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THE   LIFE   AND   LEGEND 
OF  MICHAEL   SCOT 


/ 


Edinburgh  :  Printed  by  T.  and  A.  Constable 

FOR 

DAVID    DOUGLAS 

LONDON SIMPKIN,  MARSELA.LL,  HAMILTON,  KENT  AND  CO.,  LTD. 

CAMBRIDGE  ....      MACMILLAN  AND  BOWKS 
GLASGOW       ....      JAMES  MACLEHOSE  AND  SONS 


,  A-    ^    *  I  •     • 


An    Enquiry    into 


",  ' J '    >  )    . . 

'     >     J       .31      . 


The  Life  and  Legend  of 
Michael  Scot 


By  Rev.   J,  WOOD    BROWN,  M.A. 

AUTHOR   OF   '  AN   ITALIAN   CAMPAIGN,'    '  THE   COVENANTERS 
OF  THE   MERSE,'   ETC. 


•Michael  next  ordered  that  Eildon  Hill,  which  was  then  a  uniform 
cone,  should  be  divided  into  three.'— Zay  of  Last  Minstrel,  note. 


EDINBURGH:    DAVID    DOUGLAS 

1897 


[.-J//  riglils  resei-'cd] 


.         ,        ,    .       c      c  e. 


.^^ 


o 


\ 


D.  D.  D. 

ALMAE  MATRI   SUAE 

EDINBURGENSI 

HAUD    IMMEMOR 

AUCTOR 


PEEFACE 

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  de- 
velopments 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. 

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  Averroes,  whom  Scot  first  in- 
troduced to  the  Latins,  still  held  intellectual  sway. 


Vlll        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  philo- 
sopher'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. 

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  Bon- 
compagni,  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  Cronica  de  Matematici  overo  Epitome 
delV Istoria  delle  vite  low,  which  is  an  abbreviated 


J 


PREFACE  IX 

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  ii.  He  wrote  a  most  learned 
treatise  by  way  of  questions  upon  the  Sphere  of 
John  de  Sacrobosco  which  is  still  in  common  use. 
Some  say  he  was  a\^agician,  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  oi^his  end.'  Now  Scot's  additions  to  the 
Sphere  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  ad  nauseam  by  almost  every  early  writer 
who  has  undertaken  to  illustrate  the  text  of  Dante. 
So  far  as  w©-  c*n  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  Jioruit  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. 


X  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Mj  study  of  the  life  and  times  of  Scot  thus 
resumed  its  natural  tendency  towards  an  in- 
dependent 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  satis- 
factory. Boece,  Dempster,  and  Naude  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^ 
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. 

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 
advantao^e.  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 

^  De  Michaele  Scoto  Veneficii  injnste  damnato,  Lipsiae,  1739. 


PREFACE  yi 

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  move- 
ments 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  Alex- 
andrian 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  shsll  feel  more  than  rewarded  for  the  pains 
and  care  spent  in  its  preparation. 

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  Signer  Prof.  E. 
Bostagno  of  the  Laurentian  Library ;  to  Signore 
L.  Licini  of  the  Biccardian  Library  ;  to  the  Bev. 
Padre  Ehrle  of  the  Vatican  Library ;  to  Signor 
Cav.  Giorgi,  and  the  Conte  Passerini  of  the  Casa- 
natense ;  to  Signor  Prof.  Menghini  of  the  Vittorio 
Emanuele  Library,  Bome ;  and  to  Signor  Comm. 
Cugnoni  of  the  Chigi   Library.     I   am   also   much 


xn  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Professor  E.  Foerster 
of  Breslau ;  of  Mr.  W.  M.  Lindsay,  Fellow  of 
Jesus  College,  Oxford,  and  the  Eev.  E,.  Langton 
Douglas  of  New  College,  who  have  furnished  me 
with  valuable  notes  from,  the  libraries  of  that  uni- 
versity, 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  valu- 
able suggestions. 

If  the  result  of  my  studies  should  prove  some- 
what disappointing  to  the  reader,  I  can  but  plead 
the  excuse  v/ith  which  Pliny  furnishes  me,  it  is 
one  having  peculiar  application  to  such  a  task  as  is 
here  attempted  :  '  Res  ardua,'  he  says, '  vetustis  novi- 
tatem  dare,  novis  auctoritatem,  obsoletis  nitorem, 
obscuris  lucem,  fastiditis  gratiam,  dubiis  fidem, 
omnibus  vero  naturam,  et  naturae  suae  omnia.' 

17  Via  Montebello, 

Florence,  Novemler  11th,  189G. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

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, 1 

i  CHAPTER  II 

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  ii. 
— Advantages  of  such  a  position — He  teaches  the  Prince 
mathematics  and  acts  as  Court  Astrologer — Publication  of 
the  Astronomia  and  lAber  Introductorius  —  Frederick's 
marriage — Scot  produces  the  Physionomia  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, 18 

CHAPTER  III 

An  important  moment — The  history  of  the  Arabs  in  their  in- 
fluence 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  De  Ani- 
malibus  and  its  connection  with  the  Physionomia — The 
Abbreviatio  Avicennae  and  its  relation  to  former  versions  of 


XIV        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

PAGE 

the  Toledo  school — The  date  when  Scot  finished  this  work. 
— Frederick's  interest  in  these  books — The  De  partihus 
animalium — Did  Scot  know  Greek  ? — How  the  Arabian 
Natural  History  contrasts  with  the  modern — Toledo,    .         .        42 

CHAPTER  IV 

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  twelftli 
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  De  natura  soils  et  lunae,  the 
Magisterium,  the  Liber  Luviinis  Luminum,  and  the  De 
Alchimia, 65 

CHAPTEE  V 

Connection  between  alchemy  and  astronomy — Scot's  interest 
in  the  latter  science — Toledo  a  favourable  place  for  such 
study — Progress  made  by  the  INIoors  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  pro- 
blems of  recession  and  solstitial  change — The  date  of  Scot's 
version  of  the  Sphere,  and  its  possible  coincidence  with  that 
of  the  great  astronomical  congress  at  Toledo,         ...        96 

CHAPTEE  VI 

Averroes  of  Cordova  and  the  fame  he  enjoyed  among  the  Latins 
— His  works  condemned  by  the  Church — Frederick  ii. 
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  Averroes  into  Latin — Correspondence  between 
this  and  the  similar  enterprise  of  a  hundred  years  before — 


. CONTENTS  XV 

PAOE 

Andrew  the  Jew  interprets  for  Scot — Defence  of  this 
literary  method — Versions  of  the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo,  the 
De  aniiyia,  the  Parva  Naturalia  and  others — The  Quaestiones 
Nicolai  Feripatetici  :  with  a  summary  of  this  important 
treatise — Works  found  in  the  Venice  manuscript — The 
Nova  Mhica — Michael  Scot  shines  as  a  translator  from 
the  Greek — Comparison  between  him  and  Bacon  in  regard 
to  this, 106 

CHAPTER  VII 

Scot  returns  from  Spain  to  the  Imperial  Court — Dante's  reference 
to  this  and  to  the  costume  worn  by  the  philosopher — Pro- 
bability that  he  is  represented  in  the  fresco  at  S.  Maria 
Novella.  The  Latin  Averroes  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  Sphere  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,  .         .         .       137 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Scot  on  the  way  to  ecclesiastical  preferment— Honorius  iii.  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  ix.  applies  again  to  Canterbury  but 
without  result — Efiect  of  these  disappointments  on  Scot. — 
His  prophecies  in  verse  and  prose — The  Cervilerium — His 
mental  state  at  this  time ;  and  an  attempt  to  estimate  his 
real  character— The  publication  of  Scot's  version  of  Averroes 
now  possible— Frederick  ii.  indites  a  circular  letter  to  the 
Universities — Scot  travels  through  Italy,  France,  and  Eng- 
land to  the  borders  of  Scotland— His  death— The  Emperor 
permits  a  copy  of  the  Abbreviatio  Avicennae  to  be  made  as 
a  tribute  to  Scot's  memory,  .......       157 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  legendary  fame  of  Scot — Nature  of  the  magic  then  studied  in 
Spain— Eeasons  for  thinking  that  Scot's  fame  as  a  magician 


xvi  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

PAGE 

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  develop- 
ment confirms  his  character  as  a  magician,  and  may  have 
suggested  several  details  in  the  stories  that  are  told  con- 
cerning him,  .        .         .        .        .         •        .         •        .179 


CHAPTER  X 


v/ 


How  Dante  used  the  legend  of  Michael  Scot — The  nature  of 
subjective  magic  or  glamour — Stories  told  by  those  who 
commented  on  the  Divine  Comedy — 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  Baldus. — Dempster  and  the 
Scottish  tales. — The  tasks  of  Scot's  familiar  spirit. — His 
embassy  to  Paris — Story  of  the  witch  of  Falsehope — The  Booh 
of  Might — Two  stories  of  Scot  as  told  by  an  old  woman 
of  Florence  in  the  present  year  of  grace — Conclusion,    .         .       206 

Appendix, 231 

Index, 277 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece,  A  Magician,  from  the  S;  Maria  Novella  Fresco — 

Photogravure  by  Alinari,  Florence 
Vignette  on  Title — The  Eildons,  from  an  engraving  kindly  lent 

by  Messrs.  A.  and  C.  Black,  London 
Facsimile  of  colophon  to  Scot's  Abbreviatio  Avicennae  (Fondo 

Vaticano  4428,  p.  158  recto),         ....     to  face  page  55 


■y  ■>  ■>  "}    ?  >, 


(1         >1T        l-»l->-» 


CHAPTEE  I 

BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  indi- 
genous 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. 

A 


<    e  c 


■2  .',    .   ;  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


,  t       c    c 

C      O      V   tf    «• 


f   (  Q  f 


Such  was  soutli- 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. 

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  pro- 
gress :  a  form  of  life  which  left  but  little  room  for 
the  enterprises  of  the  mind,  the  conflicts  and  con- 
quests which  can  alone  be  known  and  won  in  the 
world  of  thought  within. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  3 

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  alto- 
gether 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  awaken- 
ing which  those  know  who  have  learned  to  ask  the 
mighty  questions — Why  ?  Whence  ?  and  Whither  ? 
demands  which  will  not  be  denied  till  they  have 


*  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

touched  the  heights  and  fathomed  the  depths  of 
human  Hfe  itself  Ou7'  life  is  a  bird,  said  one  in 
these  early  ages,  which  flies  by  night,  and,  entering 
lighted  hall  at  one  end,  swiftly  passeth  out  at  the 
other.  So  come  we,  who  hnoweth  whence,  and  so  pass 
ive,  who  hnoiveth  whither  f  From  the  darkness  we 
come  and  to  the  darkness  we  go,  and  the  brief  light 
that  is  meanwhile  ours  cannot  make  the  mystery 
plain. 

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  develop- 
ment 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^  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  oppor- 
tunity to  go  abroad  in  the  hope  of  finding  like 

1  Some  account  of  Scottish  grammar-schools  in  the  twelfth  century- 
will  be  found  in  Sir  James  Dalrjmple's  Collections,  pp.  226,  255 
(Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh) ;  also  in  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  vol.  i. 
p.  76. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  .5 

honourable  employment,  or,  better  still,  of  return- 
ing crowned  with  the  honours  of  the  schools  to 
occupy  some  distinguished  ecclesiastical  position  in 
their  native  country. 

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. 

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  com- 
mencement with  one  whose  testimony  is  of  the  very 
highest  value,  being  that  of  a  contemporary.  Eoger 
Bacon,  the  famous  scientist  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, introduces  the  name  of  Michael  Scot  in  the 
following  manner :  '  Unde,  cum  per  Gerardum 
Cremonensem,  et  Michaelem  Scotum,  et  Aluredum 
Angiicum,  et  Heremannum  (Alemannum),  et  Wil- 
lielmum  Flemingum,  data  sit  nobis  copia  trans- 
lationum  de  omni  scientia.'  ^  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 

1  Compendium  Studii,  vol.  i.  p.  471,  ed.  Master  of  the  Rolls.    London, 
Longmans,  1859. 


6  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

the  same  purpose  is  the  testimony  of  Guido  Bonatti, 
the  astrologer,  who  also  belonged  to  the  age  of 
Bacon  and  Scot.  '  lUi  autem,'  he  says,^ '  qui  fuerunt 
in  tempore  meo,  sicut  fuit  Hugo  ab  Alugant,  Bene- 
guardinus  Davidbam,  Joannes  Papiensis,  Dominicus 
Hispanus,  Michael  Scotus,  Stephanus  Francigena, 
Girardus  de  Sabloneta  Cremonensis,  et  multi  alii.' 
Here  also  the  significance  of  Scotus,  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 : "  '  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  Scotus  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. 

At  this  point,  however,  a  new  difiiculty  suggests 
itself  It  is  well  known  that  the  lowland  Scots 
were  emigrants  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  that 
in  early  times  Scotus  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,^  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  locahty,  and  might 
therefore  have  been  applied  to  one  born  in  Scotland 

1  Boncompagni  Vita  di  Gherardo  Cremonense,  Koma,  1851,  and  the 
De  Astronomia  Tractatus  x.  of  Guido  Bonatti,  printed  at  Bale,  1550. 
-  Historia  Ecchsiastica,  xii.  494. 
^  In  the  last  edition  of  Chambers's  Encyclopa;dia,  sub  nomine. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  7 

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  Erigena  to  deter- 
mine 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  Michael  Scotus  was  thought  a  sufiicient 
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,^  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  dis- 
tinguished a  scholar. 

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.^ 
Taken  literally  this  statement  would  make  him  an 

^  See  infra^  ch,  vii.  -'  Leland's  work  was  published  in  1549. 


8  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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';^  and  his  words  seem  to  point  to  that 
part  of  the  Scottish  lowlands  adjacent  to  the  See 
of  Durham  and  in  a  sense  its  province,  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  there- 
fore that  can  now  be  formed  on  the  subject  leads 
us  to  believe  that  Scot  was  born  somewhere  in  the 

1  Comento  alia  Divina  Commedia,  Inf.,  canto  xx.    Bologna,  Fanfeni, 
1866-74. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  9 

valley  of  the  Tweed ;  if  we  understand  that  geo- 
graphical expression  in  the  Avide  sense  which  makes 
it  equivalent  to  the  whole  of  the  south-eastern 
borders  of  Scotland. 

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  Boece, 
Principal  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  who  first 
gave  currency  to  the  story,^  could  hardly  have 
meant  to  imply  that  Michael  was  actually  born  at 
Balwearie.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  he  understood 
Scotus  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." 
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 
chef  lieu,  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.^ 
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 

^  The  Scotorum  Historia  of  Boece  in  which  this  statement  appears 
was  published  at  Paris  in  1526. 

-  Between  1260  and  1280,     See  Cartulary  of  Dunfermline. 
2  Exchequer  Rolls. 


10  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

this  part  of  Scotland  during  the  second  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 

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  JingJers  room  :  a  curious  anachronism,  for 
Oakwood  is  a  buildingf  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. 

As  to  the  date  of  his  birth,  it  is  difficult  to  be 
very  precise.  The  probability  that  he  died  sud- 
denly, 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.^  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. 

^  See  infra,  p.  55. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  1 1 

It  is  unfortunate  that  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
same  position  with  regard  to  the  interesting  ques- 
tion 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,  ^  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. 

We  know,  however,  that  there  was  a  somewhat 
famous  grammar-school  at  Roxburgh  in  the  twelfth 
century,'"^  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  heiofht. 

With  regard  to  Durham,  the  matter  may  be  con- 
sidered 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 

^  Bulaeus  Historia  Univ.  Paris.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  701,  702. 

2  Sir  James  Dalrymple's  Collections,  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. 


12  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

city  by  the  Wear.  If  the  question  of  his  birthplace 
be  regarded  as  now  determined  in  favour  of  Scot- 
land, no  reason  remains  for  this  association  so  con- 
vincing 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. 

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. ^  The  only  matters, 
however,  which  offer  themselves  in  support  of  this 
bare  conjecture  are  not,  it  must  be  said,  very  con- 
vincing, Koger  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 

^  Not  excepting  the  north.  'Morebatur  eo  tempore  (c  1180) 
iipud  Oxenfordiam  studiorum  causa  clericus  quidam  Stephanus  nomine 
de  Eboracensi  regione  oriundus,'  Acta  Sanctorum,  Oct.  29,  p.  579.  At 
the  exodus  in  1209,  no  less  than  three  thousand  students  are  said  to 
have  left  Oxford. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  13 

younger  student  came  there.  Near  the  end  of  his 
life,  Scot  visited  in  a  public  capacity  the  chief 
Universities  of  Europe,  and  brought  them  philoso- 
phic treasures  that  were  highly  thought  of  by  the 
learned.  It  seems  most  probable,  from  the  terms 
in  which  Bacon  speaks  of  this  journey,^  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  Euro- 
pean fame  shed  no  small  lustre  upon  the  scene  of 
his  early  studies. 

As  to  Paris,  the  next  stage  in  Scot's  educational 
progress,  the  historian  of  that  University  becomes 
much  more  convincing  when  he  claims  for  Lutetia 
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  Michael  the  Mathe- 
matician^'^ 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  Master. 
This  is  the  case  not  only  in  his  printed  works,  but 
also  in   popular  tradition,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 

^  Opus  Majus,  ed.  Jebbi,  pp.  36,  37.  The  words  are  'Tempore 
Michaelis  Scoti,  qui,  annis  1230  transactis,  apparuit,  deferens  librorum 
Aristotelis  partes  aliquas,'  etc.     See  infra,  eh.  viii. 

^  See  Anderson,  Scottish  Nation,  sub  nomine. 


14  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

well-known  rhyme  : — '  Maister  Michael  Scot's  man.'^ 
A  Florence  manuscript,  to  which  we  shall  presently 
refer  more  fully,  throws  some  light  upon  the  mean- 
ing of  this  title,  by  describing  Scot  as  that  scholar, 
'  who  among  the  rest  is  known  as  the  chief  Master."" 
It  is  matter  of  common  knowledge,  that  this  degree 
had  special  reference  to  the  studies  of  the  Trivium 
and  Quadrivium,  being  the  scholastic  crown  reserved 
for  those  who  had  made  satisfactory  progress  in  the 
liberal  arts.  Scot  then,  according  to  the  testimon}^ 
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  Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  just  as  Bologna  had 
a  like  reputation  for  Law,  and  Salerno  for  Medicine." 
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. 

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*  seems 
very  probable.  He  may  well  have  done  so  even 
before  he  came  to  Paris,  for  Bacon  makes  it  one  of 


1  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  Y.     See  infra,  ch.  x. 
-  See  infra,  p.  18.  "  Romance  of  JElinando. 

*  He  probably  joined  the  Cistercian  Order, 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  15 

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/  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.^  This 
author  was  commonly  known  as  the  Princeps 
Averro'lstarum.  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  advance- 
ment, 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.^  Scot  may  well,  therefore,  have 
been  one  of  those  philosophical  divines  who  taught 
entre  les  deux  j^onts,  as  the  same  statute  com- 
manded they  should,  though  in  other  lands  and 
during  his  after-life,  he  came  to  be  known  simply 

Compendium  Shcdii,  p.  425. 
2  In  the  printed  edition  of  Dempster,  the  reference  is  '  lib.  3  senten- 
tiarum,  quaest.  iii.,'  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  it. 
^  Hist.  Liu,  de  la  France,  vol.  ix.  p.  65. 


1  G  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

as  the  '  Great  Master ' :  the  brightest  of  all  those 
choice  spirits  of  the  schools  on  which  Paris  set 
her  stamp. 

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.^  Now  Paris  was 
not  more  eminently  and  distinctly  the  seat  of  arts 
than  Bologna  was  the  school  of  laws."  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  ^  mentions  Michael 
Scot,  and  tells  how  he  used  to  live  in  Bologna. 
Many  of  the  commentators  on  the  Divine  Comedy 
of  Dante  dwell  on  the  theme,  and  enrich  it  with 
superstitious  wonders.^  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. 

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 

1  Opus  Majus,  p.  84.  ^  EUnando. 

2  Decamerone,  viii.  9.  *  See  infra,  chap.  x. 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  STUDIES  17 

it  be  said,  the  gay  capital  of  modern  days,  but  Paris 
of  the  closing  years  of  the  twelfth  century,  Lutetia 
Parisiorwn  :  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  Master,  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.^  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  ? 

^  The  MS.  of  Scot's  Physionomia  in  the  Vatican  Library  (Fondo 
della  Reginadi  Svezia  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. 


CHAPTER   II 

SCOT   AT   THE    COURT    OF   SICILY 

All  tradition  assures  us  that  the  chief  occupation 
of  Scot's  life  was  found  at  the  Court  of  Frederick  ii., 
King  of  Sicily,  and  afterwards  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many :  a  Prince  deservedly  famous,  not  only  for 
his  own  talent,  but  for  the  protection  and  en- 
couragement he  afforded  to  men  of  learning.  A 
manuscript  in  the  Laurentian  Library,^  hitherto 
unnoticed  in  this  connection,  seems  to  throw  some 
light  upon  the  time  and  manner  of  this  employ- 
ment :  points  that  have  always  been  very  obscure. 
The  volume  is  a  collection  of  Occulta,  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^  to  have  been  copied  'from  a 
very  ancient  book.'  The  colophon  runs  thus  : 
'Here  endeth  the  necromantic  experiment  of  the 
most  illustrious  doctor,  Master^  Michael  Scot,  who 
among   other   scholars   is   known   as   the   supreme 

^  PI.  Ixxxix.  sup.  cod.  38.     See  Appendix,  No.  i. 
^  See  p.  244  of  the  ms.  '^  Domini  Magistri. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  19 

Master ;  who  was  of  Scotland,  and  servant  to  his 
most  distinguished  chief  Don  Phihp,^  the  King 
of  Sicily's  clerk  ;  ^  which  experiment  he  contrived  ^ 
when  he  lay  sick  in  the  city  of  Cordova.     Finis.' 

Taking  the  persons  here  named  in  the  order  of 
their  rank,  we  notice  first  the  great  Emperor 
Frederick  ii.,  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.' 

Next  comes  Don  Philip,  whom  we  have  rightly 
described  as  the  clerk  of  Sicily,  for  the  word  coronatus 
in  its  mediaeval  use  is  derived  from  corona  in  the  sense 
of  the  priestly  tonsure,  so  that  Philippus  coronatus 
is  equivalent  to  Philippus  clericus^  Of  this  dis- 
tinguished man  we  find  many  traces  in  the  historical 
documents  of  the  period.''  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 

•  Philipo.  '  Coronato.  ^  Destinavit  sibi. 

*  See  Ducange,  sub  voce. 

■''  Huillard-BrehoUes,  Hist.  Dip.  Frid.  II.,  vol.  i.  pp.  44,  68,  242, 
255. 


20  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.^  It  is  as  follows  :  '  The 
Book  of  the  Inspections  of  Urine  according  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Masters,  Peter  of  Berenice,  Con- 
stantine  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  Philippus  like  Felipe,  and  the  way  in  which 
the  title  Dominus  is  repeated,  just  as  Don  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  Secreta 
Secret07'um,  the  preface  of  which  describes  him  as  a 
clericus  of  the  See  of  Tripoli.  As  will  presently 
appear,  Michael  Scot  drew  largely  from  this  work 
in  composing  one  of  his  own  f  another  proof  that 
in  confronting  with  each  other  these  three  names — 

1  No.  354.  2  See  infra,  p.  37. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  21 

Philippus  coronatus  or  clericus ;  Philippusv  de 
Salerno,  and  Philippus  Tripolitanus — and  in  con- 
cluding that  they  belong  to  one  and  the  same 
person,  we  have  a  reasonable  amount  of  evidence 
in  our  favour. 

From  what  has  just  been  said  it  is  plain  that 
three  distinct  periods  must  have  composed  the  life 
of  PhilijD  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  Eegister  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  King  of  Sicily. 
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. 

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 


22  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  in- 
stead of  the  wish  to  display  obsequiousness.  Scot 
appears  in  fact  as  one  careless  to  recommend  him- 
self for  a  position  at  Court,  certain  rather  of  one 
which  must  have  been  already  his  own.  What  can 
this  position  have  been  ? 

A  tradition  preserved  by  one  of  the  commen- 
taries on  Dante  ^  informs  us  that  Michael  Scot  was 
emjDloyed  as  the  Emperor's  tutor,  and  this  explana- 
tion is  one  which  we  need  feel  no  hesitation  in 
adopting,  as  it  clears  up  in  a  very  convincing  way 
all  the  difliculties  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  in  tcsum  Delphini."  Nay  the  very  title  of 
'  Master '  which  Scot  had  won  at  Paris  probably 
owed  its  chief  confirmation  and  continued  employ- 
ment to  the  nature  of  his  new  charge.  Since  the 
fifth  century  there  had  prevailed  in  Spain  the  habit 

1  L'Anonimo  Fiorentino,  Comento  alia  Divina  Commedia.     Bologna, 
Fanfani,  1866-74. 

2  See  especially  the  preface  to  the  Physionomia, 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  23 

of  committing  children  of  position  to  the  course  of 
an  ecclesiastical  education.^  They  were  trained  by 
some  discreet  and  grave  person  called  the  magister 
disciplinac,  deputed  by  the  Bishop  to  this  office. 
Such  would  seem  to  have  been  the  manner  of 
1  Frederick's  studies.  His  guardian  was  the  Pope  ; 
he  lived  at  Palermo  under  charge  of  the  Canons  of 
that  Cathedral,^  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.^ 

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  advan- 

'  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  sub  voce  '  Magister.' 
2  From  August    1200   to   January   1208.     See  Amari,    Storia   del 
Musuhnani  cli  Sicilia. 

^  See  tlie  Hist.  Dip.  Frid.,  passim. 


24  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

tages  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  instruc- 
tion.^ There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Scot  availed 
himself  of  this  opportunity,  and  laid  a  good  founda- 
tion 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. 

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," 
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.^  The  reference 
to  Magna  Grecia  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  neces- 
sary to  make  the  study  of  Greek  as  well  as  of  Arabic 
part  of  Frederick's  education.     We  can  hardly  err 

^  Amari.  2  ggg  infra,  pp.  26,  59,  and  ch.  vi. 

^  Compendmm  Studii,  p.  434. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  25 

in  supposing  that  Scot  profited  by  this  as  well  as 
by  the  other  opportunity. 

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  Secreta  Secretorum,  the 
prize  of  Philip  the  Clerk,  which  he  carried  with 
him  when  he  came  from  Tripoh  to  Sicily,  and 
treasured  there,  calling  it  his  '  precious  pearl ' ;  ^ 
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 
"AHmiral,  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  better  opportunity  for  literary 
studies  could  hardly  have  been  desired  than  that 
which  the  Prince's  Master  now  enjoyed. 

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  court- 
yards :  those  patios  which  the  Moors  had  built  so 
well  and  adorned  with  such  fair  arabesques,  all  that 

1  See  the  preface  to  the  Secreta.  -  Aiiiari.     See  infra,  p.  83. 


26  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  mediseval  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. 

As  royal  tutor,  his  peculiar  duty  would  seem  to 
have  been  that  of  instructing  the  young  Prince  in 
the  diflerent  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  Astronomia,  or 
Liher  Particularis,  and  in  the  Oxford  copy,^  the 
I  colophon  of  that  treatise  runs  thus  :  '  Here  endeth 
J    the  book  of  Michael  Scot,  astrologer  to  the  Lord 

1  1  Bibl.  Bodl.  Mss.  Canon  Misc.  555  ;  cod.  menib.  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  exposi- 
tione  fundamenti  terrae  volentes  hie  finere  secundum  librum  quern 
incepimus  in  nomine  Dei,  Cui  ex  parte  nostra  sit  semper  grandis  laus  et 
gloria,  benedictio  et  triumphus  in  omnibus  per  infinita  saecula  saecu- 
forum  Amen.'  Other  mss.  of  the  Astronomia  are  found  at  Milan,  Bibl. 
Ambros.  L.  92,  sup.  cumjiguris  ;  and  at  Munich,  see  Halm  and  Mej'er's 
Catalogue,  vol.  ii.  part  i.  p.  156,  No.  1242,  saec.  xviii. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  27 

Frederick,  Emperor  of  Rome,  and  ever  August ; 
wHich  book  he  composed  in  simple  style  ^  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. 

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^o 
Michael  Scot  in  the  colophon  to  his  Astronomia  ;  he 
was  sure  to  be  employed  in  this  way,  and  the  fact 
will  help  us  to  determine  with  probal^ility  what 
was  the  first  book  he  wrote  for  the  Emperor,  that 
to  which  the  Liber  Particularis  was  a  sequel.  For 
there  is  actually  extant  under  Scot's  name  an  astro- 
logical treatise  bearing  the  significant  name  of  the 
Liber  Introchictorius!^  This  title  agrees  exceedingly 
well  with  the  position  we  are  now  inclined  to  give 
it,  and  an  examination  of  the  preface  confirms  our 

^  '  Quasi  vulgariter.' 

2  Bodl.  MS.  266,  chart,  in  fol.  saec.  xv.  218  leaves  ;  Bibl.  Nat.  Paris, 
Nouv.  acq.  1401  ;  the  Escorial  has  another  ms.  of  this  work  on  paper,  in  / 
writing  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  Liher  Introductorius  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  Liber  Introduc- 
torius are  found  in  the  ms.  Fondo  Vaticano  4087,  p.  38,  ro.  and  vo.,  ms. 
in  fol.  chart,  saec.  xvi.,  and  in  the  Bibl.  del  Seminario  Vescovile,  Padua, 
MS.  48,  in  fol.  chart,  saec.  xiv.  ;  also  Bibl.  Arabros,  Milan,  ms.  I.  90. 


28  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

conjecture  in  a  high  degree.  It  commences  thus : 
'Here  beginneth  the  preface  of  the  Liher  Intro- 
ductorius  which  was  put  forth  by  Michael  Scot, 
Astrologer  to  the  ever  August  Frederick,  Emperor 
of  the  Romans,  at  whose  desire  he  composed  it  con- 
cerning astrology,^  in  a  simple  style  ^  for  the  sake 
of  young  scholars  and  those  of  weaker  capacity,  and 
this  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  Pope  Innocent  iv.'  ^ 
One  cannot  help  noticing  the  close  correspondence 
between  this  and  the  colophon  of  the  Astronomia. 
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.  Astro- 
nomy, such  as  it  then  was,  formed  the  last  and 
highest  study  in  the  Quadrivium.''  It  was  here  that 
Scot  had  carried  off  honours  at  Paris,  and  now  in 
his  Liher  IntrodiLctorius  and   Astronomia,  we   see 

^  The  Paris  Ms.  reads  '  in  Astronomia,'  a  good  example  of  the  con- 
fusion mentioned  above.  -  '  Leviter.' 

^  This  is  a  mistHke  common  to  both  the  Mss.  Innocent  iv.  did  not 
begin  to  reign  till  1243,  when  Scot  was  long  in  his  grave.  Innocent  in., 
who  was  Pope  from  1198-1216,  is  the  person  meant.  He  was  guardian 
to  Frederick  ii.  during  his  minority. 

*  According  to  the  line  :  '  Lingua,  Tropus,  Ratio,  Numerus,  Tonus, 
Angulus,  Astra,'  in  .which  the  Trivium  and  Quadrivium  were  succinctly 
and  memorably  expressed. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  29 

him  imparting  the  ripe  fruits  of  that  diHgence  to  his 
royal  charge,  whose  education,  so  far  as  regarded 
formal  study,  was  thereby  brought  to  a  close. 

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  arrange- 
ment. The  Prince  of  Palermo,  undergrown  and 
delicate  as  he  was,^  promised  to  be,  as  King  of 
Sicily  and  possibly  Emperor,  the  noblest  husband  of 
his  time.  Pope  Innocent  iii.,  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  Kome 
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. 

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  Provencal  chivalry,  led  by  her 
brother.   Count  Alfonso.      The  Bishop  of  Mazara, 

^  His  mother  was  nearly  fifty  years  old  at  his  birth. 


30  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  y 
hall  of  forty  pillars,  beneath  a  roof  such  as  Arabians- 
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,^ 
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, 

What  part  could  Michael  Scot,  the  grave  ecclesi- 
astic, 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  Nozze  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  Fhysionomia,  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 

1  See  the  description  of  this  palace  in  the  poem  by  Peter  of  Eboli. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  31 

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.^  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. 

The  Physio7iomia,  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,"  and 
formed  part  of  the  singular  doctrine  of  signatm^ea, 
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 

1  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  ii.  by  Constance. 

-  See  on  this  whole  subject  three  most  learned  and  satisfactory 
works  by  Prof.  R.  Foerster  of  Breslau — De  Arist.  quae  feruntur 
physiognomonicis  recensendis,  Kiliae,  1882  ;  De  trans,  lat.  physiogno- 
monicorum,  Kiliae,  1884  ;  and  especially  his  Scriptores  Graeci  Physio- 
gnomonici,  Teubner,  1894. 


32  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  ii\  of  his 
Pliysionomia  correspond  closely  with  the  Dc  Mmicina 
ad  Begem  Al  Mansore'in^  of  Rases." 

Among  ancient  texts  on  physiognomy,  however, 
perhaps  the  most  famous  was  the  Sirr-el-asrxir,  or 
Secreta  Secretorum,  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,  Alexan- 
dria, 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  Thera- 
peutae were  sun-worshippers,  and  eager  students 
of  ancient  and  occult  writings,  as  Josephus  ^  tells  us 
the  Essenes  had  been.  We  find  in  the  Abraxas 
gems,  of  which  so  large  a  number  has  been  pre- 
served, an  enduring  memorial  of  these  people  and 
their  system  of  thought.^ 

*  A  Physionomia  ascribed  to  Al  Mansour  himselif  was  commented 
on  by  Jacopo  da  Samminiato.  It  is  preserved  in  the  Bibl.  Naz.  of 
Florence,  ms.  xx.  55.  ^  See  Book  ii.  chap.  xxvi.  et  seq. 

^  B.  J.  II.  8.  §  6.  See  also  the  Church  Histories  of  Neander  (i.  61, 
83)  and  Kurtz  (i.  65). 

*  The  word  'A^pd^as  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  Mithras.  These  gems  often  bear 
the  figure  of  a  cock  =  the  sun-bird,  not  without  reference  to  uS^sculapius. 
They  were  worn  to  recover  or  preserve  health. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  33 

The  preface  to  the  Sirr-el-asrar  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  ^ 
penetralia  of  a  sun- temple  built  by  ^sculapius.^, 
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. 

The  preface  to  the  Sirr-el-asrar  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,"^  and  thence  into  Arabic,  the  usual  channel 

1  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.  Grates  is  probably  Democritus. 
The  Arabic  version  was  due  to  Khalid  ben  Yezid,  and  bears  the  title  of 
Kenz  el  Konouz,  or  treasure  of  treasures.  It  is  found  in  ms.  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. 

-  The  printed  copy — in  fol.  Venice,  Bernardinus  de  Vitalibus,  s.  a. 
but  probably  1501 — reads  'romanam,'  which  would  be  neo-Greek  or 
Romaic. 

C 


34  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Fihrist,  composed  in  987,  ascribes  the 
Arabic  version  of  Aristotle's  De  Ccelo  et  Mundoy 
and  of  Plato's  Timaeus,^  so  that  his  literary 
faculty  would  seem  to  accord  very  well  with 
the  task  of  translating  the  Sirr-el-asrar.  But 
Foerster  has  observed  ^  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  El 
Haivi,  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  Sirr-el-asrar,  contenting  himself  with  the  con- 
jecture 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^  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 

i  See  on  this  whole  subject  the  excellent  remarks  of  Foerster  in  liis 
treatise  De  Aristotelis  quae  fenmtur  Secretis  Secretorum,  Kiliae,  1888, 
pp.  22-25. 

2  Wright's  Cat.  of  the  Syriac  MSS.,  Nos.  250  and  366. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  35 

ip  was  a  certain  Said  Ibn  Butrus  ibn  Mansur,  a 
^4laronite  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  al  Malik  an  Nazir.  The  other — a  mere 
fragment — contains  a  notice  of  the  priest  Yahya, 
or  Yuhanna,  ibn  Butrus,  who  died  in  the  year 
1217  A.D.  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 
Sir7^-el-asrar  at  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Those  chapters  of  the  Sirr-el-asrar  which  relate  /Ic^ri 
to  regimen  were  translated  into  Latin  by  Johannes  ^n/^ 
Hispalensis.  Jourdain  identifies  this  author  with 
John  Avendeath,  who  worked  for  the  Archbishop 
of  Toledo  between  the  years  1130  and  1150.^  But 
Foerster  shows  that  caution  is  needed  here.^  The 
Latin  version  was  dedicated  to  Tarasia,  Queen  of 
Spain.  A  queen  of  this  name  certainly  lived  con- 
temporaneously 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 

'  Becker ches,  pp.  117,  118.  ^  Qp.  cit.  pp.  26,  27. 


36  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

the  Queen  of  Spain,  and  who  was  a  contemporary 
of  Tarasia  of  Leon,  may  well  have  translated  the 
Sirr-el-asrar  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.^ 
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  manu- 
script 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  (  O 
version  of  Aristotle's  Meteora  was  produced  in^^  i^^r- 
similar  circumstances.  Samuel  ben  Juda  ben  b|jj!/ 
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."  However 
this  may  be,  Philip  of  Tripoli  dedicated  his  version  ^ 
of  the  Sirr-el-asrar,  which  he  called  the  Secreta  / 

1  Viz.,  P.  xiii.  sin.  cod.  6  ;   P.  xxx.  cod.  29  ;  and  P.  Ixxxix.  siip. 
cod.  76.     There  is  also  one  at  Paris,  Fonds  de  Sorbonne,  955. 

2  See  the  MS.  of  the  Laurentian  Library,  p.  Ixxxviii.  cod.  24. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  37 

Sem^etorum,  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/ 

It  is  highly  in  favour  of  our  identifying,  as 
we  have  already  done,  Philip  of  Tripoli,  the 
translator  of  the  Secreta,  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  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Secreta  Secretorum.  Foerster  has 
given  us  a  careful  and  exact  account  of  several 
passages  in  different  parts  of  the  Physionomia  of 
Scot,  which  have  their  correspondences  in  the 
works  of  Philip,  so  that  it  is  beyond  question  that 
the  Latin  version  of  the  Secreta  was  one  of  the 
sources  from  which  Scot  drew.  Before  leaving 
this  part  of  the  subject,  we  may  notice  that  trans- 
lations of  Philip's  version  into  the  vernacular 
languages  of  Italy,  France,  and  England  were 
made  at  an  early  date,  both  in  prose  and  verse." 

^  By  transposition  '  G.  de  Valentia  vera  civitatis,'  etc.  (Bibl.  Naz. 
Flor.  XXV.  10,632);  by  corruption  'vere  de  violentia'  (Barberini  ms.), 
or  'grosso  pontifici'  (B'ondo  Vaticano,  5047).  This  bishop  has  not  yet 
been  identified. 

2  Mss.  of  the  Secreta  Secretorum  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,  v.  Cat.  mss.  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  Ms.  is  Physionomia,  just  as  the  Physionomia  of  Scot  is  called 
De  Secretis  in  the  editions  of  1584  and  1598.  This  confirms  the  relation 
between  his  work  and  that  of  Philiispus  Clericus.  mss.  of  the  Italian 
version  of  the  Secreta  Secretorum  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  Physionomia  Aristotelis.  In  the  Chigi  Library  of 
Rome  there  is  a  ms.,  chart,  saec.  xvii.,  with  the  curious  title  :  '  Migel 
franzas,  auctor  obscurioris  nominis,  ad  Physionomiam  Aristotelis  Com- 


38  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

The  English  version  of  the  Secreta  came  from  the 
hand  of  the  poet  Lydgate. 

Another  treatise  of  the  same  school,  to  which 
Scot  was  also  indebted,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Physio- 
nomia  ascribed,  like  the  Secreta,  to  Aristotle.  The 
Latin  version  of  this  apocryphal  work  was  made,  it  1 
is  said,  directly  from  a  Greek  original,  by  Bartholo-  r) 
mew  of  Messina.  This  author  wrote  for  Manfred '1  ■ 
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  II.  of  Scot's  Pliysionomia  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. 

The  last  two  chapters  of  Book  i.  in  the  Physio- 
nomia  of  Scot  show  plainly  that  he  had  the 
Arabic  version  of  Aristotle's  History  of  Animals 
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  Pliysio- 
nomia, that  it  was  a  mere  compilation.  Many 
parts  of  the  work  show  no  correspondence  with  any 
other  treatise  on  the  subject  that  is  know^n  to  us, 
and  these  must  be  held  as  the  results  of  the  author's 

mentariiim.'  It  is  numbered  E.  vi.  205,  and  consists  of  326  pages.  The 
Secreta  Secretorum  with  the  De  Mineralibiis  was  printed  at  Venice 
(?  1501),  by  Bernardinus  de  Vitalibus,  and  a  new  version  by  G.  Manente, 
comprehending  the  Morals  and  the  Physionomia  as  well  as  the  Secreta, 
issued  from  the  same  place  in  1538.  It  was  printed  in  4to  by  Tacuino 
da  Trino. 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  39 

own  observations.  The  arrangement  of  the  whole 
is  certainly  original,  nor  can  we  better  conclude  our 
study  of  the  Physionomia,  than  by  giving  a  compre- 
hensive 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  con- 
siderable part  of  the  animal  world  so  much  studied 
by  the  Arabians.  The  second  expounds  the  signs 
of  the  difierent  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  afiairs,  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  :  ^  no  less  than  eighteen  editions 

^  Mss.  of  the  Physionomia  :  Oxford,  Bibl.  Bod.  mss.  Canon.  Misc.  555 
(with  the  Liber  Particularis)  saec.  xiv.  ;  Milan,  Bibl.  Ambros.  L  92  stvp. 
(with  the  Liber  Particularis)  ;  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.  1. 
and  five  or  six  others  of  this  century  in  4to,  s.  1.  et  a  ;  1508  Cologne, 
Venice,  and  Paris,  the  last  in  8vo  ;  1514  Venice  8vo  ;  1515  s.  1.  ;  1519 
Venice  8vo  ;  1584  Lyons  24mo  along  with  the  Abbreviatio  Avicennae 
and  the  De  animalibus  ad  Caesarem  under  the  general  title  of  De 
Secretis  Naturae  ;  1598  Lyons,  De  Secretis  Naturae  cum  tractatu  De 
iSecretis  Mulierum  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. 


40  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

are  said  to  have  been  printed  between    1477    and 

1660.'      __  __ 

In  the  copy  preserved  at  Milan,  the  Physionomia 
is  placed  immediately  after  the  Astronomia,  or 
Liber  Particularis.  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  Liber  Introduc- 
torius,  and,  together  with  it,  form  the  only  remains 
we  have  of  Scot's  first  literary  activity,  being  publi- 
cations that  were  called  out  in  the  course  of  his 
scholastic  duty  to  the  King  of  Sicily.  The  Liher 
Lntroductorius  opens  this  series.  It  is  closely 
related  by  the  nature  of  its  subject-matter  to  the 
A  stronomia,  or  Liber  Particularis,  while  the  Physio- 
nomia 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  incal- 
culable than  any  celestial  theorem,  the  mystery  of 
human  character  and  action. 

In  presenting  the  Physionomia  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 

1  Ristoire  Litteraire  de  la  France.    The  list  given  above  will  show 
that  this  statement  rather  falls  short  of  the  truth  than  exceeds  it. 


'^ 


SCOT  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SICILY  41 

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  fol- 
lowing, passed  eastward ;  to  Cefalii  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. 


CHAPTER    III 


SCOT   AT   TOLEDO 


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,  essay- 
ing 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. 

The  part  which  the  Arabs  took  in  the  intel- 
lectual awakening  of  Europe  is  a  familiar  theme  of 
early  mediaeval  history.  That  wonderful  people, 
drawn  from  what  was  then  an  unknown  land  of  the 
East,  and  acted  on  by  th^  mighty  sense  of  religion 
and  nationality  which  ^^ohammed  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 


42 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  43 

in  their  turn  the  conquered,  not  under  force  of  arms 
indeed,  but  as  subdued  by  the  still  vital  intel- 
lectual 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,  ^lie  Caliphs  of  the  Abassid  line,  espe- 
cially Al  Mansour,  Al  Eacliid,  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]^  ^y  rendering  them  into  the  Arabic 
language. 

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. 

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 


44  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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  pro- 
tection of  their  foreign  rulers.  To  a  considerable 
extent  indeed  the  Moors  and  Spaniards  amalga-  . 
mated  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  estab- 
lished by  the  Moors  at  Cordova,  and  in  other  cities 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  45 

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  ;^  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. 

This  result  was  largely  owing  to  a  singular 
enterprise  of  the  twelfth  century  with  which  the 
learned  researches  of  Jourdain  have  made  us  familiar.'' 
Scholars  from  other  lands,  such  as  Constantino, 
Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope  Sylvester  ii.,  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  medrcme  and  mame- 
matics,  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  mediaeval  science  and  letters,  beloners 
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  south- 
ward in  his  train,  as  he  returned  from  a  journey 

^  See  Ticknor's  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  p.  395. 
2  Recherches  sur  I'dge  et  Vorigine  des  trad,  latines  d'Aristote,  Paris, 
1843,  chap.  iii.  passim. 


46  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  AvendeathV  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  Avi- 
cenna,  as  w^U  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. 

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. 

The  name  and  fame  of  Aristotle,  never  quite  for- 
gotten even  in  the  darkest  age,^  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 

'  The  bones  of  Aristotle  were  said  to  lie  in  the  Mosque  of  Palermo, 
where  they  were  highly  reverenced.  See  Charles  III.  of  Naples,  by 
St.  Clair  Baddeley,  London,  1894,  p.  122. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  4*^ 

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. 

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. 


48         THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  De  Historiis  Animalium  in  ten  books  ;  next 
the  Dc  Partihus  Animalium  in  four  books ;  and 
lastly,  the  De  Generatione  Animalium  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  accus- 
tomed to  group  these  three  treatises  under  the 
general  title  De  Animalihus,  and  to  number  their 
books  or  chapters  consecutively  from  one  to  nine- 
teen, 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. 

At  least  two  versions  of  the  De  Animalihus  ap- 
peared from  the  pen  of  Scot.  These  have  some- 
times been  confounded  with  each  other,  but  are 
really  quite  distinct,  representing  the  labours  of 
two  difterent  Arabian  commentators  on  the  text  of 
Aristotle.  We  may  best  commence  by  examining 
that  of  which  least  is  known,  the  De  Animalihus  ad 
Caesarem,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  and  this  the 
rather  that  there  is  good  reason  to  suppose  it  repre- 
sents the  first  Arabian  work  on  Natural  History 
which  came  into  Scot's  hands. 

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  ^  and 

^  Notices  et  extraits  des  Mss.,  vol.  vi.  p.  412. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  49 

Wlistenfeld^  contend.  No  one,  however,  has  hither- 
to ventured  any  suggestion  throwing  hght  on  the 
personahty  of  the  writer.  The  colophon  to  the 
copy  of  Scot's  version  in  the  Bihliotheca  Angelica  of 
Rome  contains  the  word  Alpliagiri,  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. 

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  Ahhreviatio  {Avicennae), 
used  to  describe  Scot's  second  version  of  the  De 
Animalibus  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  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesar^em,  but  to 
Scot  himself?  The  expressions  just  cited  would 
seem  to  open  the  way  for  such  a  conclusion. 

The  contents  of  the  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem 
may  be  inferred  from  the  Prologue  which  is  as 
follows :  '  In  Nomine  Domini  Nostri  Jesu  Christi 
Omnipotentis  Misericordis  et  Pii,  translatio  trac- 
tatus  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, 

^  Die  Ucbersdz.  Arabischer  Werke,  Gottingen,  1877,  p.  99. 

D 


50  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

cum  partitione  membrorum  interiorum  et  ajDparen- 
tium,  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  dis- 
positionem  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  sub- 
stance 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-smillahi-r-rahhmani-r- 
rahheem '  (In  the  Name  of  God,  the  Compas- 
sionate ;  the  Merciful).^  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,"^  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. 

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  De  Physionomia. 
This  comparison,  which  has  never  before  been  at- 
tempted, will  throw  light  on  both  these  texts,  but 
has  a  special  value  as  it  affords  the  means  of  dating, 

^  See  Lane's  Modern  Egyptians,  vol.  i.  p.  197  note. 

-  We  should  remember,  however,  the  Emperor's  instructions  to  his 
translators:  '  verborum  fideliter  servata  virginitate.'  See  his  circular 
of  1230  to  the  Universities. — Jourdain,  Eecherches,  p.  133. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  51 

at  least  approximately,  the  composition  of  Scot's 
version  of  the  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesar  em. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  the  last  two 
chapters  of  the  first  book  of  the  Physionomia  sug- 
gest 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  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesar  em,,  and 
this  idea  becomes  a  certainty  when  we  pursue  the 
comparison  a  little  more  closely.  Take  for  example 
this  curious  passage  from  the  Physionomia  (Book  i. 
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  De  Animalibus 
ad  Caesar  em,  and  thus  discover  what  was  no  doubt 
the  original  source  from  which  Scot  derived  it : 
'  Incipiunt  pili  oriri  in  pectore  Kameon  alkaratoki, 
et  in  isto  tempore  mutatur  vox  eius.'  ^  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  Physionomia  was  derived  by 
compilation  from  the  same  text  which  appeared  in 
a  Latin  dress  as  the  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem, 
and  that  this  source  was  an  Arabic  one. 

This  point  settled,  it  becomes  possible  to  establish 

'  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem,  chap.  ix. 


52  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

another.  One  of  the  copies  of  the  De  Animalihus 
ad  Caesarem  ^  has  the  following  colophon  :  '  Com- 
pletus  est  liber  Aristotelis  de  animalihus,  trans- 
latus  a  magistro  michaele  in  tollecto  de  arabico  in 
latin  um.'  Now  if  the  version  was  made  in  Toledo, 
it  was  probably  posterior  in  date  to  the  Physionomia. 
This  indeed  is  no  more  than  might  have  been  as- 
serted 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. 

Resuming  then  the  results  we  have  reached,  it 
appears  that  Scot  had  met  with  this  Arabic  com- 
mentary on  the  Natural  History  of  Aristotle  while 
he  was  still  in  Sicily,  and  had  made  extracts  from 
it  for  his  Physionomia.  Coming  to  Spain  he  pro- 
bably carried  the  manuscript  with  him,  and  as  his 
version  of  the  De  Animalihus  ad  Caesarem  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  jDossibly  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  De 
Animalihus  ad  Caesarem,  like  the  Physionomia, 
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 

^  Bibl.  Laur.  PI.  xiii.  sin,  cod.  9  in  fol  perg.  This  ms.  Avas  written 
in  1266. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  53 

have  been  completed  and  published  towards  the  end 
of  the  same  year,  when  Scot  had  no  doubt  been 
already  some  time  settled  in  Toledo. 

The  second  form  in  which  Michael  Scot  produced 
his  work  upon  the  Natural  History  of  Aristotle  was 
that  of  a  version  called  the  Ahhreviatio  Avicennae. 
The  full  title  as  it  appears  in  the  printed  copy  ^  is  : 
'  Avicenna  de  Animalibus  per  Magistrum  Michaelem 
Scotum  de  Arabico  in  Latinum  translatus.'  Like 
the  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem  it  consists  of 
nineteen  books,  thus  comprehending  the  three 
Aristotelic  treatises  in  onejwork^ 

The  name  of  Ihi  Sina  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  Ahhreviatio  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  ^  shows  what  the 
labours  of  Gundisalvus,  Avendeath,  and  their  co- 
adjutors 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  Logic, 
the  Physics,   the   De   Ccelo   et    Munch,    the   Metor- 

^  Fifteenth  Century  s.  1.  et  a.  in  fol.  pp.  54.  There  are  also  Venice 
editions  of  1493  and  1509. 

^  Fondo  Vaticano  4428  in  fol.  perg.  saec.  xiii.  See  a  complete 
inventory  of  this  ms.  in  Appendix  ii. 


54  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

physics ;  the  De  Anwia,  called  also  Liber  sextiis  de 
Naturalihus ;  and  the  De  generatione  Lapidum  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  Meteora  of  Aristotle,  and  the  whole  belonged  to 
that  Kitab  Alchefd,  which  was  called  by  the  Latins 
the  Assephae,  Asschiphe  or  Liber  Sufficientiae.  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.^  Of  these  the 
first  alone  had  reached  the  Western  schools. 

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 
Alchefd  which  concerned  the  Natural  History  of 
Animals.  The  Abbreviatio  Avicennae  thus  came  to 
sup23ly  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  De  generatione 
Lapidum,  and  forms  the  fitting  close  of  that  re- 
markable series  and  volume.  Thus,  while  the  De 
Animalibus  ad  Caesar  em  connects  itself  with  the 
Physionomia,  and  with  Scot's  past  life  in  Sicily,  the 
Abbreviatio  Avicemw^e  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. 

^  See  Roger  Bacon,  Opus  Majus,  p.  37. 


>  3 

i 
1  >  > 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  55 

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  Abhreviatio 
was  made.  For  the  colophon  to  the  Vatican  manu- 
script, 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  :  '  Explicit 
anno  Domini  m^c^c^x.'  ^  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,"  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  Abhreviatio  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. ^ 

Like  the  De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem,  the  Ab- 
breviatio  Avicennae  bears  a  dedication  to  Frederick 
conceived  in  the  following    terms :    '  0  Frederick, 

1  P.  158  recto,  the  last  line  of  the  third  column. 

2  Recherches,  p.  133.  ^  ggg  ante,  p.  10. 


56  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Lord  of  the  World  and  Emperor,  receive  with 
devotion  this  hook  of  Michael  Scot,  that  it  may  he 
a  grace  unto  thy  head  and  a  chain  ahoiit  tliij  neck.''  ^ 
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  ruth- 
lessly 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. 

This    interest    indeed    went    so    far   as    to    lead 

1  There  is  an  evident  reference  to  Prov.  i.  9  in  these  words  which 
accords  well  with  Scot's  usual  style. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  57 

Frederick  to  join  the  number  of  royal  authors  by 
publishing  a  work  on  falconry/  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  dedica- 
tion of  the  De  Animalihus  and  the  Ahhreviatio 
Avicennae  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  ap- 
preciate 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. 

As  regards  the  Ahhreviatio  Avicennae  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.^  Master  Henry  of 
Colonia^  w^as  the  person  selected  by  favour  of 
Frederick  for  this  work,  and,  as  most  of  the  manu- 
scripts of  the  Ahhreviatio  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. 

^  Printed,  but  very  incompletely,  at  Augsburg  in  1596  in  8vo. 
^  Rist.  Dij}.  Frid.  II.  vol.  iv.  pt.  i.  pp.  381,  382. 
^  Can  this  have  been  Cologna,  a  village  about  four  miles  north  of 
Salerno  ? 


58  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

This  Imperial  original  would  seem  to  be  more 
nearly  represented  by  the  Vatican  copy^  than  by 
any  other  which  remains  in  the  libraries  of  Europe. 
From  it  we  discover  that  the  Arabic  names  with 
which  the  Abbreviatio  abounds  were  given  in  Latin 
in  the  margin  of  the  original  manuscript,  which 
Scot  sent  to  the  Emperor."  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  Abbreviatio  Amcennae. 
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^ 
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. 

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. 

Frenata  penna,  finite  nunc  Avicenna 
Libro  Caesario,  gloria  summa  Deo 
Dextera  scriptoris  careat  gravitate  doloris.'^ 

Several    other  copies  of  the  Abbreviatio   have  the 
first  two  lines,  but  this  alone  contains  the  third. 

1  Fondo  Vaticano  4428. 

2  The  words  are  :  '  Ex  libro  animalium  Aristotelis  Domini  Impera- 
toris  in  margine'  (p.  158  recto)  :  see  facsimile  at  p.  55. 

2  Bibl.  Chisiana  E  viii.  251,  at  p.  41  bottom  margin. 
*  P.  158,  recto  col.  1. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  59 

In  the  Chigi  manuscript,  the  place  of  these  verses 
is  occupied  by  a  curious  feat  of  language  : — 

latinum        arabicum        sclauonicum        teutonicum        arabicum 
Felix  el  melic  dober  Friderich  salemelich.' 

To  whatever  period  it  belongs,  the  writer's  purpose 
was  doubtless  to  recall  to  the  mind  the  four  nations 
over  which  Frederick  ii.  ruled,  and  the  splendid 
kingdoms  of  Sicily,  Germany,  and  Jerusalem  which 
he  gathered  in  one  under  his  imperial  power. 

In  the  Laurentian  Library  there  is  a  valuable 
manuscript,  written  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1266,  for  the  monks  of  Santa  Croce.^  It  con- 
tains the  De  Animalihus  ad  Caesarem  ;  the  Abhre- 
viatio  Avicennae,  and,  as  a  third  and  concluding 
article,  an  independent  version  of  the  Liber  de 
Partibus  Animalitmi,  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  con- 
tain any  direct  evidence  of  authorship.     Thus  the 

1  p.  164. 

2  PI.  xiii.  sin.  cod.  9.  Other  mss.  of  the  Abbreviatio  Avicennae  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  ms.  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.  mss.  Canon.  Misc.  562 
saec.  xiv.  et  xv. ;  Merton  Coll.  ms.  277  saec.  xiv.  ;  All  Souls  Ms.  72 
saec.  xiv. 


60  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

doubt  expressed  by  Jourdain  in  this  matter  ^  is  not 
without  reason,  though  the  balance  of  probabihty 
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  De  Partihus 
Animalutm  came  from  Scot's  pen,  then  this  is  the 
third  form  in  which  his  labours  on  the  Natural 
History  of  Aristotle  appeared. 

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 
diflficult  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  diffi- 
cult 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  connec- 
tion, which  result  in  a  style  almost  baffling  to  one 
who  sought  to  reproduce  it  in  his  comparatively 
slow  and  clumsy  Latin. 

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  sub- 
ject. Nor  does  this  difference  depend,  as  one  might 
suppose,  on  the  fact  that  a  wider  field  of  observa- 
tion 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 

'  Eecherches,  p.  133. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  61 

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  De  Aiiimalibus  or  the  Ahhre- 
viatio.  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  obser- 
vation of  the  world  of  nature  is  employed  to  illus- 
trate. 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  dis- 
cerning and  recording  with  a  hizarrerie  which  comes 
to  resemble  nothing  so  much  as  the  fantastic  dance 
of  form  and  colour  in  a  kaleidoscope. 

'  Birds,'  says  Avicenna,^  '  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 
afreat  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  fatten- 

'  P.  13,  redo  et  verso,  in  the  undated  fifteenth  century  edition  of  the 
Ahhreviatio. 


62  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

ing  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  evapora- 
tion. 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.' 

In  another  place  ^  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  Avay  of 
all  animals,  even  in  those  kinds  that  eat  no  flesh, 

'  Ibid.  pp.  33  verso,  34  recto. 


SCOT  AT  TOLEDO  63 

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.' 

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  com- 
munication in  Toledo.  No  hidden  jewel  of  know- 
ledge 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  plaza  mayor, 
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. 

Such  as  it  now  stands,  the  Cathedral  of  Toledo 
had  not  yet  begun  to  rise  above  ground  when 
]\Iichael  Scot  had  his  residence  there,  but  enough 


64  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  the  ancient  city  remains  to  show  what  Toledo 
must  have  been  Hke  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  Woom  for 
streets  that  should  rather  be  called  lanes ;  all 
this,  beneath  the  unchanging  sky  of  the  south, 
recalls  sufficiently  what  must  have  been  the  sur- 
roundings of  Scot's  life  during  ten  laborious  years. 
Even  yet,  where  white-wash  peels  and  stucco  fails, 
strange  records  of  that  forgotten  past  reveal  them- 
selves in  the  walls  and  on  the  house  fronts : 
sculptured  stones  of  every  age;  bas-rehefs,  ara- 
besques ;  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. 

Here  then,  perhaps  in  some  house  still  standing, 
the  scholar  come  from  Sicily  made  his  home. 
The  quiet  courtyard  is  forgotten ;  the  azulejos 
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. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   ALCHEMICAL   STUDIES    OF   SCOT 

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  founda- 
tion of  a  scientific  materia  medicfi  in  minerals,  is 
shown  by  the  writings  of  Rases.  This  author, 
who  belonofed  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries 
(860-940),  produced  a  considerable  work  on  medi- 
cine 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  teach- 
ing and  borrowed  his  name. 

Michael  Scot,  as  we  know,  had  become  familiar 
with  the  works  of  Rases  while  still  in  Sicily,  and 
thought  so  highly  of  the  De  Medicina  as  to  borrow 
thence  for  his  treatise  on  physiognomy  no  fewer 
than  thirty-one  chapters  relating  to  that  subject.^ 
It  is  a  natural  conjecture  then  which  leads  us  to 
find  in  his  acquaintance  with  this  author's  writ- 
ings the  starting-point  of  Scot's  interest  both   in 

^  See  ante,  p.  32. 
E 


66  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Ahhreviatio  Avicenna  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. 

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. 

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 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  67 

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. 

M.  Berthelot  has  reminded  us^  that  the  trans- 
mission 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  mediseval  authorities  in  such  matters :  the 
Mappae  Clavicula  and  the  Compositiones  ad  Tin-  . 
genda.'^  These  receipts  are  not  unnaturally  en- 
titled '  How  to  make  Gold,'  and  it  is  curious  to 
find   in   them   the   veritable  starting-point  of  the 

^  La  Cliimie  au  Moijen  Age,  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. 

2  The  Mappae  Clavicula  (Key  to  Painting)  belongs  to  the  tenth 
century  ;  the  Compositiones  ad  Tingenda  is  of  the  age  'of  Charlemagne. 
A  MS.  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 
Antiquitates  Italicae,  ii.  364-87.  It  contains  receipts  for  the  colours 
used  in  making  tesserae  for  mosaic,  for  dyeing  skins,  cloth,  bone,  horn 
and  wood  ;  for  making  parchment ;  for  various  processes  such  as^old 
and  silver  beating  and  drawing,  and  the  gilding  of  iron  ;  for  chryso- 
grapliy  and  the  gilding  of  leather  ;  '  quomodo  eramen  in  colore  avhiCX,^ 
transmutetur,'  'operatio  Cinnaberim,'  a  perfume  for  tlie  hands  called 
lulaldn,  and  for  certain  amalgams  of  gold  and  silver  called  glutina. 


68  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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  civili- 
sation 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  ifappae 
Clavicula,  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  Smiths.  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. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  69 

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  Chaldseans  and 
Persians  had  long  believed  that  the  heavens  in- 
fluenced the  earth,  and  were  capable  of  producing 
strange  effects  in  the  lower  spheres  of  being. -^  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  in- 
fluence 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. 

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  mag- 
nifico '  this  secrecy  tended  to  confirm  the  impres- 
sion that,  however  much  had  been  communicated, 

^  See  Chwolson,  Die   Ssabier  und  der  Ssabismus.     The  Egyptians 
extended  this  correspondence  to  the  members  of  the  human  body. 


70  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

more  remained  untold,  to  await  discovery  by  the 
patient  and  undaunted  chemist.  The  Therapeutse 
or  Essenes  were  among  the  earliest  representa- 
tives of  this  new  tendency,  as  appears  from  the 
testimony  of  Josephus,^  who  describes  them  as  not 
only  devoted  to  ancient  writings,  but  eager  to  in- 
vestigate 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  mediaeval  alchemists  was  spent  to  realise. 

The  point  of  connection  between  these  specula- 
tions 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  re- 
ligion of  the  East.  This  element,  it  soon  came  to  be 
thought  by  those  Avhom  Eastern  speculation  in- 
fluenced, 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  em- 
ployment the  suspected  connection  between  the 
higher  and  lower  worlds  would  become  an  accom- 

^  ^novBa^ovcTLV  eKTunus  7re/jt  ra  tcov  iraXaiaiv  avyypaixfxaTa,  fiuXiara 
ra  TTpos  (x)(pe\fuw  '^v^rjs  Kal  (rcb^aros  fKXeyovTes.  '  F.vdep  aiiTols  npui 
6epuTT(iav  Tradoji'  piCai  t(  aKt^rjTrjpioi  Koi  XiOoiv  ISiorrjres  ivepevvoovTai. 
—Bell  Jud.,  ii.  8.  ^  6. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  71 

plished  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 
ehxir  of  life  produced. 

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,  sempUcista,  or  master  of  the 
still-room,  to  the  Cardinal  d'Este.  He  wrote  a 
book  entitled.  The  t7me  declaration  of  all  the 
TYietaiohors,  similitudes,  and  riddles  of  the  ancient 
Alchemical  Philosophers,  as  well  among  the  Chal- 
deans and  Arabians  as  the  Greeks  and  Latins} 
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  Meteora,'^  speaks  of 
fire  as  if  it  were  the  all  in  all  of  the  alchemist. 

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    mediseval   scholars,    but  we   now 

^  Roma,  Vincentio  Accolti,  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. 

2  See  the  Paris  ms.  6514,  pp.  133-35. 


72  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  im- 
portant 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  cliief  development  of  this  work  belongs,  how- 
ever, 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  ^  were  there  and  then  rendered  into  Syriac, 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  manuscripts  still  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum  and  at  Cambridge. 

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  Geher  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  collectious  of  Paris  and  Ley  den. 

In  the  eleventh  century  appeared  a  curious  phe- 
nomenon, in  the  shape  of  a  dispute  among  the 
Arabians  of  that  day  regarding  the  truth   of  the 

^  Of  Pannopolis,  a  chemist  of  the  fourth  century. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  73 

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  Kases  to  sustain  the  affirma- 
tive 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. 

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  Meteora  of  that  author.  The  treatise  De 
Mineralibus,  so  often  appended  to  the  Meteora  as 
a  supplement,  is  ascribed  to  Al  Kindi  in  the  Paris 
manuscript.^  It  represents  the  alchemy  of  the 
time. 

Between  these  two  contendiug  parties  stood  the 
school  of  Avicenna,  which  now  occupied  an  inter- 
mediate 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  Sermo  de  generatione  lapidum,  where 

1  6514. 


74  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  eflPect  is  in  great  measure  pro- 
duced. Nay,  they  can  also  remove  the  impurity 
from  lead,  so  that  it  looks  like  silver,  thouo-h  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'  ^  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. 

This  view  of  the  later  Arabian  schools  and  theu" 
differences  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  fact,  that  works 
are  extant  under  the  names  of  Kases,  Al  Kindi,  and 
Avicenna,  which  evidently  belong  to  the  eleventh 
century,  the  period  when  they  first  appeared,  and 
could  not  therefore  have  been  written  bv  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. 

We  have  a  direct  interest  in  observinof  that 
Spain  was  the  country  where  these  developments 

^  Fondo  Vaticano,  4428,  p.  114.  This  treatise  is  tlie  same  as  the  De 
mineralibus  published  along  with  the  I)e  Secretis  id  Venice  (?  1501)  by 
Bernardiniis  de  Vitalibiis. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  75 

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  Liber  de  Compositione 
Alchimiae,  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  Interrogationes  Regis 
Kalid,  et  responsiones  Morieni}  Here  then  we 
stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  age,  and  find  our- 
selves 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. 
As  in  Bagdad   during  the   ninth   century,  the 


^  Speciale  ms.  No.  vi.  See  the  work  by  Sac.  I.  Carini,  Stille  Scienze 
Occulte  net  Medio  Evo,  Palermo,  1872.  'Kalid  Eex'  was  Khaled  ben 
Yezid  ibn  Moauia,  and  '  Morienus'  was  Mar  Jannos,  his  Syrian  master. 


76  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

palmy  period  of  Syrian  studies,  so  in  Spain  three 
hundred  years  later,  the  work  was  in  its  commence- 
ment 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  im- 
possible 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.  ^  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 

1  Gayamjos,  i.   8.     Eicrhty  thousand  books  are  said  to  have  been 
burned  ia  the  squares  of  Granada  alone. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  77 

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  Ay^s 
Aurifera ;  the  Theatrum  Chemicum  of  Zetzner,  and 
the  Bihliotheca  of  Manget. 

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  there- 
fore 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. 

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  Quaestio  curiosa  de  natura  Solis  et 
Lunae.  It  has  probably  received  more  attention 
than  it  deserves  since  it  appeared  under  Scot's 
name  in  the   Theatrum   Chemicum.^      The  subject 

^  In  the  editions  of  1622  and  1659,  Argentorati.  It  has  been  stated 
that  the  Quaestio  Curiosa  is  a  chapter  taken  from  the  Liber  Intro- 
dudorius  of  Michael  Scot.  The  alternative  title  of  that  work,  Judicia 
Quaestionum  would  seem  to  favour  this  idea,  and  may  in  fact  have 
suggested  it.  But  an  examination  of  the  Liber  Introdudorius  (ms.  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 
Proceedings,  vol.  xi.  p.  179. 


78  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  this  treatise  is  indeed  an  alchemical  one ;  for 
the  sun  and  inoon  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.  Tlie  very  style 
suggests  this  conclusion  ;  for  it  is  distinctly  schol- 
astic, and  proper  therefore  to  a  later  age  than 
that  which  aimed  at  the  direct  and  simple  repro- 
duction of  Eastern  texts.  It  is  satisfactory  to  find 
that  this  criticism,  hardly  convincing  per  se,  is 
fully  borne  out  by  what  occurs  in  the  substance 
of  the  work  itself.  The  author  quotes  from  the 
De  Mineralihus  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  De  Natura  Soils  et 
LuncB  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  pre- 
cision, and  might  possibly  throw  some  light  upon 
the  person  of  its  true  author. 

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 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  79 

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.^  No.  44  of  this  manuscript  is  entitled 
Liher  Magistri  Miccaelis  Scotti  in  quo  confinetur 
Magisterium.  The  term  M agister ium,  or  supreme 
secret  of  art,  would  seem  to  carry  with  it  a  certain 
reference  to  Aristotle,  'II  Maestro  di  color  che 
sanno/  as  Dante  calls  him.^  Curious  as  the  appear- 
ance 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  Meteora  afforded  a  text  which 
lent  itself  readily  to  large  commentaries  by  the 
Arabian  chemists.  The  tract  De  Mineralibus, 
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.^  An  in- 
teresting example  appears  in  the  Speciale  collection 
itself  which  contains  the  following  title :  Liber 
2^erfecti  Magisterii  Aristotelis  qui  incipit  cum  studii 
solertis  indigere}  The  treatise  Cum  studii  is  also 
found  in  the  Paris  manuscript,^  where  it  is  ascribed 
to  Rases.     To   the    school  of  Rases   then   we  are 


^  See  the  note  to  p.  75  supra.  2  j,^y_  -yy  ^3^^ 

'  In  the  Theatrum  of  Zetzner  there  is  a  tract  :  '  Aristoteles  de  per- 
fecto  Magisterio,'  and  the  Bibl.  Naz.  of  Florence  has  a  ms.,  'De  Tribus 
Verbis,'  ascribed  to  the  same  author. 

*  Sic  pro  indagine,  v.  cod.  xvi.  142  of  the  Bibl.  Naz.  Florence,  where 
this  treatise  is  given  to  Aljidius,  i.e.  Al  Kindi.    In  it  occur  the  significant 
words :  '  est  (alchimia)  de  iUa  parte  physice  quae  Metheora  nuncupatur.' 
5  No.  6514. 


80  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

inclined  to  attribute  the  works  on  the  Magisterium, 
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 
Venus  mutatur  in  Solem ' ;  and  again,  '  Transfor- 
matio  Mercurii  in  Lunam.'  These  show  beyond  all 
doubt  that  the  doctrine  which  Michael  Scot  pub- 
lished by  means  of  this  version  was  that  held  by 
the  school  of  Rases.  -^ 

A  curious  question  here  offers  itself  for  our  con- 
sideration. 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.^ 
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  pro- 
gress 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  transformation.  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 

^  '  Penitus  denegatam,'  see  infra,  p.  89. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  81 

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  hyper- 
bolical language  of  still  earlier  times,  till,  under  this 
direction,  there  came  to  be  fastened  upon  the 
Church  a  full -formed  doctrine  of  Transubstantia- 
tion.^  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. 

The  Kiccardian  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.^  Among  these  appears  one 
called  the  Liber  Liiminis  Luminum.  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  pro- 
ceeded in  his  chemical  researches. 

The  book  opens  with  a  preface  somewhat  scho- 
lastic,^ and  one  which,  on  this  ground  as  well  as  on 
others,  is  probably  to  be  ascribed  to  Scot  himself. 

^  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. 

2  MS.  Rice.  L.  iii.  13.  119,  p.  35vo. 

^  '  In  quo  talia  contineutur,  Intencio,  Causa  Intencionis  et  Utilitas,' 
etc. 

F 


82  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

In  this  part  of  the  work  he  informs  us  that  he  took 
as  his  basis  in  the  following  compilation  a  text  called 
the  Secreta  Naturae.  To  it  he  added  material 
derived  from  other  sources,  which  seemed  necessary 
in  order  to  complete  the  doctrine  of  chemistry  con- 
tained in  the  Secreta.  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. 

In  the  study  of  a  composite  work,  such  as  the 
Liber  Lummis  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 
Liber  Luminis  that  represent  the  Secreta  Naturae  1 
Very  fortunately  the  volume  where  the  Liber 
Luminis  is  found  contains  another  treatise  that 
throws  considerable  light  on  the  matter.  This  is 
the  Liber  DedaJl  Philosoj^thi.  The  correspondences 
between  that  book  and  the  Liber  Luminis  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  Secreta  Naturae, 
so  that  a  comparison  of  these  two  books  such  as  is 
attempted  in  the  Appendix  ^  should  go  far  to  deter- 
mine what  that  hitherto  unknown  text  was. 

The  question  of  the  chemical  doctrine  contained 
in  the  Secreta  is  an  interesting  one,  and  we  shall 
return  to  it,  but  meanwhile,  let  us  observe  that  the 
Liber  Luminis  contains  hints  which  seem  to  carry 
us  further  still,  and  throw  some  light  upon  the 
source  from  which  the  Secreta  was  itself  derived. 
One  of  the  authors  quoted  is  a  certain  '  Archelaus.' 

'  See  Appendix,  No.  iii. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  83 

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  Liher  Aixhelai  Philosoiohi  de  arte 
alchimiae,^  called  also  in  the  margin  Practica 
Galieniin  Secretis  secretorum •,'^  the  Summula,  *quam 
ego  Archilaus  transtuli  de  libro  secretorum  ' ;  ^  and 
finally  the  Mappa  Archilei  nohilis  philosophic 

The  fact  that  these  titles  mention  the  Secreta  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  interest- 
ing and  significant.  The  Summula  ofiiers  the  follow- 
ing curious  passage :  '  Et  hoc  feci  amore  Dei  et 
cuidam  compatri  meo,  qui  pauper  sint  [sic]  et 
infortunatus,  et  postea  fortunatus  fortuna  bona  et 
amore  Imperatoris  Emanuelis  et  Frederici.'^ 

The  name  Emanuel  is  found  in  other  alchemical 
writings.     The  De  Perfecto  Magisterio,  for  example, 

1  Pp.  192vo-195vo. 

-  The  Paris  ms.  6514  has  these  words  :  '  Magister  Galienus  scriptor 
qui  utitur  in  Episcopatu  est  alkimista  et  scit  albificare  eramen  ita  quod 
est  album  ut  argentum  commune.' 

■'  Pp.  190ro.-192vo.  *  Pp.  185vo-190ro. 

^  Manuel  Comnenus  reigned  as  Emperor  of  the  East  from  1143  to 
1180,  Avhile  Frederick  i.  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.  Ivi.)  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  con- 
quests. It  is  highly  probable  that  it  was  in  this  way  the  scholars  of  Sicily 
became  acquainted  with  the  Byzantine  alchemy. 


84  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

which  has  been  reprinted  by  Zetzner,  embodies 
another  work,  the  Liber  diiodecim  aquarum  which 
is  expressly  said  to  be  taken  from  the  '  Liber 
Emaniiehs.'  Pursuing  the  matter  further  still,  we 
come  to  the  Liber  Aristotelis  which  commences, 
'  Cum  de  sublimiori  atque  precipuo.'  The  author  of 
this  treatise,  we  find,  claims  not  only  the  Liber 
duodecim  aquarum  ('quae  qualiter  se  habeant  in 
libro  quem  xii.  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 ').  Every- 
thing^ inclines  us  to  the  belief  that  we  here  touch 
the  source  from  which  the  main  part  of  the  Liber 
Luminis  was  drawn,  and  this  conclusion  is  not  a 
little  strengthened  when  we  observe  that  the 
treatise  '  Cum  de  sublimiori '  is  called  the  Lumen 
Luminum  in  the  Riccardian  copy.^ 

The  Secreta,  however,  was  not  the  only  source 
from  which  the  Liher  Luminis  and  the  Liber  Dedali 
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  ciatus  as  an  equi- 
valent for  the  w^ord  '  cup,'  and  this  reminds  us 
strongly  of  the  Summida  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   Liber    Dedali   where 

1  MS.  Rice.  L.  iii.  13.  119.  pp.  19vo.-29ro. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  85 

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  alembic 
and  aluclel.  Indeed,  Unay  and  Melchia,  who  are 
quoted  in  the  Liher  Luminis,  must  have  been  Moors, 
for  the  corresponding  passage  of  the  Liher  Dedali 
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  Secreta,  their  common  original,  may 
have  been  composed  in  Sicily.  The  Liber  Luminis 
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. 

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 
Liber  Luminis  Luminum  is  a  significant  one,  and 
has  a  real  relation  to  the  contents  of  the  work 
itself.^    To  discover  the  sense  which  it  must  be  held 

^  Titles  resembling  this  are  not  uncommon  in  the  literature  of 
alchemy.  Thus  the  Paris  ms.  6514  has  two  treatises,  both  called  Lumen 
Luminum  and  both  ascribed  to  Eases.  The  latter  of  these,  the  Liher 
Lumen  Luminum  ct  perfecti  Magisterii,  is  that  which  has  been  printed 
by  Zetzner  in  the  Theatram  Chcmicum,  under  the  name  of  Aristotle. 
It  contains,  as  we  have  already  observed,  the  Liber  XII.  aquarum  and 
other  material  derived  from  the  Liber  Emanuelis.  The  former  treatise 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Liber  Lumen  Luminum  in  the  Paris  ms. 
(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  Mappa  of  the  Pseudo-Archelaus  mentions  the 
'  Liber  invidiosus  '  ('  quia  liber  iste  invidiosus  est  ab  omnibus  homini- 
bus')j  but  what  may  be  the  true  reading  of  the  matter  is  found  in  the 
Liber  Dyabesi  or  book  of  the  distillation  of  the  land-tortoise  (ms.  Rice, 
p.  4ro.)  where  these  words  occur  :  'Omnia  ista  pondera  fuerunt  occulta  a 
philosophis,  et  dederunt  nobis  alia  pondera  .  .  .  quia  fuerunt  invidiosi,' 
i.e.  unwilling  to  make  public  the  secrets  of  their  art.  In  later  days  the 
title  Lumen  Luminum  is  found  in  use  by  Raymond  Lull  and  his  school. 


86  THP:  life  and  legend  of  MICHAEL  SCOT 

to  bear  we  have  only  to  turn  to  the  passage  in 
which,  speaking  of  akim,  the  author  says  :  '  sicut 
ilkiminat  pannos,  ita  iHuminat  martem  ut  recipiat 
formam  hmae.  Ut  enim  lana  illuminatur  ita  et 
metalla  illuminantur.'^  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  sub- 
stance, which  assumed  the  appearance  of  iron, 
gold,  or  silver,  according  to  the  form  which  it  had 
received.  His  employment  of  the  title  Liber 
Luminis  Luminum  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  cojDper. 
He  believed  that  this  being  removed  or  changed  by 
art,  they  might  be  made  to  shine  with  the  lustre 
and  indeed  j30ssess  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  Liber  Dedali 
'  Illuminantur '  there  appears  as  *  aluminantur.' 
The  chemistry  taught  in  these  books  did  in  fact  pre- 
scribe the  use  of  alum  as  a  great  means  of  purifying 
and  refininof  the  metals. 

The  preface  of  the  Liber  Luminis  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 

'  Liber  Lvmivis  Lmnivnm,  ii.  1. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  87 

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  men- 
tioned in  the  general  contents,  as  these  appear  in 
the  preface.  Perhaps  we  do  not  err  if  we  sup- 
pose it  to  have  embodied  the  result  of  Scot's  own 
experiments  in  alchemy. 

It  is  indeed  the  practical  nature  of  the  alchemical 
doctrine  taught  in  the  Liher  Luminis  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  exaggera- 
tion 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 


88  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Liher  Luminis 
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  transmuta- 
tion :  the  only  one  conceivable  by  the  philosophers 
of  that  time.  When  the  Liber  Luminis  speaks  of 
giving  copper  '  a  good  colour,'  or  preparing  iron  to 
'  receive  the  appearance  (formam)  of  silver,'  these 
expressions  reveal  with  frank  sincerity  the  concep- 
tions of  this  alchemy  and  the  results  it  endeavoured 
to  obtain. 

One  other  alchemical  work  attributed  to  the  pen 
of  Michael  Scot  remains  to  be  noticed ;  the  De 
Alchimia,  contained  in  a  manuscript  of  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford.^  Tanner  in  his  Bihliotheca 
has  noticed  this  work  in  the  following  terms  : 
'  Chymica  quaedam  ex  interpretatione  Michaelis 
Scoti  dedicata  Theophilo  regi  Scotorum.  Corpus 
Christi  MS.  125.  In  eodem  codice  MS.  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 '  shoidd  be 
'  Saracenorum,'  and  '  de  aelchali '  is  a  misreading  of 
'  de  alkimia,'  as  a  glance  at  the  manuscript  informs 

'  Corpus  Christi  lis.  cxxv.  pp.  llG-119. 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  89 

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  manuscri23t  (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  oriofinal 
(fol.  119  recto),  '  et  cum  siccatus,'  have  also  been 
written  by  the  later  scribe  at  the  bottom  of  page 
118  verso. 

In  spite  of  the  highly  suspicious  dedication, 
'  Theophilo  Regi  Saracenorum,'  several  reasons 
incline  us  to  regard  the  De  Alchimia  as,  in  sub- 
stance 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  referrino-  to  the 
secreta  7iatw^ae,  just  as  Scot  does  in  the  Liber 
Luminis,  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  Liber  Luminis  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  De  Alchimia.  Part 
of  the  preface  is  conceived  almost  in  the  form  of  a 
prayer,  commencing  thus  :   '  Creator  omnium  rerum 


90  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Deus  qui  cuncta  ex  nihilo  condidit,'  and  in  at  least 
one  passage,  a  well-known  text  of  Scripture  is  re- 
produced ('  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. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  De  Alchimia  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  subse- 
quent 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  ('  hie  est  puteus  Salomonis  et 
fimi  acervus,  et  hie  est  fons  in  quo  latet  anguis 
cuius  venenum  omnia  corpora  interficit,'  etc.)  that 
strongly  recalls  the  fancies  of  the  later  alchemy. 

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  Venus  into  the  Sun ; 
that  is,  of  copper  into  gold.  The  latter  compre- 
hended the  fixation  of  mercury  and  its  transmuta- 
tion into  the  Moon,  or  silver. 

We  soon  notice  too  that  the  author  addresses 
himself  not,  as  one  would  at  first  expect,  to  '  Theo- 
philus,' 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  jDersonage.     He  was  an   Italian, 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  91 

born  (for  accounts  vary)  either  at  Bivillo  near 
Assisi,  Cellullae  or  Ursaria  near  Cortona,  or  in  Pied- 
mont. 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  I 
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  Liber  Fratris  Eliae  de  Alchimia}  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.'  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  De  Alchimia  as  a 
pupil  ('  Et  ego,  Magister  Michael  Scotus,  sum  opera- 
tus  super  solem,  et  docui  te,  Fr.  Elia,  operari  et  tu 


.J 


1  In  MS.  Eicc.  L.  iii.  13,  119,  No.  37. 

'^  See  on  the  whole  subject  the  Annates  Minorum  of  Waddinp, 
especially  voL  i.  p.  109.  In  vol.  ii.  p.  242,  we  find  the  reproof  addressed 
by  the  iPope  to  Fra  Elias.  The  words  referred  to  above  are  these  : 
'  mutari  color  optimus  auri  ex  quo  caput  {i.e.  Franciscus)  erat  compactum.' 


92  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

milii  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. 

The  De  Alchimia  presents  several  features  which 
distinguish  it  from  the  Liber  Luminis.  One  of 
these  is  an  early  passage  which  refers  to  the  corre- 
spondence 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  materia 
chemica  occurs,  but  it  would  seem  as  if  this  had 
been  written  to  supplement  that  given  in  the  Liber 
Luminis,  for  it  deals,  not  wdth  salts,  alums,  vitriols, 
or  volatile  substances,  but  with  the  different 
varieties  of  what  the  author  calls  'gummae,'  which, 
however,  are  mineral  substances  ;  ^  and  with  '  tuchia  ' 
in  all  its  various  kinds. 

Many  words  and  phrases,  however,  might  be 
cited  to  show  how  the  strain  of  doctrine  observable 
in  the  Liber  Luminis  is  continued  with  scarcely 
any  change  in  the  De  Alchimia.  We  have 
hardly  read  a  line  in  the  first  receipt  before  we  meet 
with  the  expression  '  sanguinem  hominis  rufi '  re- 
callinor  the  '  sano^uinem  hominis  rubei '  of  the  Liber 
Luminis.  The  '  pulvis  bufonis '  indeed  is  here  re- 
placed by  another  ingredient  derived  from  the 
animal  kingdom,  the  '  sanguis  bubonis  ' ;  but,  read- 
ing a  little  further,  we  find  the  familiar  '  urina  taxi ' 

^  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 


'  ID 

when  read  as 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  93 

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^  cited  in  the  De 
Alchimia  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. 

To  give  a  substantial  idea  of  the  De  Alchimia 
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  ('com- 
burenti '),  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  Portulaca  marina,  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 
Portulaca  marina :  alum  of  cumae  somethinp"  red 
and  saltish,  Koman  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 

^  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. 


^4  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

tuchia,  which  is  a  stone  of  variegated  colours  and 
being  melted  with  copper  changeth  it  into  gold ; 
Oumaean  salt  which  is  .  .  ,  ;  pure  red  arsenic,  the 
blood  of  a  ruddy  man,  red  tartar,  gumma  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.' 

If  such  a  receipt  is  valuable  as  indicating  the 
chemical  practice  of  those  days,  it  is  no  less  inter- 
esting as  it  throws  light  upon  the  life  and  occupa- 
tions of  Scot.  He  must  have  set  up  a  complete 
chemical  laboratory  at  Toledo,  with  crucibles  for 
the  melting  of  metals,  and  alembics  for  the  dis- 
tillation 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 
materia  chemica  could  there  be  procured.  The 
sierras  of  that  country  were  full  of  mineral  wealth 
of  all  kinds,  especially  quicksilver,  which  was  one 


THE  ALCHEMICAL  STUDIES  OF  SCOT  95 

of  the  substances  most  frequently  cliosen  to  become 
the  subject  of  the  transmuter's  art.  In  the  Alpu- 
jarras,  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 
Venus  blush  into  the  true  substance  of  Sol,  or 
Mercury,  the  fickle  and  obstinate,  congeal  into 
a  veritable  Luna,  his  chemical  practice,  and  the  re- 
cords in  which  he  has  embodied  it,  mark  none  the 
less  true  and  significant  a  moment  in  the  history 
of  scientific  progress. 


CHAPTEH  V 

THE    ASTRONOMICAL    WRITINGS    OF    SCOT 

The  alchemy  of  the  thirteenth  century,  to  the  pro- 
gress 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,^  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. 

To    Michael    Scot,    even    before    he    came    to 

^  Bibl.  Naz.  Flor.  ms.  xvi.  142,  see  supra,  p.  79. 

96 


THE  ASTRONOMICAL  WRITINGS  OF  SCOT  97 

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  Liber  Introductorius 
and  Liber  Particularis  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. 

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  know- 
ledge, but  as  a  translator  anxious  to  find  the  oppor- 
tunity of  adding  to  the  resources  of  other  scholars 
by  the  production  of  some  important  book  in  a 
Latin  dress. 

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  com- 
mentaries of  Montafan  and  Algazel,  were  trans- 
lated 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 

G 


98  THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Tables  of  Toledo} 

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  K^ourse 
of  after  ages,  furnished  adequate  ground  for  the 
magical  and  illuminative  speculations  of  Copernicus, 
Galileo,  and  Newton. 

Favourable,  however,  as  Scot's  situation  in 
Toledo  undoubtedly  was,  much  of  what  we  are  con- 
sidering 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 
Almagest.  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  sphere,  each  superseding  that 
which  had  preceded  it,  and  reflecting  the  last  results 

^  Romanus  de  Higuera,  a  very  doubtful  authority. 


THE  ASTRONOMICAL  WRITINGS  OF  SCOT  99 

obtained  with  the  astrolabe.  Such  a  line  of  pro- 
gress 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. 

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  oppor- 
tunities 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. 

His  services  to  astronomy  appeared  in  the  Latin 
version  which  he  made  from  a  treatise  on  the  Sphere 
lately  composed  by  Alpetrongi.  This  author's 
name  is  said  to  have  been,  in  its  Arabic  form,  Nur- 
ed-din  el  Patrugi.  Munk,  in  his  Melanges,  tells  us 
that  the  latter  designation  was  derived  from  a 
village  called  Petroches  lying  a  little  to  the  north 
of  Cordova.^  The  Latins  corrupted  the  name  in 
different  ways,  so  that  among  them  it  became 
Avenalpetrandi,  Alpetrongi,  or  Alpetragius.  The 
astronomer  who  bore  it  flourished  about  the  year 
1190,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  renegade,  and  a 

1  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. 


100        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

scholar  of  the  celebrated  Ibn  Tofail,  the  author  of 
the  curious  Sufic  romance  called  Hay  Ihn  Yokhdan. 

In  the  preface  to  his  book  on  the  Sphere  Alpe- 
trongi  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. 

As  early  as  the  ninth  century  the  mathe- 
maticians of  that  nation  had  simplified  the  problems 
of  the  circle  by  discovering  the  way  of  measure- 
ment 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  after- 
wards formed  by  corruption  their  common  noun 
Algorisma  or  Algorithmus,  from  which  our  word 
arithmetic  is  derived. 

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  de- 
clination of  the  ecliptic,  which  they  determined  to  be 
23°  33".  About  the  same  time  the  secular  motion  of 
the  heavens  began  to  attract  attention.     Albategni 


THE  ASTRONOMICAL  WRITINGS  OF  SCOT  101 

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  re- 
peated this  calculation,  and  amended  that  relating 
to  the  declination  of  the  ecliptic,  which  he  computed 
at  23°  35". 

This  was  the  progress  and  these  the  data  which 
led  the  Moorish  astronomers  to  abandon  the  earlier 
and  simpler  theories  of  the  sphere  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^ 
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. 

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. 

^  For  the  unfavourable  judgment  of  Mirandola  on  this  astronomer, 
see  infra,  p.  143. 


102        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  con- 
sidering the  chief  features  which  it  presents. 

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  primitm  mohile  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. 

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. 


THE  ASTRONOMICAL  WRITINGS  OF  SCOT  103 

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  ? 

Each  sphere,  said  Alpetrongi,  has  its  own 
poles,  which  differ  from  those  of  the  primum  mohile, 
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  s^^iral  which  fully 
accounts  for  the  seeming  deviations  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  to  north  or  south. ^ 

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  mar- 
vellous discoveries  of  later  times. 

Scot's  version  of  the  Sphere  of  Alpetrongi  has 

^  See  the  excellent  account  in  Munk. 


104        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

reached  us  accompanied  by  the  date  of  its  com- 
position ;  a  distinction  which  belongs  to  only  one 
other  among  his  translations,  that  of  the  Ahhreviatio 
Avicennae.  M.  Jourdain  had  the  merit  of  being 
the  first  who  drew  attention  to  this  fortunate 
circumstance,^  and  he  did  so  by  quoting  the  colo- 
phons of  two  manuscripts  of  the  Sphere  discovered 
by  him  in  the  Paris  library.^  One  of  these  closes 
thus  :  '  Praised  be  Jesus  Christ  who  liveth  for  ever 
throughout  alltime:^  on  the  eighteenthday  of  August, 
being  Friday,  at  the  third  hour,  cum  aholeolente,^ 
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  Sphere  of  Alpetrongi  was  made 
in  the  year  1217.^ 

In  completing  this  translation  Michael  Scot 
anticipated  by  one  year  only  the  great  astrono- 
mical 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 

1  Eecherches,  i^.  133. 

^  These  are  Ancien  Fonda  7399  and  Foncls  de  tiorhonne  1820. 

3  '  Qui  vivit  in  aeternum  per  tempora.' 

*  There  is  a  copy  in  the  Barberini  library  (ix.  25  in  fol.  chart,  saec. 
XV.)  which  reads  '  cum  abuteo  lenite.'  Another  at  Paris,  mss.  lat.  1665 
(dim  Sorbonicus)  has  '  c.  Abuteo  Levite.'  It  would  be  rash  to  conjec- 
ture the  sense  of  this  curious  phrase.  It  is  evidently  a  sign  of  tmie, 
and  perhaps  astrological 

^  The  Barberini  ms.  (ix.  25)  gives  1221  as  the  date  of  the  version, 
but  the  consensus  of  the  other  copies  shows  this  to  be  a  mistake. 
Almost  ail  the  mss.  mention  that  the  work  was  done  at  Toledoj     \ 


THE  ASTBONOMICAL  WRITINGS  OF  SCOT  105 

there.  Certain  it  is  that  the  author  was  not  less 
fortunate  in  this  than  in  his  previous  Hterary 
ventures.  The  text  was  well  chosen,  the  time  of 
publication  opportune,  and  the  Sphere  of  Alpetrongi 
as  it  came  from  Scot's  hand  had  a  wide  circulation 
and  influenced  profoundly  the  astronomical  beliefs 
of  the  day.^ 

^  See  the  references  made  to  this  work  of  Scotby  Albertus  Magnus 
and  Vincent  of  Beauvais. 


CHAPTEE  VI 

SCOT  TKANSLATES  AVERROES 

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,  how- 
ever, another  Arabian  author  of  the  first  rank  had 
become   the   object  of  much   curiosity  in   Europe. 
This  was  the  famous  Averroes  of  Cordova,  whose 
history  might  fill  a  volume,  so  full  was  it  of  romantic 
adventure  and  literary  interest.^    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. 

Two  reasons  combined  to  raise  the  fame  of 
Averroes  among  the  Latins,  and  to  inspire  them 
with  a  high  curiosity  regarding  his  works.     He  was 

1  For  the  life  and  opinions  of  Averroes,  see  the  excellentnionograph 
Averroes  et  l' Averro'isme,  which  Renan  published  at  Paris  in  1866.     I 
have  drawn  largely  upon  it  in  composing  this  chapter. 
106 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  107 

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  com- 
pelled him  to  leave  his  employment  and  pass  the 
most  precious  years  of  his  life  in  exile. 

These  common  impressions  regarding  Averroes 
were  in  the  main  correct.  His  labours  had  appeared  i 
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  Manichsean,  if  not  in  a  measure  Pan- 
theistic. Like  that  of  all  the  Arabian  philosophers, 
to  whose  teaching  Averroes  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  w^e 
may  notice  those  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  the 


108        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Divine  Power.  This  Wisdom  was  said  to  be  imper- 
sonal ;  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  Frimum  Mobile,  entering  into  touch 
with  matter  and  deriving  its  force  downward  from 
one  heavenly  circle  to  another  till  it  reaches  earth 
itself. 

The  origin  of  created  beings  was  a  problem 
which  received  much  attention  from  Averroes.  His 
ideas  on  this  subject  will  be  seen  when  we  come  to 
speak  of  the  important  digression  he  wrote  under 
the  title  of  Quaestiones  Nicolai  PerijKitetici}  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  Averroes  taught  that 
a  close  relation  subsisted  between  them,  and  a  con- 
sequent sympathy  and  attraction,  in  which  the 
passive  intelligence  strove  to  unite  itself  with  the 
active  and  thus  achieve  eternity  and  immortality.^ 

This  union  was  known  as  the  ittisal :  the  supreme 
object  of  the  wise  man's  desire,  and  in  connection 
with  it  emerged  for  the  first  time  a  distinction  be- 
tween Averroes  and  his  predecessors,  Ibn  Badja, 
with  whom  he  held  the  closest  relation,  had  pro- 

^  See  infra,  p.  128.     Nicolas  Damascenus  was  born  B.C.  6-1. 

2  This  was  purely  Alexandrian  doctrine:  'enseuaron  Plotino, 
Porfirio  y  lamblico,  ciue,  en  la  union  extatica,  el  alrua  y  Dios  se  haceu 
uno,  quedando  el  alma  conio  aniquilada  por  el  golpc  intuitivo.^  Pelayo, 
Heterodoxos  Esjxinoles,  vol.  ii.  p.  522. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  109 

posed  a  course  of  moral  discipline  as  the  best  way 
of  attaining  the  ittisal :  the  same  ascetic  practice 
which  Ibn  Tofail  so  remarkably  illustrated  and  com- 
mended in  his  mystical  romance  Haij  Ihn  Yokhdan. 
Gazzali  on  the  other  hand,  who  was  the  sceptic  of 
these  schools,  boldly  declared  that  the  ittisal  was 
only  to  be  reached  by  an  intellectual  and  spiritual 
confusion  attained  in  the  zikr,  or  whirling  dance  of 
the  Dervishes.  It  was  left  then  for  Averroes  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  in- 
tellectual 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. 

It  is  plain  that  the  way  to  this  consummation 
proposed  by  Averroes  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  Averroes 
might  be. 

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 


110        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  censure.  In  1215  Robert  de  Courcon  published 
a  statute  in  that  university  by  which  the  name  of 
Mauritius  Hispcmus,  understood  by  Kenan  to  mean 
Averroes,  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  Averroes  were  rendered  into  Latin 
and  the  secrets  of  his  remarkable  philosophy  laid 
open  to  the  scholastic  world. 

The  credit  of  this  bold  and  successful  enter- 
prise belongs,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  in  what 
proportions,  to  the  Emperor  Frederick  ii.  and  to 
Michael  Scot  his  faithful  servant,  Frederick  had 
indeed  every  reason  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  works 
of  Averroes.  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  Provencal  knights  who  formed 
his    train   when    he    came    to    Sicily   there    must 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  1 1 1 

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  Gnosis  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  gay  saber.  It  would  not 
have  been  wonderful  if  Frederick  himself  had 
become  an  Albigensian.  He  is  known  to  have 
caught  a  taste  for  Provengal  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.-^  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 

^  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,  qui  j^^rfecti  et  justi  sunt.  Among  the 
Albigenses  and  Cathari  generally  the  word  ^^ej/ec^-t  was  used  in  a 
technical  sense  to  indicate  those  who  had  been  received  into  complete 
fellowship  as  opposed  to  the  credentes  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. 


112       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Counts  of  Toulouse  and  Foix  the  champions  of  the 
Albigensian  party. 

The  probabiHty  that  the  Emperor  had  early  felt 
an  interest  in  Averroes  is  confirmed  by  a  curious 
statement  of  Gilles  de  Rome/  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,^  yet  we  may  remember 
that  the  chronicler  could  not  in  any  case  have 
ventured  upon  it  unless  the  Emperor's  sympathy 
for  Averroes  had  been  matter  of  common  know- 
ledge. 

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  manu- 
script in  the  Laurentian  library  to  which  we  have 
already  referred^  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  pro- 
bability 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 

1  Opera,  p.  102. 

2  Averroes,  pp.  28,  254,  29L  ^  gee  ante,  p.  18. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  113 

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  com- 
pleted 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  vii.  re- 
ceived 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. 

The  sole  glory  which  Cordova  still  retained  in 
the  days  when  Scot  visited  it  was  the  memory  of 
departed  greatness,  and  of  Averroes,  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  writ- 
ings were  now  the  object  of  so  much  curiosity.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  something  of  a  practical 
purpose  may  have  combined  with  these  sentiments 

H 


114        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

to  determine  the  direction  of  Scot's  journey. 
Twenty  years  had  not  passed,  we  must  remember, 
since  the  body  of  Averroes  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  tlie 
books  which  the  philosopher  was  engaged  in  com- 
pleting 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.^ 

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  necro- 
mancer. 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."  What  wonder  if,  in  the  vertigo 
of  fever,  he  felt  prisoned  with  swimmmg  brain  in 
magic  circles ;  or  is  it  strange  that  one  so  intent 
upon  the  doctrine  of  the  departed  Averroes  should, 
in  the  height  of  his  delirium,  have  planned  to  force 

^  This  inquiry  was  afterwards  interpreted  to  Scot's  disadvantage 
and  in  a  way  that  heightened  his  necromantic  fame.     See  infra,  ch.  ix. 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  i.  Averroes  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. — Colliget,  ii.  22.  Michael 
Scot  can  hardly  have  shared  this  opinion. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  115 

the  grave  itself,  and  summon  the  dead  philosophei- 
to  tell  the  secret  of  his  lost  works  ?  Something  of 
the  Greek  SeLv6Tr)<;,  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 
Averroes  :  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,  con- 
sidering 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  con- 
sequences both  for  Michael  Scot  and  for  the 
Emperor  himself  in  the  ecclesiastical  and  political 
sphere. 

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  Emperor's  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  Averroes. 

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  de  Sabloneta  Cremonensis.    The  Victorine 


116        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

manuscript^  supplies  evidence  that  he  contributed  to 
the  work  in  which  Michael  Scot  was  now  engaged. 

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  Averroes,  but  we  have  seen  that 
he  was  certainly  in  Spain  about  this  time  and  even 
at  work  with  Gerard  of  Cremona."  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. 

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  ii.  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 
Averroes  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. 

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 

1  St.  Victor,  17L  ^  De  Kossi  ms.  354.    See  ante,  p.  20. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  A VERROES  117 

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. '-^  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 
Averroes,  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  Alpha- 
girus,  who  seems  to  have  taken  the  same  part  that 
Avendeath  had  formerly  done,  by  translating  the 
Arabic  of  Averroes  into  current  Spanish,  which  Scot 
and  his  coadjutor  then  rendered  into  Latin. 

Such  at  least  appear  to  be  the  suggestions 
which  ofi^er  themselves  naturally  to  one  who  per- 
uses the  colophon  to  the  copy  of  the  De  Aninialihus 
ad  Caesarem  preserved  in  the  Bihliotheca  Angelica 

^  See  preface  to  the  De  Aidma  of  Avicenna,  Jiss.  Fondo  Vaticano 
4428,  p.  78vo,  and  2089,  p.  ;307ro.  .Jourdain  has  reprinted  this 
preface  in  his  Recherches,  p.  449,  from  the  mss.  Fonds  de  Sorbonne 
1793  and  Ancien  Fonds  6443. 


118        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  E-ome.  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 
Bihliotheca  Rahhinica,  mentions  a  manuscript  of  the 
Fondo  Urbinate  in  the  Vatican  which,  he  says,  con- 
tains 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,  Johannes  Avendeath  and  Dominicus 
Gundisalvi  who  aided  each  other  in  the  work/ 

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  astrono- 
mical congress,  mentions  that  one  of  them  was 
'el  Conhesso  Alfaquir'  of  Toledo."  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  12 18^ 
there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  not,  as  the 
'  Alphagirus '  of  1209,  have  assisted  Michael  Scot  in 
producing  the  De  Animalibus  for  Frederick. 

It  is  from  a  remark  made  by  Roger  Bacon  that 
we  know  the  first  name  of  the  Toledan  interpreter 

>  Bibl.  Rabb.  i.  p.  7.  'Eiusdem  Avicennae  Physicorum  lib.  iv., 
Magistro  Johanne  Gunsalui  et  Salonione  interpretibus,  No;  44J)>'  i.e.  of 
the  Fondo  Urbinate. 

-  Bibl.  Espaiiola,  ii.  pp.  643-4.  'Conhesso'  may  be  a  mistake  for 
converso.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  Andrew  had  embraced  the 
Christian  faith. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  A VERROEs;  119 

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  igno- 
rant of  languages  and  science  alike.  Almost  all 
that  has  appeared  in  his  name  was  taken  from  a 
certain  Jew  called  Andrew.'  ^ 

A  sufficient  answer  to  this  serious  accusation 
may  be  found  in  what  we  already  know  of  the 
Miterary  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  fiiid  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  ^oran  Peter  the  Venerable  joined  a  Summa 
Brevis  of  the  Christian  controversy  with  the  Mo- 
hammedans. This  work  also  came  from  the  pen  of 
Master  Peter,  and  with  regard  to  it  he  makes  the 

1  'Michael  Scotiis,  ignarus  quidem  et  verbonim  et  rerum,  fere 
omnia  quae  sub  nomine  ejus  prodierunt,  ab  Andrea  quodam  Judaeo 
mutuatus  est.' — Opus  Majus.  In  his  Comjjendmm  Studii,  a  much  later 
vrork,  Bacon  repeats  the  accusation  in  a  milder  form  :  '  Michael  Scotus 
ascripsit  sibi  translationes  multas.  Sed  certum  est  quod  Andreas  quidani 
Judaeus  plus  laboravit  in  his.'  It  has  been  conjectured  that  Andrew 
was  a  convert  to  Christianity,  v.'  Eenan,  who  cites  the  preface  to  Jebb's 
edition  of  the  Opus  Tertium  of  Bacon.  It  is  curious  at  any  rate  that 
the  name  given  him  was  that  of  Scotland's  patron  saint. 


120        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

following  remarks  :  '  By  giving  elegance  and  order 
to  what  had  been  rudely  and  confusedly  stated  by 
him  (i.e.  by  Master  Peter)  he  {i.e.  Brother  Peter 
the  Notary)  has  completed  an  epistle,  or  rather  a 
short  treatise,  which,  as  I  believe,  will  be  very  use- 
ful to  many.'^ 

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  col- 
laboration seems  to  have  produced  nearly  all  the 
previous  versions  which  came  from  Toledo,  and  it 
is  obvious  that  the  honour  due  to  the  various  con- 
tributors who  combined  in  forming  these  trans- 
lations 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." 

1  Bibl.  Max.  Vett.  Patrum,  Liigduni,  1677,  vol.  xxii.  p.  1030. 

2  The  letter,  namely,  of  Pope  Gregory  ix. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  121 

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  some- 
thing to  the  care  of  his  Moorish  scribe. 

Even  had  we  not  been  able  to  make  such  an 
appeal  to  the  use  and  wont  of  the  times  in  vindi- 
cation 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  con- 
versing 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,  follow- 
ing 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  trans- 
lation  which   had   brought   them   to    Spain.     It   is 


122        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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  cachet,  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 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  123 

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. 

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  Averroes  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  ii., 
could  have  been  gained  by  any  but  legitimate  and 
honourable  means. 

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 
Averroes  on  the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo  of  Aristotle,^  and 
Scot  lias  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 

^  Paris,  Fonds  de  Sorbonne  924,  950;  St.  Victor,  171  ;  Navarre, 
75  ;  Venice,  St.  Mark,  vi.  54  ;  Fondo  Vaticano,  2184,  2089,  p.  6ro. 


124        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Sphere  was  produced,  this 
fortunate  reference  to  that  previous  work  enables 
us  to  determine,  at  least  approximately,  that  of 
the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo,  and  hence  of  these  transla- 
tions of  Averroes  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  j^^^ohably  nearer  the  former  than  the 
latter,  must  his  labours  and  those  of  his  coadjutors 
have  been  devoted  to  this  important  work. 

Stephanus  de  Provino  has  been  happily  identi- 
fied by  M.  Bourquelot  with  a  somewhat  notable 
ecclesiastic  of  the  Church  of  Notre  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  Rheinis,  who,  it  seems,  was  born  at 
Provins.^  Perhaps  he  is  the  Ste^'ylianus  Francigena 
of  Guido  Bonatti.'  Scot's  friendship  with  him,  to 
which  the  dedication  of  the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo 
bears  witness,  was  probably  begun  in  their  student 
days  at  Paris. 

^  See  'Provinianu'  in  the  Feuillc  de  Provins  for  7  Fevrier  1852  ; 
also  the  Eist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  xvii.  232  ;  the  Bibl.  Imp.  Colb. 
tSuite  du  Jicg.  Princ.  Campan,  II F.  50ro.  and  199vo.  ;  and  the  letters 
of  Gregory  ix.,  anni  v.  9  kal.  Maii  (1231  or  1232),  anni  vii.  kal.  B'eb., 
and  3  kal.  Martii  in  the  collection  of  Laporte  du  Theil. 

-  See  ante,  j).  6. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  125 

The  second  version  bearing  the  name  of  Scot  is 
that  which  commences  with  the  words  :  '  Intendit 
per  subtilitatem  demonstrare ; '  being  the  com- 
mentary of  Averroes  on  the  De  Anima  of  Aristotle/ 
In  the  Victorine  manuscript  tliis  treatise  offers  a 
curious  title  :  '  Here  beginneth  the  Commentary  of 
the  Book  of  Aristotle  the  Philosopher  concerning 
the  Soul,  which  Averroes  commented  on  in  Greek, 
and  Michael  Scot  translated  into  Latin.' 

In  the  same  manuscript  the  version  of  Averroes's 
Commentary  on  the  various  books  which  compose 
the  Parva  Natiu^alia  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  bv  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  ex- 
cellent monograph  on  the  subject.^  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    Coiivpendiimi   Studii,^ 

1  Paris,  Sorbonne,  932,  943  ;  St.  Victor,  171  ;  Ancien  Fonds,  6504  ; 
Venice,  St.  Mark,  vi.  54. 

2  Vita  di  Gherardo  Cremonense,  Eoma,  1851.  The  distinction 
between  the  elder  and  younger  Gerard  had  been  noticed  by  Flavio 
Biondo  (1388-1463)  ;  by  Zaccharia  Lilio  (obiit  c.  1522)  and  by  Giulio 
Faroldo  in  the  sixteenth  century.  I  have  found  the  same  accuracy  in  the 
Risorgimento  d'ltalia  of  the  Abate  Saverio  Bettinelli,  which  appeared 
at  Bassano  in  1786  (vol.  i.  p.  81).  Only  foreigners,  therefore,  seem  to 
have  overlooked  it. 

2  Compendium  Studii,  p.  471. 


12G        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  never- 
theless known  Gerard,  who  was  the  eldest  of  this 
company  of  scholars.  Now  the  Compendium  Studii 
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  de  Sahloneta  Cremonensis.  He  was 
undoubtedly  a  contemporary  of  Michael  Scot,  and 
the  De  Bossi  manuscript,  already  referred  to,^  shows 
that  he  w^as  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  Averroes  on  the  Parva  Natu- 
rcdia.  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. 

The  manuscript  collections  where  the  De  Coelo  et 
Mundo,  the  De  Anima,  and  the  Parva  Naturalia 
of  Averroes  are  found  in  a  Latin  dress,  contain  also 
versions  of  several  other  commentaries  by  the  same 
author :  those  concerning  the  De  Generatione  et 
Cor7niptione,  the  four  books  of  the  Meteora,  the  De 
Sid)stantia  Orhis,  and  the  Physica  and  Metaphysica 
of  Aristotle."  We  may  safely  ascribe  them  to  the 
Toledo  College.     They  were  translated  either   by 

'  No.  354  ;  see  ante,  pp.  20,  116. 

^  See  the  list  of  Mss.  already  given,  p.  123. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  127 

Michael  Scot,  Gerard  of  Cremona,  or  some  other 
scholar  who  worked  under  these  masters. 

Kenan,  relying  on  the  authority  of  Haureau,^ 
has  shown  good  reason  to  believe  that  at  least  the 
commentaries  on  the  Physica  and  Metaphysica  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 
Quaestiones  Nicolai  Peripatetici.  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.'"  The  doctrine  thus  condemned  is  un- 
doubtedly that  of  Averroes  on  the  Physica  and 
Metaphysica.  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  Averroes 
on  the  twelfth  book  of  the  Metaphysics.  This 
digression,  says  Penan,  often  occurs  in  the  manu- 
scripts 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  Averroes,  and  thus  the 
identity  of  this  treatise  with  the  book  censured  by 
Albertus  Magnus  was  not  recognised  till  Haureau 
discovered  it. 

The  only  result  then  of  this  sharp  criticism  is  to 
assure  us  that  the  versions  of  the  Physica  and 
Metaphysica  must  also  be  reckoned  to  the  credit 

^  De  la  Philosophie  Scolastique,  i.  470.  ^  Opera,  ii.  140. 


128        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  Michael  Scot.     For  undoubtedly  the  opinions  to 
which  Albert  took  such  exception   were  those  of 
Averroes,   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   odium  philosophicum,   and    of  that  envy 
which  even  a  just  reputation  seldom  fails  to  excite. 
Some  curiosity  may  be  felt  with  regard  to  the 
doctrine  contained  in  the  Quaestiones  Nicolai  Peri- 
patetici  which  gave  ground  for  such  adverse  opinions. 
M.    Kenan's    resume  of  this   treatise  is   clear  and 
sufficient,^  and  we  may  reproduce  it  here,  as  it  will 
afford  a  useful  supplement  to  the  account  already 
given  of  the  philosophy  of  Averroes.      '  As  to  the 
origin  of  the  different  kinds  of  being,'  says  Averroes, 
'  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 

^  Averroes,  p.  108. 


SCOT  TBANSLATES  AVERROES  129 

between  them,^  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  Motecalhmin,  and  by  the  followers  of 
the  Christian  religion :  for  example,  by  Johannes 
Christianus  (Philopon),  who  asserts  that  the  possi- 
bility of  creation  lies  in  the  Agent  alone.' 

'  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,^  make  an 
entire  separation  between  matter  in  generation  and 
the  Agent,  calling  the  latter  the  source  of  form, 
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.e.  those  not  produced  from 
seed,^  which  all  owe  their  being  to  causes  that  are 
unlike  themselves.' 

'  The  third  theory  is  that  of  Aristotle,  who 
holds  that  the  Agent  produces  at  once  both  form 

■^  See  Metaphysica,  xii.  334. 

2  Avicenna.     See  Destruction  of  Destruction,  iii.  350. 
^  The   doctrine  of    spontaneous    generation,   common   among    the 
Arabian  Philosophers,  and  specially  taught  by  Ibn  Tofail. 


130        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Ideas.  According  to  Aristotle  the 
Agent  cannot  create  forms,  for  in  that  case  some: 
thing  would  be  produced  from  nothing. 

*  It  is,  in  fact,  the  notion  that  forms  could  be 
created  which  has  led  some  philosophers  to  sujDpose 
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  relisfions 
of  our  day,^  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  inter- 
mediary all  kinds  of  creatures ;  an  Agent  whose 
action  proceeds  by  an  infinity  of  opposite  and  con- 
tradictory 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 

^  This  is  a  notable  saying  which  may  well  have  given  rise  to  the 
legend  of  a  book  De  Tribus  Impostoribus.  It  was  certainly  one  of  the 
foeda  dicta  blamed  by  Albertus  Magnus. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  131 

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. 

*  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.' 

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  Mo- 
hammedans alike  were  declared  false  by  this  bold 
writer,  whom  several  expressions  which  we  have 
embodied  in  the  above  summary  show  clearly  to 
have  been  Averroes,  and  not  Michael  Scot.  In  one 
passage  indeed  we  seem  to  discover  what  may 
have  suggested  the  widely  spread  fable  that 
Frederick  ii.,  or  Scot,  or  some  other  of  their 
company  and  party,  had  produced  an  atheistic 
work  cjalled  De  Trihus  Im.postorihus.  The  im- 
putation was  a  false   one,  yet  most  natural  were 


132        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

the  feelings  of  prejudice  ^Yhich  the  publication  of 
this  philosophy  aroused  against  the  great  Emperor 
and  Michael  Scot  who  had  acted  as  his  agent  in  the 
matter. 

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  Aver- 
roes/  besides  the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo,  the  DeAnima,  v  .{z 
the  Meteora,  the  De  Substantia  Orhis,  the  De  -v 
Generatione  et  Corruj^tione,  and  the  Parva  Natura- 
lia,  contains  several  other  treatises  that  deserve 
attention.  Two  of  these  were  compositions  of 
Averroes ;  the  one  a  commentary  on  the  book  of 
I  Proclus,  De  Catisis,  then  commonly  ascribed  to 
^  Aristotle,^  and  the  other  an  independent  work,  as 
it  would  seem,  bearing  the  following  title  : 
'  Qualiter  intellectus  naturalis  conjungitur  Intel- 
ligentiae  abstractae,'  in  short  a  treatise  on  the  ittisal. 
The  volume  also  contains  the  Latin  version  of  a 
book  by  the  Rabbi  Moses  Maimonides,  entitled 
^/'  De  Deo  Benedicto,  quod  non  est  Corpus,  nee 
Virtus  in  Corpore.'^  Maimonides,  like  Averroes, 
was  a  native  of  Cordova,  and  hence  no  doubt  arose 
the  interest  that  was  felt  in  his  works  by  the 
Toledan  translators. 

That  the  Venice  manuscript  is  to  be  understood 

^  St.  Mark,  vi.  54  memb.  saec.  xiv.  The  De  Substantia  Orbis  is  said 
to  have  been  completed  by  Averroes  in  Morocco  in  1178. 

2  Also  Fondo  Vaticano,  2089,  p.  1,  with  commentary  by  Alfarabius. 

^  This  title  recalls  a  passage  in  the  De  Anima  of  Averroes  as  repro- 
duced by  Pendasius  :  '  Si  intellectus  esset  numeratus  ad  numerum 
individuorum,  esset  aliquod  hoc  {i.e.  aliquod  particulare)  determinatum, 
cor]}us  aut  virtus  in  corpore.  Si  hoc  esset,  esset  quid  intellectum 
poientia.' 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  133 

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  De 
Coelo  et  Mundo,  thus  forming  an  introduction  to 
the  versions  which  follow;  but  here  it  has  been 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  occurring  im- 
mediately after  the  short  article  De  Vita  Aristotelis 
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 
Averroes  and  something  more,  when  we  remember 
the  ample  and  able  assistance  he  enjoyed  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  labours  as  a  translator. 

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.^  The  fly-leaf  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  volume  shows  the  same  handwriting 
as  the  other  pages,  and  has  proved  upon  examina- 
tion to  be  the  last  relic  of  a  work  which  has  un- 
fortunately perished.  What  that  work  was  may  be 
seen  from  the  closing  words,  which  are  as  follows  : 
'Here  end  the  Nova  Ethica  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  Greek  when  he  should  rather  have  said 
Arabic  ?     It  was  by  a  mistake  of  such  a  kind  that 

^  No.  620.     See  Cat.  Gen.  des  Bill,  des  Dep.  vol.  iii.  Paris,  1855. 


134        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

the  writer  of  the  Victorine  manuscript  asserted 
that  Averroes  had  commented  on  the  De  A  nima  in 
Greek}  Taking  it  in  this  way  the  version  of  the 
Nova  EtJiica  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  con- 
tents the  Nova  Etliica.  We  know,  further,  that  a 
Latin  version  of  the  Ethics  with  the  commentary 
of  Averroes  was  made  from  the  Arabic  by  Herman- 
nus  Alemannus.^  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  re- 
presents a  version  of  the  Arabic  text. 

Assuming  then  the  literal  truth  of  this  inter- 
esting colophon,  we  are  confirmed  in  the  conclusion 
to  which  an  examination  of  the  De  Partihus  Ani- 
-malium  in  the  Florence  manuscript  has  already 
inclined  our  minds.^  Michael  Scot,  it  must  now  be 
held,  did  not  confine  his  studies  altogether  to  the 
Arabian  authors,  but  undertook  to  form  trans- 
lations directly  from  the  Greek.  These  two  versions, 
and  especially  that  of  the  Nova  Ethica,  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 

^  See  ante,  p.  125. 

2  Colophon  to  cod.  Ixxix.  18  of  the  Laurentian  Library. 

2  See  ante,  p.  59. 


SCOT  TRANSLATES  AVERROES  135 

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 
Grostete,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  executed  a  version 
of  the  Ethica  from  the  Greek  about  1250,  was  but 
following  in  the  path  which  this  earlier  master 
had  opened  up.  Michael  Scot  here  takes  rank  with 
Boethius  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 
Averroes,  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  Nova 
Ethica  at  the  opening  of  the  St.  Omer  manuscript. 
He  stands  between  two  ages,  and  lays  a  hand  of 
power  upon  each. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  in  this  he 
shines  all  the  more  brightly  when  compared  with 
his  great  detractor.  Boger  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.^  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 

^  Opus  Tertium,  Master  of  the  EoUs  ed.  p.  91. 


136       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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 
Compendium  Studii ;  how  a  hard  word  in  Aristotle 
had  baffled  him  till  one  day  there  came  some  out- 
landish students  to  hear  him  lecture,  who  laughed 
at  his  perplexity,  telling  him  it  was  good  Spanish 
for  the  plant  called  Henbane.^  '  Hinc  illae  lachry- 
mae '  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. 

^  Compendium  Studii,  p.  467.     The  De  Plantis  is  found  at  p.  83  of 
MS.  Fondo  Vaticano  4087. 


CHAPTER   VII 

SCOT  AGAIN   AT    COURT 

The  return  of  Michael  Scot  from  Spain  to  the  Im- 
perial 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  Averroes.  We 
cannot  doubt  that  his  reception  was  worthy  of  the 
occasion  and  of  one  who  had  served  his  master  so 
faithfully. 

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  pro- 
gress was  indeed  a  continual  scene  of  triumph. 
Arrived  at  Palermo,  the  court  gave  itself  up  to 
feasting  and  gaiety  of  every  kind. 

Two  ancient  romantic  authorities^  choose  with 
dramatic  instinct  this  moment,  and  these  gay  and 
voluptuous  surroundings,  as  the  mise  en  scene  amid 
which  they  show  us  Scot  again  appearing  to  resume 

^  Namely  the  novel  called  It  Paradiso  degli  Alherti  (Bologna, 
Wesseloffsky,  1867,  vol.  ii.  pp.  180-217),  and  No.  xx.  of  the  Cento 
Novelle  Antiche  (Testo  Borghiniano). 


138       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  crown- 
ing the  success  of  an  enterprise  in  which  his  own 
name  and  interest  were  deeply  engaged. 

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  Divine  Comedy  less 
than  a  century  later  than  the  time  of  Scot,  has 
given  the  philosopher  a  place  in  his  poem,  describ- 
ing him  as  : 

'  Quell'  altro,  die  ne'  fianchi  e  cosi  poco, 
Michele  Scotto  fu.'  i 

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 
hhezum  of  the  East ;  and  indeed  they  had  probably 
taken  the  fashion  from  long  familiarity  with  their 
Moorish  masters  and  neighbours.^  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 

^  Inferno,  xx.  115,  116. 

2  The  faja  still  worn  in  Spain  is  a  direct  survival  of  this  custom. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  139 

itself,  as  wc  have  seen,  to  tlie  poet  as  a  picturesque 
means  of  presenting  the  famous  scholar  to  the  world, 
not  without  a  hidden  reference  to  what  was  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  crowning  moments  of  his  life. 

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  pojDulation,  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. 

There  is  a  fresco  on  the  south  walP  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 

^  According  to  ecclesiastical  reckoning ;  the   direction  of  the  altar 
being  taken  as  eastward.    The  frontispiece  reproduces  part  of  this  fresco. 


140       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

heretical  book  ^  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  con- 
sidering the  place  he  holds  in  the  Divine  Comedy,  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  philo- 
sophy 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  for- 
gotten that  his  versions  of  Averroes  were  already 
condemned  by  the  Church,  and  that  the  very  manner 
of  Scot's  appearance  when  he  broughtthem  from  Spain 
must  have  heightened  the  suspicions  of  heresy  which 
began  to  attach  themselves  to  the  translator  of  these 
forbidden  works.  The  only  hof)e  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  Sj^anish  Chapel  has  expressed, 
and  in  a  form  which  accords  so  remarkably  with  the 
picturesque  descrijDtion  of  Michael  Scot  by  Dante.^ 

^  See  infra,  chap.  ix. 

2  The  fact  that  Averroes  himself  is  painted  on  the  opposite  wall  holding 
in  liis  hand  the  Great  Commentary  seems  highly  to  increase  the  probability 
that  the  figure  here  described  was  meant  for  Michael  Scot,  the  recognised 
interpreter  of  that  forbidden  philosophy.  Averroes  occupies  a  similar 
position  in  Orgagna's  fresco  in  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  141 

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  oppor- 
tunity 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. 

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  interpreta- 
tion, 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  horo- 
scopes and  the  forming  of  presages  founded  on  the 
flight  of  birds  and  the  motion  of  animals.  ^ 

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  Liber 

^  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  Physionomia,  chap.  Ivi. 


142        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Introductorius}  Such  are  the  Astrologia  of  the 
Munich  Library,^  and  a  curious  vohime  preserved 
in  the  Hof-Bibliothek  of  Vienna  with  the  follow- 
ing title  :  '  Michaelis  Scoti  Capitulum  de  iis  quae 
generaliter  significantur  in  partibus  duodecim  Caeli, 
sive  Domibus.'^  The  De  Presagiis  Stellarum  et 
Elementarihus,  and  the  Notitia  coiwinctionis  Mundi 
terrestris  cu7ii  Coelesti,  cited  by  the  writer  on  Scot 
in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  belong  apparently 
to  the  same  class. 

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/  In  after  ages 
they  were  severely  censured  by  Pico  della  Miran- 


1  Unless  indeed  these,  or  some  of  them,  should  prove  to  be  merely 
detached  fragments  of  the  Liber  Introductorius  itself,  like  those  at 
Milan,  Padua,  and  Rome.     See  ante,  p.  27. 

2  No.  1091.  It  is  perhaps  the  same  as  the  Astrologorum  Dogmata, 
which  appears  in  the  lists  of  Bale  and  Pitz. 

^  No.  3124.  Incipit  :  '  Primum  signum  duodecim  signorum.' 
Explicit :  '  principio  motus  earum.' 

■*  As  a  characteristic  specimen,  we  may  take  the  chapter  of  the 
lAher  Introductorius  on  the  moon  as  it  is  given  in  the  Roman  MS. 
(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  sua  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  cell,  qui  scriptum  (sic)  et 
exemplatum  fuit  per  me  baltasaram  condam  (quondam)  Domini 
Dominici  in  mcccxx  de  mense  Aprilis  Deo  gratias  Amen.' 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  143 

dola,  Avho  says  of  Scot's  doctrine  concerning  the 
stellar  images :  '  These  invisible  forms  can  be  dis- 
cerned 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  im- 
portant 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  sufiered  change  in   later 


144        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

life.'^  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. 

A  story  told  by  the  chronicler  Salimbene  may, 
if  rightly  understood,  show  us  that  Michael   Scot 
too,   for  all  his  astrological  dreams,   Avas   a  clever 
calculator  and  thus  stood  well  in  the  line  on  which 
true  advance  in  astronomy  was  even  then  proceed- 
ing.    The  Emperor  asked  him  one  day  to  determine 
the  distance  of  the  coelum,  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  pro- 
portions 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  unhesitat- 
ingly  affirmed   that    a   change   had    taken   place  ; 
either  the  floor  was  higher  or  the  coelum  lower  than 
before  :  an  answer  which  made  all  men  marvel  at 
his   skill.  ^     Greek    science    had   taught   the  art  of 
measuring  inacessible  distances  by  means  of  angular 
observations,  and  this  art  was  well  understood  by 


1 


Opera  Omnia,  Bale,  1527.     In  Astrologiam,  lib.  viii.  chap.  vi.  and 
lib.  xii.  chap.  vii. 

2  In  No.  1  of  the  Ce7ito  NovelU  Antiche  Frederick  answers  the 
ambassadors  of  Prester  John  by  saying  that  the  best  thing  in  the  world 
'  si  e  misura.'    This  may  possibly  refer  to  his  passion  for  mathematics. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  145 

the  Arabs.  The  Optica  of  Ptolemy  were  already 
translated  into  Latin  from  an  Arabic  version  by 
Eugenie,  admiral  to  King  Robert  of  Sicily  during 
the  twelfth  century/  and  mathematical  instruments 
were  known  in  that  kingdom  whereby  angles  could 
be  taken  and  measured  with  some  nicety.  Scot 
must  have  possessed  such  an  astrolabe  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  mathe- 
matician 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.' 

This  well-earned  celebrity  may  have  been  owing 
in  no  small  degree  to  a  mathematical  and  astro- 
nomical 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  Sphere.  This  book  was  not  indeed 
very  remarkable  in  itself,  but  it  obtained  an  extra- 
ordinary currency  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  after 

1  Mss.  of  this  work  are  in  Paris,  Ancien  Fonds,  7310 ;  Milan, 
Ambrosiana,  T.  100 ;  Florence,  Bibl.  Naz.  xi.  D.  64,  ii.  ii.  35,  and 
Home,  Fondo  Vaticano,  2975. 

K 


146        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

the  invention  of  printing  as  well  as  before  it :  ^  a 
popularity  chiefly  due,  we  may  believe,  to  its 
suggestiveness,  which  caused  many  of  the  learned 
to  enrich  the  Sphere  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.^ 

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.^     It 
would  seem  to  suggest  that  this  age,  perhaps  by 
means  of  Michael  Scot,  was  acquainted  with  philo- 
sophical instruments  rarer  if  not  more  useful  than 
the  astrolabe.     The  romance  of  Vergilius  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  Castel  del  Ovo  at 

'  See  Narducci's  Catalogue  of  the  Boncompagni  siss.,  Rome,  1862. 

2  Histoire  des  Sciences  Mathemnfvjves. 

2  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Author's  Edition,  Note  3  I. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  147 

Naples,  a  fortress  which  we  know  to  have  been 
built,  or  at  least  strengthened,  by  Frederick  ii. 
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  ? 

Such  a  notion  is  not  the  pure  matter  of  conjec- 
ture 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  Vulture's  Nest,  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.  ^  Now  this  place 
was  the  last  refuge  of  the  Assassins,  that  strange 
sect  who  owned  obedience  to  the  Old  Man  of  the 
Mountain.  Frederick  ii.  when  in  the  East  paid 
these  people  a  visit, ^  and  again  at  Melfi,  in  his  own 
dominions,  he  received  their  ambassadors  and  enter- 
tained them  at  a  great  banquet.^  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  ob- 
servers at  Alamout  could  communicate.  If  the 
contrivance  set  up  at  Naples  was  really  a  seismo- 
meter, this  would  furnish  a  curious  comment  on 
Bacon's  statement  that  Michael  Scot  excelled  in 
investigating  the  movements  of  matter.* 

Passing  to  what  rests  on  more  certain  evidence, 
we  find  Scot's  fame  in  those  days  attested  by  one 

^  Lenormant,  Quest.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  pp.  144,  145. 

'^  Cento  Novelle  Antiche,  No.  C. 

'■^  22  July  1232.  See  'Ann.  Colon.  Max.'  in  Pertz,  Scri2)tores  Rei 
Germanicae,  xvii.  843. 

*  'Physicoruni  motuum.'  The  passage  will  be  found  in  the  De 
Utilitate  Linguarum. 


148        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  intro- 
duced 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  cal- 
culation to  the  knowledge  of  his  countrymen.  His 
father  had  been  overseer  of  the  customs  at  Bougie, 
in  Barbary,^  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  per- 
fected 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  Liber  Abhaci.  It  consisted  of 
fifteen  chapters,  in  which  the  author  declared  the 
secret  of  the  Indian  numerals  as  well  as  the  funda- 
mental processes  of  algebra." 

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  Liber 
Abbaci  was  not  entirely  satisfactory.  Scot  wrote 
a   letter    to    the   author  which   possibly   contained 

1  This  city  was  founded  in  1067-68  by  En-Nacer  ben  Alennas  ibn 
Hamuiad,  who  made  it  his  capital. 

-  Mss.  of  the  Lihei-  Ahbaci  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  mss.  are  in  the  Boncompagni 
library,  see  Nardiicci's  Catalogue,  Nos.  176  and  255.  The  most  im- 
portant work  on  the  whole  subject  is  '  Delia  Vita  e  delle  Opere  di 
Leonardo  Pisano,'  by  Boncompagni,  Eome,  1852. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  149 

strictures  on  the  work,  and  asked  that  a  copy  of 
the  emended  edition  should  be  sent  him.  Pisano 
repHed  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  Su2)reme  Master  which  he  had  won  at  Paris, 
and  submitting  the  Liber  Ahhaci,  even  in  this  its 
final  form,  to  his  further  emendation.  This  lau~ 
dari  a  laudato  must  have  been  most  grateful  to 
the  philosopher,  and  it  enables  us  to  see  the  stand- 
ing 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.^ 

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  hella  donna  of  the  village  still  cared  for  rich 
and  poor  in  their  various  accidents  and  sicknesses, 

^  See  infra,  chap.  ix. 


150        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  ;  ^  and  thus  fashion  and  experience  alike  began 
to  make  popular  among  our  ancestors  the  superior 
claims  of  science  in  medicine.  Such  science  had  un- 
doubtedly 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.  1 

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.^ 
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. 

Frederick  ii. ,  as  might  have  been  expected,  did 
much  to  encourage  and  regulate  these  useful  studies. 

^  The  University  Library  of  Genoa  has  an  interesting  ms.  (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  Mesne, 
Rases,  Alkindi,  Geber,  and  others. 

2  For  an  account  of  the  school  of  Salerno,  see  Sprengel,  Vcrsuch  einer 
pragmatischen  Oeschichte  der  Artzneyhunde ;  Carmoly,  Histoire  des 
Medecins  Juifs,  Bruxelles,  1844  ;  and  De  Renai,  Colledio  SaUrmtana^ 
Naples,  1852. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  151 

We  have  already  noticed  the  bent  of  his  mind  to- 
wards comparative  physiology,  and  the  daring  ex- 
periments he  carried  out,  in  corpore  vili  et  vivo. 
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.^  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  import- 
ance, and  strove  by  wise  laws  to  make  the  practice 
of  that  profession  as  intelhgent  and  useful  as  pos- 
sible. He  protected  the  faculty  at  Salerno  and 
created  that  of  Naples.  None  might  lecture  else- 
where 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  qualifica- 
tion 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  taren  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 

1  The  Be  Urinis.     See  ante,  p.  20. 


^ 


152        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 
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  De  Medici na  of  Rases 
— r'that  he  borrowed  so  much  material  for  his  Physio- 
nomia.  The  Ahhj'eviatio  Avicennae  too,  which  he 
translated  for  Frederick  in  1210,  was  in  no  small 
I  part  a  treatise  on  comparative  anatomy  and  physio- 
logy, nor  is  it  likely  that  he  can  have  missed  read- 
I  ing  the  famous  canon  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  Averroes 
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  question- 
able direction  in  which  his  philosophical  studies 
had  lately  carried  him. 

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 ' 

^  Historia  Ecdesiastica,  xii.  495.     Dempster  professed  at  Pisa  and 
Bologna  between  the  years  161G  and  1625. 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  153 

and  adding  that  Camperius^  had  the  highest 
opinion  of  him.  An  anonymous  writer,  De  claris 
Doctrina  Scotis,  is  even  more  precise,  telhng  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.^ 

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  Ketab  Alhaul  of  Al  Kairouani,^  and  in 
a  book  to  which  we  have  already  more  than  once 
referred :  the  De  Urinis  compiled  for  Frederick  in 
1212.^  The  same  title  belongs  to  one  of  the  treatises 
by  Avicenna,  which  has  been  reprinted  in  the  pre- 
sent century.^ 

The  De  Urinis  of  Michael  Scot  seems  now 
extant  in  the  form  of  an  Italian  translation  alone. 
The  exact  title  is  as  follows :  '  Delia  notitia  e  pro- 
gnosticatione  dell'orine,  secondo  Michele  Scoto,  cosi 
de'  sani,  come  delli  infermi,'  or,  more  briefly,  '  El 
trattato  de  le  urine  secondo  Michaele  Scoto.' '^     The 


•  This  was  Symphorien  Champier,  physician  to  Henry  ii.  of  France. 
-  See  the  Sibbald  Collections,  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh. 

^  See  D'Herbelot.     This  author  was  a  Jew. 

*  See  ante,  pp.  20,  151.  Further  investigation  might  show  that  it 
Avas  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  bv  Avicenna  on  which  we  know  he  was  enaaged 
in  1210. 

^  In  Ideler's  Physici  et  Medici  Graeci  Minores,  Berlin,  1842,  vol.  ii. 
^  Florence,  Bibl.  Naz.  xv.  27,  cod.  chart,  saec.  xv.  ;  Naples,  Bibl. 
Naz.  cod.  chart,  saec.  xv.  from  the  Minieri  Riccio  collection. 


154        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.'^ 

There  has  also  come  down  to  us  a  prescription  called 
Pillulae  Magistri  Michaelis  Scoti."  It  enumerates 
about  a  dozen  ingredients  and  the  scribe  has  added 

^  Vatican,  Fondo  della  Reginadi  Svezia,  1159,  p.  149.  This  treatise 
closes  thus  :  '  et  istud  sufficit  tempore  presenti  facto  urinarum.  Finis 
virinarum  Magistri  Michaelis  Scocti.  Incipit  Practica  Magistri  R.  de 
Parma  Medecinarum.' 

-  British  Museum,  add.  mss.  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. 
97 vo,  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,  em- 
blicorum,  citrinorum,  masticiis,  dyagridii,  azari,  rosarum,  Reubarbari 
an  unciam  i.  Confice  cum  succo  caulium  vel  absynthii.  Dosis  sit  vii. 
vel  V.  Ed  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 
auriuin  et  surditatem  toUunt,  causas  febrium  omnino  extingunt  et 
auferunt,  ascarides  vermes  necant,  omnibus  etatibus  et  temporibus  tarn 
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  Volniar  who  succeeded  him  as 
court  physician.  It  is  as  follows  :  'PulvisDomini  Fred.  Imperatoris,  valens 
contra  omnium  humorum  exceptionem  et  precipue  contra  fleuuiaticum 
et  melanconicum,  ex  quibus  diuturnae  infirmitates  capitis  et  stoniachi 
habent  [?]   provenire.     Valet  quippe  contra  defectum  visus  et  stoniachi 


SCOT  AGAIN  AT  COURT  155 

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. 

It  is  possible  that  the  great  plague  which  fell 

debilitatem  cibaria  sumpta  digeri  et  membris  incorporari  facit,  valet  contra 
stomachi  ventositatem  Scotomiam  ante  oculos  inducentem,  restaurat 
memoriam  quocumque  humore  perditum,  verum(?)  dolorem  ex  frigi- 
ditate  provenientem  mitigat.  Eecipe  :  Carium,  petrosillini  anisi, 
marati,  sexmontani,  Bethonice,  Cymini,  calamite,  pulegii,  ysopi,  spice- 
nardi,  piperis,  sal  gemine,  rute,  centrumgalli,  herbae  regiae,  heufragie, 
olibani,  mastici,  croci,  mirabolanorum,  omnium,  et  plus  de  citrinis,  an.  5 
1.  et  utaris  omni  tempore  indiflerenter.  Addenda  sunt  ista  ;  Cynamomi, 
Schinati,  maiorane,  folii  balsamite,  mzimi,  (?)  cardamomi,  galenge,  re- 
gulitie,  an.  5  1.  pulverizza,  et  utaris  indiflerenter.'  The  MS.  is  in  a  hand 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  Myrobalans,  long  discarded  from  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  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  Bit  laban,  a  remedy  in 
rheumatic  gout  prepared  by  calcining  these  seeds  with  the  fossil  muriate 
of  soda.  See  Asiatic  Researches,  xi.  pp.  174,  181,  192.  The  bellirica 
and  emblica  are  other  species  of  the  same  plant,  the  Terminalia.  See 
Bauhin's  Historia  Flantarum,  1613.  The  Dyagridiuin  or  Dacridium 
is  an  alternative  name  for  scammouy.  Azarum,  the  same  as  asarum,  the 
Ari-stolochia.  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 
=  cumm.  Calamita  =  mint.  Pulegiuni  =  pennyroyal,  another  of  the 
mints.  Salgemma  =  rock-salt.  We  shall  become  familiar  with  this 
term  in  perusing  the  Liber  Luminis  of  Michael  Scot.  Centrumgallus, 
according  to  Du  Cange,  the  common  garden  cockscomb.  Herbia  regia, 
the  Ocyraum  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. 


156        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  immedi- 
ately 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. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  Averroes 
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. 
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  ecclesias- 
tical education.  Like  Philip  of  Tripoli,  he  was  pro- 
bably in  holy  orders,  and  even  held  a  benefice,  while, 
as  we  see  from  the  dedication  of  his  De  Coelo  et 
Mundo  to  Stephen  of  Provins,  he  was  careful,  even 
in  the  wildest  heats  of  his  work  on  Averroes,  to  keep 
in  touch  with  those  who  held  high  positions  in  the 
Church.    Soon  after  his  return  from  Spain  a  resolute 


158         THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

and  repeated  attempt  was  made  to  secure  for  him 
some  ecclesiastical  preferment. 

Honorius  iii.  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.^  Honorius  was  then 
at  peace  with  the  Emperor,  and  we  may  believe 
that  it  was  in  consequence  of  some  strong  represen- 
tation made  by  Frederick  that  he  took  such  an 
interest  in  the  fortunes  of  this  Imperial  protege. 

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  China- 
chim  (Kennoway  in  Fife)  which  he  had  forfeited 
as  an  adherent  of  the  Empire."  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  Hono- 
rius to  the  University  of  Paris   for  the  degree   of 

1  Year  viii.  of  his  Pontificate,  namely  Jan.  16,  1223.  See  the 
interesting  article  by  Milman  in  the  MisceUamj  of  the  Philohihlon 
Society,  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. 

■■^  Monurnenta,  sub  anno  1259,  Feb.  12. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  159 

Doctor,  that  he  might  teach  there  in  the  faculty  of 
Divinity. 

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  Inter- 
dict 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  for- 
gotten in  five  years  by  a  proud  and  independent 
nation  like  the  people  of  Scotland,  and  Honorius 
must  be  thought  to  have  judged  rightly  in  sup- 
posing 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  re- 
quest with  a  generous  testimony  to  the  scholar's 
ability,  saying  that  he  was  distinguished,  even 
among  learned  men,  for  his  remarkable  gifts  and 
knowledge.^     Thus  everything  seemed  to  promise 

>  '  Quod  inter  literates  vigeat  doao  scientiae  singulari.' 


160        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

that  Michael  Scot  would  soon  enjoy  a  rich  English 
living ;  the  El  dorado  of  the  foreign  clergy  in 
those  easy  days  of  sinecures  secured  by  dispen- 
sations of  plurality  and  non-residence. 

Meanwhile,  however,  a  much  more  favourable 
occasion  offered  itself  to  the  Pope  for  securing 
the  interests  of  Frederick's  protege,  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  obedi- 
ent 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.^ 
So  nearly  did  Scot  come  to  the  possession  of  a 
liigh  place  in  the  Church,  and  an  office  which  would 
surely  have  altered  his  fame  in  the  ages  that  were 
to  come. 

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,""'  and 

1  Theiner,  Monurnenta,  p.  23,  ad  annum  viii.  Hon.  iii.  i.e.  1223. 
-  Declinature  noted  June  20,  1223. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  161 

this  for  a  reason  which  showed  how  high  was  the 
conception  he  had  formed  of  the  pastoral  office. 
His  nolo  episcopari  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. 

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  non-intrusionist  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  name- 
sake, John  Scot,  who  was  Bishop  of  Dunkeld  during 
the  pontificate  of  Clement  iii.^  This  earlier  Pre- 
late 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  com- 

1  Milman's  Church  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  17. 
L 


162        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

fortable  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  I 

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  pur- 
pose to  procure  him  preferment.  The  first  appli- 
cation to  Canterbury  having  met  with  no  re- 
sponse it  was  renewed  four  years  later  in  1227,  by 
Gregory  ix.,  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, 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  163 

but  also  of  the  Hebrew  and  Arabic  languages.^ 
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  acqui- 
escence, and  Michael  Scot,  for  all  his  distinction, 
remained  without  the  preferment  which  his  friends 
so  constantly  sought  to  obtain  for  him. 

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  pro- 
phetical verses  which  bear  his  name  and  which 
differ  so  widely  from  all  the  other  productions  of 
his  pen. 

Such  compositions  were  indeed  far  from  being 
uncommon  in  Italy.  The  reputed  prophecies  of 
the  Erythraean  Sibyl  were  extant  in  the  form  of 
an  epistle  supposed  to  be  addressed  to  the  Greeks 
under  the  waUs  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   Com- 

1  'Nee  contentus  littera  tantum  erudire  Latina,  ut  in  ea  melius 
formaretur,  Hebraice  et  Arabice  insudavit  laudabiliter  et  profecit,  et  sic 
doctus  in  singiilis  grata  diversorum  varietate  nitescit,' — Hamilton  mss. 
in  British  Museum,  vol.  iii.  p.  57, 


164        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

nenus  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and  was  then 
translated  into  Latin  during  the  twelth  century 
by  Eugenio,  admiral  to  King  Roger.  A  series  of 
poets  from  Giovacchino  di  Flora  ^  to  Jacopone  da 
Todi  ^  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  Merliii, 
which  declare  the  fate  of  many  Italian  cities.^  That 
Michael  Scot  gave  his  talents  to  this  kind  of  com- 
position 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.''*  An 
earlier,  indeed  a  contemporary,  authority,  Henry 
Abrincensis,  in  a  poem  presented  to  Frederick  ii. 
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, 
0  Caesar.'^ 

Quotations  from  the  prophecies  of  Scot  were 
made  by  Villani.*'  The  lines  referring  to  Florence 
may  still  be  read  in  a  manuscript  of  the  Riccardian 

1  He  was  a  Calabrian  abbot,  who  died  in  1202. 

2  This  author  died  in  1306. 

^  See  Muratori  'Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores,'  viii.  (1726)  ad  calcem 
Mem.  Potest.  Beg. 

■*  Muratori,  Op.  cit.  ix.  669  B. 

*  '  Quaedam  de  Te  presagia,  Cesar, 

A  Michaele  Scoto  me  percepisse  recordor. 
Qui  fuit  astrorum  scrutator,  qui  fuit  Augur, 
Qui  fuit  Ariolus,  et  qui  fuit  alter  Apollo.' 
Poem  of  Henri  d'Avranches  in  *  Forschungen  zur  Deutschen  Geschichte,' 
xviii.  (1878),  p.  486. 

^  Vol.  X.  p.  105,    See  also  the  same  vol.,  pp.  101  and  148, 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  165 

Library  in  that  city/  and  in  another,  preserved  in 
Padua,^  we  find  the  following  title :  '  Here  begin 
certain  prophecies  of  Michael  Scot,  the  most  illus- 
trious 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. 

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.^ 
According  to  Salimbene  they  are  these  : 

'  Regis  vexilla  timens,  fugiet  velamina  Brixa, 
Et  suos  non  poterit  filios,  propriosque,  tueri. 
Brixia  stans  fortis  secundi  certamine  Regis, 
Post  Mediolani  sternentur  moenia  gryphi. 
Mediolanum  territum  cruore  fervido  necis, 
Resuscitabit  viso  cruore  mortis. 
In  numeris  errantes  erunt  atque  silvestres. 
Deinde  Vercellus  veniunt  Novaria  Laudum. 
Affuerit  dies,  quod  aegra  Papia  erit, 
Vastata  curabitur  moesta  dolore  fiendo. 
Munera  quae  meruit  diu  parata  vicinis, 
Pavida  mandatis  parebit  Placentia  Regis. 
Oppressa  resiliet,  passa  damnosa  strage, 
Cum  fuerit  unita  in  firmitate  manebit. 
Placentia  patebit  grave  pondus  sanguine  mixtum. 
Parma  parens  viret,  totisque  frondibus  uret 

1  L.  ii.  xvii.  338,  p.  183vo. 

2  Bibl.  Univ.  No.  1557,  p.  43.     This  ms.  is  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
2  '  Chronica  F,  Salimbene,'  Parma  1857,  pp.  176-177. 


166        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Serpens  in  obliquo  tuniido,  exitque  draconi. 
Parma,  Eegi  parens,  tumida  percutiet  ilium 
Vipera  Draconem,  Florumque  virescet  amoenum. 
Tu  ipsa  Cremona  patieris  flammae  dolorem 
In  fine  praedito,conscia  tanti  mali, 
Et  Regis  partes  insimul  mala  verba  tenebunt. 
Paduae  magnatum  plorabunt  filii  necem 
Duram  et  horrendam,  datam  catuloque  Veronae. 
Marchia  succumbet,  gravi  servitute  coacta 
Ob  viam  Antenoris  quanique  secuti  erunt. 
Languida  resurget,  catulo  moriente,  Verona. 
Mantua,  vae  tibi,  tanto  dolore  plena, 
Cur  ne  vacillas  nam  tui  pars  ruef? 
Ferraria  fallax,  fides  falsa  nil  tibi  prodiat, 
Subire  te  cunctis  cum  tua  facta  ruent 
Peregre  missura  quos  tua  mala  parant 
Faventia  iniet  tecum,  videns  tentoria  pacem 
Corruet  in  festem  ducto  velamine  pacis. 
Bononia  renuens  ipsam  vastabitur  agmine  circa 
Sed  dabit  immensum,  purgato  agmine,  censum. 
Mutina  fremescet  sibi  certando  sub  lima 
Quae  dico  tepescet  tandem  trahetur  ad  ima. 
Pergami  deorsum  excelsa  moenia  cadent 
Rursus,  et  amoris  ascendet  stimulus  arcem. 
Trivisii  duae  partes  off'erent  non  signa  salutis 
Gaudia  fugantes  vexilla  praebenda  ruinae. 
Roma  diu  titubans,  longis  terroribus  acta 
Corruet,  et  mundi  desinet  esse  caput. 
Fata  monent,  stellaeque  docent,  aviumque  volatus, 
Quod  Fridericus  malleus  orbis  erit. 
Vivet  Draco  magnus  cum  immenso  turbine  mundi. 
Fata  silent,  stellaeque  tacent,  aviumque  volatus 
Quod  Petri  navis  desinet  esse  caput. 
Reviviscet  Mater :  malleabit  caput  Draconis. 
Non  diu  stolida  florebit  Florentia  florum, 
Corruet  in  feudum  dissimulando  vivet. 
Venecia  aperiet  venas,  percutiet  undique  Regem. 
Infra  millenos  ducenos  sexque  decennos 
Erunt  sedata  immensa  turbina  mundi 
Morietur  Gripho,  aufugient  undique  pennae.' 

It  would  be  difficult  to  determine  how  much  of 
the  original  composition  of  Scot  these  verses  pre- 
serve, and  how  much  they  owe  to  later  hands.  We 
cannot  be  mistaken,  however,   in  remarking  their 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  167 

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. 

Pipini  records  two  other  prophecies  of  Michael 
Scot  which  serve  to  confirm  this  observation  in  a 
high  degree.^  The  astrologer,  he  says,  forecast  the 
manner  of  the  Emperor's  death,  which  was  to  take 
place  ad  portas  ferreas,  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  ad 
portain  ferream  ;  and  Frederick  accordingly  avoided 
coming  to  that  city.^  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. 

The  other  prediction  which  the  chronicler  attri- 
butes to  Scot  relates  to  the  occasion  of  his  own  death. 
This,  he  said,  would  take  place  by  the  blow  of  a 

1  Muratori,  Op.  cit.  ix.  660  B. 

'^  Similar  deceitful  prophecies  are  not  uncommon  in  mediaeval  story 
IWalter  Map  in  the  De  Nugis  Curialium  tells  how  Silvester  ii.  was 
Vissured  by  his  familiar  spirit  that  he  would  not  die  till  he  had  said  Mass 
Jit  Jerusalem.  The  prediction  was  fulfilled,  however,  when  the  Pope  did 
^&o  at  the  altar  called  '  in  Gerusalemme '  in  one  of  the  Roman  Churches, 
and  soon  thereafter  expired. 


168        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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.  '  Rui- 
nam  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  Taisch  :  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. 

With  Michael  Scot's  account  of  his  owji  fate 
Pipini  joins  another  curious  matter,  that  of  the  cervi- 
lerium}  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 

1  Muratori,  Op.  cit.  ix.  pp.  128  B,  G70  ;  and  xiv.  p.  1095.  Other 
forms  of  this  word  are  cerebrerium,  celeberium  or  cerobotarium.  It  is 
of  course  derived  from  fe?-(;6?'«m,  and  the  English  equivalent  would  be 
braiiipiece. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  169 

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  Physionomia  :    '  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  con- 
strained to  form,  and  the  whole  gives  promise  that 
here  at   last  we  may  have  touched  upon  the  man 
liimself  as  he  was,  physically,  mentally,  and  spiri- 
tually.    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  j^hings,  yet  sad,  and  subject  to  strange  illu- 
sions ;   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  Hved  and  moved 
in  the  world. 


170        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  devo- 
tion 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  com- 
prehend 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  unpatience  found  a 
more  modest  expression.  He  was  incomprehensible, 
therefore  he  must  be  inspired ;  gifted  with  the  pro- 
phet's divine  and  incommunicable  fire. 

We  may  take  it  for  granted  that  much  of  Michael 
Scot's  dissatisfaction  and  depression  upon  his  dis- 
appointment 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  Averroes  not  without  the  hope  that 
he  was  here  laying  the  foundation  of  a  great  literary 
and  philosophic  fame.     Moved  by  a  prudence,  which 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  171 

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  reawaken- 
ing of  his  literary  ambition  have  been  attended. 
Near  ten  years  had  been  lost  since  his  return  from 
Spain,  and  still  Scot's  Averroes  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  forthis 
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  publish- 
ing the  new  Aristotle  in  the  Universities  of 
Europe. 

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  ix.  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  excom- 
municated 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, 


172        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

encouraged  among  the  Crusaders  there  by  the  Pope's 
orders.  On  his  return  in  1229  the  sharp  edge  of 
disciphne  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 
hving  at  peace  with  Rome,  nor  any  reason  to  study 
further  accommodations  with  one  who  seemed  deter- 
mined to  be  his  enemy.  The  moment  had  now  come 
when  restraints,  long  submitted  to  for  the  sake  of 
poHcy,  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  enrich- 
ing the  learned  world  with  the  prohibited  books 
of  Averroes. 

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. 

An  imperial  circular  announced  to  the  learned 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  173 

the  nature  and  origin  of  these  new  versions.^  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  Metaphysica, 
Frederick  touched  upon  the  manifold  cares  of  state 
which  the  conduct  of  his  affairs  in  the  Empire  in- 
volved. 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  mathema- 
tics, and  the  books  called  Sermoniales.  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. 

Which  then  were  the  universities  intended  by 
the  Emperor  ?  That  of  Naples  certainly  in  the  first 
place,  for  it  was  his  own  creation.^  Bologna,  also, 
we  may  believe,  judging  by  the  estimation  in  which 
we  know  him  to  have  held  that  still  more  ancient 

^  See  the  Epistolarium  of  Petrus  de  Vineis.     Jourdain  reprints  thi 
letter  with  a  French  translation  in  his  Eecherches,  pp.  156-162 
2  In  1224. 


174        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

seat  of  learning.^  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.' ^  Thus  far 
then  the  course  of  Scot's  journey  on  this  important 
business  is  plain.  In  it  he  but  reversed  the  pro- 
gress he  had  made  in  early  years,  revisiting  in  the 
contrary  order  the  scenes  of  his  former  studies.  His 
own  remarkable  fame,  the  widespread  curiosity  con- 
cernmg  the  books  he  brought,  and  his  official  char- 
acter as  Frederick's  Ambassador  of  Letters,  must 
have  secured  him  everywhere  a  cordial  and  distin- 
guished reception. 

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  en- 
thusiasm 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  Aristo- 
telian philosophy  became  celebrated  in  the  Latin 

^  Frederick  sought  at  Bologna  for  scholars  to  fill  the  chairs  in  Naples. 
'  Martenne,  '  Vett.  scriptt.  et  Monumenta,'  ii.  1220. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  175 

Schools '  ^  At  the  time  of  which  he  speaks,  Bacon, 
born  in  1214,  may  probably  have  been  at  Oxford 
pursuing  his  studies.  It  is  not  necessa.ry  to  dwell 
upon  the  support  which  this  brings  to  the  tradition 
of  Scot's  visit  to  England.  We  may  take  it  as  al- 
most certain  that  Oxford  was  one  of  the  univer- 
sities where  he  appeared  and  was  made  welcome. 

The  tradition  that  he  thereafter  pursued  his 
journey  to  Scotland  rests  rather  upon  arguments 
derived  from  the  probability  oft  he  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  ac- 
count for  the  fact  that  his  fame,  though  he  spent 
so  much  of  his  time  abroad,  attained,  and  yet  re- 
tains, 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  fami- 
liar figure  in  the  land  of  his  birth. 

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 

1  Opus  Majus,  pp.  30,  37,  ed.  Jebbi.  '  Tempore  Michaelis  Scoti,  qui, 
annis  1230  transactis,  apparuit,  deferens  librorum  Aristotelis  partes  ali- 
quas  de  naturalibus  et  mathematicis,  cum  expositoribus  sapientibus, 
magnificata  est  Aristotelis  philosophia  apud  Latinos.' 


17G        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

carry  the  time  of  his  mature  hterary  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 : 

'  Thus  he  who  questioned  fate,  to  fate  himself  submitted,' 

which  shows  that  the  time  of  his  death  must  have 
been  earlier  than  1235,  the  date  when  Abrincensis 
composed  his  poem.^ 

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 

'  '  Veridicus  Vates  Michael,  haec  pauca  locutus, 
Plura  locuturus  obmutuit,  et,  sua  mundo 
Non  paciens  archana  plebescere,  jussit 
Eius  ut  in  tenues  prodiret  hanelitus  auras. 
Sicacusator  fatoram  fata  subivit.'    Op.  cit.  verse  80  et  ser/. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  177 

object  of  mysterious  awe  to  the  people  there.  ^  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. 

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. 

We  may  recollect  in  closing  this  inquiry  that 
the  Ahhreviatio  Avicennae  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 
Averroes.  The  manner  in  which  the  Ahhreviatio 
saw  the  light  was  somewhat  remarkable.  Henry  of 
Colonia  was  the  scholar  selected  by  Frederick  for 

^  'History   of  the  Rt.   Hon.   Name   of  Scot,'  in   Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel,  Note  W. 

M 


178        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  physi- 
cian.^ 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  Abhreviatio  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. 

1  The  diploma  is  dated  at  Melfi  on  the  9th  of  August  1232.  The 
colophon  to  the  copy  then  made  of  the  Abhreviatio  Avicennae  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  mccxxxii,  in  Vigilia  Beati  Laurentii,  in  domo  Magistri  Volmari 
medici  Imperatoris.'  See  Huillard-Breholles,  Hist.  Diplom.  Frid.  ii., 
vol.  iv.  part  i.  pp.  381-2. 


; 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    LEGEND    OF   MICHAEL    SCOT 

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  im- 
proper, 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  in- 
quiry. 

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,  be- 
lieved firmly  in  the  possibility,  nay,  the  reality,  of 


180        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

what  they  regarded  as  an  unwarrantable  interfer- 
ence with  the  order  of  nature.  This  behef  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. 

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 
scientia  Toletana.  The  Morgante  Maggiore  of  Pulci 
may  furnish  us  with  a  fair  example  of  the  common 
belief : ' 

'  Per  quel  ch'io  udi  gia  dir,  sendo  in  Tolleta 
Dove  ogar  negromante  si  racozza.' 

and  again  : 

'  Questa  citta  di  Tolleta  solea 
Tenere  studio  di  Nigromanzia. 
Quivi  di  magica  arte  si  legea 
Pubblicamente,  e  di  Piromancia 
E  molti  Geomanti  sempre  avea 
E  esperimenti  assai  di  Idromanzia.' 

Caesar  Yon  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.  ^  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 

^  See  this  poem,  canto  xxv.  oct.  42  and  259.  Consult  also  Soldan, 
Magia  Aydica,  and  Storia  del  Frocessi  di  Stregheria,  and  Conrad  de 
Marburg. 

2  Illustrium  Miraculorum,  v.  4.  See  also  i.  33  for  another  tale  of 
the  same  kind. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  181 

drew  their  swords  and  threatened  the  master  with 
death,  until,  overcome  by  fear,  he  used  his  power 
to  secure  their  companion's  return. 

From  the  favourite  locaHty  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  Euro- 
pean superstitions.     This   magic  was  not   a  mere 
ritual  of  spells,  such  as  that  of  the  Chaldean  monu- 
ments,   but    rather    a   complete   theurgy,   like   the 
magic  of  Egypt  ;  the  corruption  of  an  ancient  and 
elaborate   religious    system.^      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  lamb- 
lichus  still  held  sway.^     In  their  hands  this  magic 
became  enriched  with  many  neAv  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  correspond- 
ences 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  pre- 
cious 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, 

1  See  Lenormant,  La  Magie  Chaldeenne. 

2  See   Wright's  Cat.  of  the  Syriac  mss.  in   the   British  Museum, 
lamblicus  occurs  in  cor],  dccxxix. 


182        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

were  but  the  far  echo  of  the  music  heard  in  heaven, 
the  music  of  the  spheres. 

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,  con- 
trary, 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  ^  gave  place  to  the  witchcraft 
of  the  North,  with  its  dark  demonolatry,  the  essen- 
tial idea  of  the  Arabian  magicians  still  survived. 
Its  influence  may  be  traced  in  the  importance 
always  attached  in  popular  belief  to  the  reversal 
of  natural  practice,  as  a  means  of  securing  super- 
natural power  and  effect.  Hence  the  bizarre  details 
which  crowd  the  witch  trials  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  :  how  hags  walked  back- 
wards, or  withershins,  that  is,  against  the  course  of 
the  sun,  or  changed  a  prayer  into  a  spell  by  mutter- 
ing it  in  a  contrary  sense. 

1  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. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  183 

The  Arabian  magic  as  understood  in  Spain 
during  the  thirteenth  century  is  very  fully  ex- 
pounded in  a  curious  work  called  Picatrix}  This 
book  explains  that  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  art 
was  reaction  leading  up  to  transformation  or  magi- 
cal 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 
Picatrix.  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,^  and  the  posi- 
tion 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  philo- 
sophy, 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 

^  Said  to  be  written  by  Norbar  the  Arab,  who  compiled  it  from 
many  sources  in  the  twelfth  century.  It  consists  of  four  books : 
I.  De  Coelo,  il.  De  figuris  Coeli,  ill.  De  proprietatibus  Planetarum, 
IV.  De  proprietatibus  Spirituum  ;  and  was  translated  into  Latin  by 
command  of  Alfonso  x.  (1252-84).  Two  Mss.  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. 

2  As  the  author  of  the  De  Coelo  et  Mundo,  the  treatise  most  nearly 
bordering  on  this  magical  doctrine. 


184        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

of  natural  philosopliy.-^  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. 

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  a  py^iori  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."^ 

^  '  la  quo  exposuit  secretiora  Naturae.' — Opiis  Majus,  p.  37. 

2  That  the  Arabian  magic  was  familiar  to  Scot,  there  can,  however,  be 
no  manner  of  doubt.  Take,  for  instance,  the  folloAving  passage  from  the 
Liber  Introdudorius  (ms.  Bodl.  26fi,  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  dura  con[junctio]  ne 
removentur  obedientes  vate(?)  et[iam]  ante  pyromancie.  Illos  libentius 
convocant  contra  ceteros,  et  sibi  reperumt  in  agendo  valentiores,  set  ipsi 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  185 

The  true  criterion  here  must  doubtless  be  sought 
in  the  evidence  furnished  by  contemporaries  re- 
garding the  fact  alleged.  In  the  case  of  Michael 
Scot  such  evidence  is  forthcoming,  but  v^e  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  im- 
portant 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  Averroes.  Is  it  not 
certain  that,  if  Scot  had  really  practised  magic  in 
spite  of  the  prohibitions  of  the  Church,  we  should 

sunt  niultis  penis  ignis  afflicti,  et  ex  liac  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  ap- 
plication, as  follows  :  Natus  in  hoc  signo  erit  gratiosus  habere  experi- 
menta  et  scire  incantationes,  const ringere  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. 


186        THE  LIFE  AXD  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  per- 
sistently associated  itself  with  the  philosopher's 
name. 

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  M^ould 
seem  to  have  been  prepared  by  the  close  connection 
between  him  and  his  master  the  Emperor  Frederick 
II.  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  oflQcially 
declared  to  be  no  Christian  but  the  mystic  Beast 
of  the  Apocalypse,  vomiting  blasphemies.  He  was 
accused  of  having  produced  the  apocryphal  work 
De  Tribus  Impostoribus.  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,^ 
and  a  striking  example  of  their  current  popular 
form  is  found  in  the  following  barbarous  lines  which 

^  See  especially  the  circular  letter  of  Gregory  ix.,  anno  1239. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  187 

we  borrow  from  an  obscure  author^  who  used  his 
pen  in  the  service  of  the  Guelfs  : 

'  Amisit  Astrologos,  et  Magos,  et  Vates, 
Beelzebub  et  Ashtaroth  proprios  Penates, 
Tenebrarum  consulens  per  suos  Potestates 
Spreverat  Ecclesiam,  et  mundi  Magnates.' 

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. 

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  char- 
acter 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  ii.,  were  commonly  re- 
ported to  have  learned  the  black  art  at  Toledo.  As 
to  Cordova,  the  Picatrix  mentions  the  discovery  of 
a  magic  book  in  the  Church  there,^  which  shows 
that  the  supernatural  fame  of  Toledo  attached  itself 
also  to  this  city. 

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 

^  Albert  Beham,  Regist.  JEpistol.  p.  128. 

^  Book  iv.  chap.  ix.    'De  imaginibus  quae  virtutes  faciunt  mirabiles, 
et  fuerunt  inventae  in  libro  qui  fuit  inventus  in  Ecclesia  de  Cordib.' 


188        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.^ 

Nectanebus,  so  the  tale  ran,  was  King  of  Egypt, 
and  learned  in  all  the  magic  arts  of  that  mysteriou^ 
land.     When  Avar  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  philo-  ^ 
sopher,  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 

^  Nectanebus,  sometimes  spelt  Neptanebus,  is  perhaps  the  'Naptium' 
of  the  Picatrix  (iii.  8).  See  also  on  this  curious  subject  the  Pancrates 
of  Lucian,  the  verses  of  Adalberone  or  Ascelin  (a.d.  1006)  in  the  Recueil 
des  Hist,  des  Gaules  (Bouquet  x.  67),  the  Enirlish  romance  of  Alisaundre 
(Early  English  Text  Soc.  1867)  and  the  Alexander  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  Eng.  Hist. 
Review,  Jan-  1896.     The  same  mystic  fame  attached  itself  to  Pythagoras. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  189 

expect  tlie  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  Chronicon  Pascale — 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,^  and  that 
it  was  current  in  the  west  of  Europe  at  the  time 
of  which  we  write  appears  plainly  in  the  preface  to 
the  Secreta  Secretoruin,  which  has  the  following 
significant  remark,  'which  Alexander  is  said  to 
have  had  two  horns. '^  The  real  meaning  of  the 
legend  probably  lay  in  a  patriotic  desire  to  vindi- 
cate for  Egypt,  though  subdued  by  Alexander,  the 
honour  of  having  originated  the  Greek  philosophy.^ 

1  la  the  poem  of  Alberic  de  Besancon. 

2  St.  Chrysostom  (a.d.  398)  speaks  of  the  custom  of  using  brass  coins 
of  Alexander  as  amulets. 

3  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  under  the  historic  Nekhtneb  (362-45  B.C.) 
the  Greek  philosophers  Eudoxus  and  Chrysippus  spent  eleven  years  in 
Egypt  to  learn  the  astronomical  secrets  of  the  priests. 


190        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 

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  Geomancy,  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. ^  We  may  add  that  the  facility 
with  which  difiicult  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. 

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  oiu-  attention. 
There  is  in  the  author's  possession  a  manuscript 
which  promises  to  throw  some  light  on  the  obscurity 
of  this  matter.-     It  consists  of  sixteen  quarto  pages 

1  A  Geomancy,  said  to  be  the  work  of  Scot,  is  preserved  in  the 
Munich  Library,  No.  489  in  4to,  saec.  xvi.  See  the  Tlwxisand  Nights  for 
instances  of  the  prevalence  of  this  art. 

2  This  MS.  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  ofDunkelsphuhl,  to  which  family  it  seems  to  have  belonged.  ''The 
preface  is  dated  at  Prague.  It  is  possible  the  ms.  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  iv. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  191 

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  atten- 
tion. It  is  as  follows  :  '  Almuchabola  Absegalim 
Alkakib  Albaon;  i.e.  Compendium  Magia  Innaturalis 
Nigrae.'  Now,  although  the  so-called  Arabic  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.^ 

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,^  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 

1  Leonardo  Pisano  uses  this  word  in  the  Liber  Abbaci.  See 
p.  187vo  of  the  Florence  MS.  Bibl.  Naz.  i.  2616,  where  the  following 
passage  occurs  :  '  Secundum  moduni  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  alcoarisnii  de  iebra  et  almucabula  tractatus.' 
See  Boncompagni's  Life  of  Gerard,  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. 

2  They  show  a  distinct  likeness  to  the  Magreb  or  West  African 
writing. 


192        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

to  summon  or  dismiss.  No  one,  however,  who 
compares  them  with  the  graphic  statements  of 
mathematical  problems  in  the  margin  of  the  Liber 
Ahbaci  can  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  resemblance.-^ 
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. 

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  Liber  Abbaci  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  exist- 
ence 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 

1  This  resemblance  should  be  studied  in  the  remarkably  beautiful 
MS.  of  the  Liber  Abbaci,  numbered  xi.  21  in  the  Bibl.  Naz.  Florence. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  193 

own  day,  had  yet  made  considerable  progress  in 
the  popular  mind  before  the  close  of  the  century. 
This  explanation  of  the  matter  receives  some  in- 
direct 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.'  ^ 
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  Ars 
Notoria  or  shorthand.  There  is  much  reason  to 
think  it  was  in  this  very  way  that  Michael  Scot  had 
suffered.  A  mistake  Hke  that  indicated  by  Bacon 
was  probably  the  real  origin  of  his  mysterious 
reputation  as  a  magician. 

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  I'lsle,  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.^  From  the  Trouv^res 
the  legend  passed  to  the  Troubadours  of  the  south 
of  France.  When  the  Normans  established  them- 
selves in  Sicily,  these  latter  poets,  represented,  it 
is  said,  by  Pietro  Vidal,  and  Bambaldo  di  Vaqueiras, 
carried  to  this  new  home  of  their  race  the  materia 
poetica  which  had  so  long  engaged  the  best  talents 
of  France.  The  rehgious  war  which  desolated  Pro- 
vence in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century 

^  Epistola  de  Secretis,  ed.  Master  of  the  Eolls,  Longmans,  1859, 
pp.  53] ,  544.  2  Explanatio  in  Prophetias  Merlini,  iii.  26. 

N 


194        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.^ 

Gervase  of  Tilbury  tells  us  that  near  the  town 
of  Catania  lies  the  burning  mountain  of  Etna,  called 
by  the  people  Mongihello,  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  sick- 
ness. 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.'  ^ 

^  See  the  interesting  work  by  Graf,  Miti,  Leggendi  e  Superstizioni 
del  Medio  Evo,  Torino,  Loescher,  1893. 

2  'Otia  Imperialia'  in  Leibnitz  Scri]ptoresIlerumBrunsvicensiu'm^i.Q2\. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  195 

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  church- 
man obeys  by  dying  at  the  time  appointed.^  The 
terror  which  enters  into  this  form  of  the  story  is 
even  heightened  by  Stephen  of  Bourbon  when  he 
comes  to  repeat  it.^  On  the  other  hand  the  easy, 
pleasant,  semi-pagan  tone  observed  in  Gervase  of 
Tilbury  lives  again  in  the  French  romance  of 
Florian  and  Florete.^  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  Fata  Morgana,  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  tliat  the  sides  of 
Etna  have  become  transparent,  and  that  what  they 

1  Illustrium  Mirandonim,  xii.  12.  The  next  tale,  in  chap,  xiii., 
relates  bow  some  men,  wandering  by  chance  on  Etna,  heard  a  voice 
cry  from  under  the  bill  '  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'shorfld  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.-""* 

^  See  Anecdotes  Historiques,  by  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  Paris,  1877, 
p.  32. 

^  This  romance  was  published  by  the  Roxburghe  Club,  London, 
1873. 


196        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

behold  is  the  reahn  of  faery  with  the  Fata  Morgana's 
palace  in  the  midst. 

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  Kyff- 
hauser,  and  expected  the  Emperor's  return  in  the 
spirit  of  the  tales  told  of  Wodan,  Frau  Holda,  and 
Frau  Venus,  in  their  national  mythology.^  It  was 
even  reported  that  a  bold  shepherd  armed  with  the 
mysterious  hey-fiower  had  forced  the  secret,  enter- 
ing these  recesses  of  the  hill  and  beholding  Barba- 
rossa 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  grand- 
son Frederick  ii.  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  Cefalii ; 

^  See  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  197 

his  robe  embroidered  about  the  hem  with  Cufic 
characters,  and  the  sceptre  and  apple  of  empire  in 
his  powerless  hands  ;  ^  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. 

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.'  "^  On  the 
other  side  a  Guelf  poet,  whose  name  we  do  not 
know,  associated  Frederick  ii.  with  Arthur  in  the 
following  lines : 

'Cominatur  impius,  dolens  de  jacturis 
Cum  suo  Britonibus  Arturo  Venturis.' 

The  collection  called  the  Cento  Novelle  Antiche 
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. 

^  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  ii.  of  Aragon,  and  Duke  William,  son  of 
Frederick  ii.  of  Aragon. 

2  German  prophecies  of  the  same  kind  are  given  by  Grimm, 
op.  cit. 

^  See  Pertz  Scriptores  Rerum  Germanicarum,  xviii.  796. 


198        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

One  of  the  most  strikinor  incidents  which  marked 

o 

the  long  funeral  procession  of  Frederick  ii.  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  his- 
torical 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  en- 
graved 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  Shi  ah  and  Sun- 
nee  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  £Jl  Mohdy, 
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  Ed  Dejal,  the 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  199 

Moslem  Anticlirist,  in  a  time  of  great  trouble,  when 
he  would  overthrow  him  and  his  ally  the  earth-heast 
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 
II.,  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. ^ 

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  Maugis  (or  Merlin)  and  Vivien,^  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  border- 
land. 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  co\mtryman  of  Roxburghshire 
had  sold  a  horse  to  an  old  man  of  the  hills.     Pay- 

1  For  example,  he  is  called  :  Dei  '  cooperator,  et  Vicarius  constitntus 
in  terris '  ;  '  the  cornerstone  of  the  Church,'  etc.  See  Huillard-Br^hoUes 
Vie  et  corresjMndance  de  Pierre  de  la  Vigne,  Paris,  Plon,  1864. 

2  See  also  another  romance  called  L'Histoire  de  Maugis  d' Aygremont. 


200        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

ment    was   appointed  to  be  made  at  midnight,  on 
Eildon,  at  a  place  called  the  Lucken  Howe.     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.  ^ 

An  English  form  of  the  same  tale  has  been  pre- 
served, 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 

^  See  also  Leyden's  Scenes  of  Infancy,  pt.  ii. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  201 

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  : 

'  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  pur- 
chaser 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  Golden  Stone,  Stormy  Point 
to    Saddle   Bole.       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 


202        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

plunged  and  threw  his  rider,  who,  kneehng  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  pre- 
served by  the  good  genius  of  England,  until  that 
eventful  day  when,  distracted  by  intestine  broils, 
England  shall  be  thrice  won  and  lost  between  sun- 
rise 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.' ^ 

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  Faery  Queen 
with  whom  Thomas  Rhymer  spent  so  many  years 
underground  ere  he  returned  with  the  gift  of  pro- 

^  Timbs's  ^  66c?/s,  Castles,  and  Ancient  Halls  of  England  and  Wales: 
London,  Warne,  vol.  iii.  p.  126. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  203 

phetlc  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. 

The  fertile  fancy  of  these  ages  ran  to  the  forma- 
tion 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.^  Michael  too,  like  Merlin,  had  his  Booh  of 
Might ;  for  the  same  fancy  which  materialised 
Frederick's  heretical  tendencies,  and  made  them 
objective  in  the  supposed  work  De  Trihus  Impos- 
torihus,  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  Passa- 
vanti,  a  learned  monk  of  that  convent.  He  has 
left  a  series  of  Lenten  sermons,  collected  and  en- 
larged by  himself,  and  published  under  the  title  of 
Lo  Specchio  di  vera  Penitenza.^  The  last  two 
chapters  of  this  work  are  devoted  to  the  reproof  of 

1  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  Y. 

-  I  quote  from  the  edition  of  Florence,  1 580. 


204        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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 
De  Civitate  Dei,  which  he  translated  into  Italian. 
More  than  one  passage  of  the  Specchio  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,  how- 
ever rude  and  ignorant  they  may  be.  For  this 
purpose  he  has  given  them  a  book  called  the  Ars 
Notoria,^  the  same  which  is  so  severely  condemned 
by  Aquinas.  Now,  as  Aquinas,  with  open  book  of 
heavenly  doctrine,  is  figured  in  tlie  chief  position 
on  the  opposite  (north)  wall  of  the  chapel,  it  is  no 
unreasonable  conjecture  which  finds  in  the  magi- 
cian's book  on  the  south  wall  a  pictorial  representa- 
tion of  the  Ars  Notoria  as  it  was  conceived  by 
Passavanti.  Elsewhere  in  the  volume  he  again 
returns  to  the  subject  of  magical  works. ^  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.'^     This 

^  P.  343.     See  ante,  pp.  140,  192,  and  Kenan's  Avcrroes,  p.  314. 

2  P.  375. 

^  1  cannot  leave  this  interesting  though  obscure  author  without 
noticing  the  undoubted  reference  he  makes  in  his  Specchio  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 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT  205 

passage  may  serve  to  show  wliy  the  artist  of  the 
Spanish  Chapel  was  du^ected  to  draw  his  Magus  in 
the  fashion  of  the  East,  and  helps  us  to  understand 
the  prejudice  which  Michael  Scot's  outlandish  cos- 
tume 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. 

was  the  time  when  Gipsies  first  appeared  in  the  West.  That  year  is 
cited  by  Muratori  in  his  Dissertazioni  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. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION 

The  attachment  of  Michael  Scot  to  his  master,  the 
Emperor  Frederick  ii.,  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. 

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  : 

'  Michele  Scotto,  fii,  che  veramente 
Delle  magiche  frode  seppe  il  giuaco.'  ^ 

Dante  was  a  Ghibelline,  and  must  therefore  be 
supposed  to  have  known  well  the  tradition  of  com- 

^  Inferno,  xx.  116,  117. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      207 

manding  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  Commedia,  and 
especially  the  Inferno,  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  con- 
siderations. 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  Ghibel- 
line  views. 

His  reference  to  Michael  Scot,  then,  is  un- 
doubtedly 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  pro- 
phetical 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  Dittamondo  of  Fazio 
degli  Uberti.  This  poem,  composed  towards  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  was  modelled  on  the 
Divine  Comedy,  and  expressly  formed  to  expound 
it.     Here  are  the  lines  which  correspond   in   the 


208       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Dittamondo  to  those  of  Dante  relating  to  Michael 
Scot : 

'  In  questo  tempo  che  m'odi  contare 
Michele  Scotto  fii,  che  per  sua  arte 
Sapeva  Simon  ]\Iago  contraffare, 
E  se  tu  leggerai  nelle  sue  carte 
Le  profezie  ch'ei  fece,  troverai 
Vere  venire  dove  sono  sparte.' 

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. 

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 
Er  Roohlidnee  and  Es  Seemiya}  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 

'  Lane's  Modern  Egyptians,  1837,  vol.  i.  p.  360.  For  a  tract  on  Es 
Seemiya,  by  the  Shaik  Ali  Al  Tarabulsio  (of  Tripoli),  who  composed  it 
in  1219,  see  Asseman,  Cat.  Bibl.  Pal.  Med.  p.  362. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT CONCLUSION      209 

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/  Here  the  appa- 
ratus 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  glamour,  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  envoutement  which  promised  to 
procure  for  jealousy  and  hatred  all  their  wicked 
will. 

Such  then  were  the  magiche  frode  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.'      Eesenting   Scot's  pose   as    a 

■'  See  the  De  Secretis  of  Bacon  for  a  curious  accouut  of  these  tricks 
as  practised  in  his  day. 

O 


210       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

prophet,  and  persuaded  of  the  futility  of  such 
dreams  in  comparison  with  the  splendid  and  en- 
during 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. 

The  anonymous  Florentine,  in  his  comment  on 
the  Divine  Coynedy,  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  sub- 
stantial, or  else  they  show  things  having  the  ap- 
pearance 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. 

The  hint  thus  given  was  speedily  acted  upon. 
For  to  it,  no  doubt,  we  owe  the  numerous  tales  re- 
garding 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 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      211 

of  the  English  king,  and  so  on  with  the  rest. 
Jacopo  della  Lana  repeats  the  same  story,  but  with 
certain  variations.^  According  to  this  commen- 
tator, 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  entrees  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  them- 
selves each  with  a  knife  in  one  hand,  and  in  the 
other  his  neighbour's  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. 

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  Inferno,  so  that 

^  Inferno  di  Dante  col  Gomento   di  Jacopo  della  Lana,  Bologna, 
1866,  vol.  i.  p.  351. 


212        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

we  are  deprived  of  his  notes  on  the  passage  which 
refers  to  Michael  Scot.  In  the  Decamerone,  how- 
ever, he  treats  the  subject  ill  a  passing  way  ;  making 
a  citizen  of  Bologna  speak  of  the  magician's  resi- 
dence in  that  town.^  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  de- 
partment of  fictitious  magic. 

More  interesting,  perhaps,  are  the  tales  which 
involve  Michael  the  magician  with  the  fates  of  his 
great  master,  Frederick  ii.  In  the  Paradiso  degli 
Alherti,^  for  example,  we  read  how,  at  the  feast 
given  by  the  Emperor  to  celebrate  his  coronation  at 
Home,  which  had  taken  place  on  November  22,  1220, 
the  company  were  entertained  by  a  strange  event. 
They  were  just  in  the  act  of  washing  tli^ir  hands 
before  sitting  down  to  table  in  the  great  hall  at 
Palermo.  The  pages  were  still  on  foot  with  ewers 
and  basins  of  f)erfumed  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, 

^  In  the  ninth  novel  of  the  eijrhth  day. 

^   Wesseloffsky,  Bologna,  1867,  vol.  ii.  pp.  180-217. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      213 

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  him- 
self 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 
marriao;e  sons  and  dauo-hters  were  beo-otten,  and 
twenty  years  passed  like  a  dream  ere  the  magicians 
returned,  and  invited  their  champion  to  revisit  the 
Sicilian  court.  Ulfo  went  back  w^ith  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  with- 
drew 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. 


214        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

This  tale  appears  also  in  the  Cento  Novelle  Antiche^ 
but  in  that  collection  the  place  of  Michael  Scot 
and  his  companion  is  taken  by  '  three  masters  of 
necromancy.' 

In  the  Pseiido  Boccaccio'^  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  Par- 
migiani  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. 

We  have  thus  traced    the  development  of  the 

1  No.  XX. 

^  Chiose  sojyi-a  Dante,  published  by  Lord  Vernon  ;  Florence,  1846, 
pp.  162   163. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION       215 

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  remark- 
able 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  Lauren- 
tian  Library  of  Florence,^  the  Geomantia  of  the 
Munich  Library,^  and,  perhaps,  the  Cheiromantia. 
As,  however,  a  tract  on  at  least  one  of  these  latter 
subjects  is  attributed  to  Gerard  of  Cremona  in  the 
Vatican  list,^  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. 

To  the  sixteenth  century  belongs  the  mock- 
heroic  poem  entitled  De  Gestis  Baldi,  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  : 

'  Ecce  Michaelis  de  incantu  regula  Scoti, 
Qua,  post  sex  formas,  cerae  fabricatur  imago 
Demonii  Sathan  Saturni  facta  plumbo 
Cui  sufRmigio  per  serica  rubra  cremate 

1  PI.  Ixxxix.  sup.  cod.  38.  2  ^q.  489. 

3  Fondo  Vaticano  2392,  p.  97vo.  and  98ro.    See  Boncompagni,  Delia 
vita  e  delle  opere  de  Gherardo  Cremonese  ;  Eoma,  1851,  p.  7. 


216        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Hac,  licet  obsistant,  coguntur  amore  puellae. 

Ecce  idem  Scotus  qui  stando  sub  arboris  umbra 

Ante  characteribus  design  et  millibus  orbem. 

Quatuor  inde  vocat  magna  cum  voce  diablos. 

Unus  ab  occasu  projjerat,  venit  alter  ab  ortu, 

Meridies  terzum  mandat,  septentrio  quartum. 

Consecrare  facit  freno  conforme  per  ipsos 

Cum  quo  vincit  equum  nigrum,  nuUoque  vedutum, 

Quern,  quo  vult,  tanquam  Turchesca  sagitta,  cavalcat, 

Sacrificatque  comas  eiusdem  saepe  cavalli. 

En  quoque  dipingit  Magus  idem  in  littore  navem 

Quae  vogat  totum  octo  remis  ducta  per  orbem. 

Humanae  spinae  suffimigat  inde  meduUam. 

En  docet  ut  magicis  cappam  sacrare  susurris 

Quam  sacrando  fremunt  plorantque  per  aera  turbae 

Spiritum  quoniam  verbis  nolendo  tiramur. 

Hanc  quicumque  gerit  gradiens  ubicumque  locorum 

Aspicitur  nusquam  ;  caveat  tamen  ire  per  altum 

Solis  splendorem,  quia  tunc  sua  ceruitur  umbra. '^ 

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 
Picatrix  professes  to  teach. 

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.^ 
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 :  ^      an   origin    and    situation 

^  Maccheronea,  xviii. 

^  '  Innumerabiles  fabulae  aniles  circumferuntur,  et  jam  nunc  hodie. 
Hist.  Ecd.  p.  494.  3  (jj^m  iQ^b. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT CONCLUSION      217 

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  anony- 
mous 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.'^ 

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."  But, 
as  commonly  told,  the  legend  refers  to  certain 
outstanding  features  of  the  country  which  are 
natural  and  not  artificial  ;  a  fact  which  may  pos- 
sibly 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.  ^  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 


^  '  Chiose   anoniine   alia   prima  Cantica  della  Divina  Commedia'  ; 
Torino,  Salmi,  1865,  p.  114. 

2  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  W.  ^  jn^l.  Note  Z. 


218        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

skilfully  by  transferring  what  seems  like  a  spade- 
ful 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  em- 
barrassment. 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. 

Another  Scottish  story,  borrowed  perhaps  from 
the  relations  between  Michael  Scot  and  Frede- 
rick II.,  and  possibly  suggested  by  the  philosopher's 
journey  in  1230,  speaks  of  a  high  commission  he 
once  held  from  the  King  of  Scotland.^  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  magi- 
cian, however,  made  none  of  the  ordinary  prepara- 
tions for  so  considerable  a  journey,  but  opened 
his  Booh  of  Might  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 

^  La  y  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  Y. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      219 

the  old  wives  in  Scotland  muttered  ere  they  went 
to  sleep.  A  less  adroit  wizard  would  have  simply- 
repeated  the  Paternoster,  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  beiug  thus  outwitted  and 
compelled,  they  presently  arrived  in  Paris.  Find- 
ing the  French  King  unwilling  to  hear  his  repre- 
sentations, 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. 

A  more  trivial  and  domestic  tale  is  that  which 
relates  how  Michael  met  and  overcame  the  Witch 
of  Falsehope.^  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 
stafl"  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 

^  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  Y. 


220        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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  : 

'  Maister  INIichael  Scot's  man 
Socht  breid  and  gat  nane.' 

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  Avas  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 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      221 

the  power  of  the  magician,  or  ventured  again  to 
provoke  his  resentment. 

The  northern  tales  had  much  to  say  of  Michael's 
Book  of  Might,  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.^ 
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.^  This  author  declares  that  one  named 
Lancelot  Scot  showed  him  in  that  place  something 
taken  from  the  works  of  the  mighty  magician  : 

'  He  said  the  book  which  he  gave  me 
Was  of  Sir  Michael  Scot's  Historic  ; 
Which  Historie  was  never  yet  read  through, 
Nor  never  will,  for  no  man  dare  it  do. 
Young  scholars  have  pick'd  out  some  thing 
From  the  contents,  that  dare  not  read  within. 
He  carried  me  along  the  castle  then, 
And  shew'd  his  written  Book  hanging  on  an  iron  pin. 
His  writing  pen  did  seem  to  me  to  be 
Of  harden'd  metal,  like  steel  or  accumie, 
The  volume  of  it  did  seem  so  large  to  me 
As  the  Book  of  Martyrs  and  Turks  Historie. 
Then  in  the  church  he  let  me  see 
A  stone  where  Mr.  Michael  Scot  did  lie. 
I  ask'd  at  him  how  that  could  appear  : 
Mr.  Michael  had  been  dead  above  five  hundred  year  ? 
He  shew'd  me  none  durst  bury  under  that  stone 
More  than  he  had  been  dead  a  few  years  agone, 
For  Mr.  Michael's  name  does  terrifie  each  one.' 

^  '  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.' — Hist.  Eccl.  p.  495. 

2  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Note  W. 


009 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


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  Boece,  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. 

This  is  probably  the  latest  appearance  in 
literature  of  the  old  stories  concerning  Michael  Scot 
told  in  the  old  way.  Naude^  and  Schmutzer^ 
presently  came  on  the  scene,  in  the  late  seventeenth 
and  early  eighteenth  century,  with  their  critical 
defences  of  Scot,  all  too  imperfectly  informed  re- 
garding 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. 

Changed  habits  of  thought,  reaching  and  affect- 
ing 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 

^  Apologie  des  Graiids  Hommes  accusez  de  Magic,  Paris,  1669. 
2  De  Michaele  Scoto,  Veneficii  injuste  damnato,  1 739. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      223 

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.^  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  : 

'  Mengot  was  a  notable  astrologer  and  magician. 
Mengot  was  his  true  name,^  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 

^  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  Legends 
of  Florence.  Her  stories  are  interesting  if  only  as  an  example  of  folk- 
lore 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. 

2  This  may  be  a  variant  of  'Maugis'  or  Merlin.  In  the  romance  of 
Maugis  d'Aygremont  we  find  the  following  passage  :  '  II  n'y  avoit 
meilleur  maistre  que  lui  .  .  .  et  I'appelloit-on  Maistre  Maugis.'  On 
the  other  hand  Mengot  is  a  genuine  early  Teutonic  name.  'Et  hie 
liber  finitus  est  per  manus  Mengoti  Itelbrot,  Anno  domini  m°ccc°lxxxv.' 
is  the  colophon  to  a  manuscript  of  the  Almagest  of  Ptolemy  in  the 
Vatican,  Fondo  Palatino,  1365,  p.  206ro. 


224        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

hapjDened,  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 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      225 

thee."^  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^  cat,  and  in  that 
form  haunted  the  guilty  Princess  for  her  sins ; 
while  Mengot  was  ever  afterwards  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Scot.' 

The  second  tale  is  to  this  effect : 

'  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 

^  '  M'hai  scottato  me,  ma  ora  scotto  te.'      This   play  on  words  is 
the  turning-point  of  the  tale. 

2  '  Scorticata.'     It  may  be  that  a  play  on  words  is  intended  here  also. 

P 


226        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.' 

*  Michael  accordingly  took  his  Magic  Book,  and 
the  skin  of  a  cat,  and  kindling  some  hempen  fibre^ 
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. 

'  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  under- 
stand the  case.     One  morning  the  child  told  them 

^  This    is  no  doubt  the  henj  or  bhang  of  the  Arabs  and  Indians 
which  still  furnishes  them  with  a  potent  narcotic. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT — CONCLUSION      227 

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  be- 
witched 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  hke  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 ;  telUng  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 


228        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.'  \^ 

'  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  troglodyte,  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  Averroes,  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. 


APPENDIX 


/ 


APPENDIX  I 

►^  Experimentum  Michaelis  Scoti  nigroraantici.^ 
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  con- 
versetur,  nee  vir  ante  inchoationem  triginta  diebus,  computato 
itaque  tempore  taliter  quod  xxxj  die  fit  luna  crescens-  -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  die,  flexis  genibus :  0  admirabilis  et  ineffabilis  et  incom- 
prehensibilis.  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 
quomodo  cogitatio  hominis,  etc.  quo  dicto,  et  inducto,  die  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  vltreo,  et  de  dicta 
columba  sive  1°J_  sanguinando  dictum  cor  in  1°.  o.  Fac  cum 
dicto  corde  cruentato,  in  dicto  panno,  circulum,  ut  apparet  in- 

1  Laurentian  Library,  P.  Ixxxix,  sup.  cod.  33,  p.  409  (old  number  256)  verso, 

2  Here  and  elsewhere  in  this  text  are  astrological  signs  which  cannot  be  repro- 
duced in  print. 


232        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

ferius,  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,  die  sic :     0  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  aflfectu  ut  cogas  et 
liges  istos  tres  demones,  videlicet  Appoljan,  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  ela- 
tione  jussit  antra  subire  profundi,  ut  debeatis  mittere  cjuendam 
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  sul)ditis  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,  pro- 
mittens  post  sumjDtionem  scientiae  dare  libi  licentiam  recedendi, 
ut  hoc  etiam  totiens  dici  debet.    Hac  oratione  vero  dicta,  ensem 
depone  et  involve  in  dicto  pan  no,  et  facto  vasiculo,  cuba  super 
ipso  ut  aliquantulum  dormias.      Post  sompnum  vero  surge  et 
induas  te  :  quia  facto  vasiculo  homo  so  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 
innumcris  militibus  peditibus,  inter  quos  est  etiam  quidam  ma- 
gister 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  docerc  tibi  jubemus  omnem  scientiam 


APPENDIX  I  233 

sive  artem  quam  audire  voluerit.  Doce  ilium  taliter  et  erudi 
ut  in  termino  xxx  dierum  in  qualem  scientiam  voluerit,  ut 
summus  inter  alios  habeatur :  ^  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  quern  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,  0  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  donee  veniam  :  tu  nihil  dices.  Magister  vero  recedet 
et  secum  portabit  ensem,  post  cuius  recessu  tu  solves  pannum, 
ut  apparet  inferius,-  etiam  scribes  in  dicto  circulo  nomen  eius 
scriptum  per  te,  et  scribi  debet  etiam  cum  supradicto,  0,  quo 
scripto  involve  dictum  pannum  et  bene  reconde  :  his  factis  debes 
prandere  solo  pane  et  pura  aqua,  et  ilia  die  non  egredi  cameram 
et  cum  pransus  fueris  accipe  pannum  et  intra  circulum  versus 
Appolyim  et  die  sic,  0  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,  debeatad  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  scril^e  in  circulo  nomen  tuum 
cum  supradicto  corde  ut  hie  apparet  inferius.  Deinde  scribe 
cum  dicto  corde  in  angulis  panni  ilia  nomina  ut  hie  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,  0  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 

1  Cf.  with  the  expression  in  the  colophon  '  qui  sumnms  inter  alios  nominatur 
magister.' 

2  The  manuscript  shows  a  drawing  of  a  magic  circle  here.     It  has  the  names 
of  demons  alternately  with  those  of  the  cardinal  points. 


234        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

me  talem  scientiam  sine  aliqua  alia  fallacia,  per  Ilium  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,  0  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  probior  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  ilia  scientia  evades, 
et  fac  tibi  dare  ensem  tuum,  et  die  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  illus- 
trissimi  doctoris  Domini  Magistri  Michaelis  Scoti,  qui  summus 
inter  alios  nominatur  Magister,  qui  fuit  Scotus,  et  servus  prae- 
clarissimo  Domino  suo  Domino  Philipo  Regis  Ceciliae  coronate ; 
quod  destinavit  sibi  dum  esset  aegrotus  in  civitate  Cordubae, 
etc.    Finis 


APPENDIX  II 

Fondo  Vaticano  4428,  ms.  perg.  in  fol.  saec.  xiii.  cum  min. 
p.  1  recto.  '  Incipit  Logica  Avicennae.  Studiosam  animam 
meam  ad  appetitum  translationis  lib.  avicennae  quern 
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.  8  recto.       A  footnote  says  *  translatus  ab  auendbuch  de 

libro  avicennae  de  logico.' 
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 :  '  lam  nosti  ex  tractatu.' 
It  closes  on  p.  20  recto  with  the  words  'per  se  notae 
sunt.     Explicit  liber  phisicorum  avicennae  Amen.' 

p.  20  verso.  '  Incipit  liber  Avicennae  de  celo  et  mundo,  sen 
collectiones  expositionum  ab  antiquis  graecis  in  librum 
Aristotelis.  Expositiones  autem  istae  in  quatuordecim 
continentur  capitulis.  Per  unum  quod  corpus  per- 
ficiens.'     This  tract  closes  on 

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.  27  verso.  '  Incipit  particula  prima  Metha*^*^  avicennae 
cap.  1.  de  inquisitione  ...  ad  hoc  ut  ostendatur  ipsam 
esse  de  numero  scientiarum  liberalium.      Avicenna  de 


236        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

philosopliia  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.  78  recto.  The  Metaphysica  end  here  with  the  Avords  :— '  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.  78  verso.  '  Incipit  liber  primus  Avicennae  de  anima  et 
dicitur  sextus  de  naturalibus.  Eeverentissimo  thole- 
tanae  sedis  archiepiscopo  et  yspaniarum  primati  Jo- 
hannes Avendaut  israelita  philosophus  gratiam  et  vitae 
futuris  obsequium.'  .  .  .  '  Incipiunt  capitula  totius  libri. 
Liber  iste  dividitur  in  partes.'  .  .  .  '  Ordinatio  librorum 
Avicennae.     lam  explevimus  in  primo  libro.'  .  .  . 

p.  79  recto.  'Capitulum  1.  Dicemus  ergo  .  .  .'  The  De 
Anima  closes  on 

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  ilium.  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.  115  recto.  The  short  tract  on  minerals  closes  at  the  foot  of 
this  page  with  the  words :  '  exhibere  res  quaedam 
extraneae.     Explicit  vere.' 

p.  115  verso,  is  blank. 

p.  116  recto.  'De  animalibus  Avicennae.  Frederice,  roma- 
norum  imperator,  clomine  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  communi- 
cant in  membris,  sicut  equus  et  homo.'  The  treatise 
closes  on 

p.  158  recto,  in  the  usual  way:  'sed  de  dentium  utilitatibus 


APPENDIX  II  237 

jam  scis  ex  alio  loco.     Completus  est  liber  avicennae 
de  animalibus  sci'iptus  per  magistrum  henricum  coloni- 
ensem    ad    exemplar    magnifici    imperatoris    domini 
frederici  apud  mefl&am  civitatem  Apuliae  ubi  dominus 
imperator   eidem   magistro   hunc    librum    permissum 
comodavit  anno  domini  m°  cc°  xxxij°  in  vigilio  beati 
laurentii  in  domo  magistri  volmari  medici  imperialis 
liber  iste  inceptus  est  et  expletus  cum  adiutorio  iesu 
christi  qui  vivit.  .  .  , 
Frenata  penna,  finito  nunc  avicenna 
Libro  Caesario  gloria  summa  Deo 
Dextera  scriptoris  careat  gravitate  doloris.' 

In  the  second  col.  of  this  page  commences  the  arabo- 
latin  glossary  {see  facsimile) : — 

'  Ex  libro  animalium  aristotelis  domini  imperatoris  in 
mai'gine.' 

'Passer  clicitur  pscipsci,' 
'  Rumbus,  sciathi.' 
'Delfinis,  delfinus.' 


'Fehed.  leopardus.' 

'  Ex  libro  secundo.' 

'Ex  tertio  libro.' 

*  Glosa  magistri  al.'     '  Explicit  anno  domini  m°  cc°  x.' 


Fondo  Vaticano  2089  ms.  in  fol.  perg.  finiss.  saec.  xiii.  The 
first  265  pages  of  this  volume  contain  the  De  Causis  (pp.  1-5) 
and  the  following  commentaries  by  Averroes  :  Be  coelo  et  mundo 
(pp.  6-195);  Be  generatione  et  corruptione  (pp.  195-254);  on  the 
fourth  book  of  the  Meteora  (pp.  254-260);  Be  substantia  orhis, 
(pp.  260-265).  Then  follow  the  commentaries  by  Avicenna  in 
this  order : — 

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.     lam  scisti  ex  tractatu.' 


238        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.  306  verso,  'cuius  tempus  non  habet  (?)  esse  initium.  Com- 
pleta  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.  307  recto.  '  et  haec  propositiones  per  se  notae  sunt.  Explicit 
liber  sufficientiae  avicennae.  Prologus  in  sextum 
naturalium  Avicennae.  Eeverentissimo  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  aristotelis) 
philosophi  de  anima  efFectui  mancipare  curavi  ut  vestro 
munere  et  meo  (4428  nostro)  labore  latinis  fieret  certum 
quod  hactenus  extitit  incognitum  scilicet  an  sit  anima, 
et  quid  et  qualis  sit,  secundum  essentiam  rationibus 
verissimis  comprobatum.  Haberis  (4428  licibes)  ergo 
librum  vobis  precipiente  (4428  perdpientihus)  et  me 
(4428  omits  me)  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  col- 
lectum.  Unde  postquam  cleo  volente  hunc  habes.  In 
hoc  illos  tres  plenissime  vos  habere  non  dubiteris.' 

p.  307  verso.  '  Incipit  sextus  de  naturalibus  auicenae  translatus 
a  maaistro  Girardo  cremonensi  de  arabico  in  latinum 
in  toleto.  lam  explevimus  in  primo  libro.'  .  .  . 
'Capitulum  in  quo  affirmatur  esse  anima  et  diffinitur 
secundum  quod  est  anima.  Dicemus  igitur  quia  quod 
primum.' 

p.  315  verso.  'Expleta  est  pars  prima  sexti  libri  de  collectione 
naturalium.  Incipit  pars  secunda  eius.  Capitulum  de 
certificando  virtutes  quae  sunt  propriae  animae  vege- 
tabilis.     Incipiemus  nunc  notificare  sigillatim.' 

p.  322  recto.     '  Completa  est  pars  secunda  sexti  libri  de  collec- 


APPENDIX  II  239 

tione  naturalium.     Deo  sit  gratia.     Incipit  pars  eius 
tertia  de  visu.     Debemus  loqui  de  visii.' 
p.  335  recto.     '  non  habet  sensum  communem  ullo  modo.    Com- 
pleta  est  pars  tertia  sexti  libri  de  naturalibus,  Deo  sint 
gratiae.    Incipit  iiij  vj  libri  de  naturalibus.    Capitulum 
in  quo  est  verl)um  commune  de  sensibilibus  interioribus 
quos  habent  animalia.      Sensus  autem  qui  est   com- 
munis.' 
p.  344  verso.     '  et  hie  est  finis  eius  quod  transtulit  Auohaueth 
ex  capitulis  illius  libri  ad  hunc  locum  huius  libri  de 
anima.     Completa  est  cjuarta  pars  sexti  libri  de  natu- 
ralibus auxilio  Dei.     Incipit  pars  quinta  libri  eiusdem. 
Capitulum  de  projirietatibus   actionum  et  passionum 
hominis,  et  de  assignatione  contemplationis  et  actionis. 
Quoniam  jam  explevimus  tractatum  de  virtutibus  sensi- 
bilibus.' 
p.  356  verso.     '  quorum  quaedam  attraliunt  materiam  et  quae- 
dam   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  viij° 
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  cau- 
sarum.'     Then  follows  an  index  to  the  chapters  of  the 
De  Anima  which  ends  the  whole  codex  on  p.  357  recto. 
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  De  animalibus  in  the  body  of  comment- 
aries 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  Jom^dain.     It  is  evident,  for  instance,  that 
Avendeath  did  not  finish  translating  the  De  Anima,  but  only 
proceeded  in  it  as  far  as  the  end  of  the  fourth  part. 


APPENDIX  III 

LIBER   LUMINIS   LUMINUM 

Eiccardian  Library,  Florence,  L.  III.  13,  119,  p.  35  verso, 
middle  of  2nd  col. 

Incipit  liber  luminis  luminum  translatus  a  magistro  michahele 
scotto  philosopbo. 

Cum  rimarer  et  inquirerem  secreta  nature  ex  libris  anti- 
quorum  philosoj)borum  qui  tractaverunt  de  natura  salium 
alluminum  et  omnium  corporum  et  spirituum  minere  pertinen- 
tium  nullum  inveni  qui  completam  clixisset  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  (1  In- 
tencio)  causa  intentionis  et  utilitas.  Invencio  (1  Intencio)  eius 
est  tractare  de  transformatione  metallorum  secundum  quod 
hermes  dixit  parum  enim  desint  marti  quod  non  fiat  luna  non 
desint  aliud  nisi  c[uod  non  fiat  tanta  decoctio  in  eo  sicut  luna. 
Et  notum  est  cjuod  sicut  7  sunt  metalla  ita  7  sunt  planete  et 
quodlibet  metallum  babet  suum  planetam.  Dixerunt  ergo  pbilo- 
sophi  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  trans- 
figurari  possit  mars  in  lunam  et  venus  in  solem  et  constringere 
omnes  spiritus  volantes.  Quorum  quaedam  sunt  subtilia  et  c{uae- 
dam  volativa.  Volant  enim  sicut  sulphur  et  arsenicum  et  ex 
illis  est  etiam  argentum  vivum.  Sed  primo  de  salibus  loquamur 
2°  de  alluminibus  3°  de  atramentis,  4°  de  pulveribus.  Salium 
autem  sunt  diversorum  specierum  scilicet  Masse  Alcali  Rubeum 
Armoniacum  Nitrum  salsum  Agrum  Allebrot  albo  et  communis. 

I  have  tliought  it  best  to  priut  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. 


APPENDIX  III 

LIBER  DEDALI   PHILOSOPHI 

Riccardian  Library,  Florence,  L.  III.  13,  119,  p.  195  verso  and 
p.  196,  recto. 

[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.] 


1.  De  natura  salium  et  quot  sunt.  Sales  autem  sunt  diver- 
sarum  specierum  est  enim  sal  commune  sal  masse  sal  gemme  sal 
rubeum  sal  nitrum  sal  alkali  sal  armoniacum  sal  elebrot  album. 

Aristotle  in  the  Be  Anima  (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. 

Q 


242        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Primo  de  sale  communi. 

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.  R  ex  eo  libram.  1.  et  pone 
in  patellam  ferream  et  combure  sufficienter  et  iste  est  sal  tostus, 

Sal  masse  ponit  qualiter  sal  in  massam  naturaliter  redactus 
ut  gemma  Alexandrinus  ungarricus  Sardonicus  et  bermoni  (1). 


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. 


Iste  autem  sal  inter  reliquos  sales  retinet  naturam  veteta- 
bilitatis  et  minere. 

De  sale  rubeo 

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 


APPENDIX  III.  243 

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  dolcantur  (?  deliciantur)  pecudes  in  eo.  Et 
scias  si  sal  iste  accipiatur  in  quantitate  una  et  ponatur  in  sar- 
tagine  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  recepto  est  valde 
utilis  in  talem  quia  fingitur  cum  aliis  salibus  ad  purificationem 
martis  in  lunam  et  est  peroptimus. 


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  baldracb  coagulat  vitrum 
et  facit  ipsum  clarum  atque  currentem  (?)  mundat  corpora  albi- 
ficat  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  consump- 
tionem  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  60  aliquantulum  salis  armoniaci  vel  boeci  vel  alebrot  erit 
operacio  eius  fortior  et  convenientior  omnibus  operationibus. 
Dixit  enim  Abymelech  quod  sal  alkali  erit  nobilior  omnibus  sali- 
bus 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. 

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 


244        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

quod  hoc  non  facit  per  se  solum  sed  cum  tercia  parte  sui  salis 
alebrot  rubei  et  virtute  pulveris  talparum  ^  et  camfore  et  masticis 
et  virtutis  omnia  simul  terantur  et  cum  urina  taxy  vel  gagelis 
usque  7  distemperetur  et  cum  lioc  pulvere  venerem  tinges 
martemque  in  lunam  transmutat. 


De  armoniaco 
Sal  autem  armoniacum  est  magne  virtutis  quoniam  ex 
fumositate  eq.  a  {sic  pro  fimositate  equorum)  fit  est  autem  multi- 
plex naturale  et  fictitium.  Naturale  aliud  album  aliud  rubeum. 
Album  longus  est  super  quem  lamina  velociter  currit.  Eubeum 
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. 


1  The  nature  of  tliis  powder  of  moles  is  explained  a  little  further  on  in  the 
Liber  Dedali,  par.  10. 


APPENDIX  III.  245 

dissolvendo  totum  simul  et  addendo  etiam  huic  terrain  armenie 
rubeam  masticem  et  camforam  ad  quantitatem  3  •  11,  et  salis 
armoniaci  3  •  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  tm  (1  talem)  rubificationem  veneri  quod 
mutat  venus  in  solem. 

5.  Aliud  quod  est  utile  mulieribus  multum  et  maxime 
dominabus.  Accipe  etiam  de  sale  indico  3.  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  sed  pigines  destruit  omnem  maculam 
et  si  posueris  in  calaminas  eris  erit  albior  ad  recipiendum  colorem 
quam  scis. 

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  accij)itur  ilia  talis 
condensatio  et  teritur  et  bulitur  cum  urina  puerorum  tarn  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  ilia  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 


246        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


De  Sale  Nitro  Salso 
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. 


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  5  •  1  •  et  tantundem  pulvis  talparum 
et  exsiccaverit  cum  urina  tassi  sive  gagelis  convertet  martem  in 
lunam  et  constringet  omnes  spiritus  volantes.  Item  tolle  de 
predicto  pulvere  5  •  1  •  et  5  et  callaminare  et  trita  simul  et  in- 
corpora  cum  urina  tassi  vel  gagellis  usque  9  cum  isto  pulvere 
super  omnia  metalla  in  solem  obrigo  laborare  possis. 

B.  Sossile  rubificate  5  •  1  •  gutte  rubee  5  •  1  •  et  5  pulvis  tal- 
parum 3  •  1  •  et  parum  nitri  salsi  ac  simul  trita  et  incorpora  cum 
aceto  et  pone  turn  aceto  et  pone  super  m.  [mercurium]  et  habebis 
solem  obrigo. 


APPENDIX  III.  247 

autem  non  fuerit  bene  purum  terantur  adhuc  bene  et  ponantur 
in  aqua  calida  et  accipiatur  •  pix  •  cera  et  masticis  et  dissolvatur 
et  ducatiir  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. 

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  al- 
bicat  optima  albedine.  Non  extendo  sermonem  meum  in  laudes 
eius  quia  non  est  magne  utilitatis  in  hoc  arte  nee  etiam  re- 
cipitur  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  in- 
sipiens  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  philosopbus  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  quan- 
tum 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. 

10.  Pulvis  autem  culaxe  debet  fieri  secundum  hunc  modum. 
Accipiantur  enim  ex  eis  4  vel  6  secundum  quod  poteris  invenirc 
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 


248        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


De  Sale  Agro 
De  sale  agro  in  quo  est  virtus  magna  quam  pauci  sciunt  et 
sapientes  constringunt  cum  eo  m.  mundant  cum  eo  corpora  (1) 
et  albificant  ea  sufficienti  albedine  et  reddit  ea  clara  et  lucida. 
Et  iste  a  quibusdam  philosophis  alibrot  appellatur  licet  in  veri- 
tate  non  sit  idem  et  diversus  quod  sit  frigidus  et  siccus  quamvis 
videatur  hoc  esse  conti'a  naturam  et  de  proprietate  eius  est 
consti-ingere  m.  et  omnes  spiritus  volantes  et  quanto  magis 
studueris  in  eo  tunc  invenies  eius  all^edinem  ultra  quam  aliquis 
possit  excogitare  quia  cum  eo  albificantur  corpora  et  non  cum 
alio  deus  novit.  Et  dixit  magnus  philosophus  cum  moriebatur 
filio  suo  0  fili  mi  secretum  tuum  habeas  in  corde  tuo  nee  dices 
alicui  nee  filio  tuo  nisi  cum  amplius  non  poteris  retinere. 


Desiderio  desideraverunt  philosophi  sapientes  scire  veritatem 
huius  salis.  Sed  pauci  eam  sciveriint  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  R  ex  eo  libra 
1.  gutte  rubee  que  inveniuntur  in  allumine  de  pluma  1-1.  pulvis 
talparum  1-1.  sal  armoniaci  alkali  arborum  separatorum  3  •  6, 
trita  omnia  siniul  nonies  et  impastina  et  exsicca  cum  urina 
illuminata. 


Postea  soliati  suttus  et  supras  es  in  pecia  madescam  pone 
et  cola  et  cave  ne. 


APPENDIX  III.  249 

fuerunt  de  sapientibus  qui  bene  cognoscerent  virtutem  eius  nisi 
magnus  philosopbus  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. 

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  (1)  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  alu- 
minantur  (sic)  vel  albificantur  corpora  et  non  cum  alio  Deus  novit. 
Et  dixit  magnus  philosopbus  cum  moriebatur  0  fili  mi  secretum 
tuum  habeas  in  sinu  tuo  nee  dicas  filio  tuo  nisi  cum  eum  amplius 
non  poteris  retinere  quoniam  in  eo  invenies  secreta  natru-e  quam 
desiderio  desideraverunt  sapientes  sed  pauci  intraverunt  in  eum 
et  qui  intraverunt  operationem  eius  non  dixerunt  in  suis  libris 
secundum  (?  scilicet)  quod  viderant. 

11.  Aliud  ad  preparacionem  martis.  Accipe  de  sale  alcali  3-  x. 
et  de  sale  armoniaco  5-  2.  et  tere  subtiliter  et  distempera  cum 
urina  zazel  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  sei-o  vel  converso.  postea 
extrabe  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  in- 
volvendo  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  donee  sit  solutum.     Et  caveas  quod  non 


250        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

discooperias  ante  quara  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. 


R  sal  atincar  libra  1.  gutte  rubee  et  pulvis  talparum  ana  1.  1. 
ydragor  3  •  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. 


De  sale  alebrot  1 
Sal  allebrot  album  sali  aero  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.  R  ex  eo  1.  i.  vel  gutte  albe  vel  azuree  que  inveniuntur 
in  allumine  de  pluma  3  •  1  •  sanguis  hominis  rubei  3  •  3  •  talchi 
mortificati  3  •  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  nee  sinet  volare  et  quantitas  m.  1.  5,  et  non 
plus  et  non  moveatur  ab  igne  usque  ad  magnum  tempus  postea 
in  aquam  proiciatur  poterit  enim  optime  malleari.     Item  accipe 

1  A  double  chloride  of  ammonium  and  mercury,  represented  by  the  formula 
2NHiCl.  HgCh,  H2O. 


APPENDIX  III.  251 

discooperiatur  donee  bene  dissolutum  fuerit  quia  amitteres  ope- 
racionem  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  discoper- 
cione  magno  ignis  nee  is  quod  est  cruciolo  albe  (?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. 

12.  Alia  operacio  que  fit  cum  pulvere  isto,  Accipe  m.  et  pone 
ipsum  in  luteollo  in  quo  artifices  infundunt  argentum  ad  quan- 
titatem  quam  vis  et  super  pone  de  pulvere  supradicto  super  m. 
cum  tribus  q°  teis  aq.  miscendo  cum  digito  leviter  et  pone  ad 
ignem  in  furnello  et  suprapone  carbones  accensos  in  luteollo  et 
fiat  ignis  mediocriter  nee  nimis  magnus  nee  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. 

13.  Aliud  similiter  de  pulvere  isto  adhuc  expertum.  Accipe 
5  •  1.  de  supradicto  pulvere  et  pone  5  •  5.  ematicis  in  3  •  5.  talci 
merabilis  et  diligenter  teras  et  accipe  3  •  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  nee  nimis  fortem 
nee  nimis  levem  usque  quo  dissolutum  fuerit  et  cum  fuerit 
dissolutum  proice  ipsum  in  aquam.  Habebis  enim  nobilem 
operacionem  ad  quam  pauci  devenerunt. 

3.  Operacio  allebrot  ut  asserunt  sapientes  est  secundum  hunc 
modum.  Accipe  ex  eo  secundum  quantitatem  quam  vis  s.  5  •  5  • 
et  tere  diligenter  postea  habeas  sanguinem  alicuius  hominis 
rubei  ad  quantitatem  5  •  3  •  et  comisce  cum  eo  et  degutta.  Aut 
accipe  3  •  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 


252        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

V.  bufFones  ^  et  pone  eos  in  aliquo  vase  uncle  non  valeant  exire 
postea  accipe  suci  affodillorum  vel  ermodatilorum  et  eleboris  albi 
extracti  cum  aceto  quia  aliter  non  poterit  extrahi  1  •  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  R  de  dicto  pulvere  5  •  1  •  salis  alebrot  5  •  1  •  et  5 
salis  armoniaci  et  salis  alkali  ana  3  •  5  •  omnia  simul  trita  et  in 
pastina   et  deinde  exsicca   usque   nonies    cum  urina   tassi  vel 
gagellis  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  5  •  1  •  et  1  eris  et  miscueris 
cum  eo  secundum  quod  docet  in  igne  ubi  fuerit  spiritus  gaude- 
bis  super  operationem  eius  quoniam  exaltavit  ilium  super  omnes 
sales.      Loco   autem   ipsius   potest  poni  sal  acrum.      Item   et 
afronitrum.       Item   et   salsedo    muidorum   (1)   dummodo    per 
atramenta  transeant.    Item  et  salacrum  dummodo  per  atramenta 
transeat  ter.     Dum  vero  sales  heb'  ad  hoc  separates  ad  meron. 
Sal  alkali  Semen  communis.     Armoniacum  allms  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  nee  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  nee  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  Arche- 
laus  docuit.     Ac  tum  unde  potest  fieri  in  aqua  atramenti  rubi- 
ficati  ac  per  se  in  aqua  solutiones  calcinationes  melius  est  in  vase 
vitreo  quam  in  alio. 

1  The  use  of  matters  derived  from  tlie  animal  kingdom,  carbonised  toads  or 
moles,  may  be  illustrated  from  the  Liber  Dyabesi  (Rice.  ms.  1.  iii.  13,  119,  p.  4 
recto)  which  treats  of  what  had  been  '  ab  omni  Latiuitate  intemptatum '  viz.  tlie 
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. 


APPENDIX  Iir.  253 

decern  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  earn  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  pul- 
vere  accipe  3  •  1  •  de  sale  alebrot  5  •  1  ■  de  sale  alcali  3  •  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  quan- 
titatem  3  •  1  •  et  miscueris  cum  ere  secundum  quod  docet  et  in 
igne  fuerit.  Sapientia  et  sit  quantitas  eris  3  •  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  earn  Deus  omnipotens  (^ui  causa  prima 
fuit  omnium  rerum.  Dico  tibi  firmiter  quod  cum  istis  rebus 
omnia  necessaria  possunt  acquiri.  Idcirco  tacuerunt  ones  et 
verterunt  se  ad  salem  armoniacum  nee  dixerunt  de  eo  quicquam 
aperte. 


254        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Explicit  prima  pars  et  Incipit  secunda  de  alluminibus.     Et 
primo  de  allumine  Jammeno. 

Allumen  Jammeni  triplex  vocatur.     Jammenum  de  pluma 
Scagloli.    Aportatiir  autem  de  Spania. 


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 
illuminatiu"  ita  et  metalla  illuminantur.^  Et  quante  magis 
mars  fuerit  illuminatus  et  depuratus  a  superfluitalibus  a  (?  et) 
feculenciis  terreis  tanto  efficiatur  ex  eo  melior  operatis.  Illum- 
inatur  autem  sic.  Accipe  urinam  puerilem  et  per  7  dies  in 
vase  vitreo  esse  permitte  vase  obturate  postea  per  alios  7  dies 
in  vase  transmuta  distillando  per  filtrum  semper  sel'  postea  buUi 
ipsum  usque  ad  terciam  sui  partem  et  dispuma  et  distilla  per 
filtrum  bis  vel  ter  postea  pondera  ipsum  si  est  libra  1,  adde  5  • 
1 1  •  et  5  salis  armoniaci  separati  ab  atramento  et  3  •  8  •  alluminis 
jammeni  et  bulli  insimul  et  permitte  requiescere  clarum  solum- 
modo  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. 


De  allumine  rubeo 
Allumen  rubeum  apportatur  de  buzea  (iBugia)  depillatur 
autem  ut  allumen  de  pluma.      Istud  autem  a  quibusdam  philo- 

1  This  passage  is  liiglily  significant,  and  furnishes  a  key  to  the  title  of  the 
treatise. 


APPENDIX  III.  255 

1 6.  Eacio  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  nee  dis- 
solvitur  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  5  •  ix  •  aluminis  debes  accipere  3  ■  2  •  et  tere  subtiliter  et 
misce  cum  5  •  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  ilia  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  oblivis- 
caris  pannum  fan  et  pulverem  ex  nitro  salso  aero.  Aliter  enim 
non  valeat  operatio  tua. 

6.  Dixerunt  cuidam  (sic)  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. 


256        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

sophis  allebrot  rubeum  appellatur  eius  proprietas  est  cum  ana  sui 
auripigmenti  sublimatum  rubei  m.  in  solem  transmutare.  Quidam 
autem  de  philosophis  scilicet  Seno  et  Rogiel  accipebant  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. 

De  allumine  et  marocco 
Allumen  de  maroc  est  pulvis  subrufus  acetositatem  parvam 
in  se  continens  est  autem  mundificative  et  depurative  nature. 

De  allumine  zucharino 
Allumen  zucbarinum  est  albissime  nature  acetositatem  mor- 
dacem   in   se   continens   locoque   alluminis    jameni   post    poni 
{?  potest  poni) 

De  rocco 
Allumen  de  rocco  est  in  massa  redactus  acetositatem  subtilem 
in  se  continens  cum  isto  et  pinguedine  colcotar  et  melle  sophisti- 
catur  borax. 


APPENDIX  III.  257 


17.  Alumen  autem  de  rocha  non  durat  in  igne  sed  siccatur  et 
facit  sicut  borax  de  petra  ex  isto  sophisticatur  borax  cum  pin- 
guedine  calcbatam  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. 

18.  Aliud  experimentum  quod  extractum  fuit  de  libris  quo- 
rundam  philosophorum.  Habeatur  pro  maximo  secreto  scilicet 
haninan  camescia  ^  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  secun- 
dum quod  tu  scivisti  superius  si  tu  intellexisti  quod  narratum 
est.  Sed  concordati  sunt  isti  philosophi  in  hoc  cum  dixerunt. 
Si  quis  acceperit  3  •  3-  de  nitro  salso  et  adiunxeris  3  •  2-  de  sale 
alkali  et  3  •  1  •  de  sale  armoniaco  ista  simul  terantur  et  cum  urina 
pueri  virginis  distemperantur  ad  quantitatem  3  •  viiii  et  de  urina 
animalis  qui  tapsus  dicitur  3  •  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 

1  These  are  names  of  philosophers  probably  the  same  as  the  'vnay  et  melchia ' 
of  the  Luminis  Luminum,  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  Liber  Dedali  correspond  so  closely  with  one  in  the 
Liber  Luminis. 

R 


258        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


APPENDIX  III.  259 

in  letamiiie  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  ilium  diligenter  trituratione  bona.     Postmodo  accipe  de 
pulvere  isto  5  •  1-  et  talem  camphore  et  3  •  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  5  •  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  donee  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  dis- 
solutionis et  secundum  quod  tu  videris  in  hora  secundum  hoc 
poteris  comprehendere  dissolutionem  eius  cum  pulvere  et  ali- 
quantulum  plus  ut  non  decipiaris  quia  si  aliquantulum  plus  fuerit 
in  igne  quam  tibi  videatur  erit  operatio  tua  melior.     Sed  si  non- 
dum  esset  dissolutum  tu  discoperiens  amitteres  tuam  operationem. 
19.     Aliud  secretum  in  quo  concordati  sunt  omnes  sapientes 
qui  aliquid  cognoverunt  de  arte  ista.^     Et  est  secundum  hunc 
modum.     Accipe  libra  1-  sanguinis  alicujus  hominis  rubei  et  san- 
guinem  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  oUa 
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. 

1  There  is  probably  a  reference  here  to  the  disputes  which  divided  the  different 
alchemical  schools. 


260        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


De  Allumine  Eomano 

Allumen  romanum  borbaci  (1  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. 

Explicit  secunda  pars.     Incipit  tertia, 

De  Ateamentis 
Ratio   autem   atramentorum   est    secundum   hunc   modum. 
Atramentorum   autem    sunt   multe    species    Colcotar  Calcadis 
vitriolum  nigrum  capernum  viridis  Cuperose.^ 


1  The  doctrine  of  the  vitriols  is  here  substantially  the  same  as  in  the  great. 
work  of  Ibn  Beitbar  of  Malaga. 


APPENDIX  III.  261 

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  nitre  aero  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  anqua  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'me  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. 


15.  Eacio  alluminum  et  de  diversis  ipsorum  generibus.  Eacio 
autem  alluminis  et  atramentorum  secundimi  hunc  modum,  Atra- 
mentorum  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  luuna  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  opera- 
tionibus  et  debet  esse  ad  quantitatem  trium  librarum  et  facias 
earn  bulire  in  vase  vitreato  usque  ad  consumationem  tertie 
partis.     Postea  dimitte  residere  et  quod  clarum  fuerit  collige 


262        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


Ex  colcotar  et  calcadis  secundum  Platonem  extrahuntur 
lapides  rubei  vel  trahentes  ad  rubedinem  qui  loco  salis  indici 
possunt  poni. 


Vitriolum  nigrum  apportatur  de  Francia  et  idcirco  dicitur 
terra  francigena  cum  isto  mulieres  Aadvam  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.i  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. 

Incipit  Quarta  de  Spiritibus 
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  ruljeo.  De  sulphure  albo.  De  arsenico  croceo. 
De  arsenico  rubeo.  Sulphuris  quatuor  sunt  species  scilicet 
croceum   flavum   rubeum   et   album.     Croceum   est   magis   de- 

1  There  is  a  well-known  tract  De  aluminibus  et  salibus  ascribed  to  Eases  in 
the  Paris  MS.  (6514  p.  128) ;  it  also  occurs  in  the  Specials  ms. 


APPENDIX  III.  263 

et  quod  feculentmn  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. 


Capitulum  de  Spiritibus  Volantibus 

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. 
Flavura  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 


264        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

puratum  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 
obrizo  solem  transmutare. 


Album  portatur  de  hyspania  de  insula  quadam  que  belle 
appellatur.^  Recipitur  etiam  pro  nitro  salso  sed  non  equi- 
peratur  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. 


Incipit  quinta  de  preparatione  alluminum 
In  preparatione  allumini  suificit  ut  solvatur  in  aqua  vel  in 
urina  distillata  et  coletur  per  pannum  et  coaguletur. 

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  C?  axungiae)  donee  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 

1  This  phrase  is  found  in  the  De  aluminihus  et  salibus  of  Rases  (Paris  ms. 
€514  p.  128)  who  calls  the  place  'Elebla.'  Vincent  of  Beauvais  ascribes  the 
saying  to  Geber. 


APPENDIX  III.  265 

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  (1  martem)  et  dat  ei  colorem  lune.  Quidam  autem 
accipiunt  laminas  eris  et  ponunt  eas  in  igne  et  cum  sunt  liene 
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  cjuod  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. 

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.  Nee  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 
ntuntur  eo  faciendo  depilatorium  et  preparando  facies  earum  a 
pilis.  Quidam  de  sophistis  accipiunt  5  •  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. 


266        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

miscueris  ea  fortiter  cum  eius  oleo  vel  simpliciter  capillorum.  vel 
ovorum  donee  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  aflirmat  sic  cerato  spiritus  in  corpore  nee  sine  ceratione 
potest  aliquod  corpus  plene  rectificare.  Agnoscitur  autem  res 
cerata  hiis  signis.  Res  cerata  sine  ulla  fumi  emissione  veloeiter 
super  laminam  currit  ignitam  quod  incerata  minime  agit.  Fit 
autem  ceracio  cum  oleo  vel  aqua  reetificata  hoc  modo.  R  rem 
quam  cirari  debet  et  pone  in  vase  argenteo  aureo  vel  stagneo  et 
desuper  pone  de  oleo  preparata  (sic)  donee  fundatur  ut  sagimen. 
Dum  ita  videris  veloeiter  ab  igne  remove  et  infrigidari  permitte. 
Eo  infrigidato  prova  ipsum  super  laminam  et  sic  resolvitur  super 
ipsam  sicut  eera  ceratum  est  et  si  non  redue  earn  ad  erucibulum 
et  fac  sicut  predixi  donee  sic  contingat. 

QUOMODO   MEDICINE  DEBENT  SOLVI 

Solutio  cuiuslibet  rei  fit  super  lapidem  vel  in  viseere  (?)  sub 
fimo  seu  in  aqua  tepida  fumi  resolvis  melius  aprol^o  fit  ea  de  ea 
resolutio  ut  spiritus  vel  res  in  lapidil)us  possit  coagulari  nam 
spiritibus  crudis  nisi  sint  in  lapidem  constricti  volueris  operari 
non  augmentum  sed  decrementum  volueris  incurrere  nisi  forte 
essent  incalcinati  vel  cerati  banc  scientiam  (?)  firmiter  teneas. 

R  ealcis  testarum  ovorum  libre  5  •  arsenici  sublimati  5  •  3  • 
Ag'  omnia  fac  redire  in  aquam  cum  alembich  et  super  marmor 
produetam  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.^  R  vitrioli  romani  libra  1  •  salis  nitri 
libra  1  •  salis  armoniaci  3  •  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  5  aque  fundatur  super  mediam 

1  The  use  of  the  first  person  singular  here  agrees  with  the  notion  that  in  this 
part  of  the  Liber  Luminis  we  have  the  record  of  the  author's  own  exj^eriments. 
See  ante,  p.  87. 


APPENDIX  III.  267 


268        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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.  R  m.  congelatum  cum  odore  saturni  partes  3  de 
allumine  jameno  partes  2  de  corticibus  ovorum  5  •  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)  3  •  3  •  ydragor  sublimati  et  3  sossile  separate 
accipi  (sic)  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. 


APPENDIX  III.  269 


APPENDIX  IV 

Text  in  the  author's  possession. — Ms.  in  4to  perg.  saec.  xvi. 
vel.  xvii.,  red,  black,  and  green  ink. 

Interpretacio  et  Instruccio  pro  Discipulis  seu  Amatoribus  Artis 
Magice  pro  iis  scilicet  ad  quorum  manus  post  obitum  meum 
libellus  iste  fortuito  aliquando  perventurus  est. 

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 ;  donee  tandem  auxilio  Rabbi 
cuiusdam  extraneam  banc  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  ulti- 
matim  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. 

Sequitur  interpretacio  tocius  operis. 
Aspice  Inspice  pervolve  alta  sed 
legere  voce  omnino  cave. 

Almuchabola  Absegalim  Alkakib  Albaon  i.e.  Compendium 


APPENDIX  IV.  271 

Magie  Innaturalis  Nigre,  continens  Citaciones  et  Vincula  diver- 
sorum  Spirituum. 

Primum  et  maxime  necessarium  requisitum  in  experimentis 

]\Iagicis  Composicio  Circuli  est.     Nam  sine  eo  nemo  a  malis 

Spiritibus  tutus  foret.      Quare  Magister  ex  pelle  caprina  i.e. 

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 

ilium  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  inscril)i  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  columl)e  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 ; 

nee  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 


272        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

tractare  velit  cum  spiritibus  ne  medio  exjierimenti  fiat  confusio 
seu  perturbacio.  Magistrum  itaque  oi)ortet  esse  virum  gravem 
animosum,  qui  in  lingua  et  pronunciacione  non  paciatur  defectum. 
Soeii  omnes  nee  verbum  loquantur  sed  solus  Magister  cum 
spiritibus  tractare  audeat.  Hiis  omnibus  denique  bene  pre- 
paratis  et  ordinatis  Magister  adhibeat  fumigia  ex  sequentibus 
speciebus : 

R  :  Semen  papaveris  nigri 
Herba  Cicuta 
Coriandrum 
Apium  et  crocus  et  hec  in  equali  pondere. 

Decimo  si  Magister  rem  habet  quam  Spiritus  adimplere 
resisterent,  accipiat  baculum  et  cum  eo  feriat  eorum  Sigilla,  sed 
si  nimium  pertinaces  forent,  approj)inquet  ea  ad  carbones  cum 
quibus  fumigatum  est,  faciat  quasi  assare  et  successive  ardescere 
velit  et  statim  eos  obedientes  habebit. 

Circulum  cum  Sociis  ingressurus  dicat : 

Harim  Kasistacos  Enet  miram  Baal  Alisa  mamutai  arista 
Kappi  Megiarath  Sagisiya  Suratbakar. 

Sequuntur  Citaciones  Nomina  et  Sigilla  Spirituum  qui  per 
hoc  opus  advocari  et  citari  possunt. 

Sigillum  primi  Principis  vid.  pag.  viij. 

CiTACIO   PRIMI   AlMUCHABZAR 

Asib  Hecon  Anthios  Earapafta  Kylim  Almuchabzar  alge 
Zorionoso  Amilech  Amias  Segir  Almetubele  Halimasten  Eara- 
pafta Kylim  0  Almuchabzar  horet  Kylim. 

CiTACIO   SECUNDA   PRIMI   PrINCIPIS 

Aritepas  Oulyri  Hecon  asib  alperiga  0  Almuchabzar !  Eabet 
Almetubele  Syrath  alecla  icarim  alderez  Aldemel  met  cadir 
Measdi  Algir  aleclar  Eyia  sothus  Alchantum  ioradio  Ealusi 
Amilkamar  Alenzod  : 

CiTACIO  tercia  Almuchabzar 

Albantum  alenzod  Almuchabzar !  Hecon  asip  Amilcamar 
alperiga  algir  filastaros  aleclar  Syrath  asyngarum  berumistas 
legistas  Euppa  sastaraya  aronthas  Baracasti  hernia  Omisyrath 
abdilbak  Amilkamar  alcubel  taris  Algir  alasafF  megastar  Magin 
horet  Karapatta  Kylim  0  !  Almuchabzar. 

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]  confirm- 


APPENDIX  IV.  273 

averint;   salutet   cos  et  sistat  modo  subsequenti  in  fine  pag. 
XV.  et  pag.  XXXV.  Hunc  Principem  vero  modo  sequent! : 

Alkumkazar  medidosta  Asaristatos  falusi  algir  abdilbak  = 
karis  helotim  latintos  0  Almuchabzar  !  milasarintha  iubarath 
mimas  Amka  Solit  karytos  Faribai  aliasi  miron  kylim  arastaton 
tyrantus  Almuchabzar. 

His  dictis  Spiritus  ipsum  interrogabunt  quare  fuerint  vocati  1 
etc.  Magister  illis  negocium  proponat  et  si  adimpleverint 
dimittat  illos  prout  sequitur  in  fine  pag.  xv.  et  pag.  xxx  istum 
vero  specialiter  sic  : 

Sarmistaros  labyratha  Asanta  bartha  Megimaia  karapatta 
horet  kylim  0  Almuchabzar  ! 

SiGILLUM  ACHUNCHAB  vid.  pag.  xi. 

Citacio. 
Asip  hecon  anthios  karapatta  kylim  Achunchab  Perificanthus 
alasafF  haram  astarladip  Megastar  hagiasesta  parit  hemla  pantus- 
tata  amagarim  kalip  kisolastar  aleclar  elgir  altemel  alperiga  Horet 
kylim  0  Achunchab  ! 

SiGILLUM  Aghizikke  vid.  pag.  xii. 

Citacio. 
Hamagit  hecon  asip  Kampatta  kylim   Aghizikke   sisalmaz 
alenzod  alcubel  algir  sarmistaros  alasat  Abdilbak  Gruscharasch 
beam  diadrasas  dalasai  Betaran  herik  iulem  Megastar  Helib  istam 
horet  kylim  0  Aghizikke  ! 

SiGILLUM  Baltuzaraz  vid.  pag.  xiii. 

Citacio. 
Megaras  Galim  asip  hecon  kylim  Baltuzaraz  negyrus  haleai 
amith  aresatos  gimastas  permasai  alar  aluhazi  Hacub  salataya 
almetubeli  algir  Abilbak  mirastatos  Alenzod  medagasti  0  Baltu- 
zaras  kylim  horet. 

Sequuntur  alia  adhuc  sigilla  aliquorum  Spirituum  qui  per  sub- 
sequentem  coniuracionem  advocantur.  Sigilla  vide  pag.  xiiij. 
Nomina  eorum  numeres  secundum  ordinem  sigillorum  a  manu 
dextra  ad  sinistram  suntque  sequentia  : 

Kapuliph,  Suhub  ;  galhabapj  et  almischak. 

Citacio. 
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  0 
Suhub   Galhabari   0   Almischak  Kapuliph    antios   guschorasch 

S 


274        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

Alcubel  alenzod  algir  Eabet  almetubele  Abdilbak  mirastatos  alasafF 
algir  megastar  ioradip  fahili  zorionoso  alget  kapkar  imat  Abdil- 
baim  ei'alim  fiascar  albirastos  perifiantus  Berapkukagapharam 
Abdilbaim  erasin  Zakarip  Aresatos  Talmasten  Karapatta  kylim 
horet  kylim. 

Insticio  sive  Consistencia  Spirituum. 

Harim  kelit  Amogar  Bail  namutai  aristakappi  JMegiai'ath 
agualim  Segirit  beranabtar  Cesastus  megarustat  amargim  Bar- 
gastaton  ioratkar  Karistacao  Alim  Miron  anasterisatos  horet 
kylim. 

Valediccio  Spirituum. 

Bedarit  labyratha  Asonta  barda  Meles  kalas  hemastar 
Bemtsstaras  Bedarit  Enet  elmisistar  Almiranthus. 

Quando  Magister  cum  Sociis  egreditur  circulo  dicat  hec 
sequentia  verba  vide  pag.  xvi. 

Begarsten  alengip  Harim  Gantalsa  stai  Becekym  Dingiltas 
Mecarkayrup  Hermagastus  aganton  Badaky  Gragaim  Bemdas- 
toras  Argiiit. 

FINIS. 


APPENDIX  V 

Eegesta  Vaticana,  Tom.  xii.,  fol.  136  vo.,  epist.  170. 

....  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  pre- 
rogativa  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  com- 
mendare  possimus  et  nos  illud  habeamus  acceptum  qui  nollemus 
omnino  quod  dictus  magister,  qui  maioribus  dignus  esset,  grade 
nostre,  que  reputatur  ei  debitum,  frustraretur  efFectu,  contra- 
dictores  autem  per  censuras  ecclesiasticas  appellacione  remota 
compescas.     Dat.  Lateran.  xvii  Kal.  februar.  anno  octavo. 

This  extract,  which  has  not  hitherto  been  fully  printed  in 
any  of  the  authorities  (Pressutti,  Eegesta  Honorii  Pape  III.  vol.  ii. 
pp.  194,  258;  Bliss,  Calendar  of  Entries  in  the  Papal  Registers, 
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  repro- 
duce 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 


276        THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 

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. 


INDEX 


Abbreviatio    Avicennae,   53-59,    66, 

152,  177,  178. 
Abd-el-Mumen,  112. 
Aboasar,  101,  143. 
Abraxas  gems,  132. 
Abrincensis,  Henry,  164,  176. 
Achinas,  31. 
Alain  de  I'lsle,  195. 
Alamout,  Castle  of,  147. 
Albategni,  100. 

Albertus  Magnus,  78,  127,  143,  185. 
Albigenses,  109,  111. 
Albigensian  Crusade,  111,  112,  193. 
Alchemy,  65-95. 

Disputes  concerning,  73,  259. 

Alexander  the  Great,  32,  33. 

Legend  of,  187-189. 

Alexandria,  32,  69. 

Alfarabi,  129. 

Al  Faquir,  49,  118. 

Alfargan,  101. 

Algebra  and  Magic,  100,  190-192. 

Al  Khowaresnii,  100. 

AlKindi,  71,  73,  74,  79. 

Almagest,  98. 

Al  Mamun,  100. 

Al  Mansour,  112. 

Almuchabola,  190,  192,  270. 

Alpetrongi,  99-105,  124. 

Alphagirus  or  Al  Faquir,  49,  118. 

Alphonso  of  Castile,  112,  143. 

Ambassador,  Scot  as  an,   169-175, 

218. 
Andrew,  Scot's  interpreter,  119. 
Anonymous  Florentine,  The,  8,  210, 

211. 
Apologie  des  Grands  Homines,  222. 
Aquinas,  S.  Thomas,  204. 
Arabic  known  to  Scot,  24. 
Arabs,  their  influence,  42-45. 
'  Archelaus,'  Alchemy  of,  82,  83 


Archimedes,  67. 
Aristotle,  33,  46,  47,  107,  129. 
Legend  of,  187-189. 


Ars  Aurifera,  77. 
Ars  Notoria,  192,  195,  204. 
Arthurian  Legend,  Tlie,  195-205. 
Assephae,  Liber,  54,  235,  237. 
Astrologia  of  Scot,  141. 
Astrologoritm  Dogmata  oi  Scot,  142. 
Astrology  and  Magic,  184,  189. 
Astrology  taught  by  Scot,  141,  142. 
Astronomia  of  Scot,  26,  27,  28,  40. 
Astronomy  of  the  Arabs,  96-105. 
Avalon,  194-205. 
Avendeath,  John,  35,  46,  53,  117- 

119,  235-239. 
Averroes,  vii,  106-110,  140,  185. 
Avicenna,  46,  47,  53,  54,  73,  74,  106. 

129,  183,  235-239. 
Azarchel,  101,  103. 

Bacon,  Roger,  5,  12,  13,  14,  16, 
118,  126,  135,  136,  145,  174,  175, 
183,  185,  192,  195. 

Bacouthorpe,  John,  15. 

Baldi,  Bernardino,  vii-ix. 

Balwearie,  Scotts  of,  9. 

Bartholomew  of  Messina,  38. 

Benefice  sought  for  Scot,  157-163. 

Benvenuto  da  Imola,  210. 

Berwick,  Bar  of,  218. 

Bibliotheca  of  Manget,  77. 

Birth  of  Scot,  when,  10;  where,  7-10. 

Boccaccio,  16,  211,  212. 

Boece,  Hector,  222. 

Bologna,  16,  173,  174,  210. 

Bonacci,  Leonardo,  148,  149. 

Bonatti,  Guido,  6,  124. 

Book  of  Might,  Scot's,  203,  218,  221. 

Burgh-under-Bowness,  221. 

Byzantine  Alchemy,  83. 


278       THE  LIFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


Camperius,  153. 
Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  158. 
Gapitulum  of  Scot,  142. 
Cashel,  Archbishopric,  160,  161. 
Castrensis,  Robert,  75,  SO. 
Catskin,  the  bewitched,  225-227. 
Cento  Novdle  Antiche,  197,  214. 
Cervilerium,  The,  168. 
Character  of  Scot,  168,  169. 
Cheiromantia,  The,  215. 
Circular  Letter  of  Frederick  ii.,  173. 
Compositiones  ad  Tingenda,  67. 
Constantia,  Queen,  19. 

Empress,  29,  111. 

Cordova,  106,  112-114,  1.32. 

Magic  at,   19,    114,   115,   169, 

215,  216,  231-234. 
Courgon,  Robert  de,  110. 
Crates  or  Democritus,  The  Alchemy 

of,  33. 
Cronica  dei  Matematici,  viii,  ix. 
Crusades,  30,  156,  171,  172. 

Da  Buti,  Francesco,  211. 

Dante   and  his   Commentators,  ix, 

16,  138,  206-211. 
D'Avranches,  Henry,  164,  176. 
De  Alrhimia  of  Scot,  88-94. 
De  Aluminihus,  262,  264. 
De  Anima,  125,  236. 
De  Animalibus  Avicennae,  236,  237. 
De  Animalibus  ad  Caesarem,  48-63, 

117. 
Death  of  Scot,  175-178. 
Decamerone,  212. 
De  Causis,  132,  237. 
De  Coelo  et  Mundo,  123,  235,  237. 
De  Deo  Benedicto,  132. 
Dee,  Dr.  John,  190. 
De  Generatione,  126,  237. 
De  Generatione  Lapid^im,  236. 
De  Gestis  Baldi,  215,  216. 
De  Mineralibus,  73,  78,  79. 
Democritus,  72. 
Dempster,  6,  15,  152,  153,  216,  217, 

221. 
De    Parlihus   Animalium,    59,    60, 

134. 
De  Presagiis  of  Scot,  142. 
De  Secretis,  of  Bacon,  209. 


Despondency  of  Scot,  163-170. 
De  Substantia  Orbis,  126,  237. 
De   Tribus  Impostoribus,   130,  131, 

186,  203. 
De  Urinis,  20,  153. 
Dioscorides,  155. 
Dittamondo,  The,  207,  208. 
Doxopatros,  163. 
Dress  of  Scot,  138-140. 
Dryburgh  School,  11. 
Dunkeld,  See  of,  161,  162. 
Durham,  8,  11,  12. 

Education  of  Scot,  11-16. 

Eildon  Hills,  The,  10,  199,  200,  217. 

Elias,  Fra,  90-92. 

El  Mohdy,  198,  199. 

Emanuel,  Alchemy  of,  83-85. 

Comnenus,  163. 

Erythraean  Sibyl,  the,  163. 
Es-Seemiya,  208-209. 
Essenes,  32. 

Etienne  de  Rheims,  124. 
Etna  haunted,  194,  195. 
Eugenio,  Admiral,  145,  164. 

Falsehope,  Witch  of,  219-221. 

Familiar  Spirit,  Scot's,  217,  218. 

Fata  Morgana,  The,  195,  202,  203. 

Fazio  degli  Uberti,  207. 

Florentine  tales  of  Scot,  222-227. 

Florian  and  Floret e,  195. 

Folengo,  Teofilo,  215,  218. 

Frederick  i.,  30,  196. 

II.,  18,  19,  20,  22,  29,  56,  57, 

110-112,  116,  131,  137,  138,  144, 
147,  150,  151,  167,  171-174,  186, 
196-198,  212,  214,  218. 

Fresco  at  Florence,  139,  140,  203. 

Galienus,  83. 
Gazzali,  109. 
Geber,  72,  264. 
Geomancy,  190. 
Geomantia,  The,  215. 
George  of  Antioch,  25,  83. 
Gerard  of  Cremona,  20,  46, 191, 215, 
238.-' 

Sabloneta,  115,  125,  126. 

Gervase  of  Tilbury,  194,  195. 


INDEX 


279 


Giovacchino  di  Fiora,  164. 
Gipsies,  The,  204,  205. 
Glamour,  what,  208,  209. 
Grammar  Schools  of  Scotland,  4,  11. 
Grave  of  Scot,  where,  177. 
Greek,  Scot's  knowledge  of,  24,  38, 

133-135. 
Gregory  ix.,  162,  163,  171,  172. 
Gundisahiis,     Dominicus,    46,    5.3, 

117-119,  2,36,  23S. 
Guy,  Bishop  of  Tripoli,  37. 

Hakim,  Caliph,  112. 
Heisterbach,  Ctesar  von,  180,  195. 
Hemp  used  iu  Magic,  225. 
Henry  of  Colonia,  57,  177. 
Hermannus  Alemannus,  5,  134. 
Hispalensis,  Johannes,  34,  36,  143. 
Hispanus,  Johannes,  35,  36. 
History  of  Animals,  Aristotle's,  38, 
43-63. 

Ibx-Badja,  108. 
Ibn-Beithar,  95,  155,  260. 
Ibn-el-Bitriq,  34-36. 
Ibn-Moauia,  72-75. 
Ibn-Tofail,  100,  109. 
Images,  Magic  of,  216. 
Ittisal,  The,  108,  109,  1.32. 

Jacopo  della  Lana,  211. 
Jacopone  da  Todi,  164. 
Joachim,  Abljot,  197. 
Josephus,  32,  70. 

Kitab  Alchefa,  The,  54,  235. 
Kytfhauser,  The,  196. 

Landing,  210. 

Legend  of  Scot,  179-227. 

Leonardo  Pisano,  190,  192. 

Lesley,  152. 

Liher  Abbaci,  148,  149,  190,  192. 

Liber  Dedali,  82,  84-86,  241-265. 

Liber  dnodecim  Aquarum,  84-85. 

Liber  Dyabesi,  85,  252. 

Liber  LUroductorius,  of  Scot,  27,  28, 

40,  77,  97,  141,  142,  184. 
Liber  Invidiosus,  85. 
Liber  Lumen  Luminum,  85. 


Liber  Luminis  Luminum,  of  Scot, 

81-89,  240-268. 
Liber  Particularis,  of  Scot,  27,  28, 

40,  97. 
Logica,  The,  235. 
Lucken  Howe,  The,  200. 
Lydgate's  version  of  the  Secrcfa,  38. 

Maddalena's  Tales,  223-227. 
Magic,  Arabian,  181-184. 

Book  ascribed  to   Scot,    191, 

192,  270-274. 

not  impossible,  179. 

power,  how  obtained,  224,  225. 

Schools  of,  180,  184. 

Scot  familiar  with,  184. 

Tales  of,  180. 


Magician,  Was  Scot  a,  184. 

Why  Scot  called  a,  185-193. 

Magisterium,  what,  90. 

Magisterium  of  Scot,  79,  80. 

Magna  Grecia,  24. 

Maimonides,  132. 

Manuel  Comnenus,  83. 

Mappae  Clavicida,  67,  68. 

Mar  lannos,  72,  75. 

Martorana,  Library  of  the,  25,  83. 

Master,  Scot's  title  of,  14,   19,  22, 

23,  233. 
Mathematician,  Michael  the,  13,  26. 
Mathematics,  Scot's  studies  in,  26. 
Maugis,  223. 
Maugis  and  Vivien,  199. 
Mauritius  Hispanus,  110. 
Medicine,  60,  149-156. 
Mengot,  Master,  223-227. 
Merlin,  164,  199,  223. 
Merlin  Coccaio,  215. 
Metaphysica,  The,  126,  127,  235. 
Meteora,  The,  36,  71,  73,  79,  126, 

237. 
Mirandola,  Pico  della,  142,  143. 
Mohammed,  199. 
Monk's  Heath,  tale  of,  200-202. 
Moorish  Libraries,  76. 
Morgana,  The  Fata,  195,  202,  203. 

Naples,  A  Legend  of,  146,  147. 
Nationality  of  Scot,  5,  7. 
NaturalHistory,  The  Arabian,  60-63. 


280        THE  ].IFE  AND  LEGEND  OF  MICHAEL  SCOT 


Naude,  x,  222. 
Nectanebus,  187-189,  198. 
Nicolas  Peripateticus,  108. 
Not'dia  Convinclionis  of  IScot,  142. 
Nora  Ethica,  133 

Oakwood  Tower,  10,  219. 
Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  147. 
Ojitica  of  Ptolemy,  145. 
Oxford,  12,  175. 

Palermo,  23,  25,  29,  30,  40,  41. 
Paradiso  degli  Alherti,  212. 
Paris,  13-15,  17,  174. 

Council  of,  109. 

Tale  of,  218,219. 

Parma,  Tale  of,  214. 
Parva  Naturalia,  The,  125. 
Pascal  compared  with  Scot,  169. 
Passavauti,  Era  Jacopo,  203,  204. 
Patronage,  Abuse  of,  158. 
Pendasius,  132. 
Peter  the  Notary,  119. 

of  Toledo,  119. 

the  Venerable,  119. 

Philemon  or  Polemon,  31. 
Philip  of  Salerno,  37. 

of  Tripoli,  36,  37,  116,  157. 

Philippus  Clericus,  19,  21,  36. 
Philopon,  Johannes,  129. 
Physica,  The,  126,  127. 
Pliysionomia  of  Aristotle,  38. 

of  Scot,  30-40,  51,  52. 

Pkatrix,  The,  183,  187,  216. 

Pilhdae  of  Scot,  154,  155. 

Plague,  The,  40,  41,  156. 

Plato,  130. 

Pliny,  252. 

Porphyry,  107. 

Proclus,  132. 

Prophecies  of  Scot,  163-168. 

'  Province  of  ScotLand,'  what,  8. 

Pseudo  Boccaccio,  The,  214. 

Ptolemy,  97-99,  101,  103,  143,  145. 

Publication  of  Scot's  Works,   169- 

175,  177,  178. 
P  id  vis  Dora.  Fred.,  154,  155. 

QuADRiviuM,  The,  28. 
Quattrami,  Fra  Evangelista,  71. 


Quaestio  Curiosa,  The,  77,  78. 
Quaest{o7ies  Nicolai  Peripateilci,  108, 
127-132. 

Rases,  32,  65,  73,  74,  79,  SO,  152, 

262,  264. 
j  Raymon,  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  45, 

46,  53,  117. 
Rossetti,  222. 
Roxburgh  School,  11. 

Sacrobosco,  Johannes,  11,  145. 
Salerno,  Philip  of,  19,  20,  21,  23,  37. 

School  of,  150. 

Salimbene,  his  tale,  144. 
Saracens,  The,  30,  198. 
Satchells,  176,  221,  222. 
Schmutzer,  x,  222. 
Scot,  Bishop  of  Duukeld,  161,  162. 
Scotland  dislikes  Rome,  159. 

in  the  twelfth  century,  1-5. 

Magic  in,  217. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  222. 
Scottish  Grammar  Schools,  4,  11. 
Scotus  Erigena,  4,  7. 
Secrefa  Naturcf,  82-84,  89. 
Secreta  Secretorum,  20,  25,  37. 
Seismometer,  a,  147. 
Sergius  of  Resaina,  72. 
Sicily,  Arthurian,  194. 

Court  of,  18,  40,  137. 

Languages  spoken  in,  24,  25, 

194. 
Signatures,  Doctrine  of,  31. 
Sirr-el-asrar,  The,  32-38. 
Spain,  Scot  visits,  41. 
Specchio  di  Penitenza,  203,  204, 
S'phera,  98,  99. 

of  Sacrobosco,  ix,  145. 

Stephen  of  Bourbon,  195. 

of  Provins,  123,  124. 

Suppression  of  Scot's  Averroiis,  141, 

157. 

Tarasia,  Queen  of  Spain,  35,  36. 
'  Thales,'  Scot  called,  214. 
Theatrum  Ghemicum,  77,  79. 
Themistius,  129. 

Theological    studies    and    style    of 
Scot,  14,  15,  50,  56,  89. 


INDEX 


281 


Therapeutae,  The,  32,  33,  70. 
Thuringia,  Bertolph  of,  195. 
Tibbun,  Samuel,  36. 
Toledo,  63,  64. 

Schools  of,  35,  45,  46,  54,  106, 

115-123. 

Astronomy  at,  97,  98,  104. 

Magic  at,  1S7. 


Transformation   a   ruling   idea,  80, 

81. 
Tripoli,  Bishop  of,  37. 

Philip  of,  20,  21,  36,  37. 

Troubadours,  The,  195,  196. 


Trouv^res,  The,  195. 
Tweed,  The  River,  218. 

Urine,  Works  on  the,  20,  153. 

Vergilius,  Romance  of,  146. 
Vincent  of  Beauvais,  176,  185,  264. 
Vivien,  203. 
Volmar,  Master,  178. 

Witchcraft,  182, 

ZOSIMUS,  72. 


FINIS. 


ERRATA 

Page  55,  line  11.     For  '  mococox,'  read  '  mOccox.' 
Page  81,  note  1.     For  'The  term  had  not  been  pre- 
viously used  in  theology,'  read  'The  term  seems  not  to 
have  been  previously  used  in  pure  theology.' 


10  Castle  Strekt, 
Edinburgh,  August  1896. 


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From  Schola  to  Cathedral.    A  Study  of  Early  Christian 

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Early  Travellers  in  Scotland,  1295-1689. 

Edited  by  P.  Hume  Brown.     Demy  Svo,  14s. 

Tours  in  Scotland.  1677  and  1681. 

By  Thomas  Kirk  and  Ralph  Thoresby.    Edited  by  P.  Hume  Beown.    Demy 
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Edited  by  P.  Hume  Brown.     Deuiy  Svu,  14s. 

The  Capercaillie  in  Scotland. 

By  J.  A.  Harvie-Brown.     Etcliiiigs  on  Copper,  and  Map  illustrating  the  extension 
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A  Vertebrate  Fauna  of  Argyll. 

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A  Vertebrate  Fauna  of  Moray.  ^   ,„ 

By  J.  A.  Harvie-Brown  and  T.  E.  Buckley.   2  vols.   Small  4to,  Illustrated.  60s. 

The  History  of  Selkirkshire :  Chronicles  of  Ettrick  Forest. 

By  T.  Craig-Brown.    Two  vols.    Demy  4to,  Illustrated.    £4,  10s.  net. 

John  Burroughs's  Essays.  .    ^  , 

Six  Boolvs  of  Nature,  Animal  Life,  and  Literature.  Choice  Edition.  Revised  by 
the  Author.  6  vols.,  cloth,  in  box,  12s.  ;  or  in  smooth  ornamental  tappers, 
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Winter  Sunshine.  |        Feesh  Fields. 

Locusts  and  Wild  Honey.  Birds  and  Poets. 

Wake-Robin.  |        Pepacton. 

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Fresh  Fields.     By  John  Burroughs.     Library  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Signs  and  Seasons.     Library  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

But  How— If  the  Gospels  are  Historic  ?   An  Apology  for 

Believing  in  Christianism.      By  the  Author  of  "If  tlie  Gospel  Narratives  are 
Mythical,  What  then  ?  "    Crown  Svo,  5s. 

Dr.  Sevier :  A  Novel. 

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Madame  Delphine.  ^  •     ,.,   „ 

By  Geo.  W.  Cable,  Author  of  "  Old  Creole  Days."    Is.  ;  and  in  cloth,  2s. 
Co?i«en(s.— Madame  Delphine— Carancro— Grande  Pointe. 

The  Geology  and  Scenery  of  Sutherland. 

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Memoir  of  John  Bro-wn,  D.D. 

By  John  Cairns,  D.D.,  Berwick-on-Tweed.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  6d. 

The  Roll  Call  of  Faith  and  other  Sermons. 

By  Rev.  Duncan  Campbell,  B.D.,  of  St.  Matthew's,  Edinburgh.  Crown  Svo, 
3s.  6d. 

My  Indian  Journal.  ^    ^  ^  ^. 

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The  Odes  of  Horace. 

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Circuit  Journeys  from  1837  to  1854. 

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The  Story  of  Burnt  Njal;  or,  Life  in  Iceland  at  the  end 

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8  LIST  OF  BOOKS 


Memories  of  a  Long  Life. 

By  Lieut  -Col.  Davidson,  C.B.     Secoml  Edition.     Crowu  Svo,  4s.  Gd. 

A  Chat  in  the  Saddle ;  or,  Patroclus  and  Penelope. 

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The  Fireside  Tragedy,  etc. 

By  Sir  Oeorqe  Douglas,  Bart.    Fcap.  Svo,  5s. 

A  Short  Introduction  to  the  Origin  of  Surnames. 

By  Patrick  Dudgeon,  Cargeu.     Small  4to,  3s.  6d. 

"Macs"  in  Galloway. 

By  Patrick  Dudgeon.     Fcap.  Svo,  price  6d. 

Veterinary  Medicines :  Their  Actions  and  Uses. 

By  FiNLAY  Dun.     Ninth  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged.     Demy  Svo,  15s. 

Documents  relating  to  the  Province  of  Moray. 

By  Captain  E.  Dunbar  Dunbar.     Demy  Svo,  5s.  net. 

Letters  of  Thomas  Erskine  of  Linlathen. 

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Fourth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  bd. 

By  the  same  Author. 

The  Brazen  Serpent : 

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The  Internal  Evidence  of  Revealed  Religion. 

Crown  Svo,  5s. 

The  Spiritual  Order, 

And  other  Papers  selected  from  the  MSS.  of  the  late  Thomas  Eeskine  of  Linlathen. 
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The  Doctrine  of  Election, 

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The  Unconditional  Freeness  of  the  Gospel. 

Fourth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

The  Fatherhood  of  God  Revealed  in  Christ,  the  Comfort 

and  Hope  of  Man.  A  Lesson  from  "The  Letters"  of  Thomas  Erskine  of  Lin- 
lathen.    Fcap.  Svo,  Is. 

Three  Visits  to  America. 

By  Emily  Faithfull.     Demy  Svo,  9s. 

Ogham  Inscriptions  in  Ireland,  "Wales,  and  Scotland. 

By  the  late  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson,  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  Archseology  for  1SS4.)    1  vol.  demy  Svo,  12s. 

Guide  to  the  Great  North  of  Scotland  Rail-way. 

By  W.  Ferguson  of  ICinmundy.     Crown  Svo  ;  paper.  Is.  ;  cloth.  Is.  tid. 

Robert  Ferguson  "The  Plotter"  ;  or,  The  Secret  of  the 

Rye  House  Conspiracy  and  the  Story  of  a  Strange  Career.  By  Jame.s  Ferguson, 
Advocate.  A  Biography  of  one  of  the  strangest  tigures  of  English  Politics  in  the 
period  between  the  Restoration  and  the  Accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover. 
Demy  Svo,  15s. 

The  Laird  of  Lag  :  A  Life-Sketch  of  Sir  Robert  Grierson. 

By  Alex.  Ferousson,  Lieut.-Colonel,  Author  of  "Mrs.  Calderwood's  Journey." 
Demy  Svo,  with  Illustrations,  12s. 


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Major  Praser's  Manuscript :  His  Adventures  in  Scotland 

and  England :  His  Mission  to  and  Travels  in  France  :  His  Services  in  the  Rebel- 
lion (and  his  Quarrels)  with  Simon  Fraser,  Lord  Lovat.  16'J15-1737.  Edited  by 
Alex.  Fbrgusson,  Lieut.-Coloncl.    2  vols.  fcap.  Svo,  l'2s. 

Records  of  the  Olan  Fergus(s)on. 

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L'Histoire  de  France. 

Par  M.  Lame  Fleury.     New  Edition,  corrected  to  1SS3.     ISmo,  cloth,  2s.  fid. 

The  Deepening  of  the  Spiritual  Life. 

By  A.  P.  Forbes,  D.G.L.,  Bishop  of  Brechin.  Seventh  Edition.  Paper,  Is. ;  clotli. 
Is.  6d. 

Kalendars  of  Scottish  Saints  ; 

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Missale  Drummondiense :  The  Ancient  Irish  Missal  in 

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Fragments  of  Truth : 

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Give  me  thine  Heart :  Short  Addresses  to  young  boys 

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The  Protection  of  Woodlands  against  Dangers  arising 

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Kauschinger's  "  Waldschutz,"  by,  Hermann  Furst,  D.CEc,  Director  of  the 
Bavarian  Forest  Institute  at  Asch'affenburg,  translated  by  John  Nisbet,  D.(Ec., 
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Studies  in  English  History. 

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Heligoland  as  an  Ornithological  Observatory. 

The  Result  of  Fifty  Years'  Experience.  By  Heinrich  Gatke,  Honorary  Member 
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The  Fringes  of  Fife. 

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Gifts  for  Men. 

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The  Birds  of  lona  and  Mull,  1852-70. 

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Traces  in   Scotland  of  Ancient  "Water   Lines,  Marine, 

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12  LIST  OF  BOOKS 


Oor  Ain  Folk :  Being  Memories  of  Manse  Life  in  the 

Mearns,  and  a  Crack  aboot  Aukl  Times.  By  James  Inglis.  Cr.  Svo,  Second 
Edition,  Gs.     Also  a  cheap  Edition,  fcap.  Svo,  2s. 

"In  its  construction  and  general  tone  'Oor  Ain  Folk'  reminds  the  reader  of 
Dr.  Norman  Macleod's  '  Reminiscences  of  a  Highland  Parish,'  whilst  it  contains  a 
store  of  admirable  Scottish  stories,  many  of  them  quite  new  to  ns,  that  can  only 
be  compared  in  quality  to  the  classic  collection  of  Dean  Ramsay." — Glasgow  Herald. 

The  Humour  of  the  Scot  'neath  Northern  Lights  and 

Southern  Cross.  By  James  Inglis  ("Maori"),  Author  of  "Oor  Ain  Folk,"  etc. 
One  vol.     Crown  Svo,  6s.     Also  a  cheap  Edition,  fcap.  Svo,  2s. 

Zeph:  A  Posthumous  Story. 

By  Helen  Jackson  (H.  H.).     Is.  paper,  or  2s.  cloth  extra. 
"Beautiful  for  its  insight  into  human  nature." — Academy. 

Lord  Jeffrey  and  Oraigcrook.     A  History  of  the  Castle. 

By  James  Taylok,  D.D.,  F.A.S.,  LL.D.,  and  a  Sketch  of  Lord  Jefl'rey's  character 
and  Craigcrook  Life,  by  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Moncreiff  of  Tulliebole  ;  with  a 
description  of  the  original  structure  by  Thomas  Ross,  Architect.  1  vol.  Royal 
4to,  31s.  6d.  net. 

Epitaphs   and    Inscriptions  from    Burial-Grounds   and 

Old  Buildings  in  the  North-East  of  Scotland.     By  the  late  Andrew  Jervise, 

F.S. A.Scot.     With  a  Memoir  of  the  Author.     Vol.11.     Cloth,  small  4to,  32s.  net. 

Do.  do.  Roxburghe  Edition,  42s.  net. 

The  History  and  Traditions  of  the  Land  of  the  Lindsays 

in  Angus  and  Mearns.  By  the  late  Andrew  Jervise,  F.S. A. Scot.  New  Edition, 
Edited  and  Revised  by  the  Rev.  James  Gammack,  M.A.  Demy  Svo,  14s.  Large 
Paper,  demy  4to,  42s.  net. 

Memorials   of  Angus   and   the  Mearns  :    An  Account, 

Historical,  Antiquarian,  and  Traditionary,  of  the  Castles  and  Towns  visited  by 
Edward  I.,  and  of  the  Barons,  Clergy,  and  others  who  swore  Fealty  to  England 
in  1291-6.  By  the  late  Andrew  Jervise,  F.S.A.Scot.  Rewritten  and  Corrected 
by  the  Rev.  James  Gammack,  M.A.  Illustrated  with  Etchings  by  W.  Hole, 
R.S.A.     2  vols,  demy  Svo,  2Ss.  net ;  Large  Paper,  2  vols,  demy  4to,  63s.  net. 

Chronicles  of  Glentauckie. 

By  Henry  Johnston,  Author  of  "  The  Dawsons  of  Gleuara"  etc.    Ex.  fcap.  Svo,  5s. 
%*  A  book  of  humour  and  pathos,  descriptive  of  the  social,  political,  and 
ecclesiastical  life  in  a  Scottish  parish  of  fifty  years  ago. 

The  Place-Names  of  Scotland. 

By  the  Rev.  James  B.  Johnston,  B.D.  ,  Falkirk.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  6d. 

Selections    from    the    Correspondence    of   Dr.    George 

Johnston,  author  of  "A  Flora  of  Berwick-on-Tweed,"  "The  History  of  British 
Zoophytes,"  etc.  etc.  Collected  and  arranged  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Barwell 
Carter,  and  Edited  by  James  Hardy,  LL.D.,  Hon.  Secretary  to  the  Berwick- 
shire Naturalists'  Club.     Demy  Svo,  15s. 

Sermons  by  the  Rev.  John  Ker,  D.D.,  Glasgo-w. 

Fourteenth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Sermons  (Second  Series)  by  the  Rev.  John  Ker,  D.D. 

Fifth  Thousand.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Thoughts  for  Heart  and  Life. 

By  the  Rev.  John  Ker,  D.D.     Edited  by  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Simpson,  D.D.,  Derby. 

With  Portrait  by  James  Faed.     Second  Edition.     Ex.  fcap.  Svo,  4s.  6d. 

Letters  of  the  Rev.  John  Ker,  D.D.,  1866-1885.     Second 

Edition,  with  Index.     Ex.  fcap.  Svo,  4s.  6d. 

The    History   of   Curling,   Scotland's    ain    Game,    and 

Fifty  Years  of  The  Royal  Caledonian  Curling  Club.  By  the  Rev.  John  Kerr, 
M.A.,  Dirleton.  One  volume,  demy  Svo,  10s.  6d.  net.  Also  an  Edition  on  large 
paper,  royal  Svo,  with  13  extra  full-page  engraved  plates,  31s.  6d.  net. 


PUBLISHED  BY  DAVID  DOUGLAS.  1 3 

Meraories  of  Coleorton :  Being  Letters  from  Coleridge 

Wordsworth  and  his  Sister,  Southey,  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  to  Sir  George  and 
Lady  Beaumont  of  Coleorton,  Leicestershire.  1803  to  1S33.  Edited,  with  Xotes 
and  Introduction,  by  William  Knioht,  St.  Andrews.     2  vols,  crown  8vo,  15s. 

Oolloquia  Peripatetica  (Deep  Sea  Soundings) : 

Being  Notes  of  Conversations  with  the  late  John  Duncan,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Hebrew  in  the  Xew  College,  Edinburgh.  By  William  Knight,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  in  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.     Fifth  Edition,  enlarged,  5s. 

The  English  Lake  District  as  interpreted  in  the  Poems 

of  Wordsworth.  By  William  Knight,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  St. 
Andrews.     New  Edition,  fcap.  8vo,  4s.  6d. 

Prof.  Koch  on  the  Bacteriological  Diagnosis  of  Cholera, 

Water  Filtration  and  Cholera,  and  the  Cholera  in  Germany  during  the  Winter  of 
1S92-93.  Translated  by  George  Duncan,  M.A.  With  Preface  by  Prof.  Gairdner, 
President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  Edinburgh,  etc.  Demy  Svo, 
Illustrated,  6s.  net. 

Essays  and  Revie-ws. 

By  the  late  Henry  H.  Lancaster,  Advocate;  with  a  Prefatory  Notice  by  the 
Bev.  B.  Jowett,  Master  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford.     Demy  Svo,  with  Portrait,  14s. 

Reminiscences   connected   chiefly  -with   Inveresk   and 

Musselburgh  and  the  Episcopal  Church  there.  Prefaced  by  a  short  Account  of 
Scottish  Episcopacy.  By  Rev.  W.  H.  Langhorne,  M.A.,  Rector  of  Worton, 
Oxford.     Demy  Svo,  7s.  6d. 

Recollections    of    Curious    Characters    and    Pleasant 

Places.  By  Charles  Lanman,  Washington,  Author  of  "Adventures  in  the 
Wilds  of  America,"  "  A  Canoe  Voyage  up  the  Mississippi,"  "  A  Tour  to  the  River 
Saguenay,"  etc.  etc.     Small  Demy  Svo,  12s. 

An  Echo  of  Passion. 

By  Geo.  Parsons  Lathrop.      Is.;  and  in  cloth,  2s. 

"Would  You  Kill  Him  ? 

By  George  Parsons  Lathrop,  Author  of  "An  Echo  of  Passion."  Copyright 
Edition.     3  vols,  post  Svo,  31s.  6d. 

Lays  of  the  Links  :  A  score  of  Parodies.    Fcap.  svo,  2s.  6d. 
The  Life  of  St.  Margaret,  Queen  of  Scotland. 

By  Turcot,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Edited  by  William  Forbes-Leith,  S.J. 
Third  Edition.     Cro\\Ti  Svo,  3s.  6d.  net. 

Local  Taxation. 

An  Enquiry  into  the  Proposal  to  subject  Feu-Duties  and  Ground-Rents  to  Local 
Rates.     By  H.  H.  S.     6d. 

Leaves  from  the  Bulk  of  the  "West  Kirke. 

By  Geo.  Lorimer.     With  a  Preface  by  the  Rev.  Jas.  Macgregor,  D.D.     4to. 
A  Lost  Battle,     a  Novel.     2  vols.     Crown  Svo,  17s. 

Tour  in  Scotland  in  1629 :  Our  Journall  into  Scotland, 

Anno  Domini  1629,  5th  of  November,  from  Lowther.  By  C.  Lowther,  Mr.  R. 
Fallott,  and  Peter  Mauson.     Demy  Svo,  5s.  net. 

Memorials  of  the  Families  of  Lumsdaine,  Lumisden,  or 

Lumsden.  By  Lieut.-Col.  H.  W.  Lumsden,  late  Royal  Artillery.  With  illustra- 
tions.   4to,  42s.  net. 

John  Calvin :  A  Fragment  by  the  late  Thomas  M'Crie, 

Author  of  "  The  Life  of  Jolm  Knox."     Demy  Svo,  6s. 

The  Parish  of  Taxwood,  and  some  of  its  Older  Memories. 

By  Rev.  J.  R.  Macduff,  D.  D.     Extra  fcap.  Svo,  Illustrated,  3s.  6d. 


14  LIST  OF  BOOKS 


The  Castellated  and  Domestic  Architecture  of  Scot- 
land, frum  the  Twelfth  to  the  Eighteenth  Ceutury.  By  David  M'Gibbon  and 
Thomas  Ross,  Architects.  5  vols.,  with  about  2000  Illustrations  of  Ground 
Plans,  Sections,  Views,  Elevations,  and  Details.     Royal  Svo.     42s.  each  vol.  net. 

The  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Scotland  from  the 

Earliest  Christian  Times  to  the  Seventeenth  Ceutury.  By  David  Macgibbon  and 
Thomas  Ross.     3  vols. 

Vol.  I.  now  ready,  with  439  Illustrations.     Royal  Svo,  42s.  net. 

The    Architecture    of  Provence   and    the   Riviera. 

By  David  M'Gibbon.  Illustrated  with  nearly  300  sketches  by  the  Author  showing 
the  various  styles  of  Architecture  in  the  South  of  France.    Demy  Svo,  21s. 

lona. 

By  Elizabeth  A.  M'Hardy,  with  illustrations  by  the  Author.  Ex.  Fcap.  Svo.    Is. 

Memoir  of  Sir  James  Dairy mple,  First  Viscount  Stair: 

A  Study  in  the  History  of  Scotland  and  Scotch  Law  during  the  Seventeenth 
Century.     By  M.  J.  G.  Mackay,  Advocate.     Svo,  12s. 

Storms  and  Sunshine  of  a  Soldier's  Life. 

Lt.-Geueral  Colin  Macicexzie,  C.B.,  1S25-1SS1.  With  a  Portrait.  2  vols,  crown 
Svo,  1.5s. 

Lyrics  and  Sonnets. 

By  Thomas  M'Kie,  Advocate.     Fcap.  Svo,  2s. 

Nugse  Oanorse  Medicae. 

Lays  of  the  Poet  Laureate  of  the  New  Town  Dispensary.  Edited  by  Professor 
Douglas  Maclagan.     4to,  with  Illustrations,  7s.  6d. 

The  Hill  Forts,  Stone  Circles,  and  other  Structural  Re- 
mains of  Ancient  Scotland.  By  C.  Maolaoan,  Lady  Associate  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  Scotland.     With  Plans  and  Illustrations.     Folio,  31s.  6d. 

""What  mean  these  Stones?" 

By  C.  Maclagan,  Author  of  "  Tlie  Hill  Forts."     Sm.  4to,  2s.  Od.  net. 

The  Light  of  the  World. 

By  David  M'Larex,  Minister  of  Humbie.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

The  Book  of  Psalms  in  Metre. 

According  to  the  version  approved  of  by  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Revised  by  Rev. 
David  M'Laren.     Crown  Svo,  Vs.  6d. 

A  Vertebrate  Fauna  of  Lakeland,  including  Cumber- 
land and  Westmorland,  with  Lancashire  north  of  the  Sands.  By  the  Rev. 
H.  A.  Macpherson,  M.A.,  with  Preface  by  R.  S.  Ferguson,  F.S.A.,  Chancellor 
of  Carlisle.     Demy  Svo,  Illustrated.     30s. 

Scottish  Gypsies  under  the  Ste^warts. 

By  David  MacRitchie,  Author  of  "  The  Gypsies  of  India,"  etc.  Demy  Svo, 
6s.  net. 

"Mr.  MacRitchie's  well-written  book  is  curious,  careful,  and  valuable.  He  is 
familiar  with  every  scrap  relating  to  Scottish  gypsies  which  is  as  yet  known,  and 
he  uses  his  knowledge  well." — Glasgow  Herald. 

In  Partnership.    Studies  in  Story-Telling. 

By  Braxder  Matthews  and  H.  C.  Bunner.     Is.  in  paper,  and  2s.  in  cloth. 

Antwei-p  Delivered  in  MDLXXVII.  : 

A  Passage  from  the  History  of  the  Netherlands,  illustrated  with  Facsimiles  of  a 
rare  series  of  Designs  by  Martin  de  Vos,  and  of  Prints  by  Hogenberg,  the  Wiericxes, 
etc.  By  Sir  William  Stirling-Maxwell,  Bart.,  K.T.  and  M.P.  In  1vol.  Folio, 
5  guineas. 

Studies  in  the  Topography  of  Galloway:  Being  a  List 

of  nearly  4000  Names  of  Places,  with  Remarks  on  their  Origin  and  Meaning.  By 
Sir  Herbert  E.  Maxwell,  Bart.,  M.P.     1  vol.  demy  Svo,  14s. 


PUBLISHED  BY  DAVID  DOUGLAS.  1 5 

The  Art  of  Love ;  or,  New  Lessons  in  Old  Lore. 

By  Sir  Herbert  B.  Maxwell,  Bart,  M.P.,  author  of  "Sir  Lucian  Elphin."  3 
vols,  post  Svo,  31s.  Gd. 

Passages  in   the  Life  of  Sir  Lucian  Elphin  of  Castle 

Weary.     Edited  by  his  Sister.     2  vols,  demy  Svo,  24s. 

Researches    and    Excavations    at    Carnac    (Morbihan), 

Tlie  Bosseimo,  and  Mont  St.  Michel.  By  James  Miln.  Koyal  Svo,  with  Maps, 
Plans,  and  numerous  Illustrations  in  Wood-Engraving  and  Chromolithography. 
15s. 

Excavations  at  Carnac  (Brittany) :  A  Record  of  Archaeo- 
logical Researches  in  the  Alignments  of  Kermario.  By  James  Miln.  Royal  Svo, 
with  Maps,  Plans,  and  numerous  Illustrations  iu  Wood-Engraving,  15s. 

The  Blackfriars  of  Perth.    The  Chartulary  and  Papers 

of  their  house.  Edited  with  Introduction  by  Robert  Milne,  D.D.,  West  Kirk, 
Perth.     Demy  -Ito,  Illustrated,  '21s. 

The  Past  in  the  Present— What  is  Civilisation? 

Being  the  Rhind  Lectm-es  in  Archteology,  delivered  in  1S76  and  1878.  By  Sir 
Arthur  Mitchell,  K.C.B.,  M.D.,  LL.I).  In  1  vol.,  demy  Svo,  with  148  Wood- 
cuts, 15s. 

Our  Scotch  Banks : 

Their  Position  and  their  Policy.   By  Wsi.  Mitchell,  S.S.C.  Third  Edition.   Svo,  5s. 

Moller's  Operative  Veterinary  Surgery. 

Translated  and  edited  from  the  second  enlarged  and  improved  edition  of  1894  by 
Jno.  a.  W.  Dollar,  M.R.C.V.S.,  with  142  Illustrations.     Royal  Svo,  21s. 

Reminiscences  of  the  Grange  Cricket  Club,  Edinburgh, 

with  selected  Matches,  1832-ti2.  By  William  Moncreiff,  President  and  Kx- 
Captain  of  the  Grange  C.C.     Large  4to,  gilt  top,  5s. 

On  Horse-Breaking.    By  Robert  Moreton.    Second  Edition.   Fcap.  8vo,ls. 

Ecclesiological  Notes  on  some  of  the  Islands  of  Scot- 
land ;  with  other  Papers  relating  to  Ecclesiological  Remains  on  the  Scottish  Main- 
laud  and  Islands.  By  Thomas  S.  Mdir,  Author  of  "Characteristics  of  Church 
Ai'chitecture,"  etc.     Deiny  Svo,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  21s. 

The  Birds  of  Ber"wickshire. 

By  George  Muirhead.     2  vols,  demy  Svo,  Illustrated.     SOs.  net. 

"  The  Lanox  of  Auld  "  :  An  Epistolary  Review  of  "  The 

Lennox,  by  William  Eraser."  By  Mark  Napier.  With  Woodcuts  and  Plates. 
4to,  15s. 

Tenants'   Gain   not   Landlords'   Loss,   and   some   other 

Economic  Aspects  of  the  Land  Question.  By  Joseph  Shield  Nicholson,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Political  Economy  iu  the  University  of  Edinburgh.     Crown  Svo,  5s. 

Camps  in  the  Caribbees :   Adventures  of  a  Naturalist 

in  the  Lesser  Antilles.     By  Frederick  Ober.     Illustrations,  demy  Svo,  12s. 

Cookery  for  the  Sick  and  a  Guide  for  the  Sick-Room. 

By  C.  H.  Oao,  an  Edinburgh  Nurse.     Fcap.,  Is. 

Fairy  Plays  for  Small  Stages. 

With  full  directions  by  J.  C.  Oliphant.     16mo,  2s. 

On  the  Links :  Being  Golfing  Stories  by  Various  Hands. 

Edited  by  a  Novice.  With  Two  Rhymes  on  Golf  by  Andrew  Lang.  Extra 
fcap.  Svo,  Is. 

An  Irish  Garland.      By  Mrs.  S.  M.  B.  Piatt.     Crown  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

The  Childi-en  Out  of  Doors :  A  Book  of  Verses. 

By  Two  IN  One  House.     Cruwn  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

Phoebe. 

By  the  Author  of  "Rutledge."  Reprinted  from  the  Fifth  Thousand  of  the 
American  Edition.    Crown  Svo,  6s. 


/ 


1 6  LIST  OF  BOOKS 


The  Gamekeeper's  Manual :  being  Epitome  of  the  Game 

Laws  for  the  use  of  Gamekeepers  and  others  interested  in  the  Preservation  of 
Game.  By  Alexander  Poeter,  Deputy  Chief  Constable  of  Roxburghshire. 
Second  Edition,  3s.  net. 

May  in  Anjou ;  -with  other  Sketches  and  Studies. 

By  Eleanor  C.  Pr.icc,  Author  of  "  A  Lost  Battle,"  etc.     Fcap.  Svo,  Is. 

Contents.— "iilay  in  Anjou— Winter  and  Summer— In  Old  France— The  Cha- 
teaux of  Touraine— An  Old  French  House— A  Study  of  a  Town— Up  the  Feeder. 

New  Lights  on  Old  Edinburgh. 

By  John  Reid.     Fcap.  Svo,  Illustrated,  iis.  (id. 

"Mr.  Raid's  style  is  clear,  terse,  and  even  vivid,  and  he  has  the  power  of  retaining 
the  reader's  attention  and  interest  from  the  iirst  page  to  the  last,  a  faculty  which 
is  only  too  rarely  owned  by  the  possessor  of  historic  lore." — Dundee  Advertiser. 

Scotland  under  her  Early  Kings. 

A  History  of  the  Kingdom  to  the  close  of  the  13th  century.  By  E.  William 
Robertson-.     In  2  vols.  Svo,  cloth,  36s. 

Historical  Essays, 

In  connection  with  the  Land  and  the  Church,  etc.  By  E.  William  Robertson, 
Author  of  "  Scotland  under  her  Early  Kings."    Svo,  10s.  Od. 

A  Rectorial  Address  delivered  before  the  Students  of 

Aberdeen  University,  in  the  Music  Hall  at  Aberdeen,  on  Nov.  5,  ISSO.  By  The 
Earl  of  Rosebery.     6d. 

A  Rectorial  Address  delivered  before  the  Students  of 

the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Nov.  4,  1S82.     By  The  Earl  of  Rosebery.     6d. 

Aberdour  and  Inchcolme :  Being  Historical  Notices  of 

the  Parish  and  Monastery,  in  Twelve  Lectures.  By  the  Rev.  William  Ross,  LL.D., 
Author  of  "Burgh  Life  in  Dunfermline  in  the  Olden  Time."    Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Notes  and  Sketches  from  the  "Wild  Coasts  of  Nipon. 

With  Chapters  on  Cruising  after  Pirates  in  Chinese  Waters.  By  Admiral  Henry 
C.  St.  John.     Small  demy  Svo,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations,  12s. 

Natural  History  and  Sport  in  Moray. 

By  the  late  Charles  St.  John,  Author  of  "Wild  Sports  in  the  Highlands." 
Second  Edition.  In  1  vol.  royal  Svo,  with  40  page  Illustrations  of  Scenery  and 
Animal  Life,  engi-aved  by  A.  Ddrand  after  sketches  made  by  George  Reid, 
R.S.A.,  and  J.  Wycliffe  Taylor  ;  also,  30  Pen-and-ink  Drawings  by  the  Author 
in  facsimile.     50s.  net. 

"Charles  St.  John  was  not  an  artist,  but  he  had  the  habit  of  roughly  .sketching 
animals  in  positions  which  interested  him,  and  the  present  reprint  is  adorned  by 
a  great  number  of  these,  facsimiled  from  the  author's  original  pen-and-ink.  Some 
of  these,  as  for  instance  the  studies  of  the  golden  eagle  swooping  on  its  prey,  and 
that  of  the  otter  swimming  with  a  salmon  in  its  mouth,  are  very  interesting,  and 
full  of  that  charm  that  comes  from  the  exact  transcription  of  unusual  observa- 
tion."— Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

A  Tour  in   Sutherlandshire ;   -with   Extracts  from  the 

Field-Books  of  a  Sportsman  and  Naturalist.  By  the  late  Charles  St.  John, 
Author  of  "  Wild  Sports  and  Natural  History  in  the  Highlands."  Second  Edition, 
with  an  Appendix  on  the  Fauna  of  Sutherland,  by  J.  A.  Harvie-Brown  and 
T.  E.  Buckley.  Illustrated  with  the  original  Wood-Engravings,  and  additional 
Vignettes  from  the  Author's  sketch-books.     In  2  vols,  small  demy  Svo,  21s. 

"  Every  page  is  full  of  interest." — The  Field. 

"  There  is  not  a  wild  creature  in  the  Highlands,  from  the  great  stag  to  the  tiny 
fire-crested  wren,  of  which  he  has  not  something  pleasant  to  say."— Pall  Mall 
Gazette. 

Life  of  James  Hepburn,  Earl  of  Bothwell. 

By  Professor  Schiern,  Copenhagen.  Translated  from  the  Danish  by  the  Rev. 
David  Berry,  F.S.A.Scot.     Demy  Svo,  I6s. 

Scotch  Folk. 

Illustrated.    Fourth  Edition,  enlarged.     Ex.  fcap.  Svo.  Is. 

"  They  are  stories  of  the  best  type,  quite  equal  in  the  main  to  the  average  of 
Dean  Ramsay's  well-known  collection." — Aberdeen  Free  Press. 


PUBLISHED  BY  DAVID  DOUGLAS.  1 7 

The  Journal  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  1825-32. 

From  the  original  Manuscript  at  Abbotsfurd,  annotated  and  illustrated  from  his 
"Life"  and  Correspondence.  2  vols,  demy  8vo.  With  2  portraits,  32s.;  also 
popular  edition  in  one  volume,  small  8v(i,  950  pp.,  price  7s.  Ud. 

Familiar  Letters  of  Sir  "Walter  Scott. 

From  Originals  at  Abbotsford  and  elsewhere.     2  vols.,  demy  Svo,  32s. 

"In  perusing  tliese  fascinating  pages  we  seem  to  live  Sir  Walter's  life  over 
again  with  him." — Dailii  Telegraph. 

Buddhism  and  Christianity  :  A  Parallel  and  a  Contrast. 

Being  the  Croall  Lectures  for  1S89-90.  By  Archibald  Scott,  D.D.,  Minister  of 
St.  George's,  Edinburgh.     1  vol.  demy  Svo,  7s.  (id. 

Sacrifice :  Its  Prophecy  and  Fulfilment. 

The  Baird  Lecture  for  1892-y3.  By  Archibald  Scott,  D.D.,  Minister  of  St. 
George's,  Edinburgh.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  Od. 

Album  of  the  Scottish  Artists'  Club. 

Containing  00  Engravings.     One  vol.  lol. ,  42s.  net. 

Studies  in  Poetry  and  Philosophy. 

By  tlie  late  J.  C.  Shairp,  LL.D. ,  Princijial  of  tlie  United  College  of  St.  Salvator 
and  St.  Leonard,  St.  Andrews.  Foiu'tli  Edition,  with  Portraits  of  the  Author  and 
Thomas  Erskine,  by  William  Hole,  A.R.S.A.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  6d. 

"  The  linest  essay  in  the  volume,  partly  because  it  is  upon  the  greatest  and  most 
definite  subject,  is  the  first,  on  Wordsworth.  .  .  .  We  have  said  so  much  upon  this 
essay  that  we  can  only  say  of  the  other  three  that  tliey  are  fully  worthy  to  stand 
beside  it." — Spectator. 

Culture  and  Religion. 

By  tlie  late  Principal  Shairp.     Eighth  Edition.     Fcajj.  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

"A  wise  book,  and,  unlike  a  great  many  other  wise  books,  lias  that  carefully 
shaded  thouglit  and  expression  which  fits  Professor  Shairp  to  speak  for  Culture 
no  less  than  for  Religion." — Spectator. 

"Those  who  remember  a  former  work  of  Principal  Shairp's,  'Studies  in  Poetry 
and  Philosophy,'  will  feel  secure  that  all  which  conies  from  his  pen  will  bear  the 
marks  of  thought  at  once  careful,  liberal,  and  accurate.  Nor  will  they  be  dis- 
appointed in  the  present  work.  .  .  .  We  can  recommend  this  book  to  our  readers." 
— A  thenceum. 

Sketches  in  History  and  Poetry. 

By  the  late  Principal  Shairp.  Edited  by  John  Veitoh,  Professor  of  Logic 
and  Rhetoric  in  the  University  of  Glasgow.     Crown  Svo,  7s.  6d. 

Kilmahoe:  A  Highland  Pastoral, 

And  other  Poems.     By  Principal  Shairp.     Fcap.  Svo,  6s. 

Shakespeare  on  G-olf.     With   special   Reference  to  St. 

Andrews  Links.    3d. 

The  Divine   Comedy  of  Dante  Alighieri,  The   Inferno. 

A  Translation  in  Terza  Rinia,  with  Notes  and  Introductory  Essay.  By  James 
Romanes  Sibba^d.  With  an  Engraving  after  Giotto's  Portrait.  Small  demy 
Svo,  12s. 

"  Mr.  Sibbald  is  certainly  to  be  congratulated  on  having  jiroduced  a  translation 
which  would  probably  give  an  English  reader  a  better  conception  of  tlie  nature  of 
the  original  poem,  having  regard  both  to  its  matter  and  its  form  in  combination, 
than  any  other  English  translation  yet  ].iublished. " — Academy. 

The  Use  of  what  is  called  Evil. 

A  Discourse  by  Si.mplicius.  E.xtracted  from  his  Commentary  on  the  Enchiridion 
of  Epictetus.     Crown  Svo,  Is. 

The  Near  and  the  Far  View, 

And  other  Sermons.     By  Rev.  A.  L.  Simpson,  D.D.,  Der"by.    Ex.  fcap.  Svo,  5s. 

"Very  fresh  and  thoughtful  are  these  sermons." — Literary  World. 

"Dr.  Simpson's  sermons  may  fairly  claim  distinctive  power.  He  looks  at  things 
with  his  own  eyes,  and  often  shows  us  what  with  ordinary  vision  we  had  failed  to 
perceive.  .  .  .  The  sermons  are  distinctively  good." — British  Quarterly  Review. 


18  LIST  OF  BOOKS 

Archaeolog-ical  Essays. 

By  the  late  Sir  James  Simpson,  Bart.     Edited  by  the  late  John  Stuart,  LL  D. 
2  vols.  4to,  21s.  ' 


6.  Leprosy  and  Leper  Hospitals. 

7.  Greek  Jledical  Vases. 

8.  Was    the    Roman    Army  provided 

with  Medical  Officers  ? 

9.  Romau  Medicine  Stamps,  etc.  etc. 


1.  Archajology. 

2.  Inchcolm. 

3.  The  Cat  Stane. 

4.  Magical  Charm-Stones. 

5.  Pyrami<I  of  Gizeh. 

The  Art  of  Golf. 

By  Sir  W.  G.  Simpson,  Bart.,  Captain  of  the  Honourable  Company  of  Edinburgh 
Golfers.  With  Twenty  Plates  from  instantaneous  photographs  of  Professional 
Players,  chiefly  by  A.  P.  Macfie,  Esq.  New  and  revised  edition.  Demy  8vo, 
Morocco  back,  price  15s. 

Sir  Calidore,  the  Knight  of  Courtesy. 

Reflections  submitted  to  all  Christian  Gentlemen.  Second  edition,  post  Svo, 
2s.  6a. 

Should  Feu-Duties  be  Taxed  ?   By  vinde.x.    Demy  svo,  3d. 
Celtic  Scotland :  A  History  of  Ancient  Alban. 

By   William    F.    Skene,    D.C.L.,    Historiographer-Royal    for   Scotland.     New 
Edition,  revised.     In  3  vols,  demy  Svo,  45s.     Illustrated  with  Maps. 
I.— History  and  Ethnology.      II.— Church  and  Culture. 
HI. — Land  and  People. 
"Forty  years  ago  Mr.  Skene  published  a  small  historical  work  on  the  Scottish 
Highlands  which  has  ever  since  been  appealed  to  as  au  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."-  Times. 

The  Four  Ancient  Books  of  "Wales, 

Containing  the  Cymric  Poems  attributed  to  the  Bards  of  the  Sixth  Century  By 
William  F.  Skene,  D.C.L.     With  Maps  and  Facsimiles.     2  vols.  Svo,  36s. 

The  Gospel  History : 

Being  lectures  on  tin-  Life  of  Christ.  By  William  F.  Skene,  D.C.L.  Small 
crown  Svo,  3  vols.,  with  Maps,  2s.  6d.  each  vol.,  or  in  cloth  box,  7s.  6d.  net. 

Tommie  Brown  and  the  Queen  of  the  Fairies :  A  new 

Child's  Book.  By  William  F.  Skene,  D.C.L.  In  fcap.  Svo,  with  Illustrations, 
4s.  6d. 

Fishin'  Jimmy:  A  Sketch. 

By  A.  Trumbull  Slosson.     Fcap.  Svo,  6d. 

Shelley.    A  Critical  Biography. 

By  George  Baknett  Smith.     Ex.  fcap.  Svo,  6s. 

An  Aberdeenshire  Village  Propaganda  Forty  Years  Ago 

By  Robert  Harvey  Smith,  M.  A.  With  an  Introduction  by  William  Alexander! 
LL.D.,  author  of  "Johnny  Gibb  of  Gushetneuk. "    Cr.  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

By  the  Rev.  Walter  C.  Smith,  D.D.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Sketches  of  Montrose. 

By  James  Mackie  Smith.     Folio  plates,  15s.  6d.  net. 

Life  and  "Work  at  the  Great  Pyramid. 

With  a  Discussion  of  the  Facts  ascertained.  By  C.'Piazzi  Smyth  F  R  SS  L 
and  E.,  Astronomer-Royal  for  Scotland.     3  vols,  demy  Svo,  66s.  

Saskatchewan  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  • 

Diary  and  Narrative  of  Travel,  Sport,  and  Adventure,  during'a  Journey  through 
part  of  the  Hudson  s  Bay  Company's  Territories  in  1859  and  1860  Bv  the  Earl 
OF  Southe.sk,  K.T.,  F.R.G.S.  1  vol.  demy  Svo,  with  Illustrations  on  Wood  by 
Whymper,  18s.  ' 


PUBLISHED  BY  DAVID  DOUGLAS.  1 9 


By  the  same  Author. 

Herminius  :  A  Romance.    Fcap.  svo,  6s. 

Jonas  Fisher :  A  Poem  in  Brown  and  White.    Cheap  Edition,  is. 

The  Burial  of  Isis,  and  other  Poems. 

Fcap.  Svo,  6s. 

Origins  of  Pictish  Symbolism. 

With  notes  on  the  sun  boar,   and  a  new  reading  of  the  Newton  Inscriptions. 
Sm.  4to,  9s. 


Souvenirs  of  Tante  Claire  (Mile.  Atibert). 

Translated  from  the  French  by  Mrs.  C.  H.  Gordon.     Sm.  cr.  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

Darroll,  and  other  Poems. 

By  Walter  Cook  Spexs,  Advocate.     Crown  Svo,  5s. 

History  of  the  Scottish  Church. 

By  W.  Stephen,  Rector  of  St.  Augustine's,  Dumbarton.     Demy  Svo,  2  vols. ,  25s. 

Rudder  Grange. 

By  Frank  R.  Stockton.     Is.  ;  and  cloth,  2s. 

"  '  Rudder  Grange'  is  a  book  that  few  could  produce,  and  that  most  would  be 
proud  to  sign." — Saturday  lieview. 

"  It  may  be  safely  recommended  as  a  very  amusing  little  hook."— A  thenceum. 

"  Altogether  '  Rudder  Grange '  is  as  cheery,  as  humorous,  and  as  wholesome 
a  little  story  as  we  have  read  for  many  a  day."— St.  James's  Gazette. 

The  Lady  or  the  Tiger  ?  and  other  Stories. 

Bv  Frank  R.  Stockton.     Is.  ;  and  cloth,  2s. 

'Contents.— The  Lady  or  the  Tiger?— The  Transferred  Ghost— The  Spectral  Mort- 
gage-That same  old  'Coon— His  Wife's  Deceased  Sister— Mr.  Tolman— Plain 
Fishing— My  Bull  Calf— Every  Man  his  own  Letter  Writer— The  Remarkable 
Wreck  of  the  "Thomas  Hyke." 

"  Stands  by  itself  both  for  originality  of  plot  and  freshness  of  humour."— Century 
Magazine. 

A  Borro-wed  Month,  and  other  Stories. 

Bv  Fran-k  R.  Stockton,  Author  of  "  Rudder  Grange."    Is. ;  and  cloth,  2s. 

'Contents.— A  Borrowed  Month— A  Tale  of  Xegative  Gravity— The  Christmas 
Wreck- Our  Archery  Club— A  Story  of  Assisted  Fate— The  Discourager  of 
Hesitancy— Our  Story. 

Christianity  Confirmed  by  Je-v^ish  and  Heathen  Testi- 
mony, and  the  Deductions  from  Physical  Science,  etc.  By  Thomas  Stevenson, 
F.R.S.E.,  F.G.S.,  Member  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers.  Second 
Edition.     Fcap.  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

Sketch  of  Thermodynamics. 

By  P.  G.  Tait,  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  Univer.sity  of  Edinburgh. 
Second  Edition,  revi.sed  and  extended.    Crown  Svo,  5s. 

Our  Mission  to  the  Court  of  Marocco  in  1880,  under 

Sir  John  Drummond  H.\y,  K.C.B.  ,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  Tangier,  and 
Envoy  Extraordinary  to  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of  Marocco.  By  Captain  Philip 
Durham  Trotter,  93d  Highlanders.  Illustrated  from  Photographs  by  the  Hon. 
D.  Lawless,  Rifle  Brigade.     Square  demy  Svo,  24s. 

The  Upland  Tarn :  A  Village  Idyll.    Smaii  Crown,  5s. 
"Walks  near  Edinburgh. 

By  Margaret   Warrender.     With  Illustrations' by  the   Author.     Fcap.  Svo. 
Second  Edition.     3s.  6d. 
A  Year  in   the   Fields.     By  John  Watson.     Fcap.  Svo,  Is. 

Jedburgh  Abbey:  Historical  and  Descriptive;  also  the 

Abbeys  of  Teviotdale,  as  showing  the  Development  of  Gothic  Architecture.  By 
James  Watson.    Second  Edition,  sm.  4to,  Illustrated,  10s.  net. 


r 


20  LIST  OF  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  DAVID  DOUGLAS. 

"What  we  are  Coming  to. 

By  Miles  L'Estranoe.     Crown  Svo,  2s.  Cd. 

Mr.  "Washington  Adams  in  England. 

By  Richard  Grant  White.     Is.  ;  or  in  cloth,  2s. 

The  Camp-Fires  of  the  Everglades ;  or,  "Wild  Sports  in 

THE  South.  By  Charles  E.  Whitehead.  New  and  revised  edition,  with 
illustrations  from  Nature  by  various  artists.     Royal  Svo. ,  31s.  6d. 

A  Humble  Romance,  and  other  Stories. 

By  Mary  E.  Wilkixs.     Is.  paper,  or  2s.  cloth  extra. 

A  Far-a'way  Melody,  and  other  Stories. 

By  Mary  E.  Wilkins.     Is.  paper,  or  2s.  cloth  extra. 

Rosetty  Ends ;  or,  the  Chronicles  of  a  Country  Cobbler. 

By  Job  Bradawl  (A.  Dewae  Willock),  Author  of  "She  Noddit  to  Me."  Fcap. 
Svo,  Illustrated,' 2s.  and  Is. 

»  "  The  sketches  are  amusing  productions,  narrating  comical  incidents,  connected 
by  a  thread  of  common  character  running  through  them  all — a  thread  waxed  into 
occasional  strength  by  the  'rosef  of  a  homely,  entertaining  wit."— Scoismau. 

Reminiscences  of  Old  Edinburgh. 

By  Sir  Daniel  Wilson,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.E.,  Professor  of  History  and  English  Litera- 
ture iu  University  College,  Toronto,  Author  of  "  Prehistoric  Annals  of  Scotland," 
etc.  etc.    2  vols,  post  Svo,  1 5s. 

The  Lost  Atlantis  and  other  Ethnographic  Studies. 

By  Sir  Uanikl  Wilson,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.E.     Demy  Svo,  15s. 

CoftioUs.— The  Lost  Atlantis — The  Vinland  of  the  Northmen — Trade  and 
Commerce  in  the  Stone  Age — Pre-Aryan  American  Man — The  JJsthetic  Faculty 
in  Aboriginal  Races — The  Huron-Iroquois :  a  Typical  Race — Hybridity  and 
Heredity — Relative  Racial  Brain-Weight  and  Size. 

The  India  Civil  Service  as  a  Career  for  Scotsmen. 

By  J.  Wilson,  M.A.     Is. 

Shakespeare's  England. 

By  William  Winter.     Is.  paper,  or  2s.  cloth  extra. 

Contents. — The  Voyage — The  Beauty  of  England — Great  Historic  Places — 
Rambles  in  London — A  Visit  to  Windsor — The  Palace  of  Westminster — Warwick 
and  Kenilworth — First  View  of  Stratford-on-Avon — London  Nooks  and  Corners — 
Relics  of  Lord  Byron — Westminster  Abbey — The  Home  of  Shakespeare — Up  to 
London — Old  Churches  of  London — Literary  Shrines  of  London— A  Haunt  of 
Edmund  Kean— Stoke-Pogis  and  Thomas  Gray — At  the  Grave  of  Coleridge — On 
Barnet  Battlefield— A  Glimpse  of  Canterbury— The  Shrines  of  Warwickshire — A 
Borrower  of  the  Night. 

"Wanderers :  Being  a  Collection  of  the  Poems  of  William 

Winter.     Is.,  or  in  cloth,  2s. 
Gray  Days  and  Gold.    By  William  Winter.    Paper,  Is. ;  or  2s.  cloth  extra. 

Shadows  of  the  Stage. 

By  William  Winter.     First  and  Second  Series.     Cloth,  2s.  6d.  each  vol. 

Old  Shrines  and  Ivy. 

By  William  Winter.     Cloth,  2s.  6d. 

The  East  Neuk  of  Fife :  Its  History  and  Antiquities. 

Second  Edition,  Re-arranged  and  Enlarged.  By  the  Rev.  Walter  Wood,  M.A., 
Elie.  Edited,  with  Preface  and  Index,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Wood  Brown,  M.A., 
Gordon.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Recollections  of  a  Tour  made  in  Scotland  A.D.  1803. 

By  Dorothy  Wordsworth.  Edited  by  J.  C.  Sh.mkp.    ThirdEdition,  cr.  Svo,  5s. 

Christianity  and  Reason : 

Their  Necessary  Connection.    By  B.  S.  Wyld,  LL.D.     Extra  fcap.  Svo,  3s.  6d. 


EDINBUEGH :  DAVID  DOUGLAS,  CASTLE  STREET. 


Edinburgh :  T,  &  A.  Constable,  Printers  to  Her  Majesty. 


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