Basilius Valentinus

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Basilius Valentinus

Basilius Valentinus, also known under the Anglicized version of his name, Basil Valentine, was a 15th-century alchemist

Alchemy

Alchemy , a part of the Occult Tradition, is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties....
. He was the Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christianity clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule .Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergyhouse or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct or close of a cathedral and ordering his life according to the orders or rules of the church....
of the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy....
Priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows headed by a prior or prioress.Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monastery of monks or nuns ....
of Sankt Peter in Erfurt, Germany

Erfurt

Erfurt is a city in central Germany. It is the Capital of the state of Thuringia with a population of 202,929 . Erfurt is located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of N?rnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover....
. Even his name cannot be corroborated; during the 18th century it was suggested that he was Johann Thölde.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Basilius Valentinus'

Start a new discussion about 'Basilius Valentinus'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Basilius Valentinus, also known under the Anglicized version of his name, Basil Valentine, was a 15th-century alchemist

Alchemy

Canon (priest)

Benedictine

Priory

Erfurt

Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
, 1394, is also uncertain.

Valentine showed that ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia is a chemical compound with the chemical formula nitrogenhydrogen. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor....
could be obtained by the action of alkali

Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
es on sal-ammoniac, and how hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid is the solution of hydrogen chloride in water. It is a highly corrosive, strong acid mineral acid and has major industrial uses....
could be produced from acidizing brine

Brine

File:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848.JPGFile:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848-2.JPGBrine is water Saturation or nearly saturated with a Salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining ....
.

Bibliography

Basilius Valentinus wrote dozens of important publications on alchemy in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
and German. They have been translated into many European languages, including English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, Russian

Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
and others.

Most famous works (in Latin)

Currus Triumphalis Antimonii (The triumphal chariot of antimony
Antimony

Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb and atomic number 51. A metalloid, antimony has four allotropy forms. The stable form of antimony is a blue-white metalloid....
)
Duodecim Claves philosophicæ (The twelve philosophical keys)

Many other works (in Latin and German)

Porta sophica
The Medicine of Metals
Of things natural and supernatural
Of the first tincture, root and spirit of metals
De microcosmo deque magno mundi mysterio, et medicina hominis, (Of the microcosm, of the great secrecy of the world, and the human medicine)
Libri quattuor de particularibus septem planetarum, (Book four: Of the features of the seven planets)
Experimenta chymica
Practica
Azoth
Compendium veritatis philosophicum (German)
Last will and testament

Valentinus had connections to the esoteric Freemasonry as his work Azoth proves (VA05, REBIS with the freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal and service organizations that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million ....
square and compasses in the hands). Behind his works stood the secret knowledge of spiritual alchemy, the Opus Magnum.

External links

by Basilius Valentinus
at Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....