The Transmission Of Alchemy To Medieval Europe

Though alchemy is typically associated, especially in the West, with transmutation of elements or a search for eternal life, it has rich historical roots in religion and has tussled with it, especially in the form of the Catholic Church of Europe during the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in Hellenistic Egypt, and closely tied to Hermes Trismegistus, who may have been a combination of Egyptian Thoth and Greek Hermes (Budge 414-415). However, the transmission of alchemy to Medieval Europe is believed to have occured in the early twelfth century, with Robert of Chester serving as one of the earliest translators of Arabic texts and knowledge that Spain, under Moorish control at the time, and Italy were exposed to (Holmyard, “Early …show more content…
He continues to say that in some of the mystical treatisies it becomes clear that exoteric wording is simply for the purpose of expressing mystical or spiritual aspirations (Holmyard, “Introductory”). This seems to be a clear case of mazeway resynthesis, brought on by the appeal of alchemy to the new ideas of rationalism while still retaining Catholic spiritualism. Anselm of Canterbury was one such example of an individual predating Holmyard’s estimates of the translation of Arabic texts. He worked to reconcile experimental rationalism and spiritual faith, and encouraged rationalism, granted in a specifically Christian context …show more content…
As pointed out by Nasr’s review of Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, alchemy did indirectly give rise to chemistry, but it is important to note that alchemy was not a pure scientific precursor to chemistry, but rather a practice that made Europe familiar with chemical reactions, but also had a very definite spiritual aspect regarding the human soul. The argument put forth is that “events in the soul of man and in nature are inextricably connected,” and interesting departure that seems to be attempting to relate the human soul to nature, rather than the traditional view of the human soul and nature as a holistic part of the creation of God. It also appears that the soul can be purified like elements in order to reunited with God. Here we can see the results of the mazeway resynthesis of the culture that took place. It adopted the traditional opinion that humanity is imperfect and that we must work to reconcile ourselves with God in order to go to Heaven, but in this view the reconciliation does not have to be done with good deeds and spiritiual works, but rather wordly alchemy, something in which every step can be easily explained and is tangible. This is taking place during the 13th century, with the Renaissance of the 15th century impending, and some of the ideas necessary for it to occur are apparent in this