Latin -races have never been famous for their power to comprehend -the northern character. How much less -was it likely they should in the case of one who -seems to have presented every feature of that racial -type in its extremest form? In our own day this -incapacity takes the way of accusing as madness all -that it cannot fathom of Celtic or Teutonic ways. -In the times of Scot the same impatience found a -more modest expression. He was incomprehensible, -therefore he must be inspired; gifted with the prophet’s -divine and incommunicable fire.</p> - -<p>We may take it for granted that much of Michael -Scot’s dissatisfaction and depression upon his disappointment -in seeking ecclesiastical preferment -arose from the feeling that he had made a great -sacrifice in vain. The best years of his life, and the -most strenuous labours of his mind, had been given -to his version of Averroës not without the hope that -he was here laying the foundation of a great literary -and philosophic fame. Moved by a prudence, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -was not altogether selfish since it concerned the -Emperor’s reputation and policy quite as much as -his own, he had submitted to necessity, and saw his -translation suppressed for the sake of avoiding -offence. The sacrifice was great and doubtless -keenly felt, and when in spite of this policy he found -himself still without the position he had confidently -hoped for, with what bitterness must the reawakening -of his literary ambition have been attended. -Near ten years had been lost since his return from -Spain, and still Scot’s Averroës slept, unknown to -the schools, in the honourable but unprofitable -seclusion of the Imperial closet. With the death of -these hopes of preferment, however, all reason for this -unfortunate reserve came to an end so far as Scot -was concerned. As soon as he had once made up -his mind to think no more of a great ecclesiastical -career he was free to urge his master with all -insistence to carry out their long-cherished plan, -and secure undying fame for both by publishing -the new Aristotle in the Universities of -Europe.</p> - -<p>Nor was there anything in the policy of the time -which made Frederick unwilling to further a project -which he had all along designed. From the moment -of his elevation to the See of Rome Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span> had -displayed a firm and unbending temper towards the -Emperor. Frederick felt the first instances of his -harshness in 1227, when, returning sick and feeble -from the baths of Pozzuoli, he found himself excommunicated -because he had not sailed to Palestine -with the Crusade. This severe sentence was -renewed in 1228. Frederick reached the Holy -Land that year, but only to meet a mutinous spirit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -encouraged among the Crusaders there by the Pope’s -orders. On his return in 1229 the sharp edge of -discipline was again drawn against him, and we -need not wonder if such repeated severity at last -convinced the Emperor that there was no hope of -living at peace with Rome, nor any reason to study -further accommodations with one who seemed determined -to be his enemy. The moment had now come -when restraints, long submitted to for the sake of -policy, being removed, Frederick might well bethink -him of his former plans so long held in reserve, and -take measures to carry out his purpose of enriching -the learned world with the prohibited books -of Averroës.</p> - -<p>This plan not only promised to fulfil a long -cherished desire and mortify an implacable foe, it -must also have presented itself in the light of a -welcome concession made to a deserving servant of -the Crown. Michael Scot had laboured long to -form the works in question. His interest, as well -as every other reason, now demanded that they -should lie no longer concealed. The fame he was -certain to gain by this publication would be the -best consolation, perhaps the only one now possible, -for his disappointments in the ecclesiastical career. -To employ him actively in the matter may well have -appeared not only just, considering his previous -interest in it, but the best cure for a spirit sadly -disordered and depressed. We need not wonder -that Frederick at last fully formed his resolution, -or that he chose Michael Scot as the means of -carrying out a publication that was now definitely -determined on.</p> - -<p>An imperial circular announced to the learned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -the nature and origin of these new versions.<a name="FNanchor_249" id="FNanchor_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a> This -letter was designed to secure for them such general -interest and attention as was due to works of the -first importance. Opening with the avowal of his -devotion to the cause of letters, a confession which -he supported by quoting from the <cite>Metaphysica</cite>, -Frederick touched upon the manifold cares of state -which the conduct of his affairs in the Empire involved. -He added that he had never allowed these to -occupy his whole attention, but had still devoted part -of his time to the pursuits of learning. His mind, -he said, had been particularly attracted to the works -of Aristotle with the commentaries of the Arabian -philosophers, especially those concerning mathematics, -and the books called <cite>Sermoniales</cite>. Finding -that they were inaccessible to Latin scholars, owing -to their obscurity and the foreign tongues in which -they were written, he had commissioned learned -men to translate these works, desiring them to -preserve in their versions the exact style as well as -sense of the original. The treasures thus procured -he would not keep in obscurity, but designed to -publish them for the general good. He addressed -himself to the most famous schools of Christendom -as the proper means of obtaining the diffusion of -this wisdom among those who were able to profit -by it.</p> - -<p>Which then were the universities intended by -the Emperor? That of Naples certainly in the first -place, for it was his own creation.<a name="FNanchor_250" id="FNanchor_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a> Bologna, also, -we may believe, judging by the estimation in which -we know him to have held that still more ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -seat of learning.<a name="FNanchor_251" id="FNanchor_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a> Copies of Frederick’s letter are -indeed extant, which actually bear the address, ‘To -the Masters and Scholars of Bologna.’ Nor can -we think that he forgot Paris, the great centre of -European culture. At least one text has preserved -this the most natural of all directions:—‘To the -Doctors of the Quadrivium at Paris.’<a name="FNanchor_252" id="FNanchor_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a> Thus far -then the course of Scot’s journey on this important -business is plain. In it he but reversed the progress -he had made in early years, revisiting in the -contrary order the scenes of his former studies. His -own remarkable fame, the widespread curiosity concerning -the books he brought, and his official character -as Frederick’s Ambassador of Letters, must -have secured him everywhere a cordial and distinguished -reception.</p> - -<p>There is reason to think that his travels did -not end when he had reached Paris. Tradition says -he crossed the Channel and visited both England -and Scotland, where his medical skill was highly -appreciated. It is indeed to an English author that -we owe the knowledge of this journey performed -by Michael Scot. The words of Roger Bacon are -of capital importance here, not only telling us of -Scot’s travels, but showing the nature of the work -he carried with him in that progress, and the enthusiasm -with which these books were received. -‘In the days of Michael Scot,’ he says, ‘who, about -the year 1230, made his appearance with certain -books of Aristotle and commentaries of learned men -concerning physics and mathematics, the Aristotelian -philosophy became celebrated in the Latin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -Schools.’<a name="FNanchor_253" id="FNanchor_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a> At the time of which he speaks, Bacon, -born in 1214, may probably have been at Oxford -pursuing his studies. It is not necessary to dwell -upon the support which this brings to the tradition -of Scot’s visit to England. We may take it as almost -certain that Oxford was one of the universities -where he appeared and was made welcome.</p> - -<p>The tradition that he thereafter pursued his -journey to Scotland rests rather upon arguments -derived from the probability of the case than from -direct evidence. Scot had been a lifetime absent -from his native land, and, finding himself so near it, -a strong impulse must have urged him to revisit -the scenes of his boyhood. Nor is it easy to account -for the fact that his fame, though he spent -so much of his time abroad, attained, and yet retains, -such a currency in the North, except upon -the supposition that he did actually yield to this -attraction and thus once more made himself a familiar -figure in the land of his birth.</p> - -<p>One matter of great interest is at least certain. -Scot’s death occurred just at this time, when he -was in the very height of his fame and influence, -and probably while he was still in the North. The -account, so often repeated and reprinted, which -makes him live almost to the close of the century -need not occupy our attention more than a moment. -Already incredible from the time when Jourdain -discovered that Scot’s version of Alpetrongi had -been produced in 1217, such a notion becomes more -than ever impossible since we have been able to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -carry the time of his mature literary activity back -to the year 1210. Vincent of Beauvais, writing -about 1245, talks of ‘old Michael Scot’ in such a -way as to suggest that he had by that time been -long in his grave. But the convincing evidence, -though hitherto little noticed, is to be found in the -poem of Henry d’Avranches, from which we have -already quoted some lines in another connection. -This author remarks regarding Michael Scot:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Thus he who questioned fate, to fate himself submitted,’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">which shows that the time of his death must have -been earlier than 1235, the date when Abrincensis -composed his poem.<a name="FNanchor_254" id="FNanchor_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a></p> - -<p>The question is thus reduced to the narrow -limit of five years; since Bacon says Scot was alive -and busy in his great mission in 1230. Within -this period he must have passed away, and probably -his death happened nearer the earlier than the -later date; considering the tone in which Henry -d’Avranches speaks of the departed sage. He may -well therefore have died while on the borders of -Scotland. This idea agrees curiously with the fact -that Italy has no tradition of his burial-place, while -on the other hand northern story points to his -tomb in Melrose Abbey, Glenluce, Holme Coltrame, -or some other of the great Cistercian foundations of -that country. Satchells, who visited Burgh-under-Bowness -in 1629, found a guide named Lancelot -Scot, who took him to the parish church, where he -saw the great scholar’s tomb, and found it still the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -object of mysterious awe to the people there.<a name="FNanchor_255" id="FNanchor_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a> The -resting-place of Michael Scot will never now be -accurately known, but there is every reason to -suppose that it lies not far from that of his birth, -in the sweet Borderland, amid the green hills and -flowing streams of immemorial story.</p> - -<p>Here then we leave the life that has been the -subject of our study, and not without the tribute of -a certain envy paid to so happy a fate as that of -Michael Scot. Like another and far greater man, -whose sepulchre also was not known among his -people, Scot died in the fulness of his powers and -fame, while yet his sight was not dim, nor his -natural force abated. He was denied indeed the -entry to those broad kingdoms of knowledge which -later times enjoy, but we may truly think of him as -one who stood in his own day upon a height from -which something of that fair land of promise could -at least be divined, and manfully did his part in -leading the progress of the human mind onward -to those more perfect attainments now within the -reach of every patient scholar.</p> - -<p>We may recollect in closing this inquiry that -the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> was published in 1232 at -Melfi. This treatise, though it came in the Latin -version from the hand of Scot, did not fall within -the scope of the publication made so widely in -1230; since the Emperor’s object at that time was -to acquaint the world with the commentaries of -Averroës. The manner in which the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> -saw the light was somewhat remarkable. Henry of -Colonia was the scholar selected by Frederick for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -the work of transcribing it from the imperial copy. -A regular diploma passed the seals authorising him -to do this work, and from that writ we find that he -completed it at Melfi, on the vigil of St. Laurence -in the house of Master Volmar the imperial physician.<a name="FNanchor_256" id="FNanchor_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a> -We may surely see in these facts a further -likelihood that by this time Scot was already dead. -Another holds his place as court-physician, another -wields his pen, or at least furnishes the copy from -which the world at large first came to know one -of his most important and characteristic works. -May we not take it then, that in ordering this -diploma to be drawn, Frederick desired to show -his concern at hearing he had lost so faithful and -able a servant, and his anxiety that no time should -elapse before the publication of his remaining works? -Thus regarded, the <cite>Abbreviatio</cite> was a wreath laid on -the grave; a tribute to the translator’s memory, -while in itself it was a seal set to the fame of Michael -Scot as in his day the chief exponent of the mighty -Aristotle, and one who by these labours succeeded -in directing for many ages the course of study in -the European Schools.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT</span></h2> - -<p>Hitherto we have taken little notice of the fame -by which Michael Scot is most widely known in -literature; preferring to speak first of the authentic -facts and real employments of his life, so far as -these can now be ascertained. It would be improper, -however, to close our investigation without -taking some account of that darker reputation -which has so long represented him to the world -as a magician and dealer in forbidden lore. If we -have deferred so long the consideration of this -matter, the reason may be found in the fact that -there seems to be no truth in such stories. They -live only in legend, and in the literature of -romance, and must therefore be held apart by a -firm line from the domain of sober historical inquiry.</p> - -<p>This conclusion, be it observed, is not based -upon the prevailing opinion of the present day that -such arts are impossible, nor has it thence been -reached by way of the inference that because magic -is impossible, therefore Michael Scot cannot have -meddled in it. Such was not at all the view held -in the thirteenth century. Then scholars as well -as the unlearned, and clergy as well as laity, believed -firmly in the possibility, nay, the reality, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -what they regarded as an unwarrantable interference -with the order of nature. This belief makes -it a fair subject of discussion in regard to any one -of that age whether or not he may have practised -forbidden arts. The question in Scot’s case is a -highly curious one, and, without further apology, -we now proceed to examine it in detail.</p> - -<p>The most famous schools of magic in those days -were fixed by popular tradition in the Spanish cities -of Toledo and Salamanca, especially the former. -Magic, indeed, was generally spoken of as the -<i lang="la">scientia Toletana</i>. The <cite>Morgante Maggiore</cite> of Pulci -may furnish us with a fair example of the common -belief:<a name="FNanchor_257" id="FNanchor_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Per quel ch’io udì gia dir, sendo in Tolleta</div> -<div class="verse">Dove ogni negromante si racozza.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Questa città di Tolleta solea</div> -<div class="verse">Tenere studio di Nigromanzia.</div> -<div class="verse">Quivi di magica arte si legea</div> -<div class="verse">Pubblicamente, e di Piromancia</div> -<div class="verse">E molti Geomanti sempre avea</div> -<div class="verse">E esperimenti assai di Idromanzia.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Caesar Von Heisterbach, the anecdote-monger of -the century, relates more than one diverting tale -of necromantic prodigies, the scene of which he lays -at Toledo. The most remarkable of these stories -tells how some Germans came thither to learn -magic.<a name="FNanchor_258" id="FNanchor_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a> Their teacher in this art called up certain -spirits, who appeared first as armed men, and then -in the form of lovely maids. One of the students -was thereby allured and carried off. The others<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -drew their swords and threatened the master with -death, until, overcome by fear, he used his power -to secure their companion’s return.</p> - -<p>From the favourite locality of these legends we -may infer that the magic then in vogue was that -of the Arabs, which, especially in Spain, had now -begun to supplant the ancient and primitive European -superstitions. This magic was not a mere -ritual of spells, such as that of the Chaldean monuments, -but rather a complete theurgy, like the -magic of Egypt; the corruption of an ancient and -elaborate religious system.<a name="FNanchor_259" id="FNanchor_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a> The Arabian mage -pretended to bow the superior powers which other -men could only worship, and boldly bade them do -his will. It is hardly necessary to say that such -a system did not originally belong to the Arabs, -who had been, until the days of Mohammed, a rude -and savage people. They learned it in Syria and -Egypt, where the theories of Porphyry and Iamblichus -still held sway.<a name="FNanchor_260" id="FNanchor_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a> In their hands this magic -became enriched with many new conceits, such as -the nimble fancy of these children of the East -knew well how to interweave with all that they -touched. The stars, they held, were the centres -of supreme influence, but had certain correspondences -with earthly things; with herbs, with stones, -and even with sounds. These were in a sort the -offspring of heaven, for plants of power were precious -things put forth by the sun and moon; the -minerals were condensed and congealed by the -same heavenly agency in a planetary hour, and -earthly voices, even the cries of dumb animals,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -were but the far echo of the music heard in heaven, -the music of the spheres.</p> - -<p>So far, indeed, this was but common doctrine, -shared by all the science of the time, and eminently -expounded in every astrological system. The magic -founded upon it began with the notion that this close -correspondence between heaven and earth might -carry an influence able to react in an upward, contrary, -and unnatural direction. Plants and precious -stones, rightly employed, might prove able to bind -the stellar powers on which all depended. Names -and forms of conjuration might control the superior -spirits which the stars represented. Hence arose -a whole system of magical practice, in which, from -the circle of the sorcerer—a symbol representing -on earth the motion of the upper spheres—the -vapour of mingled herbs and minerals rose to -heaven above the glowing brazier, accompanied by -recited spells. It is curious to notice that when, -after several ages, this essentially Eastern and -theurgic necromancy<a name="FNanchor_261" id="FNanchor_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a> gave place to the witchcraft -of the North, with its dark demonolatry, the essential -idea of the Arabian magicians still survived. -Its influence may be traced in the importance -always attached in popular belief to the <em>reversal</em> -of natural practice, as a means of securing supernatural -power and effect. Hence the bizarre details -which crowd the witch trials of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries: how hags walked backwards, -or <em>withershins</em>, that is, against the course of -the sun, or changed a prayer into a spell by muttering -it in a contrary sense.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Arabian magic as understood in Spain -during the thirteenth century is very fully expounded -in a curious work called <cite>Picatrix</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_262" id="FNanchor_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a> This -book explains that the fundamental idea of the art -was reaction leading up to transformation or magical -change, adding that this reaction may be seen -in three different regions of being; first among the -elemental spirits themselves, next between these -and matter, and, last, the reaction of one kind of -matter upon another, as in alchemy. The second -of these kinds of reaction admits the influence of -earthly things upon the heavenly spirits, and is -the foundation of that kind of magic which the -<cite>Picatrix</cite> proceeds to expound, in details which are -often much more curious than edifying. This book -has special value as showing the intimate relation -between magic and the ordinary studies of those -times. Aristotle is often quoted in it,<a name="FNanchor_263" id="FNanchor_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a> and the position -of necromancy with regard to other branches -of science is clearly defined. It is not hard to see -that, when thus understood, this art must have -allied itself closely with astronomy and astrology -on the one hand, and with alchemy on the other. -In the account given by Bacon of Avicenna’s philosophy, -he says that the third great division of that -author’s works, and one which had never appeared -in Latin, was that devoted to the most hidden parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -of natural philosophy.<a name="FNanchor_264" id="FNanchor_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a> The science of those days -left an acknowledged place for the occult and the -mysterious among its doctrines. This place was -filled by magic, a study forbidden indeed by the -Church, but generally recognised as occupying a -real though secret department among the other -sciences and arts. The tradition we so often meet -with that masters of necromancy actually taught -the art of magic in Toledo, Salamanca, and perhaps -Padua, seems but a reflection in later times of what -was then the genuine belief of European scholars.</p> - -<p>There is thus no reason why Michael Scot should -not have devoted himself to what was the subject -of actual and serious study during the times in -which he lived, and especially so in the country -where his chief literary labours were carried on. -Were we to follow the mere likelihood of the case, -his interest in astronomy and alchemy would lead -us to think it very possible he might have studied -an art that was so closely connected with these. -But to change such a possibility into a certainty, -or even a probability, something more convincing -than any <i lang="la">a priori</i> argument must be found. If no -actual proof of Scot’s magical practice be forthcoming -we must be content to leave the matter where we -found it; in the realm of dim and unsubstantial -tradition.<a name="FNanchor_265" id="FNanchor_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> - -<p>The true criterion here must doubtless be sought -in the evidence furnished by contemporaries regarding -the fact alleged. In the case of Michael -Scot such evidence is forthcoming, but we may say -at once that it proves upon examination to yield -a distinctly negative result. His fame in those -days was such that he is mentioned by several important -writers of his own age, such as Bacon, -Albertus Magnus, and Vincent of Beauvais. None -of these has a word to say of Scot’s reputation as -a necromancer. Some may urge that an argument -from silence is unsatisfactory; but does it not gain -great force from the consideration that two of these -witnesses are decidedly hostile to Scot? Bacon, -especially, seems to have lost no opportunity of -blackening his character. To these men Michael -Scot was a sciolist, a mere pretender to knowledge, -ignorant even of Latin; the very charlatan of the -schools. He was a plagiarist too; one who passed -off the work of another man as his own; nay, darker -than all, he was a heretic, or so Albert would make -him; a philosopher who interpreted and exceeded -the forbidden doctrines of Averroës. Is it not -certain that, if Scot had really practised magic in -spite of the prohibitions of the Church, we should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -have heard of this charge from these active and -bitter detractors? Our conclusion from their silence -is therefore neither far to seek nor hard to defend. -These tales, we must hold, were not current in the -lifetime of Michael Scot, nor for many years after. -They had no foundation in fact, but were the fancies -of the following generation, and thus passed into -the settled tradition which has ever since persistently -associated itself with the philosopher’s -name.</p> - -<p>But this conclusion raises another question. -How did such a tradition arise, and what were the -points of attachment to which these stories clung? -The ground for the legend of Michael Scot would -seem to have been prepared by the close connection -between him and his master the Emperor Frederick -<span class="smcapuc">II.</span> Every student of those times knows well the -storm of invective and the weight of calumny which -fell upon that great monarch as the consequence of -his feuds with the See of Rome. He was officially -declared to be no Christian but the mystic Beast -of the Apocalypse, vomiting blasphemies. He was -accused of having produced the apocryphal work -<cite>De Tribus Impostoribus</cite>. His private life became -the subject of grave scandal and repeated censure. -Men were taught to believe that he revelled in a -harem of Saracen beauties, and was addicted to -infamous immorality, as well as to forbidden arts. -These accusations were current, not only in -Frederick’s own lifetime, but long afterwards. They -may be studied at large in the Papal Epistolaries,<a name="FNanchor_266" id="FNanchor_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a> -and a striking example of their current popular -form is found in the following barbarous lines which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -we borrow from an obscure author<a name="FNanchor_267" id="FNanchor_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a> who used his -pen in the service of the Guelfs:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Amisit Astrologos, et Magos, et Vates,</div> -<div class="verse">Beelzebub et Ashtaroth proprios Penates,</div> -<div class="verse">Tenebrarum consulens per suos Potestates</div> -<div class="verse">Spreverat Ecclesiam, et mundi Magnates.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>When we remember that Michael Scot was the man -whom Frederick loved to consult and employ, we -understand what effect this depreciation of the -master’s fame must have had on that of his servant. -If the Emperor made Beelzebub and Ashtaroth his -gods, Scot must soon have been recognised as the -go-between in this infernal business.</p> - -<p>Such an impression would naturally be heightened -by the recollection of the years which had been -spent by Michael Scot at Toledo and Cordova. We -have already noticed the dark reputation which -attached to the former of these places. It is only -needful here to add that Scot’s ecclesiastical character -would by no means hinder the unfavourable -inference that must have been drawn from his -lengthened residence in the chief seat of magical -study. St. Giles before his conversion, and Gerbert, -afterwards Pope Sylvester <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, were commonly reported -to have learned the black art at Toledo. As -to Cordova, the <cite>Picatrix</cite> mentions the discovery of -a magic book in the Church there,<a name="FNanchor_268" id="FNanchor_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a> which shows -that the supernatural fame of Toledo attached itself -also to this city.</p> - -<p>It is far from improbable that the nature of -Scot’s studies in these places may have inclined -men to believe in the stories told of him as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -necromancer. He spent his time upon Arabic -texts, and, with the fanatical clergy, not to speak -of the common people whom they taught, the Moors -and all their works were accursed. No one could -meddle much with them save at the cost of such -accusations of diabolic dealing. Nor was it merely -the language but also the very subject of Scot’s -studies that was suspicious. Since the days of the -Alexandrian school there had grown up round the -name of Aristotle a strange legend which represented -him as a magician; none other than the great -sorcerer Nectanebus of Egypt, the true father, by -an infamous sleight, of Alexander of Macedon.<a name="FNanchor_269" id="FNanchor_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a></p> - -<p>Nectanebus, so the tale ran, was King of Egypt, -and learned in all the magic arts of that mysterious -land. When war threatened he would fill a vessel -with water and float upon it enchanted ships of -clay. Thus could he divine the success or failure -of his country’s arms. One day, however, as he -was busy in this spell, the old gods appeared to -guide the craft he had designed as models of the -hostile fleet. Nectanebus gave up all for lost, -shaved his head, and in the disguise of a philosopher, -fled to Pella in Macedonia, where he lived -by practising the arts of an astrologer and prophet. -Olympias consulted him to know whether she might -hope to give an heir to her husband Philip, then -absent from his capital. Nectanebus bade her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -expect the honour of a visit from Jupiter Ammon -himself, and, dressing in the horns and hieratic -robe proper to the character he assumed, became, by -her whom he seduced, the father of Alexander the -Great. The child was born amid thunder and -lightning, and was soon committed to the care of -Nectanebus who became his tutor: a clear point -of connection with Aristotle, who really filled that -office. One day tutor and pupil walked on the -edge of a cliff, when the philosopher uttered a -prophecy to the effect that Alexander was fated to -kill his own father. The boy, who fancied that -Philip was meant, took the words so ill that he -flung his tutor over the rock, and thus instantly -fulfilled the prediction. This tale can be traced -from its appearance in the Pseudo-Callisthenes -through the series of Byzantine chroniclers—Syncellus, -Glycas, John Malala, and the author of -the <cite>Chronicon Pascale</cite>—to the later romances -where it is repeated and amplified. The whole -Middle Age believed it. Not till the fourteenth -century did a doubt of its truth appear,<a name="FNanchor_270" id="FNanchor_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a> and that -it was current in the west of Europe at the time -of which we write appears plainly in the preface to -the <cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite>, which has the following -significant remark, ‘which Alexander is said to -have had two horns.’<a name="FNanchor_271" id="FNanchor_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> The real meaning of the -legend probably lay in a patriotic desire to vindicate -for Egypt, though subdued by Alexander, the -honour of having originated the Greek philosophy.<a name="FNanchor_272" id="FNanchor_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -The thirteenth century, however, knew nothing -of such explanations; cherishing the tale rather on -account of the wild mystery which it breathes. No -wonder then if the labours of Michael Scot as an -exponent of Aristotle gave some force to the popular -idea that he dealt in forbidden arts.</p> - -<p>Need we point out that the same may be said -of his fame as a Master in astrology and alchemy? -We have seen how close was the relation in which -these sciences stood to the magic of the day. As -to mathematics, for which Scot was so renowned, -it is to be observed that the kind of divination -called <cite>Geomancy</cite>, which was performed by casting -figures in a box filled with sand, was remarkably like -the method of working sums which is still practised -among the Moors.<a name="FNanchor_273" id="FNanchor_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a> We may add that the facility -with which difficult problems could be solved by the -new methods of calculation borrowed from that people -must have seemed little less than supernatural to -those as yet unacquainted with the secrets of algebra.</p> - -<p>It seems probable indeed that at least one -starting-point of Michael Scot’s legendary and -romantic fame may be looked for in the very quarter -to which we have just begun to direct our attention. -There is in the author’s possession a manuscript -which promises to throw some light on the obscurity -of this matter.<a name="FNanchor_274" id="FNanchor_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a> It consists of sixteen quarto pages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -written on parchment in a hand of the seventeenth -century, and contains a short preface, followed by -two distinct works. One of these professes to be -an Arabic original, and the other a version of the -same in Latin, said to come from the pen of Michael -Scot. The title of the work deserves special attention. -It is as follows: ‘Almuchabola Absegalim -Alkakib Albaon; <i lang="la">i.e.</i> Compendium Magia Innaturalis -Nigrae.’ Now, although the so-called <em>Arabic</em> of the -manuscript quite defies the best efforts of scholarship -to decipher it, this word almuchabola is perfectly -authentic, familiar even, being the common term in -that language for what we call algebra.<a name="FNanchor_275" id="FNanchor_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></p> - -<p>This then seems to afford an actual example of -the way in which the Moorish science of numbers -might be mistaken for something magical. When -we examine the manuscript more closely the -suggestion which its title affords becomes still -stronger. Here and there, amid the strange -characters of an unknown tongue,<a name="FNanchor_276" id="FNanchor_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a> are designs of a -curious kind; parallelograms enclosed in bounding -lines of red, and containing erratic figures also in -red, that show luridly against the black background -with which the outlines are filled. The Latin -version explains that these are the signs of the -demons whom the accompanying spells have power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -to summon or dismiss. No one, however, who -compares them with the graphic statements of -mathematical problems in the margin of the <cite>Liber -Abbaci</cite> can fail to be struck with the resemblance.<a name="FNanchor_277" id="FNanchor_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a> -The one book seems, in regard of these figures, but -a degenerate copy of the other, made by some -scribe who did not understand the matter he had -in hand, and who darkened the ground of his -designs to heighten the fancied terrors of the -subject.</p> - -<p>It would not be easy to miss the meaning of -this mistake. Michael Scot had probably written -or translated a treatise on algebra. We may -remember how well such a conjecture agrees with -the tone of Pisano’s dedicatory letter to him, in -which he submitted the <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite> to Scot’s -revision, and acknowledged him as a supreme -master in this branch of science. It is difficult to -account for this fame save by supposing the existence -of an unknown work by Michael Scot on the -veritable Almuchabola, of which this pretended -treatise on magic is all that now survives. The -mistake that gave it so corrupted a form could -hardly have been made as late as the seventeenth -century, when such things were well understood. -The manuscript, though dating from that time, is -probably only a copy of one much older. The -preface, indeed, mentions the year 1255 as the -epoch of translation, and, although Michael Scot -had then lain more than twenty years in his grave, -this date would suit well as the birth-hour of a -legend which, though certainly later than Scot’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -own day, had yet made considerable progress in -the popular mind before the close of the century. -This explanation of the matter receives some indirect -support from a remark of Bacon’s. ‘It is to -be noticed,’ he says, ‘that many books are taken -for magical works which are in reality nothing of -the kind, but contain true and worthy wisdom.’<a name="FNanchor_278" id="FNanchor_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a> -He adds that there are several ways of concealing -one’s doctrine from the vulgar, such as the use of -Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic characters, and the <cite>Ars -Notoria</cite> or shorthand. There is much reason to -think it was in this very way that Michael Scot had -suffered. A mistake like that indicated by Bacon -was probably the real origin of his mysterious -reputation as a magician.</p> - -<p>As soon as the mistake had once been made, -and the notion of Scot’s magical powers had fairly -taken possession of the popular mind, it was greatly -reinforced by the association of his name and -memory with the still living and adaptable Arthurian -legend. Alain de l’Isle, who lived as late as 1202, -says that the tales proper to this romantic cycle -were so heartily believed in Brittany that any one -casting doubt upon Arthur’s return would have -been stoned by the people.<a name="FNanchor_279" id="FNanchor_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a> From the Trouvères -the legend passed to the Troubadours of the south -of France. When the Normans established themselves -in Sicily, these latter poets, represented, it -is said, by Pietro Vidal, and Rambaldo di Vaqueiras, -carried to this new home of their race the <i lang="la">materia -poetica</i> which had so long engaged the best talents -of France. The religious war which desolated Provence -in the beginning of the thirteenth century<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -completed the dispersion of the Troubadours. -Many found a refuge in Italy and Sicily. They -communicated an emotional impulse which led to -the formation of the Italian language as a means of -literary expression. Through them the inheritance -of the Arthurian tales was secured to the people of -the South, who soon began to localise the chief -incidents of this romantic cycle in the island of -Sicily.<a name="FNanchor_280" id="FNanchor_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a></p> - -<p>Gervase of Tilbury tells us that near the town -of Catania lies the burning mountain of Etna, called -by the people <em>Mongibello</em>, and famed among them -as the abode of King Arthur, who, they said, had -lately been seen there. The matter fell out thus. -The Bishop of Catania’s palfrey escaped one day -from his groom, and was lost. The man sought his -charge everywhere, and at last ventured to enter an -opening he perceived in the hollow part of the hill. -Here he found a narrow winding path which led -to a pleasant land within Etna, and to a palace, the -home of Arthur. He entered the palace and found -the King lying on a royal couch. Arthur bade him -welcome, listened to his story, and called for the -steed to be brought that the Bishop might have -his own again. He further told his visitor that, -having been wounded in battle with Modred and -Childeric king of Saxony, he had come to this -retreat that he might heal him of his mortal sickness. -Gervase adds that Arthur, not content with -restoring the horse, paid tithe to the Bishop as -one of the dwellers in his diocese, ‘which was a -wonder to all that heard it.’<a name="FNanchor_281" id="FNanchor_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> - -<p>Caesar von Heisterbach has the same tale in -his collection, but repeats it with some variations. -In his pages the pleasant land of Avalon, with its -peaceful palace, becomes a dark abode of fire, -answering more nearly to the actual phenomena -of the mountain. Arthur hence issues a dread -summons to the owner of the palfrey, who in this -tale is a Canon of Palermo, bidding him appear in -that infernal region within a fortnight. The churchman -obeys by dying at the time appointed.<a name="FNanchor_282" id="FNanchor_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a> The -terror which enters into this form of the story is -even heightened by Stephen of Bourbon when he -comes to repeat it.<a name="FNanchor_283" id="FNanchor_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a> On the other hand the easy, -pleasant, semi-pagan tone observed in Gervase of -Tilbury lives again in the French romance of -<cite>Florian and Florete</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_284" id="FNanchor_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a> Here we see the kingdom -within Etna before Arthur came thither, and find -it a land of faery, where the King’s sister Morgana -holds her flowery court. The <cite>Fata Morgana</cite>, as -she is called, is still remembered on these southern -coasts. When the mirage appears in the Straits of -Messina, and houses and castles are seen hanging -in thin air, the people call them by the name of that -mysterious princess. They think that the sides of -Etna have become transparent, and that what they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -behold is the realm of faery with the Fata Morgana’s -palace in the midst.</p> - -<p>These legends show that Avalon, first dreamed -of in the far North, had by this time been carried -southward to find a new locality under Etna, and -that already the mystic king, who dwelt with his -court in the land of shadows till he should again -return to earth, had taken a firm hold of the -southern fancy. It was but a step more then, and -one very easily taken, when men began to see in -the Princes of the Hohenstaufen, and the chief -figures of their court, the heirs of this legend in -some of its most important features. Frederick -Barbarossa, for example, was commonly said to pass -the ages between death and life in a hollow hill. -The Germans identified this abode with the Kyffhauser, -and expected the Emperor’s return in the -spirit of the tales told of Wodan, Frau Holda, and -Frau Venus, in their national mythology.<a name="FNanchor_285" id="FNanchor_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a> It was -even reported that a bold shepherd armed with the -mysterious <em>key-flower</em> had forced the secret, entering -these recesses of the hill and beholding Barbarossa -as in life, with his red beard growing through -the marble table at which he sat asleep. The -romantic heritage next fell upon Barbarossa’s grandson -Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> It was long before the adherents of -the Empire who had staked so much upon their -great champion’s bold defiance of the Papacy could -bring themselves to believe that he was really dead. -In 1250 his corpse was carried in solemn procession -from Fiorentino, where he died, to Palermo, the -place appointed for his burial. There he soon lay -in the ancient sarcophagus brought from Cefalù;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -his robe embroidered about the hem with Cufic -characters, and the sceptre and apple of empire in -his powerless hands;<a name="FNanchor_286" id="FNanchor_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a> but still the Ghibellines could -not give up the hope that one day he would wake -again, and lead them to the victory they looked -for.</p> - -<p>This expectation was much strengthened by a -prophecy then current under the name of the Abbot -Joachim. ‘There cometh an Eagle, at whose -appearing the Lion shall be destroyed: yea a young -Eagle who shall make his nest in the den of the -Lion. Of the race of the Eagle shall arise another -Eagle called Frederick. He shall reign indeed, and -shall stretch his wings till they touch the ends of -the earth. In his days shall the chief Pontiff and -his clergy be despoiled and dispersed.’<a name="FNanchor_287" id="FNanchor_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a> On the -other side a Guelf poet, whose name we do not -know, associated Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> with Arthur in the -following lines:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Cominatur impius, dolens de jacturis</div> -<div class="verse">Cum suo Britonibus Arturo Venturis.’<a name="FNanchor_288" id="FNanchor_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The collection called the <cite>Cento Novelle Antiche</cite> -reflects this myth very plainly; for, in the strange -tales then told of Frederick and his court, we seem -to see these personages already transported to a -kind of fairyland, where the laws of earthly life no -longer hold good. The scene is unmistakably laid -in the Avalon of Arthur and amid his shadowy -court.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> - -<p>One of the most striking incidents which marked -the long funeral procession of Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> through -the southern provinces of Italy was furnished by -the grief of a faithful band of Saracens, who, with -dishevelled hair and cries of sorrow, accompanied -the body of their great benefactor to its last resting-place. -It is probable indeed that these people, of -whom Frederick had not a few both in Sicily and -in various colonies on the mainland, may have -joined very heartily with their Christian neighbours -in giving currency to the latest application of the -Arthurian legend. In all essential features it must -already have been familiar to them as a form of -myth long known in the East. Even the romance -of Nectanebus already noticed had a certain historical -basis. In the fourth century before Christ -a king called Nekhtneb reigned in Egypt. He was -defeated by the Persians, and fled into a distant -province of Ethiopia. Thus the ancient national -dynasty of the Pharaohs came to an end, but the -people long refused to believe that their king was -dead. They consulted an oracle, which told them -he would return, as a young man, to conquer the -enemies of his country. This prophecy was engraved -on the base of the royal statue and served -long to sustain the national hope. The same -dreams appeared in connection with the much more -recent Mohammedan power. The <i>Shi’ah</i> and <i>Sunnee</i> -sects of Islam held firmly to the idea that the -twelfth Imam was not really dead, but would return -to earth. This mysterious person was <i>El Mohdy</i>, -the last incarnation of the Deity, as they supposed. -He was said to dwell in a cave near Bagdad, whence -he would one day reappear to oppose <i>Ed Dejal</i>, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -Moslem Antichrist, in a time of great trouble, when -he would overthrow him and his ally the <em>earth-beast</em> -in final conflict near Aleppo. Mohammed himself -was said to have retreated with Abu Bekr to a cave, -where they lay concealed behind a spider’s web, as -the Scottish tale says Bruce did before his decisive -appearance and victory. The influence of these myths -may be seen even during the lifetime of Frederick -<span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, when the extravagant hopes of his followers led -them to use language regarding the Emperor which -was applicable only to the Deity. We may see in -this an anticipation by hyperbole of the apotheosis -granted him by the Ghibellines after his death.<a name="FNanchor_289" id="FNanchor_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a></p> - -<p>As for Michael Scot himself, it was a very -natural progress of the popular imagination which -made him play Merlin to the Emperor’s Arthur. -That this place in the growing legend was actually -his, seems probable from the fact that, in the -romance of <cite>Maugis <span class="antiqua">(or Merlin)</span> and Vivien</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_290" id="FNanchor_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a> the -hero is made to study his art in Toledo, where Scot -had notoriously been. Mysterious caves, the refuge -of slumbering heroes, were spoken of as existing -both near that city and Salamanca. It may be -that we here touch on the origin of Scot’s legendary -connection with the Eildon Hills in his own borderland. -That the Scottish Avalon lay beneath these -there can be little doubt. Sir Walter Scott repeats -a traditional tale which reminds us unmistakably -of those given by Gervase of Tilbury and Caesar -von Heisterbach. A countryman of Roxburghshire -had sold a horse to an old man of the hills. Payment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -was appointed to be made at midnight, on -Eildon, at a place called the <em>Lucken Howe</em>. When -the coin, which was of ancient and forgotten -mintage, had been duly handed over, the old man -invited the other to view his dwelling. They -passed within the hill, where the stranger was -surprised to see ranks of steeds ready caparisoned: -a silent cavalier in armour standing by the side of -each. ‘These will wake for Shirramuir,’ said his -guide. In the cave hung a sword and a horn. -‘The sound of this horn,’ the old man told him, -‘will break the spell of their slumber.’ The -countryman caught it to his lips and blew a blast. -The horses neighed, pawed the ground, and shook -their trappings, while the knights stirred, and the -place rang again with the sound of their arms. He -dropped the horn in fear, and heard a voice which -said: ‘Woe to him who does not unsheathe the -sword ere he has blown the horn.’ He was then -carried back again to the hillside, and could never -more discover the entrance to that subterranean -realm.<a name="FNanchor_291" id="FNanchor_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a></p> - -<p>An English form of the same tale has been preserved, -and is worth notice as containing what -may possibly be a reference to Michael Scot’s -prediction regarding Frederick’s death ‘at the iron -gates.’ The story says that ‘in the neighbourhood -of Macclesfield, on Monk’s Heath, is a small inn -known by the designation of ‘The Iron Gates,’ -the sign representing a pair of ponderous gates of -that metal opening at the bidding of a figure -enveloped in a cowl, before whom kneels another, -more resembling a modern yeoman than one of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -twelfth or thirteenth century, to which period this -legend is attributed. Behind this person is a white -horse rearing, and in the background a view of -Alderley Edge. The story is thus told of the -tradition to which the sign relates:</p> - -<p>‘A farmer from Mobberly was riding on a white -horse over the heath which skirts Alderley Edge. -Of the good qualities of his steed he was justly -proud, and while stooping down to adjust its mane -previously to his offering it for sale at Macclesfield, -he was surprised by the sudden starting of the -animal. On looking up he perceived a figure of -more than common height, enveloped in a cowl, and -extending a staff of black wood across his path. -The figure addressed him in a commanding voice: -told him that he would seek in vain to dispose of -his steed for whom a nobler destiny was in store, -and bade him meet him when the sun was set, -with his horse, at the same place. The farmer, -resolving to put the truth of this prediction to the -test, hastened on to Macclesfield fair, but no purchaser -could be obtained for his horse. In vain he -reduced his price to half; many admired, but no -one was willing to be the possessor of so promising -a steed. Summoning, therefore, all his courage, he -determined to brave the worst, and at sunset -reached the appointed place. The monk was -punctual to his appointment. “Follow me,” said he, -and led the way by the <em>Golden Stone</em>, <em>Stormy Point</em> -to <em>Saddle Bole</em>. On their arrival at this last-named -spot, the neigh of horses seemed to arise -from beneath their feet. The stranger waved his -wand, the earth opened and disclosed a pair of -ponderous iron gates. Terrified at this, the horse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -plunged and threw his rider, who, kneeling at the -feet of his fearful companion, prayed earnestly for -mercy. The monk bade him fear nothing, but -enter the cavern, on each side of which were horses -resembling his own in size and colour. Near these -lay soldiers accoutred in ancient armour, and in the -chasms of the rock were arms and piles of gold and -silver. From one of these the enchanter took the -price of the horse in ancient coin, and on the farmer -asking the meaning of these subterranean armies, -exclaimed: “These are caverned warriors preserved -by the good genius of England, until that -eventful day when, distracted by intestine broils, -England shall be thrice won and lost between sunrise -and sunset. Then we, awakening from our -sleep, shall rise to turn the fate of Britain. This -shall be when George, the son of George, shall reign. -When the forests of Delamare shall wave their arms -over the slaughtered sons of Albion. Then shall the -eagle drink the blood of princes from the headless -cross (query, corse?). Now haste thee home, for it is -not in thy time these things shall be. A Cestrian -shall speak it and be believed.” The farmer left the -cavern, the iron gates closed, and though often -sought for, the place has never again been found.’<a name="FNanchor_292" id="FNanchor_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a></p> - -<p>Arthur, the King of Faery, has dropped out of -these legends in the course of their transmission to -modern times, but in another story, told of the -Eildon Hills, his sister, the Fata Morgana, still lives -and reigns; for she is no doubt the <em>Faery Queen</em> -with whom Thomas Rhymer spent so many years -underground ere he returned with the gift of prophetic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -truth. In the Scottish legend, which makes -Michael Scot have much to do in forming these -hills to their present shape, we seem to see him -occupying his natural place in the myth as that -Merlin whose art composed and maintained the -magic kingdom of Avalon, where Arthur sleeps -with Morgana till the hour of his return.</p> - -<p>The fertile fancy of these ages ran to the formation -of other points of likeness. Merlin had his -Vivien, who betrayed him to his loss of life and -power by a spell of his own composing. So Michael -was said to have loved a beautiful woman, who, -Delilah-like, left him no peace till he told her the -poison which alone had power over his charmed -life: the broth of a breme sow, of which accordingly -he died, taking it confidently from his false leman’s -hand.<a name="FNanchor_293" id="FNanchor_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a> Michael too, like Merlin, had his <cite>Book of -Might</cite>; for the same fancy which materialised -Frederick’s heretical tendencies, and made them -objective in the supposed work <cite>De Tribus Impostoribus</cite>, -soon did the like by those diabolical arts -in which Scot was said to have excelled. It is -possible that some reference to this may have been -intended in the book which is held by the magician -in the S. Maria Novella fresco. The plan of these -paintings in the Spanish chapel at Florence was -drawn out with great care by Fra Jacopo Passavanti, -a learned monk of that convent. He has -left a series of Lenten sermons, collected and enlarged -by himself, and published under the title of -<cite>Lo Specchio di vera Penitenza</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_294" id="FNanchor_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a> The last two -chapters of this work are devoted to the reproof of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -magical arts; a subject which the author would -seem to have studied closely. He may have been -influenced in this direction by S. Augustine’s -<cite>De Civitate Dei</cite>, which he translated into Italian. -More than one passage of the <cite>Specchio</cite> may be -cited as illustrating the frescoes of the Spanish -Chapel. He tells us, for example, that the devil -is said to be able to teach science to his -disciples in an incredibly short space of time, however -rude and ignorant they may be. For this -purpose he has given them a book called the <cite>Ars -Notoria</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_295" id="FNanchor_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a> the same which is so severely condemned -by Aquinas. Now, as Aquinas, with open book of -heavenly doctrine, is figured in the chief position -on the opposite (north) wall of the chapel, it is no -unreasonable conjecture which finds in the magician’s -book on the south wall a pictorial representation -of the <cite>Ars Notoria</cite> as it was conceived by -Passavanti. Elsewhere in the volume he again -returns to the subject of magical works.<a name="FNanchor_296" id="FNanchor_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a> Zoroaster, -he says, first learned the art from demons, and caused -it to be written on two columns, one of marble to -survive the floods, and one of terra-cotta to resist -the fire. This diabolic teaching, thus preserved, -flourished among the Egyptians, Chaldeans, -Persians, Indians, and other Oriental nations who -remained its chief exponents, ‘though perchance,’ -adds Passavanti, ‘it may be more studied among -ourselves than we are ready to believe.’<a name="FNanchor_297" id="FNanchor_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a> This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -passage may serve to show why the artist of the -Spanish Chapel was directed to draw his Magus in -the fashion of the East, and helps us to understand -the prejudice which Michael Scot’s outlandish costume -must have raised against him. It is in any case -certain that the stories of his supernatural power -became both memorable in substance and rich in -details by association with the tales of Arthur.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT—CONCLUSION</span></h2> - -<p>The attachment of Michael Scot to his master, the -Emperor Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, may be conceived as acting -in a double sense to procure him his mysterious -fame. With the Guelfs, who bitterly opposed that -great monarch and his followers, it of course became -a reason for believing him to have practised the -blackest of arts. With the Ghibellines, on the -other hand, who formed the imperial party, and -saw a very Arthur in their famous leader, it served -to confirm his character as a Mage and man of -mysterious might.</p> - -<p>Commencing then with one of the first, and -certainly the most famous of the authors who have -spoken of Scot in this romantic and legendary -style, the observation just made will enable us to -understand without much difficulty the sense of -Dante’s reference to the magician. The poet -represents himself as reaching the fourth division -of the eighth infernal circle, when Virgil draws -his attention to one of those who suffer there, and -says:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Michele Scotto, fù, che veramente</div> -<div class="verse">Delle magiche frode seppe il giuoco.’<a name="FNanchor_298" id="FNanchor_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Dante was a Ghibelline, and must therefore be -supposed to have known well the tradition of commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -supernatural power woven by his party -about the name of Scot. There is, however, a strong -element of contempt and reproof in his lines, and -this must be explained by a point of view which -was peculiar to himself. The <cite>Commedia</cite>, and -especially the <cite>Inferno</cite>, where this passage occurs, is -nothing if not a retrospect of the past. In it -Dante calls up the mighty dead and subjects them -to review; his principle of judgment being largely, -but by no means solely, drawn from political considerations. -Even more decidedly was it moral, -and thus, while in not a few instances he displays -the working of party-spirit, in others he permits -himself to part altogether with the current Ghibelline -views.</p> - -<p>His reference to Michael Scot, then, is undoubtedly -a case of the latter kind. As a seer -whose attention was fixed on the past he was -naturally impatient of those who pretended to -unfold the future. Scot, as the author of prophetical -verses, seemed to Dante a fair object for -censure, as one who had degraded the sacred art -of the bard to serve the purpose of a charlatan. -He placed him with Amphiareus, with Teiresias -and the other diviners, who, because they sought -to pry into the future, appeared to the poet with -their heads turned backward in punishment of -their presumption. An additional proof that this -was in fact the reason for Dante’s harsh dealing -with Scot may be seen in the <cite>Dittamondo</cite> of Fazio -degli Uberti. This poem, composed towards the -end of the fourteenth century, was modelled on the -<cite>Divine Comedy</cite>, and expressly formed to expound -it. Here are the lines which correspond in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -<cite>Dittamondo</cite> to those of Dante relating to Michael -Scot:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘In questo tempo che m’odi contare</div> -<div class="verse">Michele Scotto fù, che per sua arte</div> -<div class="verse">Sapeva Simon Mago contraffare,</div> -<div class="verse">E se tu leggerai nelle sue carte</div> -<div class="verse">Le profezie ch’ei fece, troverai</div> -<div class="verse">Vere venire dove sono sparte.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here the reader will observe that the prophetical -writings of Scot are distinctly mentioned, and we -are not left, as by Dante, to infer, merely from the -company in which we find him, the view that was -taken by the poet of his character and fame.</p> - -<p>It was to reinforce this unfavourable judgment -based on other grounds that Dante adopted the -legend already popular regarding Scot’s magical -studies. In doing so he gave the matter a turn -which widely separated his version of the tale from -the prevailing Ghibelline stories, told no doubt -with bated breath, but told on the whole to Scot’s -credit. In thus dealing with the legend Dante -made use of a distinction well known to the Arabs, -and now becoming familiar also in the West: that, -namely, which divided the art of magic into the -real and the illusory; called by Eastern magicians -<i>Er Roóhhánee</i> and <i>Es Seémiya</i>.<a name="FNanchor_299" id="FNanchor_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a> The former was -noble magic, and acted in power upon high spirits, -subduing them to the magician’s will; being either -white or black according to the purpose that was -sought by their aid. The latter, on the other hand, -produced no real effects whatever on material things, -but moved altogether in the sphere of mind. At -its highest it gave a mastery, which was perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -hypnotic, over the senses of those whom the magician -sought to delude. At its lowest it was the art of -the juggler and his apes, cheating eye and ear by -tricks like those which have survived to form our -modern conjuring entertainments.<a name="FNanchor_300" id="FNanchor_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a> Here the apparatus -of the higher magic was still used, but so as -to be degraded and distorted from its original -purpose. The circle now served to secure the -mage, not from the assaults of supernatural beings, -but from the indiscreet approach of too curious -spectators. The brazier with its cloud of dense -and stupifying smoke served to affect the senses -of the subject; the strange sound of recited spells -to impress his imagination; the magic mirror -to fix his attention, till he became the wizard’s -captive and obedient to his every suggestion. This -was the art of <em>glamour</em>, as it used to be called, -which, in one sphere, seemed to change a ruinous -and cobweb-hung hall into a bower of delight; in -another, made visions of distant places and future -times appear in mirrors or crystals; in yet another, -provided the philtres which provoked love, the -ligatures which restrained it, and even dealt in that -accursed spell of <i lang="fr">envoutement</i> which promised to -procure for jealousy and hatred all their wicked -will.</p> - -<p>Such then were the <i lang="fr">magiche frode</i> of which -Dante accuses Scot, and it is easy to see that the -sting of the verse lies just here; in the unreality it -attributes to this magician’s art, much as if the -poet had called him in plain prose, ‘no mage, but -a common juggler.’ Resenting Scot’s pose as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -prophet, and persuaded of the futility of such -dreams in comparison with the splendid and enduring -certainties of his own art, Dante used that -gift with cruel force to convey a similar accusation -regarding the romantic fame of the philosopher, -holding him up to the world as no mighty master of -mysterious power, but, in this too, a mere impostor.</p> - -<p>The anonymous Florentine, in his comment on -the <cite>Divine Comedy</cite>, softens the matter a little, and -at the same time imports into it a confusion of -thought very difficult to unravel, when he says: -‘This art of magic may be employed in two ways; -for either magicians compose by cunning certain -bodies, all compact of air, which yet appear substantial, -or else they show things having the appearance -of reality but not in truth real, and in -both these ways of working was Michael a great -master.’ There is an attempt here to vindicate for -Scot a higher place than that of the mere charlatan, -but the commentator’s distinction is one not readily -or clearly to be apprehended, and we may greatly -doubt if it ever entered his author’s mind.</p> - -<p>The hint thus given was speedily acted upon. -For to it, no doubt, we owe the numerous tales regarding -Michael Scot of which Benvenuto da Imola -and the anonymous Florentine speak. Landino gives -a specimen, as follows. During the philosopher’s -residence in Bologna he used to invite his friends -to dinner, but without making any preparation for -their entertainment. When the hour struck, and -the guests were seated at table, they found it -nevertheless covered with the choicest viands. -Their host would then explain that one dish came -from the royal kitchen at Paris, another from that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -of the English king, and so on with the rest. -Jacopo della Lana repeats the same story, but with -certain variations.<a name="FNanchor_301" id="FNanchor_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a> According to this commentator, -Michael Scot always kept the best company, -living in all respects as a gentleman and cavalier. -In his tricks of the table he did not spare even his -own master, but, while choosing his boiled meat -from Paris, and his roasts from London, would -always procure his <i lang="fr">entrées</i> from the King of Sicily’s -provision. The anonymous Florentine adds another -tale to the same purpose, saying that his guests -once asked Scot to show them a new marvel. The -month was January, yet, in spite of the season, he -caused vines with fresh shoots and ripe clusters of -grapes to appear on the table. The company were -bidden each of them to choose a bunch, but their -host warned them not to put forth their hands till -he should give the sign. At the word ‘cut,’ lo, -the grapes disappeared, and the guests found themselves -each with a knife in one hand, and in the -other his neighbours sleeve. Francesco da Buti -adds the significant note, ‘all this was nothing but -a cheat; for they only seemed to feast, and either -did not really do so, or else took the dishes for -something quite other than they really were.’ This -is enough to show that the sense we have given -to Dante’s words is one which found favour in -early times.</p> - -<p>Boccaccio, commencing his lectures on Dante in -the Church of San Stefano at Florence in October -1373, proceeded in them no further, unfortunately, -than the seventeenth canto of the <cite>Inferno</cite>, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -we are deprived of his notes on the passage which -refers to Michael Scot. In the <cite>Decamerone</cite>, however, -he treats the subject in a passing way; making -a citizen of Bologna speak of the magician’s residence -in that town.<a name="FNanchor_302" id="FNanchor_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a> Scot, he said, had performed -many prodigies there, to the delight of sundry -gentlemen his friends, and at their request had, -on his departure, left behind him two scholars, who -kept up fairly the traditions of his art. This seems -to indicate that Boccaccio had in mind the stories -told by the other commentators on Dante, and the -tone of his novel supports the conjecture that he -agreed with the great poet and with Da Buti, in -regarding these prodigies as pertaining to the department -of fictitious magic.</p> - -<p>More interesting, perhaps, are the tales which -involve Michael the magician with the fates of his -great master, Frederick II. In the <cite>Paradiso degli -Alberti</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_303" id="FNanchor_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a> for example, we read how, at the feast -given by the Emperor to celebrate his coronation at -Rome, which had taken place on November 22, 1220, -the company were entertained by a strange event. -They were just in the act of washing their hands -before sitting down to table in the great hall at -Palermo. The pages were still on foot with ewers -and basins of perfumed water and embroidered -towels, when suddenly Michael Scot appeared with -a companion, both of them dressed in Eastern robes, -and offered to show the guests a marvel. The -weather was oppressively warm, so Frederick asked -him to procure them a shower of rain which might -bring coolness. This the magicians accordingly did,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -raising a great storm, which as suddenly vanished -again at their pleasure. Being required by the -Emperor to name his reward, Scot asked leave to -choose one of the company to be the champion of himself -and his friend against certain enemies of theirs. -This being freely granted, their choice fell on Ulfo, -a German baron. As it seemed to Ulfo, they set -off at once on their expedition, leaving the coasts -of Sicily in two great galleys, and with a mighty -following of armed men. They sailed through the -Gulf of Lyons, and passed by the Pillars of Hercules, -into the unknown and western sea. Here they -found smiling coasts, received a welcome from the -strange people, and joined themselves to the army -of the place; Ulfo taking the supreme command. -Two pitched battles and a successful siege formed -the incidents of the campaign. Ulfo killed the -hostile king, married his lovely daughter, and -reigned in his stead; Michael and his companion -having left to seek other adventures. Of this -marriage sons and daughters were begotten, and -twenty years passed like a dream ere the magicians -returned, and invited their champion to revisit the -Sicilian court. Ulfo went back with them, but -what was his amazement, on entering the palace at -Palermo, to find everything just as it had been at -the moment of their departure so long before; even -the pages were still going the rounds with water -for the hands of the Emperor’s guests. This -prodigy performed, Michael and the other withdrew -and were seen no more, but Ulfo, it is said, -remained ever inconsolable for the lost land of -loveliness and the joys of wedded life he had left -behind for ever in a dream not to be repeated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -This tale appears also in the <cite>Cento Novelle Antiche</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_304" id="FNanchor_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a> -but in that collection the place of Michael Scot -and his companion is taken by ‘three masters of -necromancy.’</p> - -<p>In the <cite>Pseudo Boccaccio</cite><a name="FNanchor_305" id="FNanchor_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a> we find another tale, -referring to the later and less happy period of the -imperial fortunes. The scene is laid in Vittoria, -the armed camp which Frederick pitched so long -before the walls of rebellious Parma. The Parmigiani -had made a successful sally, forced the -defences of Vittoria, and were plundering the place. -A poor shoemaker of Parma, who made one of this -expedition, was lucky enough to come upon the -imperial tent itself. Entering, he found a small -barrel, which he caught up and carried back to his -home. On trial it proved to contain excellent wine, -which the shoemaker and his wife drank from day -to day, till at last it occurred to them to wonder -why the supply never came to an end. They -opened the barrel to see, and found within it a -small silver figure of an angel with his foot planted -on a grape, also of silver, from which flowed -constantly the delicious wine they had so long -enjoyed. ‘Now, this was made by magic art,’ -continues the commentator, ‘and by necromancy, -and it was Thales, otherwise called Michael Scot, -who contrived it by his skill and power.’ Needless -to add that, by this indiscreet curiosity, the charm -was broken, and the generous wine flowed no longer -to gladden the hearts of the shoemaker and his -wife.</p> - -<p>We have thus traced the development of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -legend as far as the close of the fourteenth century. -During the next hundred years no notable addition -seems to have been made to it, nor does it appear -to have attained any further expression of a remarkable -kind in the region of pure literature. But -the fifteenth century had by no means forgotten -Michael Scot, nor the tales that embodied his -mysterious fame. This, in fact, seems to have -been the period when most of the magical works -attributed to the philosopher’s pen were composed, -and commended to the world under the reputation -attaching to so great a name. Such are the spell, -which exists in writing of this age, in the Laurentian -Library of Florence,<a name="FNanchor_306" id="FNanchor_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a> the <cite>Geomantia</cite> of the -Munich Library,<a name="FNanchor_307" id="FNanchor_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a> and, perhaps, the <cite>Cheiromantia</cite>. -As, however, a tract on at least one of these latter -subjects is attributed to Gerard of Cremona in the -Vatican list,<a name="FNanchor_308" id="FNanchor_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a> it is possible there may here have -been only some not unnatural confusion between -two authors who were closely associated in much -of the literary work they accomplished in Spain.</p> - -<p>To the sixteenth century belongs the mock-heroic -poem entitled <cite>De Gestis Baldi</cite>, composed by -the famous macaronic writer Teofilo Folengo, who -wrote under the assumed name of Merlin Coccajo. -A considerable passage in this curious production -is devoted to Michael Scot, of whom the poet -speaks in the following terms:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Ecce Michaelis de incantu regula Scoti,</div> -<div class="verse">Qua, post sex formas, cerae fabricatur imago</div> -<div class="verse">Demonii Sathan Saturni facta plumbo</div> -<div class="verse">Cui suffimigio per serica rubra cremato</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Hac, licet obsistant, coguntur amore puellae.</div> -<div class="verse">Ecce idem Scotus qui stando sub arboris umbra</div> -<div class="verse">Ante characteribus designet millibus orbem.</div> -<div class="verse">Quatuor inde vocat magna cum voce diablos.</div> -<div class="verse">Unus ab occasu properat, venit alter ab ortu,</div> -<div class="verse">Meridies terzum mandat, septentrio quartum.</div> -<div class="verse">Consecrare facit freno conforme per ipsos</div> -<div class="verse">Cum quo vincit equum nigrum, nulloque vedutum,</div> -<div class="verse">Quem, quo vult, tanquam Turchesca sagitta, cavalcat,</div> -<div class="verse">Sacrificatque comas eiusdem saepe cavalli.</div> -<div class="verse">En quoque dipingit Magus idem in littore navem</div> -<div class="verse">Quae vogat totum octo remis ducta per orbem.</div> -<div class="verse">Humanae spinae suffimigat inde medullam.</div> -<div class="verse">En docet ut magicis cappam sacrare susurris</div> -<div class="verse">Quam sacrando fremunt plorantque per aera turbae</div> -<div class="verse">Spiritum quoniam verbis nolendo tiramur.</div> -<div class="verse">Hanc quicumque gerit gradiens ubicumque locorum</div> -<div class="verse">Aspicitur nusquam; caveat tamen ire per altum</div> -<div class="verse">Solis splendorem, quia tunc sua cernitur umbra.’<a name="FNanchor_309" id="FNanchor_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here the legend is not only considerably enriched, -but it has recovered much of its original tone. -Michael Scot again appears rather as the mighty -mage than as the adroit juggler which Dante had -represented him to be. One would say Folengo -had read the spell of Cordova, where a circle similar -to that described by him is actually proposed. The -use of magical images too, on which he insists, is -the very art which the Arabian author of the -<cite>Picatrix</cite> professes to teach.</p> - -<p>These then, or such as these, must have been -the ‘old wives’ tales’ spoken of by Dempster, who -says that store of them passed current in his day.<a name="FNanchor_310" id="FNanchor_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a> -He was, like Michael Scot himself, a Scotsman long -resident in Italy, who taught in the universities -of Pisa and Bologna at the commencement of the -seventeenth century:<a name="FNanchor_311" id="FNanchor_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a> an origin and situation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -very favourable to the knowledge of these stories, -both in their Italian and Scottish form. That they -had at an early period become part of the romantic -heritage of Scotland seems very certain. An anonymous -author supplies us with the Italian view of -the matter when he says that the great magician -taught the Scots his art to such a degree ‘that -they will not take a step without some magical -practice,’ and adds that he introduced into Scotland -the fashion of ‘white hose, and gowns with the -sleeves sewed together.’<a name="FNanchor_312" id="FNanchor_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a></p> - -<p>Perhaps the best known of these Scottish tales -is that which relates how Michael Scot had a -particular spirit as his familiar, and describes the -difficulty he felt in discovering new tasks for his -supernatural servant. Sir Walter Scott says that -this story had made so deep an impression, that in -his day any ancient work of unknown origin was -ascribed by the country people either to Sir William -Wallace, Michael Scot, or the devil himself.<a name="FNanchor_313" id="FNanchor_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a> But, -as commonly told, the legend refers to certain -outstanding features of the country which are -natural and not artificial; a fact which may possibly -account for its persistence and survival in -this form and not in the others. Michael is said -to have commanded his spirit to divide Eildon -Hill into three.<a name="FNanchor_314" id="FNanchor_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a> The feat was accomplished in a -single night, but, the magician’s instructions being -very precise, and the spirit finding one of the -peaks he had formed greater, and another less -than the mean, accommodated the matter very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -skilfully by transferring what seems like a spadeful -of earth, still visible as a distinct prominence -on the sky-line of the hill. Next night brought -the need for another task, and Michael gave orders -that the river Tweed should be bound in its course -by a curb of stone. The remarkable basaltic dyke -which crosses the bed of the stream near Ednam -is said to have been the result of this command. -On the third night, finding his familiar still keen -for employment, Scot bade him go spin ropes of -sand at the river mouth. This task proved so -difficult as to relieve the magician from further embarrassment. -It is said to be still in progress, and -the successive attempts and failures of the spirit -are pointed out as every tide casts up, or receding, -uncovers, the ever-shifting sands of Berwick bar.</p> - -<p>Another Scottish story, borrowed perhaps from -the relations between Michael Scot and Frederick -<span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, and possibly suggested by the philosopher’s -journey in 1230, speaks of a high commission he -once held from the King of Scotland.<a name="FNanchor_315" id="FNanchor_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a> Some -Frenchmen, it is said, had commenced pirates, -and had plundered Scottish ships. The King -chose Michael as his ambassador, sending him to -Paris to demand justice and redress. The magician, -however, made none of the ordinary preparations -for so considerable a journey, but opened -his <cite>Book of Might</cite> and read a spell therein; -whereupon his familiar appeared in the form of -a black horse, just as Folengo describes him. In -this shape the demon carried his rider through -the air with incredible speed. When the channel -lay beneath them, he asked Michael what words<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -the old wives in Scotland muttered ere they went -to sleep. A less adroit wizard would have simply -repeated the <cite>Paternoster</cite>, and thus furnished the -excuse sought by the demon, who would then -have hurled his rider into the sea. Michael, -however, contented himself by sternly replying; -‘What is that to thee? Mount Diabolus, and -fly;’ and, the demon being thus outwitted and -compelled, they presently arrived in Paris. Finding -the French King unwilling to hear his representations, -Scot asked him to delay giving a final -refusal till he should have heard the horse stamp -three times. At the first hoof-stroke, all the bells -in Paris rang. At the second, three towers in the -palace fell; and the horse had raised his foot to -stamp once more, when the King cried, ‘Hold,’ and -yielded him to do as his cousin of Scotland desired.</p> - -<p>A more trivial and domestic tale is that which -relates how Michael met and overcame the Witch -of Falsehope.<a name="FNanchor_316" id="FNanchor_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a> He was then residing at Oakwood -Tower, and, hearing much talk of this woman’s -craft, he set forth one day to prove her. The witch -was cunning, and denied that she had any skill in -the black art, but, when Scot absently laid his -staff of power upon the table, she caught it to her -and used it upon him with such effect that he -became a hare; in which shape he was hotly coursed -by his own hounds. Taking refuge in a drain, he -had just time to reverse the spell and resume his -own form before the hunt reached his hiding-place. -Thus Michael returned to Oakwood with a high -impression of his neighbour’s skill and malice, and -fully resolved to have his revenge at the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -opportunity. This occurred next harvest, when, -under pretext of sport, he sent his servant to the -witch’s house to beg some bread for the hounds. -Met with the refusal that was expected, the man -acted upon his master’s instructions by privately -fixing to the door a scroll containing, amid magical -characters, the following rhyme:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Maister Michael Scot’s man</div> -<div class="verse">Socht breid and gat nane.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Meanwhile the witch-wife had returned to her -work; which was that of boiling porridge for the -shearers. As soon, however, as Scot’s man had left -the door, she began to run round the fire like one -crazy, repeating as she ran the words of the spell. -In a little the harvesters returned from the field to -their dinner, but, as each passed the enchanted -door, the spell took him, and he joined the dance -within. Meanwhile Michael and his men and dogs -stood not far off on the hill, whence they could -command a full view of what went on. The last to -leave the field was the goodman, who, suspecting -something more than common from the attention -Scot was paying to his house, was too cautious to -enter immediately, as the rest had done. He went -to the window, and through it beheld the orgy, now -become terrible, and in the midst of all his wife, -half dead from compulsion and exhaustion, dragged -around the house and through the fire by the -bewitched servants. Suspecting how matters stood, -he went to Scot, who, relenting, told him how to -remove the spell by entering the house backwards, -and then taking the scroll down from the door. -This he did, and the unearthly dance ceased, but it -was long ere those who had taken part in it forgot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -the power of the magician, or ventured again to -provoke his resentment.</p> - -<p>The northern tales had much to say of Michael’s -<cite>Book of Might</cite>, from which he learned his art, and -of his burial-place, where it lay interred with him. -Dempster tells us that, in his boyhood, it used to -be said in Scotland that Scot’s magical works were -still extant, but might not be touched for fear of -the powerful demons that waited on their opening.<a name="FNanchor_317" id="FNanchor_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a> -This form of the legend belongs then to the latter -part of the sixteenth century. In the beginning of -the next age, and precisely in the year 1629, occurred -the traditional visit of Satchells to Burgh-under-Bowness.<a name="FNanchor_318" id="FNanchor_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a> -This author declares that one named -Lancelot Scot showed him in that place something -taken from the works of the mighty magician:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘He said the book which he gave me</div> -<div class="verse">Was of Sir Michael Scot’s Historie;</div> -<div class="verse">Which Historie was never yet read through,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor never will, for no man dare it do.</div> -<div class="verse">Young scholars have pick’d out some thing</div> -<div class="verse">From the contents, that dare not read within.</div> -<div class="verse">He carried me along the castle then,</div> -<div class="verse">And shew’d his written Book hanging on an iron pin.</div> -<div class="verse">His writing pen did seem to me to be</div> -<div class="verse">Of harden’d metal, like steel or accumie,</div> -<div class="verse">The volume of it did seem so large to me</div> -<div class="verse">As the Book of Martyrs and Turks Historie.</div> -<div class="verse">Then in the church he let me see</div> -<div class="verse">A stone where Mr. Michael Scot did lie.</div> -<div class="verse">I ask’d at him how that could appear:</div> -<div class="verse">Mr. Michael had been dead above five hundred year?</div> -<div class="verse">He shew’d me none durst bury under that stone</div> -<div class="verse">More than he had been dead a few years agone,</div> -<div class="verse">For Mr. Michael’s name does terrifie each one.’</div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> -<p>It will be observed that Satchells hesitates here -between the title of knighthood which had been -bestowed on Scot for a century past on the authority -of Hector Boëce, and the more authentic dignity of -Master which was really his. He also antedates -the philosopher’s lifetime by more than a hundred -years; so that plainly what we have in these verses -is legend and tradition rather than history.</p> - -<p>This is probably the latest appearance in -literature of the old stories concerning Michael Scot -told in the old way. Naudè<a name="FNanchor_319" id="FNanchor_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a> and Schmutzer<a name="FNanchor_320" id="FNanchor_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a> -presently came on the scene, in the late seventeenth -and early eighteenth century, with their critical -defences of Scot, all too imperfectly informed regarding -his real reputation. In our own age the -poems of Sir Walter Scott and Rossetti, while -serving to show that so great a name has not been -forgotten, breathe, it is plain, an entirely different -spirit. They are but the romantic and sentimental -revival of tales that the poets and their world had -already ceased to believe.</p> - -<p>Changed habits of thought, reaching and affecting -every class of society, make it useless now to -seek in Scotland for any new developments of the -legend of Michael Scot. This is not so certainly -true, however, of the South of Europe; of Italy, -Sicily, and Spain, where he was once a familiar -figure. There the slow progress of education has -left the common people still in possession of much -legendary lore, and even of the living faculty by -which in past ages such tales have been formed. -To ascertain what an Italian story-teller in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -present year of grace would make of the name and -fame of Michael Scot were clearly a curious and -interesting inquiry. It is one which, on actual -trial, has yielded two tales differing considerably -from any hitherto published.<a name="FNanchor_321" id="FNanchor_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a> As these are certainly -the very latest additions to the legend, they deserve -a place here at the close of our collection. Freely -rendered into English they run as follows:</p> - -<p>‘Mengot was a notable astrologer and magician. -Mengot was his true name,<a name="FNanchor_322" id="FNanchor_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a> but he had many -surnames besides; among which was that of Scotto. -This name of Scotto was given him by a princess. -One night the Prince, her husband, happened to -be in a company where the talk turned on the -virtue of women, and the Prince said he would put -his hand in the fire if his wife were not faithful to -him; so sure was he of her virtue. Then spoke -up another of the company, who made light of the -caresses and compliments with which women use -to deceive, and told a tale for the Prince’s warning. -“There was once a man,” said he, “who thought as -you do, dear Prince; for he took his wife for a -pattern of virtue, and would have pledged, not his -hand only, but his very life that she was so. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -happened, however, that he had a friend who knew -of the wizard whom they call Mengot, dwelling -without the Croce Gate of Florence, and having his -house below the ground, closed by a flat stone of -the field so as to be secret. Those who would -inquire of him must pass to the place and cry -‘Mengot! Master Mengot! I seek a favour of thee, -and, if thou tell me true, I shall not stint thy -reward;’ whereupon he doth straightway appear. -This then was what the friend of the too confident -husband did, for he summoned Mengot, and, in -presence of all, said to him: ‘Tell me the truth, -and whether the wife of this gentleman deserves his -confidence or not.’ After some thought, the wizard -replied, ‘Do you wish a true answer, or one made to -please? I should be sorry to hurt the husband’s -feelings.’ When all desired to have the truth, -Mengot told them that the lady in question had -gone to a place in the Via Calzaiuoli where -disguises were arranged, and that she would be -found next day dressed as a servant in the course -of carrying on a vulgar intrigue in the Ghetto. -Now all this was verified; for the wizard told them -even the very house in the Via delle Ceste where she -would be found with her lover, and it proved to be -exactly as he had said.” When this tale was done, -all who heard it cried that Mengot should be -summoned again, to see whether the Princess were -faithful or not. So they called him, as had been -done in the other case, but with the same result; -for here also the Prince’s confidence had been -misplaced, and that in a high degree. Then said -the Princess, between rage and shame, “Hast thou -scotched me this time; but next time I will scotch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -thee.”<a name="FNanchor_323" id="FNanchor_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a> She straightway sought a witch, said -to be more powerful than Mengot himself, and, -telling what had happened, promised her gold by -handfuls if she would revenge her on the wizard. -The woman told her to be easy, for she would -arrange the matter. She paid Mengot a visit -as if to take his advice, and, stealing his magic -rod, struck the ground three times, whereupon -Mengot was turned into a hare, and fled from -his habitation. Having foreseen, however, by -his art that such danger might arise, Mengot -had prepared a pool of enchanted water at his -door. Into this he now leaped, and by its -virtue was able to resume his proper form. The -first thing he did was to seek the magic rod, and, -finding it still in his house, he struck the witch on -the head. She became a skinless<a name="FNanchor_324" id="FNanchor_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a> cat, and in that -form haunted the guilty Princess for her sins; -while Mengot was ever afterwards distinguished -by the name of Scot.’</p> - -<p>The second tale is to this effect:</p> - -<p>‘Michael Scotti the wizard was a mighty master -of witchcraft. There came to him one day a young -lady, richly dressed, and wearing a thick veil. She -told him that she wished to become a witch that -she might cast a spell upon the child of a man who -had forsaken her for another woman, now his wife; -for she said that to bewitch this child would be the -best revenge she could have. Michael was willing -to content her; but we must here remark that -wizards and witches gain their power, either at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -birth or as a legacy from some dying person who -has the gift. In either of these cases, when the -wizard or witch takes the form of an animal, both -body and soul are present wherever the form may -appear. If, on the other hand, any one becomes a -witch of her own desire, as in the case before us, -her spirit may move and act under such a form, -but her body lies all the while where she left it. -But to our tale.</p> - -<p>‘Michael accordingly took his Magic Book, and -the skin of a cat, and kindling some hempen fibre<a name="FNanchor_325" id="FNanchor_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a> -in an earthen pot, he commenced to read his -spells, which had such effect that the spirit of the -young lady entered into the skin of the cat. In the -form of that animal she then went about her -business, while her body remained still in the chair -where she was sitting. At her return the wizard -read again in his book, whereupon the spirit of the -new-made witch returned to her body as before. -Michael gave her a book of this kind, and the skin -he had used, and every night she turned herself -into a witch, and became so wicked as to cast ill -upon many children, and even on an infant brother -of her own.</p> - -<p>‘Thus the sorceress was hardly entered on her -power ere she brought about the death of her -rival’s child, and killed many others, but an end -was presently put to these ill-doings. Her brother, -whom she had bewitched out of jealousy, wasted -away, and the parents were in despair, as none of -the physicians whom they consulted could understand -the case. One morning the child told them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -he had suffered much during the night from a cat, -which leaped upon his bed, howled, and played -the most frightful antics. They then began to -suspect witchcraft, and resolved that the household -should watch during the next night. On the -stroke of twelve a cat was seen coming out of -their daughter’s room. One of the servants gave -chase, and another went into the room, fearing that -the young lady had also been bewitched, and saw -her lying on the bed as cold as marble. The cry -arose that she was killed. The parents, mad with -grief, made after the cat to destroy it, but with -leaps and bounds, it kept them busy all night as if -they had been huntsmen chasing a hare, and all in -vain. As the bells began to sound for matins the -cat ran into the young lady’s room, and the mother, -beating her brow, exclaimed: “she who has bewitched -my son is none other than his sister.” -Rushing into the room they found her, no longer -like a dead body, but all panting from the night-long -chase. Her mother searched all the corners, -and finding the book and earthen pot, bade throw -them into the Arno. They then besought their -daughter to undo the mischief she had wrought -upon her brother, and so many more, and to promise -she would never do the like again; but to nothing -of this would she consent. Then they threw her out -of window in fear and to the breaking of her bones. -The servants came and took her up; laying her on -her bed again; telling her to heal her brother. Not -even in the last moments of life, however, would -she repent. She could not die till Mengot had -read for her a spell of loosing, and on him therefore -she still lay crying. The servants told this to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -her parents, who bade put horses to the carriage -and fetch the wizard, who was presently with -them. First he commanded her to cure her -brother, and then he read for her in his Magic -Book that she might be loosed, and so she died. -But when the skin and earthen pot were cast -away, they sank straight underground. Thus the -witch, who still came back every night to get the -skin, and take the form of a cat, found all her -magic art in vain; for Michael Scotti had taken -her power away.’</p> - -<p>‘Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne!’ To -such vain and trivial conclusions has a reputation, -justly renowned in its own day, been reduced in -ours. Michael Scot, now become a <em>troglodyte</em>, lifts -his head timidly and occasionally from a den in the -Florence fields; he who, while alive, filled Europe -with his fame, and, by his <cite>Averroës</cite>, ruled the -schools of Padua as late as the seventeenth century. -If a remedy is still to be had for this, the fruit of -Guelphic rancour, it must be found in the direction -we have sought to keep throughout these pages: -that of a serious and impartial study of Scot’s life, -and of those labours of his in philosophy and science -which are so really, though remotely, connected -with the intellectual attainments of our own times.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> - -<h3>APPENDIX I</h3> - -<p>✠ Experimentum Michaelis Scoti nigromantici.<a name="FNanchor_326" id="FNanchor_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a></p> - -<p>Si volueris per daemones haberi scientem, qui in forma magistri -ad te veniet cum tibi placuerit, expedit tibi primo habere quandam -cameram fulgentem et nitidam, in qua nunquam mulier non conversetur, -nec vir ante inchoationem triginta diebus, computato -itaque tempore taliter quod xxxj die fit luna crescens<a name="FNanchor_327" id="FNanchor_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a> –o– ☿ eius -hora, castus per septimanam, rasus totus, ac etiam lotus, necnon -vestimentis albis indutus. Solus in ortu solis, in quo, et ipsa -hora ☿ habeas quoddam vas in quo sit lignum aloes camphora et -cipressum cum igne, ex quibus fiat fumus, et primo te totum -suffumiga, scilicet primo faciem, deinde alia, postea etiam totam -cameram. Quo facto, habeas oleum bacharum et totum te unge -a capite usque ad pedes, hoc facto, volve te primo versus 🜚 ortum, -et sic dic, flexis genibus: O admirabilis et ineffabilis et incomprehensibilis, -Qui omnia ex nihilo formasti, apud quem nihil -impossibile est, te deprecor cum humilitate vehementi ut mihi, -famulo tuo tali, tribuas gratiam cognoscendi potentiam tuam, -Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre per omnia saecula saeculorum, -Amen. Praesta quaesumus mihi tutellam angeli tui, qui me -custodiat, protegat, atque defendat, et adjuvet ad huius operis -consummationem, et faciat me potentem contra omnes spiritus -ut vincam etiam dominer eis, et ipsi adversus me terrendi vel -laedendi nullam habeant potestatem, Amen, [here follow verses -25-28 of Psalm 119.] Similiter versus occasum, meridiem, et -septentrionem, et debes scire quod, quando vertis te, debes te -totum expoliare nudum, deinde dicere has orationes: quo facto, -debes te induere dicendo hunc psalmum, [Psalm 76: 1-.] usque -<i lang="la">quomodo cogitatio hominis</i>, etc. quo dicto, et inducto, dic tu haec -verba [Psalm 37: 30.] Quibus dictis habeas unum frustrum panni -albi de lana, quae nunquam fuerit in usu, et habeas quandam -columbam albam totam vel –o– cuiuscumque coloris sit, et trunca -eius collum, et collige eius sanguinem in vase vitreo, et de dicta -columba sive –ͨoͦ–ͬ sanguinando dictum cor in 1º. o. Fac cum -dicto corde cruentato, in dicto panno, circulum, ut apparet inferius,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -quo facto, intra circulum cum ense in manu: qui ensis -debet esse lucidissimus, cum quo ense avis caput debet truncari -ut dictum est, et ipsum tenendo per cuspidem, aspiciendo versus -orientem, dic sic: O misericordissime Deus, Creator omnium, -et omnium scientiarum Largitor, Qui vis magis peccatorem -vivere, ut ad penitentiam valeat pervenire, quam ipsum mori -sordidum in peccatis, Te deprecor toto mentis affectu ut cogas et -liges istos tres demones, videlicet Appolyin, Maraloch, Berich, -ut debeant per virtutem et potentiam tuam mihi obedire, servire, -et parere, sine aliquo fraude, malignatione vel furore, in omnibus -quae praecipio: Qui vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti, -Amen. Debet haec enim oratio dici novies versus orientem, -deinde debes dicere, Appolyin, Maraloch, Berich, Ego talis vos -exorcizo et conjuro ex parte Dei Omnipotentis Qui vos vestra elatione -jussit antra subire profundi, ut debeatis mittere quendam -spiritum peritum dogmate omnium scientiarum, qui mihi sit -benivolus, fidelis, et placidus ad docendum omnem scientiam -quam voluero, veniens in formam magistri ut nullam formidinem -percipere valeam, fiat, fiat, fiat. Item conjuro vos per Patrem et -Filium et Spiritum Sanctum ut per haec sancta nomina quorum -virtute ligamen, scilicet Dober, Uriel, Sabaoth, Semonyi, -Adonayi, Tetragramaton, Albumayzi, Loch, Morech, Sadabyin, -Rodeber, Donnel, Parabyiel, Alatuel, Nominam, et Ysober, -quatenus vos tres reges maximi et mihi socii, mihi petenti, unum -de subditis vestris mittere laboretis, qui sit magister omnium -scientiarum et artium, veniens in forma humana, placibilis -aplaudens mihi et erudens me cum amore ita et taliter quod in -termino xxxta dierum talem scientiam valeam adipisci, promittens -post sumptionem scientiae dare libi licentiam recedendi, -ut hoc etiam totiens dici debet. Hac oratione vero dicta, ensem -depone et involve in dicto panno, et facto vasiculo, cuba super -ipso ut aliquantulum dormias. Post sompnum vero surge et -induas te: quia facto vasiculo homo se spoliat et intrat cubiculum -ponendo dictum vasiculum super capite. Est autem sciendum -quod dictis his conjurationibus somnus acculit virtute divina, in -somno autem apparebunt tibi tres maximi reges, cum famulis -innumeris militibus peditibus, inter quos est etiam quidam magister -apparens, cui ipsi tres reges jubent ad te ipsum venire -paratam. Videbis enim tres reges fulgentes mira pulcritudine, -qui tibi in dicto sompno viva voce loquentur dicentes, Ecce tibi -Domini quod multotiens postulasti, et dicent illi magistro, Sit -iste tuus discipulus quem docere tibi jubemus omnem scientiam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -sive artem quam audire voluerit. Doce illum taliter et erudi -ut in termino xxx dierum in qualem scientiam voluerit, ut -summus inter alios habeatur:<a name="FNanchor_328" id="FNanchor_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a> et ipsum audies et videbis eum -respondere, dictum mei libentissime faciam quicquid vultis. His -dictis reges abibunt et magister solus remanebit, qui tibi dicet, -Surge, ecce tuus magister. His vero dictis, excitaberis statim et -aperies occulos et videbis quendam magistrum optime indutum, -qui tibi dicet, Da mihi ensem quem sub capite tenes. Tu vero -dices Ecce discipulus vester paratus est facere quicquid vultis; -tamen debes habere pugillarem et scribere omnia quae tibi dicet. -Primo debes quaerere, O magister, quod est nomen vestrum: ipse -dicet, et tu scribes; secundo, de quo ordine, et similiter scribe: -his scriptis, dabis ensem, quo habito, ipse recedet dicens, -Expecta me donec veniam: tu nihil dices. Magister vero recedet -et secum portabit ensem, post cuius recessu tu solves pannum, -ut apparet inferius,<a name="FNanchor_329" id="FNanchor_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a> etiam scribes in dicto circulo nomen eius -scriptum per te, et scribi debet etiam cum supradicto, O, quo -scripto involve dictum pannum et bene reconde: his factis debes -prandere solo pane et pura aqua, et illa die non egredi cameram -et cum pransus fueris accipe pannum et intra circulum versus -Appolyim et dic sic, O rex Appolyim magne potens et venerabilis -ego famulus tuus in te credens, et omnino confidens, quia tu es -fortior, et valens per incomprehensibilem majestatem tuam, ut -famulus et subditus tuus talis, magister meus, debeat ad me venire -quam citius fieri potest, per virtutem et potentiam tuam quae est -magna et maxima in saecula saeculorum, Amen. et similiter dicere -versus Maraloth, mutando nomen, et versus Berith similiter, his -dictis accipe de dicto sanguine et scribe in circulo nomen tuum -cum supradicto corde ut hic apparet inferius. Deinde scribe -cum dicto corde in angulis panni illa nomina ut hic apparent. -Si autem sanguis unius avis non tibi sufficeret, potes interficere -quot tibi placent: quibus omnibus factis, sedebis per totum -diem in circulo aspiciens ipsum, nihil loquendo; cum vero -sero fuerit, plica dictum pannum spoliato, et intra cubiculum -ponendo ipsum sub capite tuo, et cum posueris dici sit plana -voce, O Appolyin, Maraloch, Berich, Sathan, Belyal, Belzebuch, -Lucifer, supplico vobis ut precipiatis magistro meo, nominando -eius nomen, ut ipse debeat venire solus ante eras ad me, et docere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -me talem scientiam sine aliqua alia fallacia, per Illum Qui -venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et saeculum per ignem, -Amen. Cave igitur et praecave ne signum ✠ facias, propter -magnum periculum. In sompno scies quia videbis magistrum -tota nocte loqui tecum, interrogans a te qualem scientiam vis -adiscere, et tu dices, talem. Itaque ut dictus est tota nocte cum -eo loqueris. Cum itaque excitatus fueris in ipsa nocte, surge et -accende candelam, et accipe dictum pannum et dissolve, et sede -in eo, scilicet in circulo, ubi nomen tuum scriptum est, ad tuum -commodum, et voca nomen magistri tui, sic dicens, O talis de -talis (sic) ordine, in magistrum meum datum per majores reges -tuos, te deprecor ut venies in forma benigna ad docendum me in -tali scientia, quia sim probīor omnibus mortalibus docens -ipsam cum magno gaudio, sine aliquo labore, ac omni tedio -derelicto. Veni igitur ex tuorum parte majoris qui regnat per -infinita saecula saeculorum, Amen, fiat, fiat, fiat. His itaque -dictis, ter aspicias versus occidentem, videbis magistrum venire -cum multis discipulis, quem rogabis ut omnes abire jubeat, et -statim recedent: quo facto, ipse magister dicet quam scientiam -audire desideras; tu dices talem, et tunc incipies, memento enim -quia tantum adiscens memoriae commodabis et omnem scientiam -quam habere volueris adisces in termino xxx dierum. Et -quando ipsum de camera abire volueris, plica pannum et reconde, -et statim recedet: et quando ipsum venire volueris, aperi -pannum, et subito ibidem apparebit continuando lectiones. Post -vero terminum xxx dierum, doctus optime in illa scientia evades, -et fac tibi dare ensem tuum, et dic ut vadat, et cum pace recedat. -Debes iterum dicere cum pro alia ipsum invocabis habenda -scientia, quod tibi dicet ad tuum libitum esse paratum. Finis -capituli scientiae. Explicit nicromantiae experimentum illustrissimi -doctoris Domini Magistri Michaelis Scoti, qui summus -inter alios nominatur Magister, qui fuit Scotus, et servus praeclarissimo -Domino suo Domino Philipo Regis Ceciliae coronato; -quod destinavit sibi dum esset aegrotus in civitate Cordubae, -etc. Finis</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> - -<h3>APPENDIX II</h3> - -<p>Fondo Vaticano 4428, ms. perg. in fol. saec. xiii. cum min.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>p. 1 recto. ‘Incipit Logica Avicennae. Studiosam animam -meam ad appetitum translationis lib. avicennae quem -asschiphe i. sufficientiam nuncupavit invitare cupiens, -et quaedam capitula … in latinum eloquium ex -arabico transmutare.’ Then follows a column and a half -commencing: ‘Dixit abunbeidi filius ab,’ (? avicennae) -which seems to give an account of the manner in -which he was wont to compose. At the middle of -col. 2 begins a new paragraph:—‘Dixit princeps -abualy alhysenni filius abdillei filius sciue’ noted in -the margin as: ‘Vita avicennae.’ This closes at the -middle of the first col. of p. 1, verso.</p> - -<p>p. 8 recto. A footnote says ‘translatus ab auendbuch de -libro avicennae de logico.’</p> - -<p>p. 9 recto. ‘Incipit collectio secundi libri sufficientiae a -principiis ph’ici prologus. Dixit princeps Avicenna. -Postquam expedivimus nos auxilio dei.’ A short -prologue follows extending to three-quarters of a col. -Then follows the treatise: ‘Iam nosti ex tractatu.’ -It closes on p. 20 <i lang="la">recto</i> with the words ‘per se notae -sunt. Explicit liber phisicorum avicennae Amen.’</p> - -<p>p. 20 verso. ‘Incipit liber Avicennae de celo et mundo, seu -collectiones expositionum ab antiquis graecis in librum -Aristotelis. Expositiones autem istae in quatuordecim -continentur capitulis. Per unum quod corpus perficiens.’ -This tract closes on</p> - -<p>p. 27 recto. with the words ‘completum xv capitulum, et ideo -completione completus est liber totus, et laus sit -creatori nostro et largitori … et sic pax et salus -omni animae modestae et benignae. Amen.</p> - -<p>p. 27 verso. ‘Incipit particula prima Methaᶜᵉ avicennae -cap. 1. de inquisitione … ad hoc ut ostendatur ipsam -esse de numero scientiarum liberalium. Avicenna de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -philosophia prima, sive scientia prima divina. Postquam -autem auxilio Dei explevimus tractatum scientiarum -logicalium et naturalium et doctrinalium, convenientius -est accedere ad cogitationem intentionum spiritualium.’</p> - -<p>p. 78 recto. The Metaphysica end here with the words:—‘quia -ipse est rex terreni mundi, et vicarius dei in illo. -Completus est liber. Laudetur deus super omnia -… quem transtulit diaconus gundissalui archidyaco’ -tholeti de arabico in latinum.’</p> - -<p>p. 78 verso. ‘Incipit liber primus Avicennae de anima et -dicitur sextus de naturalibus. Reverentissimo tholetanae -sedis archiepiscopo et yspaniarum primati Johannes -Avendaut israelita philosophus gratiam et vitae -futuris obsequium.’ … ‘Incipiunt capitula totius libri. -Liber iste dividitur in partes.’ … ‘Ordinatio librorum -Avicennae. Iam explevimus in primo libro.’ …</p> - -<p>p. 79 recto. ‘Capitulum 1. Dicemus ergo …’ The De -Anima closes on</p> - -<p>p. 114 verso. with these words: ‘sicut postea scies cum -loquitur de animalibus. Explicit sextus naturalium -Avicennae. Deo gratias et nunc et semper Amen. Qui -scripsit hunc librum Dominus benedicat illum. Ffinito -libro sit laus et gloria Christo. Incipit sermo de -generatione lapidum Avicennae. Terra pura non fit -lapis quia continuationem non facit.’ The second -chapter is: ‘De generatione montium’ and the third -‘De generatione corporum mineralium.’ In the latter -chapter occurs the curious passage: ‘Sciant autem -artifices alkimiae … et salem amoniacum’ which we -have translated on p. 74.</p> - -<p>p. 115 recto. The short tract on minerals closes at the foot of -this page with the words: ‘exhibere res quaedam -extraneae. Explicit vere.’</p> - -<p>p. 115 verso. is blank.</p> - -<p>p. 116 recto. ‘De animalibus Avicennae. Frederice, romanorum -imperator, domine mundi, suscipe devote hunc -librum michaelis scoti ut sit gratia capiti tuo et torques -collo tuo. Incipit abbreviatio avicennae super librum -animalium aristotelis. Et animalia quaedam communicant -in membris, sicut equus et homo.’ The treatise -closes on</p> - -<p>p. 158 recto, in the usual way: ‘sed de dentium utilitatibus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -jam scis ex alio loco. Completus est liber avicennae -de animalibus scriptus per magistrum henricum coloniensem -ad exemplar magnifici imperatoris domini -frederici apud meffiam civitatem Apuliae ubi dominus -imperator eidem magistro hunc librum permissum -comodavit anno domini mº ccº xxxijº in vigilio beati -laurentii in domo magistri volmari medici imperialis -liber iste inceptus est et expletus cum adiutorio iesu -christi qui vivit.…</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Frenata penna, finito nunc avicenna</div> -<div class="verse">Libro Caesario gloria summa Deo</div> -<div class="verse">Dextera scriptoris careat gravitate doloris.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the second col. of this page commences the arabo-latin -glossary (<a href="#illus3"><i>see</i> facsimile</a>):—</p> - -<ul> -<li>‘Ex libro animalium aristotelis domini imperatoris in margine.’</li> -<li>‘Passer dicitur pscipsci,’</li> -<li>‘Rumbus. sciathi.’</li> -<li>‘Delfinis, delfinus.’</li> -<li>…</li> -<li>‘Fehed. leopardus.’</li> -<li>…</li> -<li>‘Ex libro secundo.’</li> -<li>…</li> -<li>‘Ex tertio libro.’</li> -<li>…</li> -<li>‘Glosa magistri al.’ ‘Explicit anno domini mº ccº x.’</li> -<li>…</li> -</ul> - -</div> - -<p>Fondo Vaticano 2089 ms. in fol. perg. finiss. saec. xiii. The -first 265 pages of this volume contain the <cite>De Causis</cite> (pp. 1-5) -and the following commentaries by Averroës: <cite>De coelo et mundo</cite> -(pp. 6-195); <cite>De generatione et corruptione</cite> (pp. 195-254); on the -fourth book of the <cite>Meteora</cite> (pp. 254-260); <cite>De substantia orbis</cite>, -(pp. 260-265). Then follow the commentaries by Avicenna in -this order:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>p. 266 recto. ‘Titulus, Collectio secunda libri sufficientiae -avicennae principis philosophi. Prologus. Dixit -princeps, Postquam expedivimus nos auxilio dei ab eo -quod opus fuit.’ … ‘Liber primus de quaestionibus -et principiis naturalium Capitulum de affligenda via -qua pervenitur ad scientiam naturalium per principia -eorum. Iam scisti ex tractatu.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> - -<p>p. 282 verso. ‘et consummate certo fine cessabit interrogatione. -Completus est primus tractatus de naturalibus cum -auxilio Dei et gratia. Incipit tractatus secundus de -motu et de quiete et de consimilibus. Capitulum de -motu. Postquam perfecimus librum de principiis.’</p> - -<p>p. 306 verso. ‘cuius tempus non habet (?) esse initium. Completa -est pars secunda de collectione naturalium. Et -ei qui dedit intelligere gratiae sint infinitae. Pars -tertia de hiis quae habent naturalia ex hoc quod habent -quantitatem. Prologus de qualitate tractandi precipue -in hoc libro. Naturalia sunt corpora.’</p> - -<p>p. 307 recto. ‘et haec propositiones per se notae sunt. Explicit -liber sufficientiae avicennae. Prologus in sextum -naturalium Avicennae. Reverentissimo toletanae sedis -archiepiscopo et yspanorum primati auendeueth israelita -philosophus gratiam et vitae futuris obsequium.… -Quapropter, domine, jussum vestrum de transferendo -librum avicenae (cod. 4428 p. 78 verso reads <em>aristotelis</em>) -philosophi de anima effectui mancipare curavi ut vestro -munere et meo (4428 <em>nostro</em>) labore latinis fieret certum -quod hactenus extitit incognitum scilicet an sit anima, -et quid et qualis sit, secundum essentiam rationibus -verissimis comprobatum. Haberis (4428 <em>habes</em>) ergo -librum vobis precipiente (4428 <em>percipientibus</em>) et me -(4428 omits <em>me</em>) singula verba vulgariter proferente et -dominico archidiacono singula in latinum convertente -ex arabico translatum quo quidquid aristotelis dixit -in libro suo de anima et de sensu et sensato et de -intellecto et intellectu ab auctore libri scias esse collectum. -Unde postquam deo volente hunc habes. In -hoc illos tres plenissime vos habere non dubiteris.’</p> - -<p>p. 307 verso. ‘Incipit sextus de naturalibus auicenae translatus -a magistro Girardo cremonensi de arabico in latinum -in toleto. Iam explevimus in primo libro.’ … -‘Capitulum in quo affirmatur esse anima et diffinitur -secundum quod est anima. Dicemus igitur quia quod -primum.’</p> - -<p>p. 315 verso. ‘Expleta est pars prima sexti libri de collectione -naturalium. Incipit pars secunda eius. Capitulum de -certificando virtutes quae sunt propriae animae vegetabilis. -Incipiemus nunc notificare sigillatim.’</p> - -<p>p. 322 recto. ‘Completa est pars secunda sexti libri de collectione<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -naturalium. Deo sit gratia. Incipit pars eius -tertia de visu. Debemus loqui de visu.’</p> - -<p>p. 335 recto. ‘non habet sensum communem ullo modo. Completa -est pars tertia sexti libri de naturalibus, Deo sint -gratiae. Incipit iiij vj libri de naturalibus. Capitulum -in quo est verbum commune de sensibilibus interioribus -quos habent animalia. Sensus autem qui est communis.’</p> - -<p>p. 344 verso. ‘et hic est finis eius quod transtulit Auohaueth -ex capitulis illius libri ad hunc locum huius libri de -anima. Completa est quarta pars sexti libri de naturalibus -auxilio Dei. Incipit pars quinta libri eiusdem. -Capitulum de proprietatibus actionum et passionum -hominis, et de assignatione contemplationis et actionis. -Quoniam jam explevimus tractatum de virtutibus sensibilibus.’</p> - -<p>p. 356 verso. ‘quorum quaedam attrahunt materiam et quaedam -expellunt sicut postea scies cum loquitur de -animalibus. Completus est liber de anima qui est -sextus liber collectionis secundae de naturalibus. Et -ei qui dedit intelligere sint gratiae infinitae. Post -hunc sequitur liber septimus de vegetabilibus et viijº -de animalibus qui et finis scientiae naturalis. Post -ipsum autem sequitur collectio tercia de disciplinalibus -in quatuor libris, seu arismetica, geometria, musica, -astrologia, et post hunc sequitur liber de causa causarum.’ -Then follows an index to the chapters of the -<cite>De Anima</cite> which ends the whole codex on p. 357 recto.</p> - -</div> - -<p>I have thought it well to give this complete account of these -two remarkable manuscripts not only because they show the -exact place held by the <cite>De animalibus</cite> in the body of commentaries -written by Avicenna, but also on account of the view -they give of the translations made by the early Toledan school. -In this respect they serve in some measure to correct and extend -the conclusions of Jourdain. It is evident, for instance, that -Avendeath did not finish translating the <cite>De Anima</cite>, but only -proceeded in it as far as the end of the fourth part.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> - -<h3>APPENDIX III</h3> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>I have thought it best to print these parallel texts with as close adherence to -the manuscript as is consistent with intelligibility, and they therefore appear in -these pages with all the mistakes of the copyist.</p> - -<p>[I have re-arranged the paragraphs of this treatise so as to fall opposite the -corresponding parts of the Liber Luminis, but have numbered them according to -their original order so that by following the numbers the book can be read in its -own proper form.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<h4>LIBER LUMINIS LUMINUM</h4> - -<p>Riccardian Library, Florence, L. III. 13, 119, p. 35 verso, -middle of 2nd col.</p> - -<p>Incipit liber luminis luminum translatus a magistro michahele -scotto philosopho.</p> - -<p>Cum rimarer et inquirerem secreta nature ex libris antiquorum -philosophorum qui tractaverunt de natura salium -alluminum et omnium corporum et spirituum minere pertinentium -nullum inveni qui completam dixisset doctrinam. Quedam -tamen utilia extraxi et ea secretis nature adiunxi procedo (?) -quidem brevitati et addendo quae utilia sunt in hac arte que -alkimia nuncupatur. In quo talia continentur Invencio (? Intencio) -causa intentionis et utilitas. Invencio (? Intencio) eius -est tractare de transformatione metallorum secundum quod -hermes dixit parum enim desint marti quod non fiat luna non -desint aliud nisi quod non fiat tanta decoctio in eo sicut luna. -Et notum est quod sicut 7 sunt metalla ita 7 sunt planete et -quodlibet metallum habet suum planetam. Dixerunt ergo philosophi -quod aurum est filius solis Argentum filius lune Aes filius -veneris Argentum vivum filius mercurii stagnum filius jovis -Plumbum filius Saturni Ferrum filius martis. Causa intentionis -est ut ex tali mutatione nobiliora fient metalla. Utilitas quod -habita notitia huius libri qui lumen luminum appellatur transfigurari -possit mars in lunam et venus in solem et constringere -omnes spiritus volantes. Quorum quaedam sunt subtilia et quaedam -volativa. Volant enim sicut sulphur et arsenicum et ex -illis est etiam argentum vivum. Sed primo de salibus loquamur -2º de alluminibus 3º de atramentis, 4º de pulveribus. Salium -autem sunt diversorum specierum scilicet Masse Alcali Rubeum -Armoniacum Nitrum salsum Agrum Allebrot albo et communis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> - -<h4>LIBER DEDALI PHILOSOPHI</h4> - -<p>Riccardian Library, Florence, L. III. 13, 119, p. 195 verso and -p. 196, recto.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Aristotle in the <cite>De Anima</cite> (i. 3) says that there was a legend of Daedalus -which represented him as having given motion to a Venus of wood by filling it -with mercury. This may have suggested the adoption of his name to the author -who wrote this alchemical treatise.</p> - -</div> - -<p>1. De natura salium et quot sunt. Sales autem sunt diversarum -specierum est enim sal commune sal masse sal gemme sal -rubeum sal nitrum sal alkali sal armoniacum sal elebrot album.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">Primo de sale communi.</span></h5> - -<p>Sal autem commune convenientior est omnibus salibus scilicet -marti. Dixit philosophus quod [si] quisquis ipsum prius ipsius -separationem acceperit et quater per atramenta transire fecerit -postea cum ana sui ydragor sublimati in aquam redire fecerit ac -coagulati quod es [sic pro “aes”] cum ipso mirabiliter dealbabit et -isto fit sal tostum quod tali modo fit. ℞ ex eo libram. 1. et pone -in patellam ferream et combure sufficienter et iste est sal tostus.</p> - -<p>Sal masse ponit qualiter sal in massam naturaliter redactus -ut gemma Alexandrinus ungarricus Sardonicus et hermoni (?).</p> - -<p>Sal autem alkali est nobilior omnibus salibus excepto sali -alebrot facit autem coagulare alios sales. Iste autem sal fit de -herba salsifera que juxta mare complicatis foliis invenitur, sive de -allumine gattivo quod extrahitur de supradicta herba. Salem -autem alkali prius ipsius meram separationem si quis ter per -atramenta transire fecerit et eodem modo de communi masse -armoniaco egerit ipsius quoque in unum redactis iterum per -atramenta transire fecerit ac cum ana sui ydragor in aquam -redire fecerit et coagulaverit quod convertet martem in lunam et -constringet omnes spiritus volantes.</p> - -<p>Iste autem sal inter reliquos sales retinet naturam vetetabilitatis -et minere.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De sale rubeo</span></h5> - -<p>Dictis de salibus et eorum virtutibus sequitur de sale rubeo -sive Indico. Dicitur autem Indicum eo quod apportatur de -India est enim durissime odorifere nature rubedine quadam cum -citrinitate participans. Habet autem fortem virtutem super -venerem rubificandam et dando ei colorem bonum. Verum est</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> - -<p>8. Sal gema aportatur de Hispania. Sal autem commune -convenientior est omnibus creaturis. Utuntur enim ex eo in -condimentis mundat enim corpora et reddit ea clara propter hoc -dedit eum omnipotens Deus in cognitionem ut per eum omnia -corpora conservarentur in sanitate bona. Dedit enim bestiis -cognoscere eum nedum hominibus. Condiuntur enim omnia -animalia cum eo et dolcan̄tur (? deliciantur) pecudes in eo. Et -scias si sal iste accipiatur in quantitate una et ponatur in sartagine -et comburatur combustione forti quod iste sal appellatur -tostus. Et cum inveneris in arte ista sal tostum accipias ex isto -secundum quod volueris. Verum est quod non inveni ipsum -congruum in hac arte nisi raro. Eius tamen receptō est valde -utilis in talem quia fingitur cum aliis salibus ad purificationem -martis in lunam et est peroptimus.</p> - -<p>7. Sal autem alkali est nobilior omnibus salibus excepto sale -tabor vel alebrot. Facit enim coagulare alias sales et iste sal -alcali fit de herba quadam in partibus baldrach coagulat vitrum -et facit ipsum clarum atque currentem (?) mundat corpora albificat -a superfluitatibus terreis ultra modum. Sal autem alkali si -adjungatur cum sale masse et terantur simul et ponantur cum x -partibus aque dulcis et dimittantur bulire usque ad consumptionem -quarti partis et ponatur in vase virtreo ut clarificetur et -cum clarificatum fuerit suaviter coletur et quod purum erit in -aliquo vase mittatur et quod tenerum est abiciatur et dimittatur -usque quo coagulatum fuerit et non operabis cum eo nisi tritum -dissolutus quoniam operacio eius esset inutilis et si admisceris -cum eo aliquantulum salis armoniaci vel boeci vel alebrot erit -operacio eius fortior et convenientior omnibus operationibus. -Dixit enim Abymelech quod sal alkali erit nobilior omnibus salibus -et convenientior in omnibus operationibus excepto sali tabor -vel alebrot. Preterea quod fit ex vegetabilibus unde retinet -naturam minere et vegitabilitatis. Unde solvit vitrum et facit -ipsum coagulari et clarificat ipsum clarificatione bona.</p> - -<p>4. De sale indico rubeo. Sal autem rubeum apportatur de -India et id circo vocatur sal indicum. Habet enim fortem -virtutem super venere rubificando ipsum et dando ei colorem -bonum. Verum est quod hoc non facit per se sed cum adjutorio -videlicet cum duabus partibus istius et 3 bus salis alebrot</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">quod hoc non facit per se solum sed cum tercia parte sui salis -alebrot rubei et virtute pulveris talparum<a name="FNanchor_332" id="FNanchor_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a> et camfore et masticis -et virtutis omnia simul terantur et cum urina taxy vel gāgelis -usque 7 distemperetur et cum hoc pulvere venerem tinges -martemque in lunam transmutat.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De armoniaco</span></h5> - -<p>Sal autem armoniacum est magne virtutis quoniam ex -fumositate eq. ā (<em>sic pro</em> fimositate equorum) fit est autem multiplex -naturale et fictitium. Naturale aliud album aliud rubeum. -Album longus est super quem lamina velociter currit. Rubeum -rotundum est et sale alebrot rubeo affiliatur velociter enim -currit sine fumi emissione super laminam. Primus in lunam -secundus in solem cum ana sui pulveris talparum super omnia -metalla per optime laborat. Ficticium etiam secundum predictos -modos diversificatur ad optinendam supradictam virtutem.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">dissolvendo totum simul et addendo etiam huic terram armenie -rubeam masticem et camforam ad quantitatem ʒ · 11, et salis -armoniaci ʒ · 111. ista omnia simul misceantur et cum urina tapsi -distemperentur et iterum exsiccentur hoc 7 in omnibus fiat. -Pulvis iste stringit spiritus volantes albificat corpora et reddit -clara et lucida et mutat martem in lunam mutatione perfecta et -bona. Addit enim in tm̄ (? talem) rubificationem veneri quod -mutat venus in solem.</p> - -<p>5. Aliud quod est utile mulieribus multum et maxime -dominabus. Accipe etiam de sale indico ʒ. 11. diligenter teratur -et distemperatur cum urina pueri virginis et sit urina libra· 1· et -ponatur in vase terreo in quo ponuntur rose et cum fit aqua rosa -et supponatur alembicho et accendatur ignis sub eo et non -multum fortis et cum videris fumum ascendere in cufa superius -tunc facias ignem levem et quod inde exierit collige et in ampulla -vitri reconde. Talis enim aqua vero ultra modum in pannis -faciei et betiginibus adalbat sēd pigines destruit omnem maculam -et si posueris in calaminas eris erit albior ad recipiendum colorem -quam scis.</p> - -<p>14. Sal autem armoniacum est magne virtutis quoniam de -stercoribus animalium scilicet camelorum pecudum et asinorum -fit in hunc modum. In quibusdam partibus terre sarracenorum -non habentes ligna etiam ex paupertate lignorum calefaciunt -balneum cum stercoribus predictorum animalium et ille fumus -resolutus ab eis condensatur in balnea et accipitur illa talis -condensatio et teritur et bulitur cum urina puerorum tam diu -quod coagulari incipit et post modum projicitur in peraside et -colatur. Cum isto enim sale fit azurum optimum et fit in hunc -modum. Accipe de sale armoniaco et tere ipsum diligenter et -distempera cum urina pueri virginis ponendo ipsum in vase vitreo -et sepiliendo ipsum in letamine pecudum per dies 3. Post modo -habeas plagellas factas de argento et pone eas cum filo legatas ita -quod non tangas urinam et lamine sint abrase et dimittantur per -diem et noctem. Et cum autem fuerint denigrate iterum -abradantur et iterum sepiliatur et quod habebis in laminibus a -prima vice in antea erit azurum optimum et quanto plus durabunt -tanto melius erit. Verum est quod alio modo fit azurum quia -invenitur quedam vena terre juxta venam argenti illa terra -optime teritur et distemperatur cum aqua calida et ponitur -super linteum positum super aliquo vase et colatur subtiliter et -quod grassum et feculentum cadit in vase proice quando autem -fuerit purum vel juxta illud exsiccabitur et recondetur. Si</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De Sale Nitro Salso</span></h5> - -<p>Sal nitrum est multiplex. Est enim nitrum qui est pulvis -niger. Est etiam sal nitrum allexandrinum et Indicum sive -rubeum salsum isti similiter in massa lata reducti funditur et -findere facit.</p> - -<p>Est etiam nitrum salsum de isto due sunt maneries folliatum -ut talcum. Alter depillatur ut allumen de pluma in eo autem -est salsedo cum punctuositate et magnus philosophus [dicit] -quod si quis acceperit ex eo ʒ · 1 · et tantundem pulvis talparum -et exsiccaverit cum urina tassi sive gāgelis convertet martem in -lunam et constringet omnes spiritus volantes. Item tolle de -predicto pulvere ʒ · 1 · et 5 et callaminare et trita simul et incorpora -cum urina tassi vel gāgellis usque 9 cum isto pulvere -super omnia metalla in solem obrigō laborare possis.</p> - -<p>℞ Sossile rubificate ʒ · 1 · gutte rubee ʒ · 1 · et 5 pulvis talparum -ʒ · 1 · et parum nitri salsi ac simul trita et incorpora cum -aceto et pone cum aceto et pone super m. [mercurium] et habebis -solem obrigō.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">autem non fuerit bene purum terantur adhuc bene et ponantur -in aqua calida et accipiatur · pix · cera et masticis et dissolvatur -et ducatur ita cum manu per vas ubi est azurum et depurabit -eum a superfluitatibus terreis et si vena fuerit bona azurium -erit bonum. Si mala azurium erit malum.</p> - -<p>9. Sal nitri est plurium specierum. Una species est salis -nitri que apportatur de Alexandria et ille est vere sal nitrum -cum illo vero lavant mulieres sarracenorum pannos lineos et -faciunt eos albissimos ut nix, lavant etiam facies earum et corpora -sua in balneis. Destruit enim pannum faciei lentiginis et albicat -optima albedine. Non extendo sermonem meum in laudes -eius quia non est magne utilitatis in hac arte nec etiam recipitur -in ea quod sciatur. Alia species salis nitri que vere -nitrum salsum appellatur et de eo sunt due maneries. Una -quarum foliatur et altera filatur et depilatur sicut caro porcina -macra et in ea est salsedo cum ponticitate. Dico enim tibi per -Deum omnipotentem quod in eo est tanta virtus et utilitas quod -pauci fuerunt de sapientes (sic) qui eam potuissent cognoscere -quoniam in eo est secretum nature quod nullus stolidus et insipiens -potest cognoscere. Sed qui sapiens est et discretus -extractabit multum circa eum. Ille forte inveniet de quo cor -suum gaudebit. Dixit enim hermes filius Gelbeo cum exaltatus -fuerit sal nitrum salsum et acrum si in vinctum fuerit cum -sale alcali erit operacio eius nobilior et magis utilis. Et -dixit magnus philosophus qui multum doctus fuit in talibus -quod si acceperis ex eo aliquem quantitatem et triveris eum -fortiter et postea miscueris cum eo urinam tapsi et exsiccaveris -ipsum et tuttueris eum fortiter usque septies et accipies tantum -de pulvere cullaxe i. [e.] illius animalis que talpa vocatur quantum -fuit pulvis salis nitri convertetur mars in lunam et venus -in solem et constringet omnes spiritus volantes. Constringitur -enim argentum vivum cum isto et non cum alio Deus scit et -novit.</p> - -<p>10. Pulvis autem culaxe debet fieri secundum hunc modum. -Accipiantur enim ex eis 4 vel 6 secundum quod poteris invenire -quia sub terra morantur et pones eas in testa terrea et luta ipsam -luto sapientie ita quod fumus non exeat aliquo modo pone eam -in furno bene calido et dimitte a mano usque ad sero vel a sero -usque ad mane postea extrahe et pulveriza subtiliter et reconde -et cum opus fuerit operare cum ea et scias firmiter quod pulvis -iste valet plus quam aurum et est utilis et multum conveniens -multis operacionibus et habeas eum valde carum quia pauci</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De Sale Agro</span></h5> - -<p>De sale agro in quo est virtus magna quam pauci sciunt et -sapientes constringunt cum eo m. mundant cum eo corpora (?) -et albificant ea sufficienti albedine et reddit ea clara et lucida. -Et iste a quibusdam philosophis alibrot appellatur licet in veritate -non sit idem et diversus quod sit frigidus et siccus quamvis -videatur hoc esse contra naturam et de proprietate eius est -constringere m. et omnes spiritus volantes et quanto magis -studueris in eo tunc invenies eius albedinem ultra quam aliquis -possit excogitare quia cum eo albificantur corpora et non cum -alio deus novit. Et dixit magnus philosophus cum moriebatur -filio suo O fili mi secretum tuum habeas in corde tuo nec dices -alicui nec filio tuo nisi cum amplius non poteris retinere.</p> - -<p>Desiderio desideraverunt philosophi sapientes scire veritatem -huius salis. Sed pauci eam sciverunt et qui eam noverunt non -dixerunt in libris suis veritatem eius secundum quod viderunt. -Illinant enim martem et clarificat a superfluitatibus terreis et -facit quod mars transmutatur in lunam hoc modo ℞ ex eo libra -1. gutte rubee que inveniuntur in allumine de pluma l · 1. pulvis -talparum l · 1. sal armoniaci alkali arborum separatorum ʒ · 6. -trita omnia simul nonies et impastina et exsicca cum urina -illuminata.</p> - -<p>Postea soliatī suttus et supras es in pecia madescam pone -et cola et cave ne</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">fuerunt de sapientibus qui bene cognoscerent virtutem eius nisi -magnus philosophus qui dixit in libris suis et est in eo id quod -deest et ego temptavi et operacionem eius inveni maximam -efficaciam in eo. Sed ponebam in duplo de pulvere nitri salsi.</p> - -<p>2. Et postea est sal acrum et in eo est virtus maxima quam -pauci sciunt invenitur enim in hispania et sapientes constringunt -cum eo mercurium. Clarificat enim corpora munda et albificat ea -albedine sufficienti. Mutat enim martem in lunam et defendit -eum a superaciis et a superfluitatibus terreis et dat ei colorem -bonum et clarum. Et iste a quibusdam philosophis sal alebrot -vocatur et de quod scit et sint (?) generalius videatur hoc esse -contra naturam et de proprietate eius est retinere omnes spiritus -volantes et quanto magis studueris in eo tanto magis inveneris -eius altitudinem ultra quod possit excogitari quia cum eo aluminantur -(sic) vel albificantur corpora et non cum alio Deus novit. -Et dixit magnus philosophus cum moriebatur O fili mi secretum -tuum habeas in sinu tuo nec dicas filio tuo nisi cum eum amplius -non poteris retinere quoniam in eo invenies secreta nature quam -desiderio desideraverunt sapientes sed pauci intraverunt in eum -et qui intraverunt operationem eius non dixerunt in suis libris -secundum (? scilicet) quod viderant.</p> - -<p>11. Aliud ad preparacionem martis. Accipe de sale alcali ʒ· x. -et de sale armoniaco ʒ· 2. et tere subtiliter et distempera cum -urina zāzel et cum casus ad libram 1. pone in aliquo vase terreo -vitreato et luta cum luto sapientie et pone in furno mediocriter -calido et dimitte a mane usque ad sero vel converso. postea -extrahe de vase illo si coagulatum fuerit. Si non iterum ponatur -in furno super vase optime lutato et cum coagulatum fuerit teras -ipsum et misce cum 3 libris aque dulcis et dimitte residere in -vase vitreo et quod clarum fuerit repone ipsam aquam (?) et -quod feculentum fuerit t’i eum ejice. Postea accipe laminas -factas ex marte factas tot quot possunt submergi in aqua ista et -dimitte ibi per ix dies. Decimo autem die pone ad ignem et -dimitte bulire per magnum tempus. Et ipsis laminibus extractis -et exsiccatis in igne debes accipere pannum lineum novum et -balneare ipsum aliquantulum et stringe intra manus et debes -ponere laminas in panno isto p’ns pulvere supradicto asperso et -ponendo laminas et spargendo pulverem usque ad finem et involvendo -eas in tali panno. Accipe fortiter exstringendo et -pone ipsum pannum cum laminibus in vase qui dicitur alludel -ponendo ipsum in fornace et super sufflando cum manticello ac -bonum ignem faciendo donec sit solutum. Et caveas quod non</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">discooperias ante quam fundatur quoniam perderis opus tuum. -Sed quum liquatum fuerit deice super ipsum parum ydragor -resolutum in aqua et coagula vel parum lapidis alcotar preparati -sed melius est ydragon cum parum de predicto sale balneato -cum aqua et deice in aqua et habebis bonam lunam.</p> - -<p>℞ sal atincar libra 1. gutte rubee et pulvis talparum ana l. 1. -ydragor ʒ · 1 · trita simul et impastrina cum urina soliata sel’ -postea fac redire in aquam et coagula. De isto pulvere si -posueris super m. bulliendo pulverem cum aqua dulci habebis de -m. nobilem lunam.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De sale alebrot</span><a name="FNanchor_333" id="FNanchor_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></h5> - -<p>Sal allebrot album sali acro assimilatur in colore et longitudine -fixionis autem et unctuositatis est fb’e locoque ipsius poni potest. -Separatio autem eius ut asserant sapientes secundum hunc -modum. ℞ ex eo l. i. vel gutte albe vel azuree que inveniuntur -in allumine de pluma ʒ · 1 · sanguis hominis rubei ʒ · 3 · talchi -mortificati ʒ · 1 · et 5 et parum sulphuris albi omnia simul trita et -inpastina cum sanguine et sale et desicca ad solem. Et cum -volueris operare utere eo spargendo super m. igne super accenso -retinebit enim eum nec sinet volare et quantitas m. l. 5, et non -plus et non moveatur ab igne usque ad magnum tempus postea -in aquam proiciatur poterit enim optime malleari. Item accipe</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">discooperiatur donec bene dissolutum fuerit quia amitteres operacionem -tuam. Eciam non peneteas in prolongacione ignis -quoniam si ignis prolongatur aliquantulum magis ultra quam tibi -videatur erit operacio tua multum melior. Sed ex abreviatione -possit operacio tua destrui et in idem revertens quod prius -fuerat. Stude autem inquantum potes ut videas sine discopercione -magno ignis nec is quod est cruciolo albē (? albescere) -videatur. Sed discooperiendo plane et si dissolutum fuerit -ipsum prioce in aqua ut refrigescat. Et cum frigidum fuerit -accipies in manu tua. Dico enim in veritate quod tu gaudebis -de eo quia habebis lunam pretiosissimam in omni operacione.</p> - -<p>12. Alia operacio que fit cum pulvere isto, Accipe m. et pone -ipsum in luteollo in quo artifices infundunt argentum ad quantitatem -quam vis et super pone de pulvere supradicto super m. -cum tribus qº teis aq̃. miscendo cum digito leviter et pone ad -ignem in furnello et suprapone carbones accensos in luteollo et -fiat ignis mediocriter nec nimis magnus nec nimis parvus et non -discooperiatur usque ad magnum tempus et postmodo proiciatur -in aqua et habebis quod utile est et habebis illud bonum quod -omnes sapientes desideraverunt.</p> - -<p>13. Aliud similiter de pulvere isto adhuc expertum. Accipe -ʒ · 1. de supradicto pulvere et pone ʒ · 5. ematicis in ʒ · 5. talci -merabilis et diligenter teras et accipe ʒ · x. veneris et pone in -panno lineo faciendo laminas de venere et spargendo pulverem -super pannum et super laminas et sit pannus madefactus et -stringendo totum simul et ponendo ipsum in luteollo in igne et -cooperiendo ipsum carbonibus faciendo ignem nec nimis fortem -nec nimis levem usque quo dissolutum fuerit et cum fuerit -dissolutum proice ipsum in aquam. Habebis enim nobilem -operacionem ad quam pauci devenerunt.</p> - -<p>3. Operacio allebrot ut asserunt sapientes est secundum hunc -modum. Accipe ex eo secundum quantitatem quam vis s. ʒ · 5 · -et tere diligenter postea habeas sanguinem alicuius hominis -rubei ad quantitatem ʒ · 3 · et comisce cum eo et degutta. Aut -accipe ʒ · 5 · de talco parum sulfuris albi et tere omnia diligenter -et incorpora cum sanguine et sale et dimitte siccari in furno vel -ad solem, et cum exsiccatum fuerit teratur id totum in mortario -lapideo subtiliter et cum opus fuerit utere eo spargendo super -m. igne super accenso et sufflando cum manticello retinebit enim -eum et non sinet eum volare. Sit quantitas m. librae 5 et non -plus et non removeatur ab igne usque ad magnum tempus postea -in aqua proiiciatur poterit hec enim optime malleari. Accipe</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">v. buffones<a name="FNanchor_334" id="FNanchor_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a> et pone eos in aliquo vase unde non valeant exire -postea accipe suci affodillorum vel ermodatilorum et eleboris albi -extracti cum aceto quia aliter non poterit extrahi l · 2 · et pone -in vase ubi sunt buffones et dimitte eos bibere per 9 dies vel -quousque bene sint inflati tunc eos pone infra (sic) duas scutellas -ad comburendum et cave ne spitare (sic) possint ne fumus exeat -tunc pulverisa et ℞ de dicto pulvere ʒ · 1 · salis alebrot ʒ · 1 · et 5 -salis armoniaci et salis alkali ana ʒ · 5 · omnia simul trita et in -pastina et deinde exsicca usque nonies cum urina tassi vel -gāgellis cum pulvere isto poteris facere mirabilia pulvis iste -constringit m. et mutat ipsum in lunam purissimam et perfectam -clarificat martem et mundificat eum a superfluitatibus terreis et -feculentis et facit quod mars transmutatur in lunam mutatione -perfecta. Si acceperis de pulvere isto ʒ · 1 · et 1 eris et miscueris -cum eo secundum quod docet in igne ubi fuerit spiritus gaudebis -super operationem eius quoniam exaltavit illum super omnes -sales. Loco autem ipsius potest poni sal acrum. Item et -afronitrum. Item et salsedo muidorum (?) dummodo per -atramenta transeant. Item et salacrum dummodo per atramenta -transeat ter. Dum vero sales hēb’ ad hoc separatos ad meron. -Sal alkali Semen communis. Armoniacum allm̄s jam simul fac -in aquam redire et duplum aquam quam spiritus deice et super -marmor pone et congela et ista est p’a (? pura) ceraton propter quod -vos omnes erratis credentes vos habere secundam nec primam -habetis. Postea pone inter duas scutellas vel in vase vitreo quod -melius est et claude os eius et dicoque per dimedium diem tunc -extrahe et ablue salem et invenies ipsum in speciem ceruse sed et -fixe sb’e (? sublimate) non timens ignem. Separatur enim hoc in -calcinationem ut ubicumque spiritus calcinatus intromiseris sine -dubio ex m. bonum opus habebis. Dealbat enim spiritus. Calcinat -martem ad modum mercurii nec ultra vestigia albedinis amittit -excepto sub experimento veneris. Sed si in aquam reduxeris et -postmodo teraveris sub experimento noveris. Sed si in aquam -reduxeris et postmodo teraveris sub experimento perfectissime -durabit. Incalcinatio eorum in sole unde potest fieri ut Archelaus -docuit. Ac tum unde potest fieri in aqua atramenti rubificati -ac per se in aqua solutiones calcinationes melius est in vase -vitreo quam in alio.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">decem bufones tenentes venenum et fiant vive et ponantur in -aliquo vase unde non valeant exire. Postea accipe anfodillos -recentes et eleborum album in bona quantitate extrahe inde -succum cum eis quantum pones (sic), pone succum in vase illo -in quo sunt rane et dimitte eas bibere per ix dies. Tunc accipe -eas et pone in olla rudi et luta eam luto sapientie et pone ipsam -in furno ita ut animalia comburantur combustione sufficienti et -extrahe inde ea et tere diligenter et cum opus fuerit de illo pulvere -accipe ʒ · 1 · de sale alebrot ʒ · 1 · de sale alcali ʒ · 5 · de sale -armoniaco tantundem et teras diligenter permiscendo cum ea -urinam tassi et iterum exsicca et tere et hoc nonies fiat et de illo -pulvere poteris facere mirabilia. Pulvis iste constringit m. -mutat jovem in lunam et albificat martem clarificat eum et dat -ei colorem bonum et clarum et mundat eum a superfluitatibus -terreis et facit quod mars transmutatur in lunam. Mirabilis -enim in suo effectu. Si vero accipies de pulvere isto ad quantitatem -ʒ · 1 · et miscueris cum ere secundum quod docet et in -igne fuerit. Sapientia et sit quantitas eris ʒ · viiij. gaudebis. -Sal rubeum gummum rubeum terram armenie gerssam vel -gerussam et pulverem bufonis equaliter et operati sunt valde -in suis operibus. Habuerunt enim talem scientiam quam pauci -noverunt et benedixit eam Deus omnipotens qui causa prima -fuit omnium rerum. Dico tibi firmiter quod cum istis rebus -omnia necessaria possunt acquiri. Idcirco tacuerunt onēs et -verterunt se ad salem armoniacum nec dixerunt de eo quicquam -aperte.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> - -<p>Explicit prima pars et Incipit secunda de alluminibus. Et -primo de allumine Jammeno.</p> - -<p>Allumen Jammeni triplex vocatur. Jammenum de pluma -Scagloli. Aportatur autem de Spania.</p> - -<p>Est autem frigide nature et sicce hoc bonitatis in se continens -ut si jungatur cum re rubea facit ruborem acquirere in ea sicut -alba albedine augmentare facit in ipsa. Sicut illuminat pannos -ita illuminat martem ut recipiat formam lune ut enim lana -illuminatur ita et metalla illuminantur.<a name="FNanchor_335" id="FNanchor_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a> Et quante magis -mars fuerit illuminatus et depuratus a superfluitalibus a (? et) -feculenciis terreis tanto efficiatur ex eo melior operatis. Illuminatur -autem sic. Accipe urinam puerilem et per 7 dies in -vase vitreo esse permitte vase obturato postea per alios 7 dies -in vase transmuta distillando per nitrum semper sel’ postea bulli -ipsum usque ad terciam sui partem et dispuma et distilla per -filtrum bis vel ter postea pondera ipsum si est libra 1, adde ʒ · -11 · et 5 salis armoniaci separati ab atramento et ʒ · 8 · alluminis -jammeni et bulli insimul et permitte requiescere clarum solummodo -accipiendo et feculentum abjiciendo et in ista urina es -calefactum et intus extinctum et per alios 9 dies in ipsam -stare permitte et est optime illuminatus. Omnia etiam -metalla in hac aqua taliter illuminare possis et abiliora erunt ad -recipienda colorem. Dixerunt enim vnay et melchia philosophi -quod ubi mars fuerit taliter illuminatus non convertetur perfecte -in lunam. Consentiendum est eis quia philosophi fuerunt. Oro -enim quod talis illuminatio metallorum valet et utilis est omni -creature Dei.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De allumine rubeo</span></h5> - -<p>Allumen rubeum apportatur de buzea (? Bugia) depillatur -autem ut allumen de pluma. Istud autem a quibusdam philosophis</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> - -<p>16. Racio autem alluminum est secundum hunc modum. Est -enim allumen salsum et alumen de rocha et alumen de bolkar -et alumen jameni et alumen scaiole et alumen de pluma. Sed -nota quod alumen de pluma jameni sissi idem sunt secundum -quod ego credo quia inveni in libris philosophi quod eadem est -virtus jameni cum virtute de pluma et sissi et est eius virtus -modo albatione et retinet colorem cum conjungitur. Si vero -conjungitur cum re alba facit ipsam albam et si conjungitur cum -re rubea facit rubedinem acquiri in ea. Sed quidam dicunt quod -sint idem in genere sed diversi in specie. Et quod alia est species -aluminis jameni alia scissi et alia de pluma. Dicotamen tibi in -veritate quod una et eadem est operatio etsi diversificantur in -omnibus. Et scias ipsum esse frigidum et siccum tamen nec dissolvitur -ab igne nisi misceretur cum rebus humidis et cum illis -dissolvitur et sicut illuminat pannos ita illuminat martem ut -recipiat forma lune. Et quanto magis mars fuerit illuminatus et -magis depuratus a superfluitatibus terreis et feculentis tanto -efficitur ex eo melior operatio. Illuminat autem secundum quod -ego dixi tibi multociens faciendo laminas ex marte et accipiendo -etiam alumen de pluma ad quantitatem quam vis scilicet si mars -fuerit ʒ · ix · aluminis debes accipere ʒ · 2 · et tere subtiliter et -misce cum ʒ · 1 · salis armoniaci triti subtiliter et debes ponere libra -1, urina (sic) pueri virginis secundum quod ego dixi tibi multocies -et bulire omnia simul in vase vitreato. Postea dimitte residere -et cola quod clarum est accipe et quod feculentum proice et pone -laminas illas in aqua illa et dimitte ita stare per 8 dies postmodo -extrahi eas et exsicca et operare cum (sic) sicut scis et habebis -nobilem operacionem si bene scivisti ea que processerunt. Non -habeas hoc vile quia istud est secretum maximum et non obliviscaris -pannum faū et pulverem ex nitro salso acro. Aliter enim -non valeat operatio tua.</p> - -<p>6. Dixerunt cuidam (<em>sic</em>) philosophi quod aqua ista preparat -martem ut recipiat formam lune et consentiendum est eis. Scito -enimvero quod preparatio eius est optima ad recipiendum formam -bonam que est utilis omni creature.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">allebrot rubeum appellatur eius proprietas est cum ana sui -auripigmenti sublimatum rubei m. in solem transmutare. Quidam -autem de philosophis scilicet Seno et Rogiel accipiebant de isto -allumine rubeo et ja. et gut. et de roco sal armoniaci semine -amborum arsenicorum sulphuris Tartari talci Cinabrii omnium -ana ponebant super m. et ex ipso extrahebunt lunam pretiosam.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De allumine et marocco</span></h5> - -<p>Allumen de maroc est pulvis subrufus acetositatem parvam -in se continens est autem mundificative et depurative nature.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De allumine zucharino</span></h5> - -<p>Allumen zucharinum est albissime nature acetositatem mordacem -in se continens locoque alluminis jameni post poni -(? potest poni).</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De rocco</span></h5> - -<p>Allumen de rocco est in massa redactus acetositatem subtilem -in se continens cum isto et pinguedine colcotar et melle sophisticatur -borax.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> - -<p>17. Alumen autem de rocha non durat in igne sed siccatur et -facit sicut borax de petra ex isto sophisticatur borax cum pinguedine -calchatam et melle. Unde cum ponitur super ignem -funditur alumen sicut et illud. De isto autem alumine nichil -ad nos quoniam nullam facit utilitatem in arte ista et idcirco -non curamus multum de eo loqui.</p> - -<p>18. Aliud experimentum quod extractum fuit de libris quorundam -philosophorum. Habeatur pro maximo secreto scilicet -haninan camescia<a name="FNanchor_330" id="FNanchor_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a> qui summi fuerunt in arte alchimie et fuerunt -de lamacha sarracenorum qui dixerunt ita nisi mars fuerit -expoliatus a superfluitatibus suis non convertetur perfecte in -lunam. Purgatur enim cum aqua virginum et aluminum secundum -quod tu scivisti superius si tu intellexisti quod narratum -est. Sed concordati sunt isti philosophi in hoc cum dixerunt. -Si quis acceperit ʒ · 3· de nitro salso et adiunxeris ʒ · 2· de sale -alkali et ʒ · 1· de sale armoniaco ista simul terantur et cum urina -pueri virginis distemperantur ad quantitatem ʒ · viiii et de urina -animalis qui tapsus dicitur ʒ · viiij. et ponatur totum in vase -vitreato et sit vas lutatum luto sapientie circumcirca ita quod -fumus non possit inde exire et accendatur ignis levis sub -eo et dimittantur bulire valde plane a mane usque ad terciam -vel a tercia usque ad nonam. Postea accipiatur et ponatur</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> - -<p> </p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">in letamine pecudum et dimittatur ix dies. Postea accipiatur -et discooperiatur. Si coagulatum fuerit bene erit sin autem -non fuerit adhuc coagulatum in vase lutato reverteris adhuc in -letamine pecudum et dimittatur ibi per 6 dies erit coagulatum si -Deus voluerit. Tunc accipies vas et extrahes totum id de vase -et teras illum diligenter trituratione bona. Postmodo accipe de -pulvere isto ʒ · 1· et talem camphore et ʒ · 1· lapidis armenie et -unam terre rubee et tantundem de alumine jameni et terantur -omnia ista simul et cum opus fuerit accipe de pulvere isto. 1· de -laminibus sublimatis ʒ · ix· accipiendo pannum lineum grossum et -balneando ipsum cum aqua parum exprimendo ipsum et supra -aspergendo istam pulverem. Postea spargendo eodem modo -pulverem supradictum super laminas preparatas ponendo iterum -laminas et pulverem desuper usque ad complementum. Et scire -debes quod in fine debes plus ponere pulverem et stringendo -istas laminas in panno isto fortiter ponendo eas in luteolo et -postea in igne faciendo ignem circumcirca et sufflando fortiter -cum manticello donec bene dissolutum fuerit. Tempore autem -dissolutionis potest esse in duabus horis si bene meditaberis et in -usu habueris omnia bene habeantur usu. Et scias quod tu debes -magis ponere modum in dissolutione quam in alio quia per te -ipsum debes dissolvere et videre quantum tempus habes dissolutionis -et secundum quod tu videris in hora secundum hoc -poteris comprehendere dissolutionem eius cum pulvere et aliquantulum -plus ut non decipiaris quia si aliquantulum plus fuerit -in igne quam tibi videatur erit operatio tua melior. Sed si nondum -esset dissolutum tu discoperiens amitteres tuam operationem.</p> - -<p>19. Aliud secretum in quo concordati sunt omnes sapientes -qui aliquid cognoverunt de arte ista.<a name="FNanchor_331" id="FNanchor_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a> Et est secundum hunc -modum. Accipe libra 1· sanguinis alicujus hominis rubei et sanguinem -xi talparum et sex bufones ranam magnam habentem -venenum et accipe libra· 11· succi anfodillorum et libra· 1· succi -elebori albi extracti cum aceto quia aliter extrahi non potest. -Ista ponantur omnia in una olla. Postmodo habeatur alia olla -in duplo maior ea vel in triplo ita quod parva possit stare in ea -et distet ab alia per x digitos et plus et ponatur parva bene -lutata cum rebus supradictis in olla magna et ponantur carbones -inter ollam magnam et parvam et accendatur ignis circumcirca -et dimittantur ita semper faciendo ignem per dies duos postea -extrahe ab olla et discoperi eam et videbis pulverem nigrum.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De Allumine Romano</span></h5> - -<p>Allumen romanum borbaci (? boraci) assimilatur acetositatem -minimam in se continens de minera atramenti sive alluminis -Jameni extrahitur cuius proprietas est per se solvere vel cum -ana sui sulphuris albificati m. ad naturam lune transformare.</p> - -<p>Explicit secunda pars. Incipit tertia,</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">De Atramentis</span></h5> - -<p>Ratio autem atramentorum est secundum hunc modum. -Atramentorum autem sunt multe species Colcotar Calcadis -vitriolum nigrum capernum viridis Cuperose.<a name="FNanchor_336" id="FNanchor_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a></p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">Postea accipe pellem ericii et comburatur fortiter et tere omnia -trituratione forte videbis quasi argentum et miscebis talem de -alio pulvere cum isto et habebis urinam tapsi et distemperabis -cum ea istem pulverem ponendo ipsum ad solem per 3 dies et -totidem noctes ad rorem et miscendo ipsum semper quousque -desiccatum fuerit. Postea accipe de sale nitro acro quartam -partem et terciam de sale alcali et tantundem de sale allap et -alluminis de pluma tantundem omnia terantur simul et usui -serventur. Dico enim tibi et juro quod si tu scis legere librum -istum et intelligere accipere sublimare mundificare constringere -ignem facere et componere res secundum quod debent componi -in veritate tu habebis lunam perfectam et solem perfectum ita -quod cor tuum gaudebit in ea. Sed huic arti necessarium est -studium vehemens ut scias et sic forte poteris scire artem istam. -Ego quidem multum studui in ea atque sudavi an̄quā invenirem -artem istam et id quod volebam et non potui pervenire ad hoc -nisi cum magno studio et labore exercitando artem usque quod -inveni in ea que volui. Et ita dico tibi fili h’mē ut non sis -piger in probacione huius artis quia tibi dico veritatem. Si tu -probaveris artem istam invenies in ea omne bonum quod erit -utile omnibus hominibus.</p> - -<p>15. Racio alluminum et de diversis ipsorum generibus. Racio -autem alluminis et atramentorum secundum hunc modum. Atramentorum -vero x sunt species scilicet Colcotar Calcandis -Vitriolus et viride es. Ideo enim tinguntur et denigrantur. -Calcari est nobilius et magnopere valet in operatione alchimie. -Purificantur enim corpora ex eo mundificantur a superfluitatibus -terreis ut meliorem recipiant formam et nobiliorem. Et fit -secundum hunc modum. Accipe Calcatar libra 1 · et dissolve -ipsa cum urina pueri virginis. Et quare dico cum urina pueri -virginis quia est magis mundificata et penetrativa est et inveni -quod maximus philosophus laudavit multum in suis operationibus -et debet esse ad quantitatem trium librarum et facias -eam bulire in vase vitreato usque ad consumationem tertie -partis: Postea dimitte residere et quod clarum fuerit collige</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> - -<p>Ex colcotar et calcadis secundum Platonem extrahuntur -lapides rubei vel trahentes ad rubedinem qui loco salis indici -possunt poni.</p> - -<p>Vitriolum nigrum apportatur de Francia et idcirco dicitur -terra francigena cum isto mulieres vulvam constringunt ut -virgines appareant non est autem magne utilitatis in ista arte. -Est autem utilis ad sublimandum ydragor cum vis facere sal -naticum. Cipernum est crocei coloris mollitiem in se continens -requiritur autem multum in arte ista secundum Archelaum. -Viride dicitur vitriolum romanum loco etiam caperni potest -poni sed nobilior est eo ut Hermes philosophus testatur in libro -alluminum.<a name="FNanchor_337" id="FNanchor_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a> Atramentum nunquam pro alio ponitur. Sed -cuperosum est album subazurii coloris fitque de superfluitate -martis cum de minera extrahitur que quidem etiam locoalluminis -romani recipiunt licet in veritate non sit idem. Explicit tertia -pars.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">Incipit Quarta de Spiritibus</span></h5> - -<p>Sunt quidam spiritus qui ad ignem in fumum convertuntur -et converti faciunt alias res, Sulphur et Arsenicum et ex illis -est argentum vivum. De sulphure flavo. De sulphure croceo. -De sulphure rubeo. De sulphure albo. De arsenico croceo. -De arsenico rubeo. Sulphuris quatuor sunt species scilicet -croceum flavum rubeum et album. Croceum est magis depuratum</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">et quod feculentum et terreum proice. In ista enim aqua -apponantur lamine martis et dimittatur usque ad ix dies postea -extrahe et operentur et fit cum eis luna secundum modum in -igne quo modo tu pluries intellexisti. Calcandis utitur in -veneris et non est eius utilitas multum in hac arte. Sed -inveniuntur in eo lapides rubei qui valent multum in operatione -alchimie mutando corpora planetarum. Secundum quod enim -audivisti in libris cuiusdam philosophi ex calcadis vel calcatar -extrahuntur lapides rubei vel tendentes ad rubedinem qui valent -multum ad mutacionem metallorum naturalium transformando -ea secundum quod oportet et dando ei colorem optimum. Et ego -credo quod isti lapides sint de specie alluminis et si hoc esset -non esset mirum si poterint perficere solem et dare ei colorem -bonum. Unde sicut luna illuminatur ita metalla illuminari -possunt. Verum est quod ista scientia scribi non potest nisi -cum maximo studio et labore. Sed in quo tu magis debes -studere est in igne et sublimationibus pulveribus et mundificare -metalla secundum quod tu scivisti et intexisti superius.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">Capitulum de Spiritibus Volantibus</span></h5> - -<p>20. Sunt autem quidam spiritus qui recedunt ab igne et in -fumum convertuntur et faciunt convertere alias res sicut est -sulphur arsenicum ex illis est argentum vivum. Sulphuris tres -sunt species. Est enim sulphur croceum flavum et est album. -Flavum autem est sicut extrahitur de vena et tunc non est -purum. Purificatur enim sic quia ponitur tritum in patella -ferrea et dissolvitur ab igne et cum dissolutum est tollatur et -iterum ponatur in patella super ignem ut eo dissoluto ponitur in</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">et istud dicitur cannellatum quoniam in canellis -terreis ad hec factis deicitur. Rubeum aportatur de India et -valet a quibusdam sal indicum dicitur licet in veritate non sit -cuius proprietas est venerem cum ana sui ydragor sublimati in -obrizō solem transmutare.</p> - -<p>Album portatur de hyspania de insula quadam que belle -appellatur.<a name="FNanchor_338" id="FNanchor_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a> Recipitur etiam pro nitro salso sed non equiperatur -ei quoniam ille funditur et fundere facit. Istud vero -fugit ab igne. Arsenici tres sunt species scilicet croceum -rubeum et album. Croceum cum teritur lucens apparet ut -aurum foliatum quasi ut talcum. Rubeum non ita folliatur -immo est in massam reductum minorem in se ignitatem continens -quam primum. Album est aliquantulum crocei subalbique -coloris et minoris igneitatis est quam reliqua duo. Istud de -Turciae partibus apportatur reliqua vero duo de Armenia. -Explicit quarta pars.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">Incipit quinta de preparatione alluminum</span></h5> - -<p>In preparatione allumini sufficit ut solvatur in aqua vel in -urina distillata et coletur per pannum et coaguletur.</p> - -<p>In atramentis sufficit ut fundatur in ciato (? scyatho) super -carbones et buliat quousque humiditas evaporet. Preparatio -boracis est ut in testa super ignem modicum ponatur nam -statim inflatur et siccatur cumque stringi ceperit tollatur nam -infrigidata faciliter pulverisatur. Tunc pulverizata a massa -cum modica porcine (? portione) asungia (? axungiae) donec sit -sicut terra et teratur et amassetur cum ea media pars salis petrae -et hoc totum sicut terra amassetur et erit tibi cerotum pretiosum -corpora et spiritus terans. Sic autem boracis partem 1 · salis -petrae partem 1 · ceruse partem 1 · ana de tribus addideris et</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">canellis factis de ferre (sic) et istud sulfur dicitur canelatum et -est valde purum a superfluitatibus. Operatur autem aliquid de -eo in arte al-chimie sed illud est valde purum. Verum est quia -preparat artem (? martem) et dat ei colorem lune. Quidam autem -accipiunt laminas eris et ponunt eas in igne et cum sunt bene -rubee extinguunt eas in sulfure bene trito miscendo fortiter -cum aliquo ligno. Postmodo accipiunt laminas illas et ponunt -in igne et dimittunt purificari et cum volunt operari accipiunt -et componunt eas secundum quod scis et intellexisti superius. -Et quidam ponunt etiam de eo parum cum pulvere supradicto -quando apponunt martem in panno et bene accidit eis quia -sapienter agunt.</p> - -<p>Album enim sulfur invenitur in hispania et portatur de -insula que heble appellatur. Accipitur etiam pro nitro salso -sed non equiparatur ei quoniam igne fugit sicut spiritus, ille -autem stat et non solvitur ab igne sed funditur et tu audisti -satis de eo in superioribus. Nec loquar de eo tibi amplius. -Arsenici autem due sunt species. Una est crocei coloris et alia -est rubei coloris. Croceum autem multum valet quia mulieres -utuntur eo faciendo depilatorium et preparando facies earum a -pilis. Quidam de sophistis accipiunt ʒ · 1· auri limati, libra 1· -auripigmenti et terent ipsum fortiter et balneant ipsum cum -urina et ponunt totum simul in sacculo corei et stringunt ipsum -et dimittunt ita stare usque ad mensem et videtur aurum. De -rubeo arsenico fit realgar. Ista sufficiant. Et sic est finis huius -libri. Explicit liber dedali in arte alchimie.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">miscueris ea fortiter cum eius oleo vel simpliciter capillorum vel -ovorum donec sit sicut massa cere et massam illam bene siccaveris. -Pro certo scias quod ceroneum istud ferrum et cristallum et -quocumque volueris lapides calces ignis huius violentia remollit -et resolvit in resolutione liquida omnia ingrediens et penetrans -et ignea virtute dissolvens. Ceraton fit de oleis vel aquis -rectificatis · 6 · per alembich. Fit autem spiritum ut aggerentur -utrumque partes in eis ex multis fiat unum scilicet corpus fiat -dissolubile hoc autem ex ceratione olei vel aque. Quia spiritus -corpore vel corpus spiritibus ingredi non potest nisi oleo vel -aqua duce videlicet cum quo ceratur. Ut enim temperatura -ferrum affirmat sic cerato spiritus in corpore nec sine ceratione -potest aliquod corpus plene rectificare. Agnoscitur autem res -cerata hiis signis. Res cerata sine ulla fumi emissione velociter -super laminam currit ignitam quod incerata minime agit. Fit -autem ceracio cum oleo vel aqua rectificata hoc modo. ℞ rem -quam cirari debet et pone in vase argenteo aureo vel stagneo et -desuper pone de oleo preparata (sic) donec fundatur ut sagimen. -Dum ita videris velociter ab igne remove et infrigidari permitte. -Eo infrigidato prova ipsum super laminam et sic resolvitur super -ipsam sicut cera ceratum est et si non reduc eam ad crucibulum -et fac sicut predixi donec sic contingat.</p> - -<h5><span class="smcap">Quomodo medicine debent solvi</span></h5> - -<p>Solutio cuiuslibet rei fit super lapidem vel in viscere (?) sub -fimo seu in aqua tepida fumi resolvis melius aprobo fit ea de cā -resolutio ut spiritus vel res in lapidibus possit coagulari nam -spiritibus crudis nisi sint in lapidem constricti volueris operari -non augmentum sed decrementum volueris incurrere nisi forte -essent incalcinati vel cerati hanc scientiam (?) firmiter teneas.</p> - -<p>℞ calcis testarum ovorum libre 5 · arsenici sublimati ʒ · 3 · -Ag’ omnia fac redire in aquam cum alembich et super marmor -productam confice quousque in similitudinem lactis redigas -laminas eris x in hac aqua extingue vel intringa et cola sic enim -ipsum durum et album in speciem meron te invenisse letaberis. -M. cum sossile et nitro salso ana in aqua resolutis ac coagulatis -es ad naturam lune reduxi.<a name="FNanchor_339" id="FNanchor_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a> ℞ vitrioli romani libra 1 · salis nitri -libra 1 · salis armoniaci ʒ · 3 · hec omnia comisce in unum terendo -et pone in curcubita cum alembico et quod distillaverit serva et -pone cum m. crudo ita quod in ʒ aque fundatur super mediam</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> - -<p> </p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="parallel-page"> - -<div class="lhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-l"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">libram m. in una ampulla et pone in cineribus bene clausam et -da lentum ignem per unam diem et postea invenies m. in aquam -purissimam. ℞ m. congelatum cum odore saturni partes 3 de -allumine jameno partes 2 de corticibus ovorum ʒ · 1 · et tere per -diem 1 · et inbibe cum aceto fortissimo et ita fac 7 vicibus et -solve et solvetur in aquam clarissimam et optimam pro lavandis -dissolvens etiam omnia corpora calcinata in aquam. Hermes -ergo alu (minis) ʒ · 3 · ydragor sublimati et ʒ sossile separate -accipi (<em>sic</em>) et in aqua reduxi totamque in lapidem congelavi et -cum isto es ad naturam lune reduxi. Ydragor et piron ana -sublimatis fac redire in aquam et coagula confectio ista ex stagno -lunam procreat. Pastor Saturnus dominus est yndorum et omnis -voluntas populorum in illo est sicut ergo mollificatur acrem -cerusam veneris et tantundem salis armoniaci et fac in viscere (?) -redire aquam similiter in hac aqua Saturnum 7 · extingue et sic -enim de facili colatur et purum in speciem aneron te invenisse -letaberis. Recipe sulphurem vivum et ipsum cum leni igne -funde et extingue in lixivio facto de calce viva et cineribus.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="rhs"> - -<p><span class="pagenum-r"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> - -<p> </p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p> - -<h3>APPENDIX IV</h3> - -<p>Text in the author’s possession.—Ms. in 4to perg. saec. xvi. -vel. xvii., red, black, and green ink.</p> - -<p>Interpretacio et Instruccio pro Discipulis seu Amatoribus Artis -Magice pro iis scilicet ad quorum manus post obitum meum -libellus iste fortuito aliquando perventurus est.</p> - -<p>Parvi licet Compendii libellus iste sit, magni tamen momenti -esse eundem experieris. Nam scias velim, Curiose Lector, opus -hoc in Arabica lingua conscriptum esse cuius ego per multos -quidem annos possessor virtutis in eiusdem ob linguae insciciam -ignarus semper permanseram; donec tandem auxilio Rabbi -cuiusdam extraneam hanc linguam optime callentis ad genuinum -verborum sensum, rerumque contentarum noticiam pervenissem. -Quae autem exinde expertus et adeptus sum et tu experiri -adipiscique poteris si vir constans et intrepidus sis moreve -prescripto processeris. Ast cum spiritibus astutissimis et humano -generi infensissimis tibi agendum est: Quare cum previa sane -mentis deliberacione et cautela maxima procedas necesse est. -Quod si vero rem rite tractaveris grandia et mirabilia perpetrare -poteris. Reliqua te opus ipsum satis docebit. Unum hoc ultimatim -te enixe adhortamus ut libellum istum optime custodias, -ne in manus curiose juventutis seu ignorancium hominum -incidat. Siquidem per eius lecturam, nisi more prescripto fiat, -funestissime tragedie orirentur. Quare ipse autor in prima -pagina admonet ut in silencio legatur. Nemo igitur quiscumque -sit absque circulo clara et alto voce insertas Spirituum citaciones -legere presumat nisi miserrimum sui detrimentum et interitum -preceps ruere velit. Quapropter quicquid agis prudenter agas -et respice Finem. Vale. Michael Scotus Prage in Bohemia -pridie Id. Febr. Anno mcclv.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Sequitur interpretacio tocius operis.</div> -<div class="verse">Aspice Inspice pervolve alta sed</div> -<div class="verse">legere voce omnino cave.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Almuchabola Absegalim Alkakib Albaon <i lang="la">i.e.</i> Compendium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> -Magie Innaturalis Nigre, continens Citaciones et Vincula diversorum -Spirituum.</p> - -<p>Primum et maxime necessarium requisitum in experimentis -Magicis Composicio Circuli est. Nam sine eo nemo a malis -Spiritibus tutus foret. Quare Magister ex pelle caprina <i lang="la">i.e.</i> -charta virginea faciat Circulum in latitudine novem pedum ad -quem cum sanguine Columbe scribi debent nomina que videntur -in figura pag. iij. (this refers to the other quire containing the -Arabic original which alone has illustrations). Quodsi vero -illum forcius munire cupis poteris pro lubitu addere plura ex -sanctissimis Dei Nominibus Hebraicis v.g. Elohim Adonai -Zebaoth Agla Jehovah, item nomina iiij Evangelistarum et iiij -Archangelorum et adhuc alia que ex rituali Ecclesiastico sive -aliis libris sat colligas. Secundo habeatur baculus qui abscindatur -Corilo in quem inscindi et cum sanguine columbe inscribi debent -verba et nomina in figura pag. iij indicata. Tereio fiat Mitra -pariter ex pelle capre Alba posterior Nigra et scribantur m. ad -illam cum sanguine columbe nomina que habet figura pag. iiij. -Quarto Magister habeat habitum nigrum longum usque ad pedes -super habitum vero Scapulare sive pentaculum factum ex ante -dicta charta virginea et iterum cum sanguine columbe scribantur -ad illud nomina, uti monstrat figura pag. iv. Proinde omnia -hec predicta requisita debent preparari in novilunio in diebus -Mercurii et Veneris horisque hisce Planetis propriis. Que -autem sint hore Planetarum ex libris Astrologorum satis aliunde -patet. Quinto formetur Sigillum sive titulus characteristicus -illius Spiritus quem citare intendis: debet autem scribi cum -sanguine corvi nigerini ad pellem capre nigre factam et -appendatur ad baculum quoque abscissum corilo erigaturque -ad margines circuli uti docet figura pag. v. Sexto Magister -sive debet esse solus sive si velint esse plures sit numerus -semper impar. Septimo requiritur locus securus absitus et -solitudinarius quod si in domo fiat operacio habeat cubile aptum -versus Orientem et relinquatur sive porta sive fenestra aperta; -nec sint plures in domo persone quam que ad operacionem -pertinent; quare semper melius et securius est ut experimenta -fiant sub celo, in eremis, silvis, pratisque desertis nullorumque -hominum conspectui et auditu obnoxiis. Octavo experimenta -fiant in diebus Mercurii sive Veneris sive in prima hora noctis -sive in sexta post solis occasum; de die autem debent fieri in -ipsissimis horis Planetarum Veneris seu Mercurii. Nono -Magister ante Operacionem bene deliberet quale negocium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -tractare velit cum spiritibus ne medio experimenti fiat confusio -seu perturbacio. Magistrum itaque oportet esse virum gravem -animosum, qui in lingua et pronunciacione non paciatur defectum. -Socii omnes nec verbum loquantur sed solus Magister cum -spiritibus tractare audeat. Hiis omnibus denique bene preparatis -et ordinatis Magister adhibeat fumigia ex sequentibus -speciebus:</p> - -<table summary="A recipe"> - <tr> - <td>℞:</td> - <td>Semen papaveris nigri</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Herba Cicuta</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Coriandrum</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Apium et crocus et hec in equali pondere.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>Decimo si Magister rem habet quam Spiritus adimplere -resisterent, accipiat baculum et cum eo feriat eorum Sigilla, sed -si nimium pertinaces forent, appropinquet ea ad carbones cum -quibus fumigatum est, faciat quasi assare et successive ardescere -velit et statim eos obedientes habebit.</p> - -<p>Circulum cum Sociis ingressurus dicat:</p> - -<p>Harim Kasistacos Enet miram Baal Alisa mamutai arista -Kappi Megiarath Sagisiya Suratbakar.</p> - -<p>Sequuntur Citaciones Nomina et Sigilla Spirituum qui per -hoc opus advocari et citari possunt.</p> - -<p>Sigillum primi Principis vid. pag. viij.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Citacio Primi Almuchabzar</span></p> - -<p>Asib Hecon Anthios Rarapafta Kylim Almuchabzar alge -Zorionoso Amilech Amias Segir Almetubele Halimasten Rarapafta -Kylim O Almuchabzar horet Kylim.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Citacio secunda primi Principis</span></p> - -<p>Aritepas Oulyri Hecon asib alperiga O Almuchabzar! Rabet -Almetubele Syrath alecla icarim alderez Aldemel met cadir -Measdi Algir aleclar Ryia sothus Alchantum ioradio Ealusi -Amilkamar Alenzod:</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Citacio tercia Almuchabzar</span></p> - -<p>Albantum alenzod Almuchabzar! Hecon asip Amilcamar -alperiga algir filastaros aleclar Syrath asyngarum berumistas -legistas Ruppa sastaraya aronthas Baracasti hemla Omisyrath -abdilbak Amilkamar alcubel taris Algir alasaff megastar Magin -horet Karapatta Kylim O! Almuchabzar.</p> - -<p>Quam primum apparent Spiritus in forma humana visibili -Magister eos interroget utrum isti sint qui ab eo fuerunt citati? -et si spiritus hoc iureiurando cum iureiurando (sic) cum imposicione -manuum super baculum [qui ex circulo iis porrigi debet] confirmaverint;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -salutet eos et sistat modo subsequenti in fine pag. -xv. et pag. xxxv. Hunc Principem vero modo sequenti:</p> - -<p>Alkumkazar medidosta Asaristatos falusi algir abdilbak = -karis helotim latintos O Almuchabzar! milasarintha iubarath -mimas Amka Solit karytos Faribai aliasi miron kylim arastaton -tyrantus Almuchabzar.</p> - -<p>His dictis Spiritus ipsum interrogabunt quare fuerint vocati? -etc. Magister illis negocium proponat et si adimpleverint -dimittat illos prout sequitur in fine pag. xv. et pag. xxx istum -vero specialiter sic:</p> - -<p>Sarmistaros labyratha Asanta bartha Megimaia karapatta -horet kylim O Almuchabzar!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sigillum Achunchab</span> vid. pag. xi.</p> - -<p class="indented">Citacio.</p> - -<p>Asip hecon anthios karapatta kylim Achunchab Perificanthus -alasaff haram astarladip Megastar hagiasesta parit hemla pantustata -amagarim kalip kisolastar aleclar elgir altemel alperiga Horet -kylim O Achunchab!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sigillum Aghizikke</span> vid. pag. xii.</p> - -<p class="indented">Citacio.</p> - -<p>Hamagit hecon asip Kampatta kylim Aghizikke sisalmaz -alenzod alcubel algir sarmistaros alasat Abdilbak Guscharasch -heam diadrasas dalasai Betaran herik iulem Megastar Helib istam -horet kylim O Aghizikke!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sigillum Baltuzaraz</span> vid. pag. xiii.</p> - -<p class="indented">Citacio.</p> - -<p>Megaras Galim asip hecon kylim Baltuzaraz negyrus haleai -amith aresatos gimastas permasai alar aluhazi Hacub salataya -almetubeli algir Abilbak mirastatos Alenzod medagasti O Baltuzaras -kylim horet.</p> - -<p>Sequuntur alia adhuc sigilla aliquorum Spirituum qui per subsequentem -coniuracionem advocantur. Sigilla vide pag. xiiij. -Nomina eorum numeres secundum ordinem sigillorum a manu -dextra ad sinistram suntque sequentia:</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kapuliph, Suhub; galhabari et almischak.</span></p> - -<p class="indented">Citacio.</p> - -<p>Mabgatusta berenata sarmistaros gorisgatba Helotim latintos -aciton Axagiatum amka iaribai artas gilgarkipka Selingarasch -alberalabon gimistas Kateraptas amogiorith miagastos Diadrasi -Radistar dalasa hagaigia Belzop hecon asip Karapatta kylim O -Suhub Galhabari O Almischak Kapuliph antios guschorasch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -Alcubel alenzod algir Rabet almetubele Abdilbak mirastatos alasaff -algir megastar ioradip faluli zorionoso alget kapkar imat Abdilbaim -eralim fiascar albirastos perifiantus Berapkukagapharam -Abdilbaim erasin Zakarip Aresatos Talmasten Karapatta kylim -horet kylim.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Insticio sive Consistencia Spirituum.</span></p> - -<p>Harim kelit Amogar Bail namutai aristakappi Megiarath -agualim Segirit beranabtar Cesastus megarustat amargim Bargastaton -ioratkar Karistacao Alim Miron anasterisatos horet -kylim.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Valediccio Spirituum.</span></p> - -<p>Bedarit labyratha Asonta barda Meles kalas hemastar -Bemtsstaras Bedarit Enet elmisistar Almiranthus.</p> - -<p>Quando Magister cum Sociis egreditur circulo dicat hec -sequentia verba vide pag. xvi.</p> - -<p>Begarsten alengip Harim Gantalsa stai Becekym Dingiltas -Mecarkayrup Hermagastus aganton Badaky Gragaim Bemdastoras -Argint.</p> - -<p class="center">FINIS.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> - -<h3>APPENDIX V</h3> - -<p>Regesta Vaticana, Tom. xii., fol. 136 vo., epist. 170.</p> - -<p>… archiepiscopo Cantuariensi sancte Romane ecclesie -cardinali. De provisione dilecti filii magistri Michaelis Scoti, -cuius eminentis sciencie titulus de ipso testimonium perhibet, -quod inter litteratos alios dono vigeat sciencie singulari patris -intimo cogitantes affectu, pro eo tibi, quod inter ceteros per -orbem sciencia preditos eminenti litteratura et profundioris prerogativa -doctrine coruscas, fiducialiter affectione plena dirigimus -scripta nostra, firmam spem fiduciamque tenentes, quod probos -clericos diligas et delecteris in illis ac per hoc ad providendum -tante sciencie clerico promptus et facilis inveniri debeas per te -(137ro.) ipsum. Quocirca fraternitati tue per apostolica scripta -mandamus, quatinus tam liberaliter quam libenter predicto -magistro infra provinciam tuam auctoritate nostra provideas in -beneficio quod recipiente congruat et deceat providentem, ita -quod ex hoc devocionem et diligenciam tuam in Domino commendare -possimus et nos illud habeamus acceptum qui nollemus -omnino quod dictus magister, qui maioribus dignus esset, gracie -nostre, que reputatur ei debitum, frustraretur effectu, contradictores -autem per censuras ecclesiasticas appellacione remota -compescas. Dat. Lateran. xvii Kal. februar. anno octavo.</p> - -<p>This extract, which has not hitherto been fully printed in -any of the authorities (Pressutti, <cite>Regesta Honorii Pape III.</cite> vol. ii. -pp. 194, 258; Bliss, <cite>Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers</cite>, -vol. i. pp. 94, 97) has reached me from the Vatican just before -going to press. I owe it to the kindness of Monsignor Ehrle, -the Prefect of the Bibliotheca Apostolica, and am glad to reproduce -it here, not only because of the light it throws on the -events mentioned in Chapter viii., but as a testimony to the -opinion then held of Scot’s attainments in science. Incidentally -too, it places beyond question the fact mentioned on p. 14, -namely, that he was in holy orders. With regard to the title<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -of ‘Master,’ here repeated, I may add that this would seem to -have been equivalent among the Regulars to that of ‘Doctor’ -among the secular clergy; so that there is a further probability -that Scot belonged to one of the monastic orders. Should any -one still doubt that the ‘M. Scotus’ whom Honorius named for -Cashel is the same person as Michael Scot, this extract may -help to resolve the matter. Honorius evidently held Michael -in the highest esteem, and it will be difficult to find another -M. Scotus so likely to have been preferred by him in the very -same year.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <cite>De Michaele Scoto Veneficii injuste damnato</cite>, Lipsiae, 1739.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Some account of Scottish grammar-schools in the twelfth century -will be found in Sir James Dalrymple’s <cite>Collections</cite>, pp. 226, 255 -(Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh); also in Chalmers’s <cite>Caledonia</cite>, vol. i. -p. 76.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, vol. i. p. 471, ed. Master of the Rolls. London, -Longmans, 1859.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Boncompagni <cite>Vita di Gherardo Cremonense</cite>, Roma, 1851, and the -<cite>De Astronomia Tractatus</cite> x. of Guido Bonatti, printed at Bâle, 1550.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <cite>Historia Ecclesiastica</cite>, xii. 494.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> In the last edition of Chambers’s Encyclopædia, <i lang="la">sub nomine</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">ch. vii</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Leland’s work was published in 1549.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <cite>Comento alla Divina Commedia, Inf.</cite>, canto xx. Bologna, Fanfani, -1866-74.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The <cite>Scotorum Historia</cite> of Boëce in which this statement appears -was published at Paris in 1526.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Between 1260 and 1280. See Cartulary of Dunfermline.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Exchequer Rolls.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Bulaeus <cite>Historia Univ. Paris.</cite>, vol. iii. pp. 701, 702.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Sir James Dalrymple’s <cite>Collections</cite>, pp. 226, 255. There was also a -school at Dryburgh, where Sibbald says Sacrobosco studied, but had -Scot entered here he would hardly have been distinguished in later -years as a man in close relation with another order—the Cistercian.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Not excepting the north. ‘Morebatur eo tempore (<i lang="la">c.</i> 1180) -apud Oxenfordiam studiorum causa clericus quidam Stephanus nomine -de Eboracensi regione oriundus,’ <cite>Acta Sanctorum</cite>, Oct. 29, p. 579. At -the exodus in 1209, no less than three thousand students are said to -have left Oxford.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <cite>Opus Majus</cite>, ed. Jebbi, pp. 36, 37. The words are ‘Tempore -Michaelis Scoti, qui, annis 1230 transactis, apparuit, deferens librorum -Aristotelis partes aliquas,’ etc. See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">ch. viii</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See Anderson, <cite>Scottish Nation</cite>, <i lang="la">sub nomine</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note Y. See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_X">ch. x</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Romance of <cite>Elinando</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> He probably joined the Cistercian Order.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, p. 425.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> In the printed edition of Dempster, the reference is ‘lib. 3 sententiarum, -quaest. iii.,’ but I have not been able to verify it.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <cite>Hist. Litt. de la France</cite>, vol. ix. p. 65.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <cite>Opus Majus</cite>, p. 84.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <cite>Elinando.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <cite>Decamerone</cite>, viii. 9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_X">chap. x</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> of Scot’s <cite>Physionomia</cite> in the Vatican Library (<cite>Fondo -della Regina di Svezia</cite> 1151, saec. xvi?) has joined to it some extravagant -lines in praise of the Parisian schools, where the writer compares them to -Paradise. There is no reason to suppose Scot wrote these verses, but -they fully support the statement made in the text.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Pl. lxxxix. <i lang="la">sup.</i> cod. 38. See Appendix, No. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> See p. 244 of the <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <cite>Domini Magistri.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <cite>Philipo.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <cite>Coronato.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <cite>Destinavit sibi.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> See Ducange, <i lang="la">sub voce</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Huillard-Bréholles, <cite>Hist. Dip. Frid. II.</cite>, vol. i. pp. 44, 68, 242, -255.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> No. 354.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> L’Anonimo Fiorentino, <cite>Comento alla Divina Commedia</cite>. Bologna, -Fanfani, 1866-74.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> See especially the preface to the <cite>Physionomia</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Smith’s <cite>Dictionary of Christian Antiquities</cite>, <i lang="la">sub voce</i> ‘Magister.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> From August 1200 to January 1208. See Amari, <cite>Storia dei -Musulmani di Sicilia</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> See the <cite>Hist. Dip. Frid.</cite>, <i lang="la">passim</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Amari.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, pp. <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, and <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">ch. vi</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, p. 434.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> See the preface to the <cite>Secreta</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Amari. See <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Bibl. Bodl. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Canon Misc. 555; cod. memb. in 4to ff. 97, saec. -xiv. ineunt., with a portrait of Michael Scot in one of the initials. The -preface opens thus:—‘Cum ars astronomie sit grandis sermonibus -philosophorum.’ The book begins:—‘Cronica Grece Latine dicitur series -ut temporis temporum sicut dominorum,’ and closes thus:—‘De expositione -fundamenti terrae volentes his finere secundum librum quem -incepimus in nomine Dei, Cui ex parte nostra sit semper grandis laus et -gloria, benedictio et triumphus in omnibus per infinita saecula saeculorum -Amen.’ Other <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the <cite>Astronomia</cite> are found at Milan, Bibl. -Ambros. L. 92, <i lang="la">sup. cum figuris</i>; and at Munich, see Halm and Meyer’s -<cite>Catalogue</cite>, vol. ii. part i. p. 156, No. 1242, saec. xviii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> ‘Quasi vulgariter.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53" id="Footnote_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Bodl. <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 266, chart. in fol. saec. xv. 218 leaves; Bibl. Nat. Paris, -Nouv. acq. 1401; the Escorial has another <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> of this work on paper, in -writing of the fourteenth century. The <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> commences -thus: ‘Quicumque vult esse bonus astrologus’—an expression which -betrays the churchman in Scot. It closes with these words: ‘finitur -tractatus de notitia pronosticorum.’ Extracts from the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> -are found in the <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Fondo Vaticano 4087, p. 38, ro. and vo., <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> -in fol. chart. saec. xvi., and in the Bibl. del Seminario Vescovile, Padua, -<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 48, in fol. chart. saec. xiv.; also Bibl. Ambros, Milan, <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> I. 90.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54" id="Footnote_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> The Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> reads ‘in Astronomia,’ a good example of the confusion -mentioned above.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55" id="Footnote_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> ‘Leviter.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56" id="Footnote_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> This is a mistake common to both the <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Innocent <span class="smcapuc">IV.</span> did not -begin to reign till 1243, when Scot was long in his grave. Innocent <span class="smcapuc">III.</span>, -who was Pope from 1198-1216, is the person meant. He was guardian -to Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> during his minority.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57" id="Footnote_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> According to the line: ‘Lingua, Tropus, Ratio, Numerus, Tonus, -Angulus, Astra,’ in which the Trivium and Quadrivium were succinctly -and memorably expressed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58" id="Footnote_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> His mother was nearly fifty years old at his birth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59" id="Footnote_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> See the description of this palace in the poem by Peter of Eboli.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60" id="Footnote_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Zurita says that Sancia, the Queen Dowager of Aragon, claimed -the crown of Sicily for her son Fernando, in case there were no heir of -Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> by Constance.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61" id="Footnote_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> See on this whole subject three most learned and satisfactory -works by Prof. R. Foerster of Breslau—<cite>De Arist. quae feruntur -physiognomonicis recensendis</cite>, Kiliae, 1882; <cite>De trans. lat. physiognomonicorum</cite>, -Kiliae, 1884; and especially his <cite>Scriptores Graeci Physiognomonici</cite>, -Teubner, 1894.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62" id="Footnote_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> A <cite>Physionomia</cite> ascribed to Al Mansour himself was commented -on by Jacopo da Samminiato. It is preserved in the Bibl. Naz. of -Florence, <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> xx. 55.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63" id="Footnote_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> See Book <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> chap. xxvi. <i lang="la">et seq.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64" id="Footnote_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> B. J. <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, 8. § 6. See also the Church Histories of Neander (i. 61, -83) and Kurtz (i. 65).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65" id="Footnote_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> The word Ἀβράξας read numerically gives the total of 365 = the -number of days in which the sun completes his circle through the twelve -signs. In this way it is equivalent to <em>Mithras</em>. These gems often bear -the figure of a cock = the sun-bird, not without reference to Æsculapius. -They were worn to recover or preserve health.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66" id="Footnote_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> This reminds one of the somewhat similar introduction to the -alchemy of Crates, which speaks of a youth called Rissoures, the scion -of a family of adepts, who made love to a maid-servant of Ephestelios, -chief diviner in the Temple of Serapis at Alexandria, thus inducing her -to steal the book and fly with him. The tradition of discovery is -common to both legends, but the Crates has a colour of worldly passion -and the Sirr-el-Asrar a shade of ascetic practice which agrees admirably -with what we know of the Therapeutae. <em>Crates</em> is probably Democritus. -The Arabic version was due to Khalid ben Yezid, and bears the title of -<em>Kenz el Konouz</em>, or treasure of treasures. It is found in <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 440 of -Leyden. In a later chapter we shall recur to this subject with the view -of showing that alchemy as well as physiognomy owed much to the -Therapeutic philosophy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67" id="Footnote_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> The printed copy—in fol. Venice, Bernardinus de Vitalibus, s. a. -but probably 1501—reads ‘romanam,’ which would be neo-Greek or -Romaic.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68" id="Footnote_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> See on this whole subject the excellent remarks of Foerster in his -treatise <cite>De Aristotelis quae feruntur Secretis Secretorum</cite>, Kiliae, 1888, -pp. 22-25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69" id="Footnote_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Wright’s <cite>Cat. of the Syriac MSS.</cite>, Nos. 250 and 366.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70" id="Footnote_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <cite>Recherches</cite>, pp. 117, 118.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71" id="Footnote_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> <i lang="la">Op. cit.</i> pp. 26, 27.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72" id="Footnote_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Viz., P. xiii. sin. cod. 6; P. xxx. cod. 29; and P. lxxxix. <i lang="la">sup.</i> -cod. 76. There is also one at Paris, Fonds de Sorbonne, 955.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73" id="Footnote_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> See the <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> of the Laurentian Library, p. lxxxviii. cod. 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74" id="Footnote_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> By transposition ‘G. de Valentia vere civitatis,’ etc. (Bibl. Naz. -Flor. xxv. 10, 632); by corruption ‘vere de violentia’ (Barberini <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span>), -or ‘grosso pontifici’ (Fondo Vaticano, 5047). This bishop has not yet -been identified.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75" id="Footnote_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the <cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite> are found in Florence, Bibl. Naz., -xxv. 10, 632, chart. saec. xv.; Bibl. Laur. (S. Crucis) xv. sin. 9; Rome, -Fondo Vaticano, 5047; Oxford, Bibl. Bod. Can. Misc., 562; Troyes and -St. Omer, <i lang="la">v.</i> Cat. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> des Depart., vol. ii. pp. 517, 518, and iii. 295; -Berne, v. Sinner’s Cat., vol. iii. p. 525. It is interesting to note that the title -of this last <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> is <cite>Physionomia</cite>, just as the <cite>Physionomia</cite> of Scot is called -<cite>De Secretis</cite> in the editions of 1584 and 1598. This confirms the relation -between his work and that of Philippus Clericus. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the Italian -version of the <cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite> are found at Florence, Bibl. Riccard., -Q. I. xxii. 1297; R. I. xx. 2224; L. I. xxxiv. 108. The first of these -is dated 1450. In the Bibl. Naz., Florence, there is another, and a -similar one of the <cite>Physionomia Aristotelis</cite>. In the Chigi Library of -Rome there is a <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span>, chart. saec. xvii., with the curious title: ‘Migel -franzas, auctor obscurioris nominis, ad <em>Physionomiam</em> Aristotelis Commentarium.’ -It is numbered E. vi. 205, and consists of 326 pages. The -<cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite> with the <cite>De Mineralibus</cite> was printed at Venice -(? 1501), by Bernardinus de Vitalibus, and a new version by G. Manente, -comprehending the <cite>Morals</cite> and the <cite>Physionomia</cite> as well as the <cite>Secreta</cite>, -issued from the same place in 1538. It was printed in 4to by Tacuino -da Trino.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76" id="Footnote_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the <cite>Physionomia</cite>: Oxford, Bibl. Bod. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Canon. Misc. 555 -(with the <cite>Liber Particularis</cite>) saec. xiv.; Milan, Bibl. Ambros. L 92 <i lang="la">sup.</i> -(with the <cite>Liber Particularis</cite>); Padua, Bibl. Anton. xxiii. 616, chart. saec. -xvii; Vatican, Fondo della Regina 1151 perhaps saec. xvi. Printed -editions: 1477 perhaps double; 1485 Louvain and Leipsic; 1499 s. l. -and five or six others of this century in 4to, s. l. et a.; 1508 Cologne, -Venice, and Paris, the last in 8vo; 1514 Venice 8vo; 1515 s. l.; 1519 -Venice 8vo; 1584 Lyons 24mo along with the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> -and the <cite>De animalibus ad Caesarem</cite> under the general title of <cite>De -Secretis Naturae</cite>; 1598 Lyons, <cite>De Secretis Naturae</cite> cum tractatu <cite>De -Secretis Mulierum</cite> Alberti Magni; 1615 Frankfort 8vo; 1655 and 1660 -Amsterdam 12mo. Editions of the Italian version appeared at Venice -in 1533, 8vo, and 1537. During the sixteenth century an edition of the -Latin text in 8vo appeared from the press of Pietro Gaudoul without date.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77" id="Footnote_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <cite>Histoire Littéraire de la France.</cite> The list given above will show -that this statement rather falls short of the truth than exceeds it.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78" id="Footnote_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> See Ticknor’s <cite>History of Spanish Literature</cite>, p. 395.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79" id="Footnote_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <cite>Recherches sur l’âge et l’origine des trad. latines d’Aristote</cite>, Paris, -1843, chap. iii. passim.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80" id="Footnote_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> The bones of Aristotle were said to lie in the Mosque of Palermo, -where they were highly reverenced. See <cite>Charles III. of Naples</cite>, by -St. Clair Baddeley, London, 1894, p. 122.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81" id="Footnote_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> <cite>Notices et extraits des Mss.</cite>, vol. vi. p. 412.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82" id="Footnote_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> <cite>Die Uebersetz. Arabischer Werke</cite>, Göttingen, 1877, p. 99.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_83" id="Footnote_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> See Lane’s <cite>Modern Egyptians</cite>, vol. i. p. 197 note.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_84" id="Footnote_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> We should remember, however, the Emperor’s instructions to his -translators: ‘verborum fideliter servata virginitate.’ See his circular -of 1230 to the Universities.—Jourdain, <cite>Recherches</cite>, p. 133.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_85" id="Footnote_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> <cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, chap. ix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_86" id="Footnote_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Bibl. Laur. Pl. xiii. sin. cod. 9 in fol. perg. This <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> was written -in 1266.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_87" id="Footnote_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Fifteenth Century s. l. et a. in fol. pp. 54. There are also Venice -editions of 1493 and 1509.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_88" id="Footnote_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Fondo Vaticano 4428 in fol. perg. saec. xiii. See a complete -inventory of this <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> in Appendix <span class="smcapuc">II</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_89" id="Footnote_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> See Roger Bacon, <cite>Opus Majus</cite>, p. 37.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_90" id="Footnote_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> P. 158 <i lang="la">recto</i>, the last line of the third column.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_91" id="Footnote_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> <cite>Recherches</cite>, p. 133.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_92" id="Footnote_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_93" id="Footnote_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> There is an evident reference to Prov. i. 9 in these words which -accords well with Scot’s usual style.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_94" id="Footnote_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Printed, but very incompletely, at Augsburg in 1596 in 8vo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_95" id="Footnote_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> <cite>Hist. Dip. Frid. II.</cite> vol. iv. pt. i. pp. 381, 382.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_96" id="Footnote_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Can this have been <em>Cologna</em>, a village about four miles north of -Salerno?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_97" id="Footnote_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Fondo Vaticano 4428.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_98" id="Footnote_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> The words are: ‘Ex libro animalium Aristotelis Domini Imperatoris -in margine’ (p. 158 <i lang="la">recto</i>): see <a href="#illus3">facsimile at p. 55</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_99" id="Footnote_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Bibl. Chisiana E viii. 251, at p. 41 bottom margin.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_100" id="Footnote_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> P. 158, <i lang="la">recto</i> col. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_101" id="Footnote_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> p. 164.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_102" id="Footnote_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Pl. xiii. sin. cod. 9. Other <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> are -these: Fondo Vaticano 7096; Fondo Regina di Svezia 1151; Bibl. -Burgensis 8557 in 8vo memb. saec. xiii. vel xiv.; Bibl. Pommersfeld, -saec. xiv.; Paris, Anc. Fonds 6443; Venice, Bibl. St. Marc. 171 memb. -saec. xiv. (the same library has another <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> in 4to memb. saec. xiv., see -the Catalogue by Valentinelli, vol. v. p. 58). Bologna, Bibl. Univ. 1340 -in fol. chart. saec. xiv. doubtful; Oxford, Bodl. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Canon. Misc. 562 -saec. xiv. et xv.; Merton Coll. <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 277 saec. xiv.; All Souls <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 72 -saec. xiv.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_103" id="Footnote_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> <cite>Recherches</cite>, p. 133.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_104" id="Footnote_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> P. 13, <i lang="la">recto et verso</i>, in the undated fifteenth century edition of the -<cite>Abbreviatio</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_105" id="Footnote_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> <i lang="la">Ibid.</i> pp. 33 <i lang="la">verso</i>, 34 <i lang="la">recto</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_106" id="Footnote_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_107" id="Footnote_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> <cite>La Chimie au Moyen Age</cite>, Paris, 1893. One cannot praise too -highly the interest and value of this monumental work. I am greatly -indebted to it for many of the facts and conclusions here repeated.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_108" id="Footnote_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> The <cite>Mappae Clavicula</cite> (Key to Painting) belongs to the tenth -century; the <cite>Compositiones ad Tingenda</cite> is of the age of Charlemagne. -A <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> of the eighth century (not the ninth as Berthelot says) is extant -at Lucca (Bibl. Capit. Can. I. L.). Muratori has printed it in his -<cite>Antiquitates Italicae</cite>, ii. 364-87. It contains receipts for the colours -used in making <i lang="la">tesserae</i> for mosaic, for dyeing skins, cloth, bone, horn -and wood; for making parchment; for various processes such as gold -and silver beating and drawing, and the gilding of iron; for chrysography -and the gilding of leather; ‘quomodo eramen in colore auri -transmutetur,’ ‘operatio Cinnaberim,’ a perfume for the hands called -<i lang="la">lulakin</i>, and for certain amalgams of gold and silver called <i lang="la">glutina</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_109" id="Footnote_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> See Chwolson, <cite>Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus</cite>. The Egyptians -extended this correspondence to the members of the human body.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_110" id="Footnote_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Σπουδάζουσιν ἐκτόπως περὶ τὰ τῶν παλαιῶν συγγράμματα, μάλιστα -τὰ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἐκλέγοντες. Ἔνθεν αὑτοῖς πρὸς -θεράπειαν παθῶν ῥίζαι τε ἀλεξητήριοι καὶ λιθῶν ἰδιότητες ἐνερευνῶνται.—<cite>Bell. -Jud.</cite>, ii. 8. § 6.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_111" id="Footnote_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> <cite>Roma, Vincentio Accolti</cite>, 1587. My copy is the one presented by -the author to the great Aldrovandus of Bologna, with whom he seems to -have been on intimate terms.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_112" id="Footnote_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> See the Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 6514, pp. 133-35.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_113" id="Footnote_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Of Pannopolis, a chemist of the fourth century.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_114" id="Footnote_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> 6514.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_115" id="Footnote_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> Fondo Vaticano, 4428, p. 114. This treatise is the same as the <cite>De -mineralibus</cite> published along with the <cite>De Secretis</cite> at Venice (? 1501) by -Bernardinus de Vitalibus.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_116" id="Footnote_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Speciale <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> No. vi. See the work by Sac. I. Carini, <cite>Sulle Scienze -Occulte nel Medio Evo</cite>, Palermo, 1872. ‘Kalid Rex’ was Khaled ben -Yezid ibn Moauia, and ‘Morienus’ was Mar Jannos, his Syrian master.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_117" id="Footnote_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> <cite>Gayangos</cite>, i. 8. Eighty thousand books are said to have been -burned in the squares of Granada alone.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_118" id="Footnote_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> In the editions of 1622 and 1659, Argentorati. It has been stated -that the <cite>Quaestio Curiosa</cite> is a chapter taken from the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> -of Michael Scot. The alternative title of that work, <cite>Judicia -Quaestionum</cite> would seem to favour this idea, and may in fact have -suggested it. But an examination of the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> (<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Bodl. -266), which I have caused to be made, proves that the statement referred -to is without foundation. It was advanced in a paper read before the -Scottish Society of Antiquaries by Mr. John Small, and printed in their -<cite>Proceedings</cite>, vol. xi. p. 179.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_119" id="Footnote_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> See the <a href="#Footnote_116">note to p. 75</a> <i lang="la">supra</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_120" id="Footnote_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> <i lang="la">Inf.</i> iv. 131.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_121" id="Footnote_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> In the <cite>Theatrum</cite> of Zetzner there is a tract: ‘Aristoteles de perfecto -Magisterio,’ and the Bibl. Naz. of Florence has a <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span>, ‘De Tribus -Verbis,’ ascribed to the same author.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_122" id="Footnote_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> Sic pro <i lang="la">indagine</i>, v. cod. xvi. 142 of the Bibl. Naz. Florence, where -this treatise is given to <em>Alfidius</em>, <i lang="la">i.e.</i> Al Kindi. In it occur the significant -words: ‘est (alchimia) de illa parte physice quae <em>Metheora</em> nuncupatur.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_123" id="Footnote_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> No. 6514.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_124" id="Footnote_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> ‘Penitus denegatam,’ see <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_125" id="Footnote_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> It is remarkable in this connection that ‘Transubstantiation’ -was finally imposed on the faithful by the Lateran council of 1215. -The term had not been previously used in theology. This was the very -epoch of Michael Scot and of the introduction of alchemy in the West.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_126" id="Footnote_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Ricc. L. iii. 13. 119, p. 35vo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_127" id="Footnote_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> ‘In quo talia continentur, Intencio, Causa Intencionis et Utilitas,’ -etc.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_128" id="Footnote_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> See Appendix, No. <span class="smcapuc">III</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_129" id="Footnote_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Pp. 192vo.-195vo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_130" id="Footnote_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> The Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 6514 has these words: ‘Magister Galienus scriptor -qui utitur in Episcopatu est alkimista et scit albificare eramen ita quod -est album ut argentum commune.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_131" id="Footnote_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Pp. 190ro.-192vo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_132" id="Footnote_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Pp. 185vo.-190ro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_133" id="Footnote_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Manuel Comnenus reigned as Emperor of the East from 1143 to -1180, while Frederick <span class="smcapuc">I.</span> was Emperor of the West from 1152 to 1190. -This would seem to indicate the twelfth century as the time when these -works of the Pseudo Archelaus were produced. It is curious to notice -that Manuel was the Emperor who suffered defeat by sea at the hands of -George of Antioch the Sicilian admiral (Gibbon, chap. lvi.) This brave -seaman was the same who founded the library of the Martorana in Palermo -(see above, p. 25), and enriched it with the literary spoils of his conquests. -It is highly probable that it was in this way the scholars of Sicily -became acquainted with the Byzantine alchemy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_134" id="Footnote_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Ricc. L. iii. 13. 119. pp. 19vo.-29ro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_135" id="Footnote_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Titles resembling this are not uncommon in the literature of -alchemy. Thus the Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 6514 has two treatises, both called <cite>Lumen -Luminum</cite> and both ascribed to Rases. The latter of these, the <cite>Liber -Lumen Luminum et perfecti Magisterii</cite>, is that which has been printed -by Zetzner in the <cite>Theatrum Chemicum</cite>, under the name of Aristotle. -It contains, as we have already observed, the <cite>Liber XII. aquarum</cite> and -other material derived from the <cite>Liber Emanuelis</cite>. The former treatise -bearing the name of the <cite>Liber Lumen Luminum</cite> in the Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> -(pp. 113-120) is remarkable on account of the words with which it closes: -‘explicit liber autoris invidiosi,’ which Berthelot notes, but does not -attempt to explain. The <cite>Mappa</cite> of the Pseudo-Archelaus mentions the -‘Liber invidiosus’ (‘quia liber iste invidiosus est ab omnibus hominibus’), -but what may be the true reading of the matter is found in the -<cite>Liber Dyabesi</cite> or book of the distillation of the land-tortoise (<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Ricc. -p. 4ro.) where these words occur: ‘Omnia ista pondera fuerunt occulta a -philosophis, et dederunt nobis alia pondera … quia fuerunt invidiosi,’ -<i lang="la">i.e.</i> unwilling to make public the secrets of their art. In later days the -title <i lang="la">Lumen Luminum</i> is found in use by Raymond Lull and his school.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_136" id="Footnote_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> <cite>Liber Luminis Luminum</cite>, ii. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_137" id="Footnote_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Corpus Christi <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> cxxv. pp. 116-119.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_138" id="Footnote_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> In <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Ricc. L. iii. 13, 119, No. 37.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_139" id="Footnote_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> See on the whole subject the <cite>Annales Minorum</cite> of Wadding, -especially vol. i. p. 109. In vol. ii. p. 242, we find the reproof addressed -by the Pope to Fra Elias. The words referred to above are these: -‘mutari color optimus auri ex quo caput (<i lang="la">i.e.</i> Franciscus) erat compactum.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_140" id="Footnote_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> For example, ‘quaedam gumma quae invenitur in alumine de pluma, -et ista gumma est rubea, et gumma quae invenitur in alumine rubeo -et ista gumma est preciosa et bona valde.’ The word becomes intelligible -when read as ‘gemma.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_141" id="Footnote_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Such as ‘Yader saracenus,’ ‘Arbaranus,’ ‘Theodosius saracenus,’ -‘Medibibaz,’ and ‘Magister Jacobus Judaeus.’ The name of the place -‘halaph’ which is probably Aleppo, and of the herb ‘carcha’ point in -the same direction.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_142" id="Footnote_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Bibl. Naz. Flor. <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> xvi. 142, see <i lang="la">supra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_143" id="Footnote_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Romanus de Higuera, a very doubtful authority.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_144" id="Footnote_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> This village gave name to another Moorish writer, Abu Gafar -Ahmed ben Abd-el-Rahman ben Mohammed, also surnamed el Bitraugi. -He died in 1147 and his fame survives as that of the author of an -encyclopedia of science.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_145" id="Footnote_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> For the unfavourable judgment of Mirandola on this astronomer, -see <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_146" id="Footnote_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> See the excellent account in Munk.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_147" id="Footnote_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> <cite>Recherches</cite>, p. 133.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_148" id="Footnote_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> These are <cite>Ancien Fonds</cite> 7399 and <cite>Fonds de Sorbonne</cite> 1820.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_149" id="Footnote_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> ‘Qui vivit in aeternum per tempora.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_150" id="Footnote_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> There is a copy in the Barberini library (ix. 25 in fol. chart. saec. -xv.) which reads ‘cum abuteo len̄ite.’ Another at Paris, <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> lat. 1665 -(olim Sorbonicus) has ‘c. Abuteo Levite.’ It would be rash to conjecture -the sense of this curious phrase. It is evidently a sign of time, -and perhaps astrological.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_151" id="Footnote_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> The Barberini <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> (ix. 25) gives 1221 as the date of the version, -but the consensus of the other copies shows this to be a mistake. -Almost all the <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> mention that the work was done at Toledo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_152" id="Footnote_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> See the references made to this work of Scot by Albertus Magnus -and Vincent of Beauvais.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_153" id="Footnote_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> For the life and opinions of Averroës, see the excellent monograph -<cite>Averroës et l’Averroïsme</cite>, which Renan published at Paris in 1866. I -have drawn largely upon it in composing this chapter.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_154" id="Footnote_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, p. <a href="#Page_128">128</a>. Nicolas Damascenus was born <span class="smcapuc">B.C.</span> 64.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_155" id="Footnote_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> This was purely Alexandrian doctrine: ‘enseñaron Plotino, -Porfirio y Iamblico, que, en la union extatica, el alma y Dios se hacen -uno, quedando el alma como aniquilada por el <em>golpe intuitivo</em>.’ Pelayo, -<cite>Heterodoxos Españoles</cite>, vol. ii. p. 522.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_156" id="Footnote_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Albertus Stadensis speaks of a heretical sect which appeared at -Halle in 1248. They abused the clergy, the monastic orders and the -Pope, but their preachers exhorted them to pray for the Emperor -Frederick and his son Conrad, <i lang="la">qui perfecti et justi sunt</i>. Among the -Albigenses and Cathari generally the word <i lang="la">perfecti</i> was used in a -technical sense to indicate those who had been received into complete -fellowship as opposed to the <i lang="la">credentes</i> who were still on probation. As -applied therefore to the Emperor and his son it would seem to indicate -at least certain leanings to these opinions on Frederick’s part. This might -explain the action he certainly took in trying to detach the Sicilian -clergy from the see of Rome and to set up a national or imperial church -in which he pretended to the earthly headship.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_157" id="Footnote_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> <cite>Opera</cite>, p. 102.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_158" id="Footnote_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> <cite>Averroës</cite>, pp. 28, 254, 291.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_159" id="Footnote_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_160" id="Footnote_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> This inquiry was afterwards interpreted to Scot’s disadvantage -and in a way that heightened his necromantic fame. See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">ch. ix</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_161" id="Footnote_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> See Appendix, No. <span class="smcapuc">I.</span> Averroës had maintained in opposition -to Galen that the best of all climates was that of the fifth terrestrial -region: that in which Cordova was situated.—<cite>Colliget</cite>, ii. 22. Michael -Scot can hardly have shared this opinion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_162" id="Footnote_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> St. Victor, 171.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_163" id="Footnote_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> De Rossi <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> 354. See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_164" id="Footnote_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> See preface to the <cite>De Anima</cite> of Avicenna, <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Fondo Vaticano -4428, p. 78vo, and 2089, p. 307ro. Jourdain has reprinted this -preface in his <cite>Recherches</cite>, p. 449, from the <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> Fonds de Sorbonne -1793 and Ancien Fonds 6443.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_165" id="Footnote_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Bibl. Rabb. i. p. 7. ‘Eiusdem Avicennae Physicorum lib. iv., -Magistro Johanne Gunsalui et Salomone interpretibus, No. 449,’ <i lang="la">i.e.</i> of -the Fondo Urbinate.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_166" id="Footnote_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Bibl. Española, ii. pp. 643-4. ‘Conhesso’ may be a mistake for -<em>converso</em>. There is reason to think that Andrew had embraced the -Christian faith.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_167" id="Footnote_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> ‘Michael Scotus, ignarus quidem et verborum et rerum, fere -omnia quae sub nomine ejus prodierunt, ab Andrea quodam Judaeo -mutuatus est.’—<cite>Opus Majus.</cite> In his <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, a much later -work, Bacon repeats the accusation in a milder form: ‘Michael Scotus -ascripsit sibi translationes multas. Sed certum est quod Andreas quidam -Judaeus plus laboravit in his.’ It has been conjectured that Andrew -was a convert to Christianity, <i lang="la">v.</i> Renan, who cites the preface to Jebb’s -edition of the <cite>Opus Tertium</cite> of Bacon. It is curious at any rate that -the name given him was that of Scotland’s patron saint.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_168" id="Footnote_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Bibl. Max. Vett. Patrum, Lugduni, 1677, vol. xxii. p. 1030.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_169" id="Footnote_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> The letter, namely, of Pope Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_170" id="Footnote_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Paris, Fonds de Sorbonne 924, 950; St. Victor, 171; Navarre, -75; Venice, St. Mark, vi. 54; Fondo Vaticano, 2184, 2089, p. 6ro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_171" id="Footnote_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> See ‘Proviniana’ in the <cite>Feuille de Provins</cite> for 7 Février 1852; -also the <cite>Hist. Litt. de la France</cite>, xvii. 232; the Bibl. Imp. Colb. -<cite>Suite du Reg. Princ. Campan, III.</cite> 50ro. and 199vo.; and the letters -of Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span>, anni v. 9 kal. Maii (1231 or 1232), anni vii. kal. Feb., -and 3 kal. Martii in the collection of Laporte du Theil.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_172" id="Footnote_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_173" id="Footnote_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Paris, Sorbonne, 932, 943; St. Victor, 171; Ancien Fonds, 6504; -Venice, St. Mark, vi. 54.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_174" id="Footnote_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> <cite>Vita di Gherardo Cremonense</cite>, Roma, 1851. The distinction -between the elder and younger Gerard had been noticed by Flavio -Biondo (1388-1463); by Zaccharia Lilio (<i lang="la">obiit</i> <i lang="la">c.</i> 1522) and by Giulio -Faroldo in the sixteenth century. I have found the same accuracy in the -<cite>Risorgimento d’Italia</cite> of the Abate Saverio Bettinelli, which appeared -at Bassano in 1786 (vol. i. p. 81). Only foreigners, therefore, seem to -have overlooked it.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_175" id="Footnote_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, p. 471.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_176" id="Footnote_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> No. 354; see <i lang="la">ante</i>, pp. <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_177" id="Footnote_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> See the list of <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> already given, p. <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_178" id="Footnote_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> <cite>De la Philosophie Scolastique</cite>, i. 470.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_179" id="Footnote_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> <cite>Opera</cite>, ii. 140.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_180" id="Footnote_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> <cite>Averroës</cite>, p. 108.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_181" id="Footnote_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> See <cite>Metaphysica</cite>, xii. 334.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_182" id="Footnote_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Avicenna. See <cite>Destruction of Destruction</cite>, iii. 350.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_183" id="Footnote_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> The doctrine of spontaneous generation, common among the -Arabian Philosophers, and specially taught by Ibn Tofail.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_184" id="Footnote_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> This is a notable saying which may well have given rise to the -legend of a book <cite>De Tribus Impostoribus</cite>. It was certainly one of the -<i lang="la">foeda dicta</i> blamed by Albertus Magnus.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_185" id="Footnote_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> St. Mark, vi. 54 <i lang="la">memb. saec.</i> xiv. The <cite>De Substantia Orbis</cite> is said -to have been completed by Averroës in Morocco in 1178.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_186" id="Footnote_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Also Fondo Vaticano, 2089, p. 1, with commentary by Alfarabius.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_187" id="Footnote_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> This title recalls a passage in the <cite>De Anima</cite> of Averroës as reproduced -by Pendasius: ‘Si intellectus esset numeratus ad numerum -individuorum, esset aliquod hoc (<i lang="la">i.e.</i> aliquod particulare) determinatum, -<em>corpus aut virtus in corpore</em>. Si hoc esset, esset quid intellectum -potentia.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_188" id="Footnote_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> No. 620. See <cite>Cat. Gen. des Bibl. des Dep.</cite> vol. iii. Paris, 1855.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_189" id="Footnote_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_190" id="Footnote_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> Colophon to cod. lxxix. 18 of the Laurentian Library.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_191" id="Footnote_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_192" id="Footnote_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> <cite>Opus Tertium</cite>, Master of the Rolls ed. p. 91.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_193" id="Footnote_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> <cite>Compendium Studii</cite>, p. 467. The <cite>De Plantis</cite> is found at p. 83 of -<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Fondo Vaticano 4087.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_194" id="Footnote_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Namely the novel called <cite>Il Paradiso degli Alberti</cite> (Bologna, -Wesseloffsky, 1867, vol. ii. pp. 180-217), and No. xx. of the <cite>Cento -Novelle Antiche</cite> (Testo Borghiniano).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_195" id="Footnote_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> <cite>Inferno</cite>, xx. 115, 116.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_196" id="Footnote_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> The <i lang="es">faja</i> still worn in Spain is a direct survival of this custom.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_197" id="Footnote_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> According to ecclesiastical reckoning; the direction of the altar -being taken as eastward. The <a href="#illus1">frontispiece</a> reproduces part of this fresco.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_198" id="Footnote_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">chap. ix</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_199" id="Footnote_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> The fact that Averroës himself is painted on the opposite wall holding -in his hand the <cite>Great Commentary</cite> seems highly to increase the probability -that the figure here described was meant for Michael Scot, the recognised -interpreter of that forbidden philosophy. Averroës occupies a similar -position in Orgagna’s fresco in the Campo Santo of Pisa.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_200" id="Footnote_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> Scot reckoned twelve signs in augury answering to the twelve -celestial houses. Six came from the right hand: Fernova, fervetus, -confert, amponenth, scimasarnova, scimasarvetus; and six from the -left: Confernova, confervetus, viaram, harenan, scassarnova, scassarvetus. -See the <cite>Physionomia</cite>, chap. lvi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_201" id="Footnote_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> Unless indeed these, or some of them, should prove to be merely -detached fragments of the <cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> itself, like those at -Milan, Padua, and Rome. See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_202" id="Footnote_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> No. 1091. It is perhaps the same as the <cite>Astrologorum Dogmata</cite>, -which appears in the lists of Bale and Pitz.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_203" id="Footnote_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> No. 3124. Incipit: ‘Primum signum duodecim signorum.’ -Explicit: ‘principio motus earum.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_204" id="Footnote_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> As a characteristic specimen, we may take the chapter of the -<cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> on the moon as it is given in the Roman <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> -(Fondo Vaticano 4087, p. 38ro.). It commences thus: ‘Luna terris -vicinior est omnibus planetis.’ Some passages are curious, as when -Scot says that the moon has her light from the sun and he again -receives his ‘a summo coelo in quo Trinitas residet.’ The heathen, -he adds, used to call the moon Diana, and the sister of the sun, -whom they named Apollo. Her proper figure is that of a virgin with a -torch in either hand whereof the flames are triple to signify the Trinity, -that ‘true light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world’ -(S. John i. 9). ‘Virgil saith of her “tria Virginis ora Dianae,” that is -heavenly, earthly, and infernal. Her power causes hunters to profit -more by night than by day, and the owl and night-hawk sleep all day -that they may follow their prey by night. Such creatures of the night -are hated by the rest and hate them in return. The wolf hates the -sheep, and birds the owl. This last is of use in fowling when they use -a night-hawk. Builders, too, know that wood must be felled in the -wane of the moon or it will warp.’ It ends thus: ‘Explicit Liber quem -edidit micael scotus de signis et ymaginibus celi, qui scriptum (sic) et -exemplatum fuit per me baltasaram condam (quondam) Domini -Dominici in mcccxx de mense Aprilis Deo gratias Amen.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_205" id="Footnote_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> <cite>Opera Omnia</cite>, Bale, 1527. <cite>In Astrologiam</cite>, lib. viii. chap. vi. and -lib. xii. chap. vii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_206" id="Footnote_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> In No. 1 of the <cite>Cento Novelle Antiche</cite> Frederick answers the -ambassadors of Prester John by saying that the best thing in the world -‘si è misura.’ This may possibly refer to his passion for mathematics.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_207" id="Footnote_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of this work are in Paris, Ancien Fonds, 7310; Milan, -Ambrosiana, T. 100; Florence, Bibl. Naz. xi. D. 64, <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> ii. 35, and -Rome, Fondo Vaticano, 2975.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_208" id="Footnote_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> See <cite>Narducci’s Catalogue</cite> of the Boncompagni <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span>, Rome, 1862.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_209" id="Footnote_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> <cite>Histoire des Sciences Mathématiques.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_210" id="Footnote_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Author’s Edition, Note 3 I.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_211" id="Footnote_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> Lenormant, <cite>Quest. Hist.</cite> vol. ii. pp. 144, 145.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_212" id="Footnote_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> <cite>Cento Novelle Antiche</cite>, No. C.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_213" id="Footnote_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> 22 July 1232. See ‘Ann. Colon. Max.’ in Pertz, <cite>Scriptores Rei -Germanicae</cite>, xvii. 843.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_214" id="Footnote_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> ‘Physicorum motuum.’ The passage will be found in the <cite>De -Utilitate Linguarum</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_215" id="Footnote_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> This city was founded in 1067-68 by En-Nacer ben Alennas ibn -Hammad, who made it his capital.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_216" id="Footnote_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of the <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite> are to be found in Florence, Bibl. Naz. -i. 2616, iii. 25, and xi. 21. The first of these has been exactly reprinted -by Boncompagni at Rome, 1857. Other <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> are in the Boncompagni -library, see <cite>Narducci’s Catalogue</cite>, Nos. 176 and 255. The most important -work on the whole subject is ‘Della Vita e delle Opere di -Leonardo Pisano,’ by Boncompagni, Rome, 1852.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_217" id="Footnote_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> See <i lang="la">infra</i>, <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">chap. ix</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_218" id="Footnote_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> The University Library of Genoa has an interesting <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> (F. vii. 10), -written in Arabic by an African hand. It belonged, A. H. 483, to -Judah ben Jaygh ben Israel, servant of Abu Abdallah Algani Billah, -a Moor of Malaga. It contains medical works by Johannes ben Mesue, -Rases, Alkindi, Geber, and others.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_219" id="Footnote_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> For an account of the school of Salerno, see Sprengel, <cite>Versuch einer -pragmatischen Geschichte der Artzneykunde</cite>; Carmoly, <cite>Histoire des -Médecins Juifs</cite>, Bruxelles, 1844; and De Renai, <cite>Collectio Salernitana</cite>, -Naples, 1852.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_220" id="Footnote_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> The <cite>De Urinis</cite>. See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_221" id="Footnote_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> <cite>Historia Ecclesiastica</cite>, xii. 495. Dempster professed at Pisa and -Bologna between the years 1616 and 1625.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_222" id="Footnote_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> This was Symphorien Champier, physician to Henry <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> of France.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_223" id="Footnote_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> See the Sibbald Collections, Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_224" id="Footnote_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> See D’Herbelot. This author was a Jew.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_225" id="Footnote_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> See <i lang="la">ante</i>, pp. <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>. Further investigation might show that it -was Michael Scot himself who undertook this work for the Emperor. -In that case it would probably be the original from which the two -Italian versions mentioned above were made. Nor is it unlikely he -should have devoted himself to medicine as early as 1212 considering -the nature of the work by Avicenna on which we know he was engaged -in 1210.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_226" id="Footnote_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> In Ideler’s <cite>Physici et Medici Graeci Minores</cite>, Berlin, 1842, vol. ii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_227" id="Footnote_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> Florence, Bibl. Naz. xv. 27, cod. chart. saec. xv.; Naples, Bibl. -Naz. cod. chart. saec. xv. from the Minieri Riccio collection.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_228" id="Footnote_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> Vatican, Fondo della Regina di Svezia, 1159, p. 149. This treatise -closes thus: ‘et istud sufficit tempore presenti facto urinarum. Finis -urinarum Magistri Michaelis Scoti. Incipit Practica Magistri R. de -Parma Medecinarum.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_229" id="Footnote_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> British Museum, add. <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> 24,068. This is a volume in 8vo -containing a medical collection. It belonged in 1422 to Heinrich -Zenner and afterwards to Magister Wenceslaus Brock. No. 22, at fol. -97vo, is as follows: ‘Pillulae Magistri Michaelis Scoti, quae fere -competunt omnibus egritudinibus, et non possit scribi earum bonitas, -unde nolo eas amplius laudare etc. Recipe Aloe epatice optimum, -uncias iii., brionie, mirobolonorum indorum, reb. belliricorum, emblicorum, -citrinorum, masticiis, dyagridii, azari, rosarum, Reubarbari -an. unciam i. Confice cum succo caulium vel absynthii. Dosis sit vii. -vel v. Et iste competunt convenienti et ydonea dieta observata. Et -valent iste pillulae contra omnem dolorem capitis, ex quacumque causa, -vel ex quocumque humore procedat, purgant mire omnes humores, -Leticiam generant, mentem acuunt, visum reddunt et reparant, -auditum restituunt, Juventutem conservant, Scotomiam et vertiginem -reparant, canes (? canities) retardant, memoriam conservant, Emigraneam -depellunt, oculos illuminant, aciem reparant, et in puerilem etatem -reducunt. Et si aliquis humorum est impedimenti in gingivis et -dentibus, medifica[n]t et in soliditatem conservant, arterias de flemate -purgant, Epiglotum et uvam (? uvulam) cum voce clarificant, appetivam -virtutem confortant, Stomachum epar et splenem coadjuvant. Sonitum -aurium et surditatem tollunt, causas febrium omnino extingunt et -auferunt, ascarides vermes necant, omnibus etatibus et temporibus tam -masculino quam feminino sexui conveniunt.’ In the Laurentian -Library, xii. 27. p. 48, I find a similar prescription which may have been -given either by Michael Scot or Master Volmar who succeeded him as -court physician. It is as follows: ‘Pulvis Domini Fred. Imperatoris, valens -contra omnium humorum exceptionem et precipue contra fleumaticum -et melanconicum, ex quibus diuturnae infirmitates capitis et stomachi -habent [?] provenire. Valet quippe contra defectum visus et stomachi -debilitatem cibaria sumpta digeri et membris incorporari facit, valet contra -stomachi ventositatem Scotomiam ante oculos inducentem, restaurat -memoriam quocumque humore perditum, verum (?) dolorem ex frigiditate -provenientem mitigat. Recipe: Carium, petrosillini anisi, -marati, sexmontani, Bethonice, Cymini, calamite, pulegii, ysopi, spicenardi, -piperis, sal gemme, rute, centrumgalli, herbae regiae, heufragie, -olibani, mastici, croci, mirabolanorum, omnium, et plus de citrinis, an. ʒ -1. et utaris omni tempore indifferenter. Addenda sunt ista; Cynamomi, -Schināti, maiorane, folii balsamite, mzimi, (?) cardamomi, galenge, regulitie, -an. ʒ 1. pulverizza, et utaris indifferenter.’ The <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> is in a hand -of the thirteenth century. The Myrobalans, long discarded from the -Pharmacopœia, were the dried fruits of various species of Phyllanthus -and Terminalia which grow in India. They are still used in native -practice, especially in the preparation of the <em>Bit laban</em>, a remedy in -rheumatic gout prepared by calcining these seeds with the fossil muriate -of soda. See <cite>Asiatic Researches</cite>, xi. pp. 174, 181, 192. The bellirica -and emblica are other species of the same plant, the Terminalia. See -Bauhin’s <cite>Historia Plantarum</cite>, 1613. The Dyagridium or Dacridium -is an alternative name for scammony. Azarum, the same as asarum, the -Aristolochia. Maratum or Marathrum an old name for fennel. Reb. is -probably the Robes of the early chemical authors = a vinegar, here -impregnated with the active principle of the fruits prescribed. Cyminum -= cumin. Calamita = mint. Pulegium = pennyroyal, another of the -mints. Salgemma = rock-salt. We shall become familiar with this -term in perusing the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> of Michael Scot. Centrumgallus, -according to Du Cange, the common garden cockscomb. Herbia regia, -the Ocymum citrinum or citron basil. Olibanum, frankincense. -Galengha, the root of a species of Alpinia. Regulitia, liquorice. I have -been greatly helped in identifying several of these forgotten simples -by the kindness of Mr. J. M. Shaw, sub-librarian to the Royal College -of Physicians, Edinburgh.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_230" id="Footnote_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Year viii. of his Pontificate, namely Jan. 16, 1223. See the -interesting article by Milman in the <cite>Miscellany of the Philobiblon -Society</cite>, vol. i. 1854. He refers to the papers of Mr. W. R. Hamilton -in the British Museum, and especially to vol. ii. pp. 214, 228, 246.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_231" id="Footnote_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> <cite>Monumenta</cite>, <i lang="la">sub anno</i> 1259, Feb. 12.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_232" id="Footnote_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> ‘Quod inter literatos vigeat dono scientiae singulari.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_233" id="Footnote_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> Theiner, <cite>Monumenta</cite>, p. 23, <i lang="la">ad annum</i> viii. Hon. <span class="smcapuc">III.</span> <i lang="la">i.e.</i> 1223.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_234" id="Footnote_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> Declinature noted June 20, 1223.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_235" id="Footnote_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Milman’s <cite>Church History</cite>, vol. iv. p. 17.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_236" id="Footnote_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> ‘Nec contentus littera tantum erudire Latina, ut in ea melius -formaretur, Hebraice et Arabice insudavit laudabiliter et profecit, et sic -doctus in singulis grata diversorum varietate nitescit.’—Hamilton <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> -in British Museum, vol iii. p. 57.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_237" id="Footnote_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> He was a Calabrian abbot, who died in 1202.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_238" id="Footnote_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> This author died in 1306.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_239" id="Footnote_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> See Muratori ‘Rerum Italicarum Scriptores,’ viii. (1726) ad calcem -<cite>Mem. Potest Reg.</cite></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_240" id="Footnote_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> Muratori, <i lang="la">Op. cit.</i> ix. 669 B.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_241" id="Footnote_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Quaedam de Te presagia, Cesar,</div> -<div class="verse">A Michaele Scoto me percepisse recordor.</div> -<div class="verse">Qui fuit astrorum scrutator, qui fuit Augur,</div> -<div class="verse">Qui fuit Ariolus, et qui fuit alter Apollo.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Poem of Henri d’Avranches in ‘Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte,’ -xviii. (1878), p. 486.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_242" id="Footnote_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> Vol. x. p. 105. See also the same vol., pp. 101 and 148.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_243" id="Footnote_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> L. ii. xvii. 338, p. 183vo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_244" id="Footnote_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> Bibl. Univ. No. 1557, p. 43. This <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> is of the fifteenth century.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_245" id="Footnote_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> ‘Chronica F. Salimbene,’ Parma 1857, pp. 176-177.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_246" id="Footnote_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> Muratori, <i lang="la">Op. cit.</i> ix. 660 B.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_247" id="Footnote_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> Similar deceitful prophecies are not uncommon in mediæval story. -Walter Map in the <cite>De Nugis Curialium</cite> tells how Silvester <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> was -assured by his familiar spirit that he would not die till he had said Mass -at Jerusalem. The prediction was fulfilled, however, when the Pope did -so at the altar called ‘in Gerusalemme’ in one of the Roman Churches, -and soon thereafter expired.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_248" id="Footnote_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> Muratori, <i lang="la">Op. cit.</i> ix. pp. 128 B, 670; and xiv. p. 1095. Other -forms of this word are <i lang="la">cerebrerium</i>, <i lang="la">celeberium</i> or <i lang="la">cerobotarium</i>. It is -of course derived from <i lang="la">cerebrum</i>, and the English equivalent would be -<em>brainpiece</em>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_249" id="Footnote_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> See the <cite>Epistolarium</cite> of Petrus de Vineis. Jourdain reprints this -letter with a French translation in his <cite>Recherches</cite>, pp. 156-162.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_250" id="Footnote_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> In 1224.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_251" id="Footnote_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> Frederick sought at Bologna for scholars to fill the chairs in Naples.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_252" id="Footnote_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> Martenne, ‘Vett. scriptt. et Monumenta,’ ii. 1220.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_253" id="Footnote_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> <cite>Opus Majus</cite>, pp. 30, 37, ed. Jebbi. ‘Tempore Michaelis Scoti, qui, -annis 1230 transactis, apparuit, deferens librorum Aristotelis partes aliquas -de naturalibus et mathematicis, cum expositoribus sapientibus, -magnificata est Aristotelis philosophia apud Latinos.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_254" id="Footnote_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254"><span class="label">[254]</span></a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘Veridicus Vates Michael, haec pauca locutus,</div> -<div class="verse">Plura locuturus obmutuit, et, sua mundo</div> -<div class="verse">Non paciens archana plebescere, jussit</div> -<div class="verse">Eius ut in tenues prodiret hanelitus auras.</div> -<div class="verse">Sic acusator fatorum fata subivit.’</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><i lang="la">Op. cit.</i> verse 80 <i lang="la">et seq.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_255" id="Footnote_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> ‘History of the Rt. Hon. Name of Scot,’ in <cite>Lay of the Last -Minstrel</cite>, Note W.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_256" id="Footnote_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> The diploma is dated at Melfi on the 9th of August 1232. The -colophon to the copy then made of the <cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite> is as -follows: ‘Completus est liber Avicenne de animalibus, scriptus per -Magistrum Henricum Coloniensem, ad exemplar magnifici Imperatoris -nostri Domini Frederici, apud Meffiam civitatem Apulie, ubi Dominus -Imperator eidem Magistro hunc librum premissum commodavit, anno -Domini <span class="smcapuc">MCCXXXII</span>, in Vigilia Beati Laurentii, in domo Magistri Volmari -medici Imperatoris.’ See Huillard-Bréholles, <cite>Hist. Diplom. Frid.</cite> <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, -vol. iv. part i. pp. 381-2.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_257" id="Footnote_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> See this poem, canto xxv. oct. 42 and 259. Consult also Soldan, -<cite>Magia Antica</cite>, and <cite>Storia dei Processi di Stregheria</cite>, and <cite>Conrad de -Marburg</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_258" id="Footnote_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> <cite>Illustrium Miraculorum</cite>, v. 4. See also i. 33 for another tale of -the same kind.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_259" id="Footnote_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> See Lenormant, <cite>La Magie Chaldéenne</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_260" id="Footnote_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> See Wright’s Cat. of the Syriac <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> in the British Museum. -Iamblicus occurs in cod. dccxxix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_261" id="Footnote_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> I use this word in the general sense then given to it, which seems -to indicate how little the Greek language was understood in those days.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_262" id="Footnote_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> Said to be written by Norbar the Arab, who compiled it from -many sources in the twelfth century. It consists of four books: -<span class="smcapuc">I.</span> De Coelo, <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> De figuris Coeli, <span class="smcapuc">III.</span> De proprietatibus Planetarum, -<span class="smcapuc">IV.</span> De proprietatibus Spirituum; and was translated into Latin by -command of Alfonso <span class="smcapuc">X.</span> (1252-84). Two <span class="smcapuc">MSS.</span> of this version exist in -the Bib. Naz. of Florence, xx. 20 and 21. Arpenius gives some account -of it in his ‘De prodigiosis Naturae,’ Hamburg, 1717, p. 106. It is to -be hoped it may never be translated into any modern language.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_263" id="Footnote_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> As the author of the <cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite>, the treatise most nearly -bordering on this magical doctrine.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_264" id="Footnote_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> ‘In quo exposuit secretiora Naturae.’—<cite>Opus Majus</cite>, p. 37.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_265" id="Footnote_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> That the Arabian magic was familiar to Scot, there can, however, be -no manner of doubt. Take, for instance, the following passage from the -<cite>Liber Introductorius</cite> (<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Bodl. 266, p. 113): ‘Puteus, qui alio nomine -sacrarius, navigantibus per contrarium eo quod sequitur caudam scorpionis -inter astra, et dicitur poetice quod Dii prius fecerunt in eo con[junctio]nem -et sacrificium, cum esset locus secretus intrinsecus, et locus plenus -spiritibus multe sapientie, a quorum astuciis pauci evadunt, et ipsi sunt -fortiores ceteris ad opera conjuratorum de omni dum con[junctio]ne -removentur obedientes vate (?) et[iam] ante pyromancie. Illos libentius -convocant contra ceteros, et sibi reperiunt in agendo valentiores, set ipsi -sunt multis penis ignis afflicti, et ex hac de causa nigromantici requirunt -studiose Puteum intueri, sive stellas Sacrarii, ut eorum auxilio plenius -operentur optata. Et dicitur a multis quod de illo exeunt lapides et -sagipte tonitruale, opere spirituum inferorum. Cum non sit ymago celi, -habet stellas pervisibiles quatuor, dispositio quarum sic certificatur: in -superfitie flammarum exeuntium sunt duo, et duo parum sub ore puthealis, -et hec est forma in celo aspectus sui.’ Over against this we find the application, -as follows: Natus in hoc signo erit gratiosus habere experimenta -et scire incantationes, constringere spiritus et mirabilia facere, et -mulieres convincere artis ingeniosus erit, quietus, sagax, et plus pauper -quam dives, et uti metallis, et alchemesta, et nigromanticus et erit homo -quietus, ingeniosus, sagax, secretus, debilis, pauidus, timidus, etc.’ The -superstition of which Mirandola accuses Scot is very evident here, but it -is no less plain that the author’s purpose was astrological and not magical.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_266" id="Footnote_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> See especially the circular letter of Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span>, anno 1239.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_267" id="Footnote_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> Albert Beham, <cite>Regist. Epistol.</cite> p. 128.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_268" id="Footnote_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> Book iv. chap. ix. ‘De imaginibus quae virtutes faciunt mirabiles, -et fuerunt inventae in libro qui fuit inventus in Ecclesia de Cordib.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_269" id="Footnote_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> Nectanebus, sometimes spelt Neptanebus, is perhaps the ‘Naptium’ -of the <cite>Picatrix</cite> (iii. 8). See also on this curious subject the <cite>Pancrates</cite> -of Lucian, the verses of Adalberone or Ascelin (<span class="smcapuc">A.D.</span> 1006) in the <cite>Recueil -des Hist. des Gaules</cite> (Bouquet x. 67), the English romance of <cite>Alisaundre</cite> -(Early English Text Soc. 1867) and the <cite>Alexander</cite> of Juan Lorenzo -Segura de Astorga. In this last poem, which belongs to the thirteenth -century, the hero’s arms are said to have been forged by the fairies. -There is an article on ‘Nectanebo’ by D. G. Hogarth in the <cite>Eng. Hist. -Review</cite>, Jan. 1896. The same mystic fame attached itself to Pythagoras.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_270" id="Footnote_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> In the poem of Albéric de Besançon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_271" id="Footnote_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> St. Chrysostom (<span class="smcapuc">A.D.</span> 398) speaks of the custom of using brass coins -of Alexander as amulets.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_272" id="Footnote_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> It is a curious fact that under the historic Nekhtneb (362-45 <span class="smcapuc">B.C.</span>) -the Greek philosophers Eudoxus and Chrysippus spent eleven years in -Egypt to learn the astronomical secrets of the priests.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_273" id="Footnote_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> A <cite>Geomancy</cite>, said to be the work of Scot, is preserved in the -Munich Library, No. 489 in 4to, saec. xvi. See the <cite>Thousand Nights</cite> for -instances of the prevalence of this art.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_274" id="Footnote_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> This <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> reached me from Germany. It is unbound and contained -in an envelope made from the leaf of an old choir-book covered with -manuscript music. This cover is secured by three large seals bearing the -arms of Dunkelsphuhl, to which family it seems to have belonged. The -preface is dated at Prague. It is possible the <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> may have had something -to do with the magical studies of Dr. John Dee, who spent some time in -Prague at the beginning of the seventeenth century. See Appendix <span class="smcapuc">IV</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_275" id="Footnote_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> Leonardo Pisano uses this word in the <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite>. See -p. 187vo of the Florence <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> Bibl. Naz. i. 2616, where the following -passage occurs: ‘Secundum modum algebrae et almuchabalae, scilicet -ad proportionem et restaurationem.’ In an ancient list of works by -Gerard of Cremona (? the younger) found in the Vatican (No. 2392) we -have this title: ‘Liber alcoarismi de iebra et almucabala tractatus.’ -See Boncompagni’s <cite>Life of Gerard</cite>, Rome 1851. Works on almuchabola -are found also under the names of Al Deinouri, Al Sarakhsi, Al -Khouaresmi, Khamel Schagia ben Aslam, and Al Thoussi. See -D’Herbelot.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_276" id="Footnote_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> They show a distinct likeness to the Magreb or West African -writing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_277" id="Footnote_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> This resemblance should be studied in the remarkably beautiful -<span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> of the <cite>Liber Abbaci</cite>, numbered xi. 21 in the Bibl. Naz. Florence.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_278" id="Footnote_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> <cite>Epistola de Secretis</cite>, ed. Master of the Rolls, Longmans, 1859, -pp. 531, 544.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_279" id="Footnote_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> <cite>Explanatio in Prophetias Merlini</cite>, iii. 26.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_280" id="Footnote_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> See the interesting work by Graf, <cite>Miti, Leggendi e Superstizioni -del Medio Evo</cite>, Torino, Loescher, 1893.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_281" id="Footnote_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> ‘Otia Imperialia’ in Leibnitz <cite>Scriptores Rerum Brunsvicensium</cite>, i. 921.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_282" id="Footnote_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> <cite>Illustrium Miraculorum</cite>, xii. 12. The next tale, in chap. xiii., -relates how some men, wandering by chance on Etna, heard a voice -cry from under the hill ‘Prepare the fires.’ This was heard by them a -second time, and then the cry was ‘Prepare a great fire,’ upon which -other voices asked for whom this should be done, and the answer came -back that it was for the Duke of Thuringia, a friend and trusty servant -of these lower powers. This the hearers made faith of in a writing -given to the Emperor Frederick, and it presently appeared that Bertolph -of Thuringia, a noted tyrant, heretic and persecutor of the Church, had -died at the very day and hour when these voices were heard on Etna.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_283" id="Footnote_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> See <cite>Anecdotes Historiques</cite>, by Lecoy de la Marche, Paris, 1877, -p. 32.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_284" id="Footnote_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> This romance was published by the Roxburghe Club, London, -1873.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_285" id="Footnote_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> See Grimm’s <cite>Deutsche Mythologie</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_286" id="Footnote_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> The sarcophagus was opened in 1781 and all was found as described -above. The body of the great Emperor was in good preservation and -with it were remains of Peter <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> of Aragon, and Duke William, son of -Frederick <span class="smcapuc">II.</span> of Aragon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_287" id="Footnote_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> German prophecies of the same kind are given by Grimm, -<i lang="la">op. cit.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_288" id="Footnote_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> See Pertz <cite>Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum</cite>, xviii. 796.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_289" id="Footnote_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289"><span class="label">[289]</span></a> For example, he is called: Dei ‘coöperator, et Vicarius constitutus -in terris’; ‘the cornerstone of the Church,’ etc. See Huillard-Bréholles -<cite>Vie et correspondance de Pierre de la Vigne</cite>, Paris, Plon, 1864.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_290" id="Footnote_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290"><span class="label">[290]</span></a> See also another romance called <cite>L’Histoire de Maugis d’Aygremont</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_291" id="Footnote_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291"><span class="label">[291]</span></a> See also Leyden’s <cite>Scenes of Infancy</cite>, pt. ii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_292" id="Footnote_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292"><span class="label">[292]</span></a> Timbs’s <cite>Abbeys, Castles, and Ancient Halls of England and Wales</cite>: -London, Warne, vol. iii. p. 126.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_293" id="Footnote_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293"><span class="label">[293]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note Y.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_294" id="Footnote_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294"><span class="label">[294]</span></a> I quote from the edition of Florence, 1580.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_295" id="Footnote_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295"><span class="label">[295]</span></a> P. 343. See <i lang="la">ante</i>, pp. <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, and Renan’s <cite>Averroës</cite>, p. 314.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_296" id="Footnote_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296"><span class="label">[296]</span></a> P. 375.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_297" id="Footnote_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297"><span class="label">[297]</span></a> I cannot leave this interesting though obscure author without -noticing the undoubted reference he makes in his <cite>Specchio</cite> to the Gipsies. -‘Certain people,’ he says (p. 351), ‘have a superstition regarding -lucky and unlucky days, which have been pointed out to them by those -who call themselves Egyptians.’ We have hitherto supposed that 1422 -was the time when Gipsies first appeared in the West. That year is -cited by Muratori in his <cite>Dissertazioni</cite> as the date of a document which -speaks of the coming of Andrew, who called himself Duke of Egypt, and -all his tribe. Passavanti, however, wrote about 1350, so that the epoch -of migration must be carried back at least a century.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_298" id="Footnote_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298"><span class="label">[298]</span></a> <cite>Inferno</cite>, xx. 116, 117.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_299" id="Footnote_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299"><span class="label">[299]</span></a> Lane’s <cite>Modern Egyptians</cite>, 1837, vol. i. p. 360. For a tract on <cite>Es -Seémiya</cite>, by the Shaik Ali Al Tarabulsio (of Tripoli), who composed it -in 1219, see Asseman, Cat. Bibl. Pal. Med. p. 362.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_300" id="Footnote_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300"><span class="label">[300]</span></a> See the <cite>De Secretis</cite> of Bacon for a curious account of these tricks -as practised in his day.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_301" id="Footnote_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301"><span class="label">[301]</span></a> <cite>Inferno di Dante col Comento di Jacopo della Lana</cite>, Bologna, -1866, vol. i. p. 351.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_302" id="Footnote_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302"><span class="label">[302]</span></a> In the ninth novel of the eighth day.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_303" id="Footnote_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303"><span class="label">[303]</span></a> <cite>Wesseloffsky</cite>, Bologna, 1867, vol. ii. pp. 180-217.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_304" id="Footnote_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304"><span class="label">[304]</span></a> No. xx.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_305" id="Footnote_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305"><span class="label">[305]</span></a> <cite>Chiose sopra Dante</cite>, published by Lord Vernon; Florence, 1846, -pp. 162-163.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_306" id="Footnote_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306"><span class="label">[306]</span></a> Pl. lxxxix. sup. cod. 38.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_307" id="Footnote_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307"><span class="label">[307]</span></a> No. 489.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_308" id="Footnote_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308"><span class="label">[308]</span></a> Fondo Vaticano 2392, p. 97vo. and 98ro. See Boncompagni, <cite>Della -vita e delle opere de Gherardo Cremonese</cite>; Roma, 1851, p. 7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_309" id="Footnote_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309"><span class="label">[309]</span></a> <cite>Maccheronea</cite>, xviii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_310" id="Footnote_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310"><span class="label">[310]</span></a> ‘Innumerabiles fabulae aniles circumferuntur, et jam nunc hodie.’ -<cite>Hist. Eccl.</cite> p. 494.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_311" id="Footnote_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311"><span class="label">[311]</span></a> <i lang="la">Obiit</i> 1625.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_312" id="Footnote_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312"><span class="label">[312]</span></a> ‘Chiose anonime alla prima Cantica della <cite>Divina Commedia</cite>’; -Torino, Salmi, 1865, p. 114.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_313" id="Footnote_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313"><span class="label">[313]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note W.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_314" id="Footnote_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314"><span class="label">[314]</span></a> <cite>Ibid.</cite> Note Z.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_315" id="Footnote_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315"><span class="label">[315]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note Y.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_316" id="Footnote_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316"><span class="label">[316]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note Y.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_317" id="Footnote_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317"><span class="label">[317]</span></a> ‘Et, ut puto, in Scotia libri ipsius dicebantur, me puero, extare, sed -sine horrore quodam non posse attingi ob malorum daemonum praestigias -quae, illis apertis, fiebant.’—<cite>Hist. Eccl.</cite> p. 495.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_318" id="Footnote_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318"><span class="label">[318]</span></a> <cite>Lay of the Last Minstrel</cite>, Note W.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_319" id="Footnote_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319"><span class="label">[319]</span></a> <cite>Apologie des Grands Hommes accusez de Magie</cite>, Paris, 1669.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_320" id="Footnote_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320"><span class="label">[320]</span></a> <cite>De Michaele Scoto, Veneficii injuste damnato</cite>, 1739.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_321" id="Footnote_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321"><span class="label">[321]</span></a> My readers owe these tales to the kindness of Mr. C. G. Leland, -who procured them for me from an old Florentine woman. She is -familiar to Mr. Leland’s friends as ‘Maddalena,’ and is the depository -of that traditional lore on which he has so happily drawn in his <cite>Legends -of Florence</cite>. Her stories are interesting if only as an example of folklore -up to date, and of the way in which an Italian mind deals with the -legend of Michael Scot, while some points they offer are certainly -original and highly curious.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_322" id="Footnote_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322"><span class="label">[322]</span></a> This may be a variant of ‘Maugis’ or Merlin. In the romance of -<cite>Maugis d’Aygremont</cite> we find the following passage: ‘Il n’y avoit -meilleur maistre que lui … et l’appelloit-on Maistre Maugis.’ On -the other hand Mengot is a genuine early Teutonic name. ‘Et hic -liber finitus est per manus Mengoti Itelbrot, Anno domini mºcccºlxxxv.’ -is the colophon to a manuscript of the <cite>Almagest</cite> of Ptolemy in the -Vatican, Fondo Palatino, 1365, p. 206ro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_323" id="Footnote_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323"><span class="label">[323]</span></a> ‘M’hai <em>scottato</em> me, ma ora <em>scotto</em> te.’ This play on words is -the turning-point of the tale.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_324" id="Footnote_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324"><span class="label">[324]</span></a> ‘Scorticata.’ It may be that a play on words is intended here also.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_325" id="Footnote_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325"><span class="label">[325]</span></a> This is no doubt the <i>benj</i> or <i>bhang</i> of the Arabs and Indians -which still furnishes them with a potent narcotic.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_326" id="Footnote_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326"><span class="label">[326]</span></a> Laurentian Library, P. lxxxix, sup. cod. 38, p. 409 (old number 256) verso.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_327" id="Footnote_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327"><span class="label">[327]</span></a> Here and elsewhere in this text are astrological signs which cannot be reproduced -in print.</p> - -<p class="transnote">Transcriber’s Note: By comparison with a copy of Scot’s manuscript -(Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Plut. 89 sup. 038, ff. -409v-413r), the correct astrological signs have here been added.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_328" id="Footnote_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328"><span class="label">[328]</span></a> <i lang="la">Cf.</i> with the expression in the colophon ‘qui summus inter alios nominatur -magister.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_329" id="Footnote_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_329"><span class="label">[329]</span></a> The manuscript shows a drawing of a magic circle here. It has the names -of demons alternately with those of the cardinal points.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_330" id="Footnote_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330"><span class="label">[330]</span></a> These are names of philosophers probably the same as the ‘vnay et melchia’ -of the <cite>Luminis Luminum</cite>, the rather that the phrase ‘non convertitur perfecte -in lunam’ occurs in both passages. I do not know how to explain the fact -that two paragraphs of the <cite>Liber Dedali</cite> correspond so closely with one in the -<cite>Liber Luminis</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_331" id="Footnote_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_331"><span class="label">[331]</span></a> There is probably a reference here to the disputes which divided the different -alchemical schools.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_332" id="Footnote_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_332"><span class="label">[332]</span></a> The nature of this powder of moles is explained a little further on in the -Liber Dedali, par. 10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_333" id="Footnote_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333"><span class="label">[333]</span></a> A double chloride of ammonium and mercury, represented by the formula -<i>2NH₄Cl. HgCl₂, H₂O</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_334" id="Footnote_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_334"><span class="label">[334]</span></a> The use of matters derived from the animal kingdom, carbonised toads or -moles, may be illustrated from the Liber Dyabesi (Ricc. ms. l. iii. 13, 119, p. 4 -recto) which treats of what had been ‘ab omni Latinitate intemptatum’ viz. the -distillation of a white land-tortoise (v. p. 7 verso). Pliny remarks that goat’s -blood sharpens and hardens iron tools and polishes steel better than any file.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_335" id="Footnote_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_335"><span class="label">[335]</span></a> This passage is highly significant, and furnishes a key to the title of the -treatise.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_336" id="Footnote_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_336"><span class="label">[336]</span></a> The doctrine of the vitriols is here substantially the same as in the great -work of Ibn Beithar of Malaga.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_337" id="Footnote_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_337"><span class="label">[337]</span></a> There is a well-known tract <cite>De aluminibus et salibus</cite> ascribed to Rases in -the Paris <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span> (6514 p. 128); it also occurs in the Speciale <span class="smcapuc">MS.</span></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_338" id="Footnote_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_338"><span class="label">[338]</span></a> This phrase is found in the <cite>De aluminibus et salibus</cite> of Rases (Paris ms. -6514 p. 128) who calls the place ‘Elebla.’ Vincent of Beauvais ascribes the -saying to Geber.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_339" id="Footnote_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_339"><span class="label">[339]</span></a> The use of the first person singular here agrees with the notion that in this -part of the <cite>Liber Luminis</cite> we have the record of the author’s own experiments. -See <i lang="la">ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> - -<ul> - -<li class="ifrst"><cite>Abbreviatio Avicennae</cite>, <a href="#Page_53">53-59</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abd-el-Mumen, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Aboasar, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abraxas gems, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abrincensis, Henry, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Achinas, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alain de l’Isle, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alamout, Castle of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Albategni, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Albertus Magnus, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Albigenses, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Albigensian Crusade, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alchemy, <a href="#Page_65">65-95</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Disputes concerning, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alexander the Great, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Legend of, <a href="#Page_187">187-189</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alexandria, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alfarabi, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Al Faquir, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alfargan, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Algebra and Magic, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190-192</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Al Khowaresmi, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Al Kindi, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Almagest</cite>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Al Mamun, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Al Mansour, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Almuchabola, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alpetrongi, <a href="#Page_99">99-105</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alphagirus or Al Faquir, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alphonso of Castile, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ambassador, Scot as an, <a href="#Page_169">169-175</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Andrew, Scot’s interpreter, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Anonymous Florentine, The, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Apologie des Grands Hommes</cite>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Aquinas, S. Thomas, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arabic known to Scot, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arabs, their influence, <a href="#Page_42">42-45</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">‘Archelaus,’ Alchemy of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Archimedes, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Aristotle, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Legend of, <a href="#Page_187">187-189</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Ars Aurifera</cite>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ars Notoria, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arthurian Legend, The, <a href="#Page_195">195-205</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Assephae, Liber</cite>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Astrologia</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Astrologorum Dogmata</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Astrology and Magic, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Astrology taught by Scot, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Astronomia</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Astronomy of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_96">96-105</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Avalon, <a href="#Page_194">194-205</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Avendeath, John, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117-119</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235-239</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Averroës, <a href="#Page_vii">vii</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106-110</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Avicenna, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235-239</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Azarchel, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bacon, Roger, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Baconthorpe, John, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Baldi, Bernardino, <a href="#Page_vii">vii-ix</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Balwearie, Scotts of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bartholomew of Messina, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Benefice sought for Scot, <a href="#Page_157">157-163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Benvenuto da Imola, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Berwick, Bar of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Bibliotheca</cite> of Manget, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Birth of Scot, when, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; where, <a href="#Page_7">7-10</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Boccaccio, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Boece, Hector, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bologna, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bonacci, Leonardo, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bonatti, Guido, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Book of Might, Scot’s, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Burgh-under-Bowness, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>Byzantine Alchemy, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Camperius, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Canterbury, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Capitulum</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cashel, Archbishopric, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Castrensis, Robert, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Catskin, the bewitched, <a href="#Page_225">225-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Cento Novelle Antiche</cite>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cervilerium, The, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Character of Scot, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Cheiromantia</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Circular Letter of Frederick II., <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Compositiones ad Tingenda</cite>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Constantia, Queen, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Empress, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cordova, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112-114</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Magic at, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231-234</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Courçon, Robert de, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Crates <em>or</em> Democritus, The Alchemy of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Cronica dei Matematici</cite>, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Crusades, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Da Buti, Francesco, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dante and his Commentators, <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206-211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">D’Avranches, Henry, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Alchimia</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_88">88-94</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Aluminibus</cite>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Anima</cite>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Animalibus Avicennae</cite>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Animalibus ad Caesarem</cite>, <a href="#Page_48">48-53</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Death of Scot, <a href="#Page_175">175-178</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Decamerone</cite>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Causis</cite>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Coelo et Mundo</cite>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Deo Benedicto</cite>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dee, Dr. John, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Generatione</cite>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Generatione Lapidum</cite>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Gestis Baldi</cite>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Mineralibus</cite>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Democritus, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dempster, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Partibus Animalium</cite>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Presagiis</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Secretis</cite>, of Bacon, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Despondency of Scot, <a href="#Page_163">163-170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Substantia Orbis</cite>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Tribus Impostoribus</cite>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>De Urinis</cite>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dioscorides, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Dittamondo</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Doxopatros, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dress of Scot, <a href="#Page_138">138-140</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dryburgh School, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dunkeld, See of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Durham, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Education of Scot, <a href="#Page_11">11-16</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Eildon Hills, The, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Elias, Fra, <a href="#Page_90">90-92</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">El Mohdy, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emanuel, Alchemy of, <a href="#Page_83">83-85</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Comnenus, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Erythræan Sibyl, the, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Es-Seémiya, <a href="#Page_208">208-209</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Essenes, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Étienne de Rheims, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Etna haunted, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Eugenio, Admiral, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Falsehope, Witch of, <a href="#Page_219">219-221</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Familiar Spirit, Scot’s, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fata Morgana, The, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fazio degli Uberti, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Florentine tales of Scot, <a href="#Page_222">222-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Florian and Florete</cite>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Folengo, Teofilo, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Frederick <span class="smcapuc">I.</span>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ <span class="smcapuc">II.</span>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-112</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171-174</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196-198</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fresco at Florence, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Galienus, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gazzali, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Geber, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Geomancy, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Geomantia</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">George of Antioch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gerard of Cremona, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Sabloneta, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>Gervase of Tilbury, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Giovacchino di Fiora, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gipsies, The, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Glamour, what, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Grammar Schools of Scotland, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Grave of Scot, where, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Greek, Scot’s knowledge of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133-135</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gregory <span class="smcapuc">IX.</span>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gundisalvus, Dominicus, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117-119</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Guy, Bishop of Tripoli, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hakim, Caliph, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Heisterbach, Cæsar von, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hemp used in Magic, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Henry of Colonia, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hermannus Alemannus, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hispalensis, Johannes, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hispanus, Johannes, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>History of Animals</cite>, Aristotle’s, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43-63</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ibn-Badja, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ibn-Beithar, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ibn-el-Bitriq, <a href="#Page_34">34-36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ibn-Moauia, <a href="#Page_72">72-75</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ibn-Tofail, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Images, Magic of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ittisal, The, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Jacopo della Lana, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Jacopone da Todi, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Joachim, Abbot, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Josephus, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Kitab Alchefâ, The, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Kyffhauser, The, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Landino, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Legend of Scot, <a href="#Page_179">179-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Leonardo Pisano, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lesley, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Abbaci</cite>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Dedali</cite>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84-86</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241-265</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber duodecim Aquarum</cite>, <a href="#Page_84">84-85</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Dyabesi</cite>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Introductorius</cite>, of Scot, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Invidiosus</cite>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Lumen Luminum</cite>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Luminis Luminum</cite>, of Scot, <a href="#Page_81">81-89</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240-268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Liber Particularis</cite>, of Scot, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Logica</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lucken Howe, The, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lydgate’s version of the <cite>Secreta</cite>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Maddalena’s Tales, <a href="#Page_223">223-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Magic, Arabian, <a href="#Page_181">181-184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Book ascribed to Scot, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270-274</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ not impossible, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ power, how obtained, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Schools of, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Scot familiar with, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Tales of, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Magician, Was Scot a, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Why Scot called a, <a href="#Page_185">185-193</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Magisterium, what, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Magisterium</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Magna Grecia, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Maimonides, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Manuel Comnenus, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Mappae Clavicula</cite>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mar Iannos, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Martorana, Library of the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Master, Scot’s title of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mathematician, Michael the, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mathematics, Scot’s studies in, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Maugis, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Maugis and Vivien</cite>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mauritius Hispanus, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Medicine, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149-156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mengot, Master, <a href="#Page_223">223-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Merlin, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Merlin Coccajo, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Metaphysica</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Meteora</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mirandola, Pico della, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mohammed, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Monk’s Heath, tale of, <a href="#Page_200">200-202</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Moorish Libraries, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Morgana, The Fata, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Naples, A Legend of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Nationality of Scot, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>Natural History, The Arabian, <a href="#Page_60">60-63</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Naudé, <a href="#Page_x">x</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Nectanebus, <a href="#Page_187">187-189</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Nicolas Peripateticus, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Notitia Convinctionis</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Nova Ethica</cite>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oakwood Tower, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Old Man of the Mountain, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Optica</cite> of Ptolemy, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Oxford, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Palermo, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Paradiso degli Alberti</cite>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Paris, <a href="#Page_13">13-15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Council of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Tale of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Parma, Tale of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Parva Naturalia</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pascal compared with Scot, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Passavanti, Fra Jacopo, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Patronage, Abuse of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pendasius, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Peter the Notary, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ of Toledo, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ the Venerable, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Philemon <em>or</em> Polemon, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Philip of Salerno, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ of Tripoli, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Philippus Clericus, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Philopon, Johannes, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Physica</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Physionomia</cite> of Aristotle, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ of Scot, <a href="#Page_30">30-40</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Picatrix</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Pillulae</cite> of Scot, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Plague, The, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Plato, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pliny, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Porphyry, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Proclus, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Prophecies of Scot, <a href="#Page_163">163-168</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">‘Province of Scotland,’ what, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Pseudo Boccaccio</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ptolemy, <a href="#Page_97">97-99</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Publication of Scot’s Works, <a href="#Page_169">169-175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Pulvis Dom. Fred.</cite>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Quadrivium, The, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Quattrami, Fra Evangelista, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Quaestio Curiosa</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Quaestiones Nicolai Peripatetici</cite>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127-132</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Rases, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Raymon, Archbishop of Toledo, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rossetti, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Roxburgh School, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sacrobosco, Johannes, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Salerno, Philip of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ School of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Salimbene, his tale, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Saracens, The, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Satchells, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Schmutzer, <a href="#Page_x">x</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scot, Bishop of Dunkeld, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scotland dislikes Rome, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ in the twelfth century, <a href="#Page_1">1-5</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Magic in, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Sir Walter, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scottish Grammar Schools, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scotus Erigena, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Secreta Naturæ</cite>, <a href="#Page_82">82-84</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Secreta Secretorum</cite>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Seismometer, a, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sergius of Resaina, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sicily, Arthurian, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Court of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Languages spoken in, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Signatures, Doctrine of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Sirr-el-asrar</cite>, The, <a href="#Page_32">32-38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Spain, Scot visits, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Specchio di Penitenza</cite>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Sphera</cite>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ of Sacrobosco, <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stephen of Bourbon, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ of Provins, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Suppression of Scot’s <cite>Averroës</cite>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tarasia, Queen of Spain, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">‘Thales,’ Scot called, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Theatrum Chemicum</cite>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Themistius, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>Theological studies and style of Scot, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Therapeutæ, The, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Thuringia, Bertolph of, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Tibbun, Samuel, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Toledo, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Schools of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115-123</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Astronomy at, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Magic at, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Transformation a ruling idea, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Tripoli, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">⸺ Philip of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Troubadours, The, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Trouvères, The, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Tweed, The River, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Urine, Works on the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><cite>Vergilius</cite>, Romance of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vincent of Beauvais, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vivien, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Volmar, Master, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Witchcraft, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Zosimus, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> - -</ul> - -<p class="titlepage">FINIS.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span></p> - -<h2>ERRATA</h2> - -<p><a href="#erratum">Page 55, line 11.</a> <i>For</i> ‘mºcºcºx,’ <i>read</i> ‘mºccºx.’</p> - -<p><a href="#Footnote_125">Page 81, note 1.</a> <i>For</i> ‘The term had not been previously -used in theology,’ <i>read</i> ‘The term seems not to -have been previously used in pure theology.’</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center larger">ARCHITECTURAL,<br /> -ARCHÆOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL WORKS<br /> -<span class="smaller">RECENTLY PUBLISHED</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Five Volumes Royal 8vo, 42s. net each volume, with about -500 Illustrations in each volume.</i></p> - -<p>THE<br /> -CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC<br /> -<span class="larger">ARCHITECTURE</span><br /> -OF SCOTLAND<br /> -<span class="smaller">FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</span></p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">DAVID MACGIBBON and THOMAS ROSS</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">ARCHITECTS</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/ad1.jpg" width="300" height="280" alt="A gargoyle" /> -</div> - -<p class="noc smaller">“One of the most important and complete books on Scottish architecture that -has ever been compiled. Its value to the architect, the archæologist, and the -student of styles is at once apparent. It consists almost exclusively of what may be -called illustrated architectural facts, well digested and arranged, and constituting a -monument of patient research, capable draughtsmanship, and of well-sustained effort, -which do the authors infinite credit.”—<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Volume I. now ready. Royal 8vo, 42s. net. Vols. II. and III. -in preparation.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smaller">THE</span><br /> -ECCLESIASTICAL<br /> -<span class="larger">ARCHITECTURE</span><br /> -OF SCOTLAND<br /> -<span class="smaller">FROM THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN TIMES TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY</span></p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">DAVID MACGIBBON and THOMAS ROSS</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHORS OF “THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND”</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<img src="images/ad2.jpg" width="200" height="280" alt="A carved column" /> -</div> - -<p><i>IN THREE VOLUMES</i></p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>One Volume 8vo, 21s., with nearly 300 Illustrations.</i></p> - -<p class="larger">THE ARCHITECTURE OF<br /> -<span class="larger">PROVENCE</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">AND</span><br /> -THE RIVIERA</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -DAVID MACGIBBON<br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF “THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND”</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 340px;"> -<img src="images/ad3.jpg" width="340" height="280" alt="Carved columns" /> -</div> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Two Volumes 8vo, fully Illustrated, 12s. each (sold separately).</i></p> - -<p class="larger">SCOTLAND<br /> -<span class="smaller">IN</span><br /> -EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES</p> - -<p><i>THE RHIND LECTURES IN ARCHÆOLOGY—1879 AND 1880.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">By JOSEPH ANDERSON, LL.D.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/ad4.jpg" width="350" height="280" alt="Carved stone depicting the Crucifixion" /> -</div> - -<p class="noc"><span class="smcap">Contents of Vol. I.</span>—Celtic Churches—Monasteries—Hermitages—Round -Towers—Illuminated Manuscripts—Bells—Crosiers—Reliquaries, etc.</p> - -<p class="noc"><span class="smcap">Contents of Vol. II.</span>—Celtic Medal-Work and Sculptured Monuments, their -Art and Symbolism—Inscribed Monuments in Runics and Oghams—Bilingual -Inscriptions, etc.</p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Two Volumes 8vo, fully Illustrated, 12s. each (sold separately).</i></p> - -<p class="larger">SCOTLAND<br /> -<span class="smaller">IN</span><br /> -PAGAN TIMES</p> - -<p><span class="gothic">The Iron Age</span><br /> -<i>THE RHIND LECTURES IN ARCHÆOLOGY FOR 1881</i></p> - -<p><span class="gothic">The Bronze and Stone Ages</span><br /> -<i>THE RHIND LECTURES IN ARCHÆOLOGY FOR 1882</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">By JOSEPH ANDERSON, LL.D.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/ad5.jpg" width="400" height="190" alt="A crown(?)" /> -</div> - -<p class="noc"><span class="smcap">Contents of Vol. I.</span>—<i>The Iron Age.</i>—Viking Burials and Hoards of Silver and -Ornaments—Arms, Dress, etc., of the Viking Time—Celtic Art of the Pagan Period—Decorated -Mirrors—Enamelled Armlets—Architecture and Contents of the Brochs—Lake-Dwellings—Earth -Houses, etc.</p> - -<p class="noc"><span class="smcap">Contents of Vol. II.</span>—<i>The Bronze and Stone Ages.</i>—Cairn Burial of the Bronze -Age and Cremation Cemeteries—Urns of Bronze Age Types—Stone Circles—Stone -Settings—Gold Ornaments—Implements and Weapons of Bronze—Cairn Burial of the -Stone Age—Chambered Cairns—Urns of Stone Age Types—Implements and Weapons -of Stone.</p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>One Volume 8vo, fully Illustrated, 15s.</i></p> - -<p>THE<br /> -<span class="larger">PAST IN THE PRESENT:</span><br /> -WHAT IS CIVILISATION?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">By SIR ARTHUR MITCHELL, M.D., LL.D.</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<img src="images/ad6.jpg" width="250" height="360" alt="Woman with a lamp, on an old man’s shoulders" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Contents.</span></p> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">I.</td> - <td>The Spindle and Whorl.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">II.</td> - <td>Craggans and Querns, etc.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">III.</td> - <td>Beehive Houses, etc.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IV.</td> - <td>Cave Life.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">V.</td> - <td>Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VI.</td> - <td>Superstitions.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p>W. Stephen.</p> - -<p class="hang">History of the Scottish Church. By <span class="smcap">W. Stephen</span>, Rector -of St. Augustine’s, Dumbarton. 2 vols. demy 8vo, 25s.</p> - -<p>Robert Milne.</p> - -<p class="hang">The Blackfriars of Perth. The Chartulary and Papers of -their House. Edited, with Introduction, by <span class="smcap">Robert Milne</span>, D.D., West Kirk, -Perth. Demy 4to, 21s.</p> - -<p>James Watson.</p> - -<p class="hang">Jedburgh Abbey: Historical and Descriptive; also the -Abbeys of Teviotdale, as showing the Development of Gothic Architecture. -By <span class="smcap">James Watson</span>. Second Edition. Sm. 4to, Illustrated, 10s. net.</p> - -<p>Earl of Southesk.</p> - -<p class="hang">Origins of Pictish Symbolism. With Notes on the Sun -Boar, and a New Reading of the Newton “Inscriptions.” By the <span class="smcap">Earl of -Southesk</span>. Sm. 4to, 9s.</p> - -<p>David MacRitchie.</p> - -<p class="hang">Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts. By <span class="smcap">David MacRitchie</span>. -Demy 8vo, 6s. net.</p> - -<p>Prof. Baldwin Brown.</p> - -<p class="hang">From Schola to Cathedral. A Study of Early Christian -Architecture in its relation to the life of the Church. By <span class="smcap">G. Baldwin Brown</span>, -Professor of Fine Art in the University of Edinburgh. Demy 8vo, Illustrated, -7s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="noc">The book treats of the beginnings of Christian Architecture, from the point -of view of recent discoveries and theories, with a special reference to the outward -resemblance of early Christian communities to other religious associations -of the time.</p> - -<p>William F. Skene.</p> - -<p class="hang">Celtic Scotland. A History of Ancient Alban. By -<span class="smcap">William F. Skene</span>, D.C.L., LL.D., Historiographer-Royal for Scotland. -Second Edition, carefully Revised by the Author, with a new Index to the -entire work. 3 vols. demy 8vo, 45s.</p> - -<table summary="Volumes of this work"> - <tr> - <td>Vol.</td> - <td class="tdr">I.</td> - <td><span class="smcapuc">HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY.</span> 15s.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Vol.</td> - <td class="tdr">II.</td> - <td><span class="smcapuc">CHURCH AND CULTURE.</span> 15s.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Vol.</td> - <td class="tdr">III.</td> - <td><span class="smcapuc">LAND AND PEOPLE.</span> 15s.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="noc">“Forty years ago Mr Skene published a small historical work on the Scottish -Highlands which has ever since been appealed to as an authority, but which has long -been out of print. The promise of this youthful effort is amply fulfilled in the three -weighty volumes of his maturer years. As a work of historical research it ought, in -our opinion, to take a very high rank.”—<cite>Times.</cite></p> - -<p>E. W. Robertson.</p> - -<p class="hang">Scotland under her Early Kings. A History of the -Kingdom to the close of the Thirteenth Century. By <span class="smcap">E. William Robertson</span>. -2 vols. demy 8vo, cloth, 36s.</p> - -<p class="hang">Historical Essays, in connection with the Land and the -Church, etc. By <span class="smcap">E. William Robertson</span>, Author of “Scotland under her -Early Kings.” 1 vol. demy 8vo, 10s. 6d.</p> - -<p>Rev. James B. Johnston.</p> - -<p class="hang">The Place-Names of Scotland. By the Rev. <span class="smcap">James B. -Johnston</span>, B.D., Falkirk. 1 vol. crown 8vo, 7s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="noc">This book, for which the author has been collecting materials during the -last five years, contains an introduction, general and philological, followed by a -list of the important place-names in Scotland, with explanations of their meaning, -and with their old spellings, each dated so far as known.</p> - -<p>Lord Cockburn.</p> - -<p class="hang">Circuit Journeys. By the late <span class="smcap">Lord Cockburn</span>, one of the -Judges of the Court of Session. Second Edition, 1 vol. crown 8vo, 6s.</p> - -<p class="noc">“One of the best books of reminiscences that have appeared.”—<cite>Morning Post.</cite></p> - -<p class="noc">“Delightful alike for its pleasant landscapes; its sound criticisms on men, law, -and books; for its sharp things said in a good-natured way.”—<cite>Academy.</cite></p> - -<p class="noc">“Valuable for their topographical descriptions; and they form an indirect contribution -to the social history of Scotland.”—<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p> - -<p>Sir Daniel Wilson.</p> - -<p class="hang">The Lost Atlantis and other Ethnographic Studies. By Sir -<span class="smcap">Daniel Wilson</span>, LL.D., F.R.S.E. 1 vol. demy 8vo, 15s.</p> - -<p class="noc"><i>Contents.</i>—The Lost Atlantis—The Vinland of the Northmen—Trade and -Commerce in the Stone Age—Pre-Aryan American Man—The Æsthetic Faculty -in Aboriginal Races—The Huron-Iroquois: a Typical Race—Hybridity and -Heredity—Relative Racial Brain-Weight and Size.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Two Volumes Demy 8vo, Illustrated, 25 s. net.</i></p> - -<p class="larger">THE HEREDITARY<br /> -<span class="larger">SHERIFFS OF GALLOWAY</span></p> - -<p>THEIR “FORBEARS” AND FRIENDS<br /> -THEIR COURTS, AND CUSTOMS OF THEIR TIMES</p> - -<p>WITH NOTES OF THE EARLY HISTORY, ECCLESIASTICAL -LEGENDS, THE BARONAGE AND PLACE -NAMES OF THE PROVINCE</p> - -<p>BY THE LATE<br /> -<span class="smcap larger">Sir ANDREW AGNEW, Bart.</span><br /> -OF LOCHNAW</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<img src="images/ad7.jpg" width="250" height="250" alt="Plaque: EXCEPT THE LORD BUILDE THE HOUSE -THEY LABOUR IN VAINE THAT BUILDE ASG ADS 1663" /> -</div> - -<p>EDINBURGH:<br /> -DAVID DOUGLAS, 10 CASTLE STREET<br /> -1893</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p>ICELANDIC SAGA, Translated by Sir GEORGE DASENT</p> - -<p><i>Two Volumes Demy 8vo, with Maps and Plans, 28s. net.</i></p> - -<p>THE NJALA SAGA</p> - -<p class="larger">BURNT NJAL</p> - -<p>FROM THE ICELANDIC OF THE NJAL’S SAGA</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -SIR GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/ad8.jpg" width="400" height="190" alt="Broken sword" /> -<p class="caption gothic">Graysteel</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><i>Demy 8vo, Third Edition, 10s. 6d.</i></p> - -<p class="larger">POPULAR TALES FROM THE NORSE</p> - -<p>WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN -AND DIFFUSION OF POPULAR TALES</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -SIR GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L.</p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Demy 4to, Illustrated, 42s. and 84s. net.</i></p> - -<p class="larger"><span class="smaller">THE</span><br /> -HISTORY OF LIDDESDALE,<br /> -ESKDALE, EWESDALE, WAUCHOPEDALE<br /> -<span class="smaller">AND THE</span><br /> -DEBATEABLE LAND</p> - -<p class="gothic">Part I. from the Twelfth Century to 1530</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -ROBERT BRUCE ARMSTRONG</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/ad9.jpg" width="400" height="315" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CRUKILTON CASTLE</p> -</div><p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>One Volume 8vo, Illustrated, 7s. 6d.</i></p> - -<p class="larger"><span class="larger">SCOTLAND</span><br /> -AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY THE</span><br /> -DUKE OF ARGYLL</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/ad10.jpg" width="300" height="250" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ROB ROY’S HOUSE, GLENSHIRA</p> -</div> - -<p>A HISTORY OF RACES, OF MILITARY EVENTS, -AND OF THE RISE OF COMMERCE</p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>Two Volumes 4to, 21s.</i></p> - -<p class="larger">ARCHÆOLOGICAL ESSAYS</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">BY THE LATE</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON, Bart.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smaller">EDITED BY THE LATE</span><br /> -JOHN STUART, LL.D.<br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF THE “SCULPTURED STONES OF SCOTLAND”</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/ad11.jpg" width="400" height="235" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ANCIENT ORATORY IN THE ISLAND OF INCHCOLM</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Contents.</span></p> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td>1.</td> - <td>Archæology.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>2.</td> - <td>Inchcolm.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>3.</td> - <td>The Cat Stane.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>4.</td> - <td>The Magical Charm-Stones.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>5.</td> - <td>Pyramid of Gizeh.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>6.</td> - <td>Leprosy and Leper Hospitals.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>7.</td> - <td>Greek Medical Vases.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>8.</td> - <td>Was the Roman Army provided with Medical Officers?</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>9.</td> - <td>Roman Medicine Stamps, etc., etc.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>One Volume Demy 8vo, 5s. net.</i></p> - -<p class="larger"><span class="larger">DOCUMENTS</span><br /> -RELATING TO THE PROVINCE OF MORAY</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Edited by</span><br /> -E. DUNBAR DUNBAR<br /> -<span class="smaller">OF GLEN OF ROTHES<br /> -FORMERLY CAPTAIN IN THE 21ST (NOW ROYAL SCOTS) FUSILIERS</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<img src="images/ad12.jpg" width="250" height="250" alt="Seal: SIGILLUM OFFICII LEONI ANNO DOMINI 1663" /> -</div> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p>P. Hume Brown.</p> - -<p class="hang">George Buchanan, Humanist and Reformer: a Biography. -By <span class="smcap">P. Hume Brown</span>. Demy 8vo, 12s.</p> - -<p class="noc">“There is, perhaps, no eminent Scotsman who has stood in better need of an -impartial and scholarly biography than George Buchanan; and Mr Hume Brown -is to be congratulated on having in the present volume produced a model of its -kind.”—<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p> - -<p class="hang">Tours in Scotland, 1677 and 1681. By <span class="smcap">Thomas Kirk</span> and -<span class="smcap">Ralph Thoresby</span>. Edited by <span class="smcap">P. Hume Brown</span>. Demy 8vo, 5s.</p> - -<p class="noc">A lucky accident having brought these two interesting narratives to light since -the “Early Travellers in Scotland” was published, it was thought desirable to -reprint them uniform with that book.</p> - -<p class="hang">Scotland Before 1700. From Contemporary Documents. -Forming a Companion Volume to “Early Travellers in Scotland.” By <span class="smcap">P. Hume -Brown</span>, Author of “The Life of George Buchanan,” &c. Demy 8vo, 14s.</p> - -<p>Bishop Forbes.</p> - -<p class="hang">Kalendars of Scottish Saints. With Personal Notices of -those of Alba, etc. By <span class="smcap">Alexander Penrose Forbes</span>, D.C.L., Bishop of -Brechin. 4to, price £3, 3s. A few copies for sale on large paper, £5, 15s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="noc">“A truly valuable contribution to the archæology of Scotland.”—<cite>Guardian.</cite></p> - -<p>Thomas S. Muir.</p> - -<p class="hang">Ecclesiological Notes on some of the Islands of Scotland, -with other Papers relating to Ecclesiological Remains on the Scottish Mainland -and Islands. By <span class="smcap">Thomas S. Muir</span>, Author of “Characteristics of Church -Architecture,” etc. Demy 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, 21s.</p> - -<p>Sir Samuel Ferguson.</p> - -<p class="hang">Ogham Inscriptions in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. By -the late <span class="smcap">Sir Samuel Ferguson</span>, President of the Royal Irish Academy, Deputy -Keeper of the Public Records of Ireland, LL.D., Queen’s Counsel, etc. (Being -the Rhind Lectures in Archæology for 1884.) 1 vol. demy 8vo, 12s.</p> - -<p>Miss Maclagan.</p> - -<p class="hang">The Hill Forts, Stone Circles, and other Structural Remains -of Ancient Scotland. By <span class="smcap">C. Maclagan</span>, Lady Associate of the Society of -Antiquaries of Scotland. With Plans and Illustrations. Folio, 31s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="noc">“We need not enlarge on the few inconsequential speculations which rigid -archæologists may find in the present volume. We desire rather to commend it to -their careful study, fully assured that not only they, but also the general reader, will -be edified by its perusal.”—<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p> - -<p>Patrick Dudgeon.</p> - -<p class="hang">A Short Introduction to the Origin of Surnames. By -<span class="smcap">Patrick Dudgeon</span>, Cargen. Small 4to, 3s. 6d.</p> - -<p>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</p> - -</div> - -<div class="adpage"> - -<p><i>One Volume Demy 8vo, price 14s.</i></p> - -<p class="larger">EARLY TRAVELLERS<br /> -IN SCOTLAND<br /> -1295-1689</p> - -<p><span class="smaller">EDITED BY</span><br /> -P. HUME BROWN<br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF ‘THE LIFE OF GEORGE BUCHANAN’</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<img src="images/ad13.jpg" width="200" height="350" alt="Representation of a thistle" /> -</div> - -<p>EDINBURGH:<br /> -DAVID DOUGLAS, 10 CASTLE STREET.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Enquiry into The Life and Legend of -Michael Scot, by J. 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