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Sylvia Rose

Michael Sendivogius: Adventures in Alchemy

Updated: Oct 11

Michael Sendivogius (1566 - 1636) is a Polish savant of alchemy, medicine and chemistry. He designs mines and furnaces, travels widely and spends time at the popular court of Rudolf II in Prague. Though he influences sciences and kings, he dies in obscurity.



renaissance scientist writer alchemist

The Alchemical Maestro


Michael Sendivogius is a polymath and scientific genius. Like many of the intellectual elite during the Renaissance, he studies alchemy. His experiments blur the lines of perception, captivating the minds of his peers.


As a young man he travels the world, inhaling knowledge as if it's air. He oversteps his bounds and is imprisoned twice, but both times escapes.



escaping jail
jail break dance

He's welcomed at the court of Rudolf II and works in a diplomatic capacity for Rudolf. He gets such an esteemed reputation, some rulers will deal only with him.


Around 1600, in Poland, he gains significant renown by presenting himself at King Sigismund III Vasa's court, where he caters to the king's love of alchemy. The chamber at Kraków's Wawel castle, where he once conducts experiments with Sendivogius, remains preserved.



Depiction of Sedziwój performing a transmutation for Sigismund III by Jan Matejko, 1867
Sendivogius (Sedziwój) performing a transmutation for Sigismund III - Jan Matejko, 1867

However, in historical real time, conservative Polish nobles disapprove of his influence as he convinces the king to invest substantially in alchemical research. Was there ever an alchemist who didn't go bankrupt pursuing the fabric of dreams?


Well, yes, but the list of impoverished alchemists is a long one, including Hennig Brand and Erik Lange, alchemist husband of Sophie Brahe. Apart from his alchemical pursuits, Sendivogius also designs mines and metal foundries.



metal works
medieval metal works

His network of international connections lead to his appointment as a diplomat. There's some suggestion of subterfuge here. A pioneer of chemistry, he develops ways of purification and creation of various acids, metals and other chemical compounds.


He discovers air is not a single substance, and contains a life-giving element later called oxygen. He identified this "food of life" with the gas (also oxygen) given off by heating niter (saltpeter). This substance, the "central niter", is pivotal to Sendivogius' universal schema.



sign says breathe

Alchemy and the Vibrant Court of Rudolf II


Prague in the late 16th century is a hotbed of scientific and esoteric inquiry. Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor, known for his patronage of the arts and sciences, attracts the famous and infamous, including Michael Maier, John Dee, Edward Kelley, Tycho and Sophie Brahe, and the Countess Barbara von Zweibrücken-Neuburg to his court.


Here Sendivogius continues to hone skills as an alchemist. His work in alchemy is significant not only for its philosophical flabberjabber but also its practical applications. He's celebrated for his studies of air and the properties of gases.



properties of gasses

Connections to Edward Kelley and John Dee


Sendivogius strikes up friendships with con artist Edward Kelley and famed polymath John Dee. Kelley and Dee are involved in their own experiments, specifically the controversial practice of scrying, attempting to communicate with angels.


Kelley has convinced Dee he can do so. Due to the intercession of Sendivogius, King Stephen Báthory agrees to finance their experiments. Kelley eventually convinces Dee the angels want them to swap wives. It gets messy.



Edward Kelley
Edward Kelley

Sendivogius's association with such figures seems to indicate an innate gullibility, or perhaps culpability. A lot of alchemists who should know better get rooked. The legendary Bernard Trevisan is a testament to the concept.


As time goes on, Sendivogius finds his path fraught with difficulties. His pursuits are not just academic; he faces the harsh reality of a world caught between science and superstition. Copernicus' 1543 heliocentric theory is still challenged by people like Tycho Brahe.



it's a heliocentric world
it's a heliocentric world!

The Struggles of Poverty and Death


Despite noble birth and imperial connections, Sendivogius is in financial disaster. His alchemical ambitions and experiments, much like those of his contemporaries, meet with skepticism.


Historical records suggest Sendivogius spends his later years in relative obscurity. Edward Kelley, who upsets Rudolf for not making the gold he promises, dies from his injuries after an attempted escape from prison in 1597.



graveyard crow

John Dee loses influence and dies in poverty in 1608. HRE Rudolf II is betrayed by his family. His brother forces him from power in 1611. Rudolf dies in January 1612.


Like many others Sendivogius is uprooted by the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648) and must flee the lands given him by Rudolf. Sendivogius dies in 1636 but his legacy endures. Works such as "De Lapide Philosophico" (On the Philosopher's Stone), remain influential today.



old book with magic sparkles

The activities of Michael Sendivogius, works and intrigues are too many to address in one writing. He travels back and forth to the Polish and Prague courts.


A variety of accounts describe Sendivogius performing public transmutations of base metals to gold or silver. He's also connected to Rosicrucianism, a fanciful 17th century sociological and intellectual movement without any real members at the time.



Non-Fiction Books:


Fiction Books:

READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series

READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries





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