Convents play a crucial role as centers of research and innovation during the alchemical Renaissance in Naples. The religious institutions provide a unique environment where scholars, alchemists and philosophers gather to work and exchange knowledge.
The Italian Renaissance begins c. 1350 AD. Italian convents inspire intellectual activity, attracting some of the brightest minds of the known world. Alchemists conduct experiments for creating elixirs of immortality for the betterment of humankind.
The Protestant Reformation in Italy appears in earnest in the 1520s, earlier in some regions. The Reformation in Italy collapses at the beginning of the 1600s, its development compromised by the Roman Inquisition of 1542, and general public disdain.
In general in Europe the Renaissance carries on through the Reformation and dwindles out in the 1700s. In Italy, the alchemical connection defines the activities of the holy orders. Convents develop arts such as brewing and wine-making, using alchemical processes.
The practice of alchemy in convents or monasteries is nothing new. Since 500 AD many European houses of the holy brew their own beer and constantly experiment with new products including medicine. By the peak of Italian Renaissance they're well established.
Brewing is an occupation of both nuns and monks. Part of their purpose is to provide food, drink and refuge for travelers. Convent and monastic breweries are independent and as time goes by many are known for the beer, liquor or wine they produce.
They have the equipment needed by alchemists, and also sources of knowledge and information. In the middle ages, women join convents for various reasons. For poorer families or those with many daughters, the convent or cloister is a righteous alternative to marriage.
The dowry paid to the church is less than a wedding dowry. Also, for a woman the convent offers the best education due to the emphasis on reading holy scriptures. It's a chance to get away from the family, which exerts great control over unmarried women.
Ostensibly they are under direction of the friars at the monastery/convent, one of their vows being obedience, but the amount of influence varies. The Capuchin Poor Clare nuns of Naples, est. 1548, do not mix with the monks.
A medieval convent operates as a farm, inn, hospital and school. Convents focus on works of charity. They feed the hungry, sew military uniforms, heal the sick and distribute medicines. They grow and prepare their own food using ingredients of nature and prosper through labor.
For the powerful families of Italy, a nun in the family is one step closer to Heaven. Many convents are entirely self-sufficient, a group of women who in any other instance would be persecuted as unnatural.
A woman can also make connections with powerful families through the sisters at the convent, and might be involved indirectly in politics. The independence of nuns becomes an issue for some rulers such as the Medici in Florence.
The women even hurl ceramic tiles from the roofs at inspectors sent by such authorities. By the mid 16th century, patriarchs such as Duke Cosimo de' Medici I impose rank and take part in running the religious institutions.
Within the cloister the nuns are not all equal. Those from wealthy families have more privileges and lighter work load than those of less financially fortunate origin. Most share a dormitory for sleeping but some of the upper echelon have private cells.
The Pope bans falsification of precious metals in 1317, partly due to an amazing surplus of counterfeit coins in France. Avignon is the contemporary center of the Papal residence. In 1404 Henry IV of England prohibits creation or multiplication of any precious metals.
His later successor Henry VI, in need of war funds, gets around this law by issuing special licenses to alchemists. Even if the gold-making doesn't work out, the sale of licenses adds more real gold to the royal war chest. The laws are repealed in1688.
Before then, religious orders establish laboratories to conduct alchemical experiments. Alchemists, often friars, test various substances and procedures to uncover the hidden properties of matter.
Thus nuns and monks of Italian monasteries welcome alchemical experiments and also participate in the work. Convents are fertile grounds for research and offer protection from hostile attitudes toward alchemists.
The concept of alchemy in houses of the holy involves the betterment of mankind through healing and education. By 1500 AD, Naples emerges as a stellar center of knowledge in Europe, attracting many scholars interested in alchemy.
This controversial practice is seen differently by various people. Some consider it a valid scientific pursuit while others regard alchemy as a deceitful endeavor targeting the naive. It can be both. Debates arise in the scholarly community regarding legitimacy of alchemy.
During the Renaissance, the concurrent Reformation and following Enlightenment, the average Italian noblewoman learns to read and write only as far as necessary to run a household. Many Italian women, such as Caterina Sforza, eclipse this restriction.
While the average woman has little formal education, higher learning for nuns is encouraged. They are expected to comprehend biblical teachings. Many nuns are well-educated, and it's another one of the reasons women enter the convent.
Apart from philanthropic endeavors, religious orders in Naples pursue alchemy for many reasons, including the hope of chrysopoeia, transforming base metals to gold. Scholars from different backgrounds come together to share knowledge of ancient texts, traditions and skills.
In their quest for knowledge and understanding, they integrate alchemical principles into the traditional Galenic approach to medicine. By merging the theories of Galen with new techniques emerging in chemical medicine, they strive for healing and transmutation.
Galen (c. 200 AD) is a Greek physician who develops the theory of the Four Humors from works of earlier philosophers. The Four Humors theory dominates medicine for two thousand years, despite condemnation by Renaissance figures such as Paracelsus and Robert Fludd.
Thus the convents supporting the medical science of the day operate in the darkness of medicinal stagnation. Alchemy, on the other hand, is considered a natural philosophy and brings a new approach to the mix.
In 1609, Dominican friar Tommaso d'Eremita takes up residence at the Neapolitan convent of Santa Caterina a Formello in 1609. He establishes a laboratory and dedicates years to alchemical research aimed at creating a longevity elixir for the greater good.
His connections include polymath Giambattista Della Porta and apothecary Ferrante Imperato, primary figures in the intellectual circles of Naples. Authors of texts on alchemy, distillation, mineralogy and botany, they have much in common.
Through a complex laboratory procedure aimed at purifying substances in order to extract their healing properties, d'Eremita sees alchemy as a tool to merge botanical knowledge with study of chemicals and minerals for medicines. Alchemy is gradually evolving into chemistry.
( See the drawings inside this amazing book here: Donato d'Eremita )
In Magia Naturalis, Della Porta clarifies a process of distilling the quintessence of substances, extracting the spiritual essence from the material. Through the use of chemical instruments, distillation transforms spirits, refines coarse particles, and condenses spirits to material forms.
Della Porta works with extraction of latent strength from plants, minerals, stones, and jewels, a life force stored within them. Using chemical separation, Della Porta characterizes the quintessence as a purified spirit, devoid of the impurities found in material elements.
The distillation process forms the basis of Della Porta's method for creating the elixir of life, called "the Conservators of Bodies."
The Alchemical Renaissance in Naples is a time of enthusiasm and exploration, as alchemists expand the limits of the achievable. Convents provide a secure, spiritual refuge to delve into alchemy studies without limitations imposed by external factors.
Overall the religious alchemists make significant contributions to the fields of chemistry, medicine, and metallurgy. Intersection of religion, alchemy, and scientific inquiry in Naples during the Middle Ages and Renaissance exemplifies diversity of intellectual pursuits.
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