Bernhardus Trevisanus

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Bernhardus Trevisanus (* 1406 in Padua ; † 1490 ) is a likely Italian alchemist .

The dates of life are as he himself gives them in one of his writings, but probably fictitious.

Also von Trevigo, Graf von der Marck and Tervis, Graf Bernhard von Tresne and Naygen (Comes Trevirensis & Naygensis, Comes de Tresne, with the addition in Germania). There are also designations of origin from Trier in the older literature .

Life

Bernhardus Trevisanus is the name of an alchemical author of the 15th century, about whom only what he reveals about himself in his writings is known, but which is probably fictional. There are at least two authors with similar names who have also been confused with one another in the literature. Joachim Telle treats him and Bernard von Trevisan (here treated as the author of the responsio in a separate article) in the Lexikon des Mittelalter (Volume 1, 1980, Sp. 2005-2006) under Bern (h) ardus Trevisanus as an author to whom he writes that almost nothing is known about him, he is usually classified in the 15th century, but probably dates from the 14th century. He also notes that there are no text-critical editions and that the authenticity of the writings ascribed to him have not been resolved.

Rodriguez Guerrero identified him with Eberhard I. von der Marck-Arenberg (1305-1387), a law graduate and clergyman who became the choir bishop of Cologne. He resigned from his offices in the church to marry Maria de Looz-Agimont (ca. 1336-1410) in 1346, whose titles and territorial authorities were key points in feudal disputes that affected the Von der Marck family. From 1366 he was closely associated with the Archbishop of Trier Kuno II von Falkenstein .

According to his own statements, he was born in Padua in 1406 and studied alchemy from the age of fourteen, initially with the writings of famous alchemists such as Geber , Rhazes , Albertus Magnus and Johannes de Rupescissa . This did not bring him the desired success and, he continues, after he had used up his fortune and had a falling out with his family, from 1452 onwards he traveled in Europe (Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany and longer Time in Greece) and the Orient (Egypt, Palestine, Persia) to learn from alchemists in this way. In 1472 he came to Rhodes impoverished , where he was supported by a merchant known to his family, where he took stock of what he had experienced and began to experiment with the help of a priest. After two years of work, he claims to have found the Philosopher's Stone in Rhodes in 1481. Karl Christoph Schmieder , who believes in alchemy and believed the reports to be authentic due to the author's openness in admitting wrong turns, said in 1832: “An old man of 75 years, of course, had little more enjoyment from the goal he had achieved than writing about it ; because he died in 1490. “Like others, Schmieder confuses him with Bernard von Trevisan (Trevirensis), whom he also assigned the wrong time.

A first complete edition of his writings appeared in French in Antwerp in 1565, in German in Strasbourg in 1574. The German edition was reprinted several times.

Works

Only some of the editions are listed, including complete editions of his writings.

  • Peri chemeias, opus historicum et dogmaticum , trans. v. Guglielmo Gratoroli , Strasbourg: Emmel, 1567, OCLC 27863187 (Latin). Reprint Basel 1583, Ursellae 1598 (in GF Pico della Mirandola: Libri III de auro), Frankfurt am Main 1625, Geismar 1647 and more.
  • From the Hermetic Philosophia, that is, from the gifted stone the wise, the highly experienced and excellent philosophers, Mr. Bernhardi, Graven von der Marck, and Tervis , published by Michael Toxites , Strasbourg: Christian Müller's heirs 1574, 1582, 1586, OCLC 837028491 .
  • De chymico miraculo, quod lapidem philosophiae appellant , editor G. Dorn, Basel 1583, Basel 1600, and in Theatrum Chemicum I, Ursel 1602
  • Bernhardi (that is Bernhardus Trevisanus) Chymische Schriften von der Hermetic Philosophie , Strasbourg 1574, 1586, 1597, more completely in four parts Leipzig 1605 published by Tanck .
  • Chymic writings, from the blessed philosopher's stone . Translated from Latin into German, along with J. Tancken's comments by Caspar Horn von Bernhardus a. a. Trevisanus Nuremberg 1643, new edition Nuremberg, Tauber. 1717, OCLC 64513343 , and 1746.
  • Ch. G. Burg (editor): Oeuvre Chymique de Bernard Le Trévisan , Paris 1976 (reprint from the early modern period, not a critical edition)

literature

  • John Ferguson : Bibliotheca Chemica , Glasgow 1906, Volume 1, pp. 100ff
  • Karl Christoph Schmieder : The history of alchemy , Halle 1832, most recently Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-86539003-X , p. 230
  • R. Zaunick: The Saxon Paracelsist Georg Forberger. With bibliographical contributions to Paracelsus, Alexander v. Suchten, Denys Zacaire, Bernardus Trevirensis, Paolo Giovio, Francesco Guicciardini and Natale Conti , in: H.-H. Eulner, K. Goldammer (Ed.), Kosmosophie 4, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977.
  • José Rodríguez Guerrero: El Correctorium alchimiae (ca.1352-1362) de Ricardus Anglicus y la version de Bernardus Magnus de Tréveris , Azogue, Volume 8, 2014-2018, pp. 216-270.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edition of his works by Michael Toxites 1582
  2. ↑ Caspar Horn already pointed this out in his edition
  3. ↑ José Rodríguez Guerrero: El Correctorium alchimiae (ca.1352-1362) de Ricardus Anglicus y la versión de Bernardus Magnus de Tréveris , Azogue , Volume 8, 2014-2018, pp. 216-270.
  4. ^ Schmieder, Geschichte Alchemie, p. 230, Ferguson, Bibl. Chemica, Volume 1, p. 103. The information can be found in De Chemia, opus historicum et dogmaticum .
  5. ^ Schmieder, p. 233. Bernard von Trevisan is the author of a letter to Thomas von Bologna, after Schmieder personal physician to Charles VIII (France) , in reality from Charles V (France) . Schmieder follows the first edition of the letter in 1564.
  6. ↑ Writings after Ferguson, Bibl. Chemica, Volume 1, pp. 100f
  7. ↑ In the original Greek: περὶ χημείας
  8. ^ Translated from the French after Schmieder, for which Ferguson finds no evidence. Only the Latin text is known.
personal data
SURNAME Bernhardus Trevisanus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Count Bernhard von Tresne and Naygen; Bernadus Comes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian alchemist
DATE OF BIRTH 1406
PLACE OF BIRTH Padua
DATE OF DEATH 1490