Ancient Alexandria, jewel of Egypt, is renowned as a city of philosophy, medicine and alchemy. A crucial turning point happens 297 AD....

Although alchemy is often associated with gold-making, another essential skill of the alchemist is to color or dye stones like quartz...

The Knights Templar, or the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, are a religious military order formed in 1099 during the...

The 16th and 17th centuries mark a tumultuous period in European history, defined by a series of religious wars with cataclysmic effects...

Bernard Trevisan is a prototypical figure in alchemy, constructed by various alchemical writers of the medieval and Renaissance eras in...

Jean de Roquetaillade (1310 - 1370 AD) or John of Rupescissa is a prominent figure in medieval France. A fiery Franciscan friar,...

Medieval France sees many changes in the turmoil of war, plague, mad royals and the birth of the Inquisition. A precisely defined social...

Christine de Pizan or Pisan (Cristina da Pizzano) c.1364 - 1430 is an Italian-born French court writer during the reign of King Charles...

In the medieval world, urine is a surprisingly versatile body fluid with a wide range of applications beyond the obvious disposal...

Tellurium is the Latin word for earth. A brittle, non-malleable silvery white metalloid, tellurium (Te) is a rare element having both...

Alchemy has a lifelong relationship with the magic of metals and their multiple manifestations. Metal workers and later blacksmiths...

In Eastern and Western alchemy, the transformation of metals into gold (Au) symbolizes a process of maturation for metal and alchemist....

In alchemy an essential piece of equipment is the hearth or forge. Smelting metal applies heat and a reducing agent to separate one or...

The Pill of Immortality or Immortality Pill is a life-giving substance in Chinese alchemy . Also called xiandan (仙丹), jindan (金丹), or dan...

The Guelphs and Ghibellines are feuding factions during the Italian Renaissance. Warfare and bloodshed between the two throw regions of...

George Ripley (c. 1415 -1490) is an English Augustinian Canon, author and alchemist. One of England's most famous alchemy practitioners,...

Artemisia annua or sweet wormwood appears in traditional Chinese medicine texts of Ge Hong ( 283 - 364 AD) as an early remedy to treat...

Ge Hong (葛洪; Gě Hóng , 283 - 364 AD), or Zhichuan (稚川) is a Chinese linguist, philosopher, physician, alchemist and writer during the...

The malaria parasite P. falciparum has existed for up to100,000 years. Its numbers rise c. 8000 BCE with the Neolithic Revolution....

Lapis lazuli or "blue stone" is prized for its depth and brilliance in paint as the color ultramarine. Before the 1800s, ultramarine...