Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupecissa in the Late Middle Ages by Leah Devun

Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupecissa in the Late Middle Ages by Leah Devun

Author:Leah Devun [Devun, Leah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780231145398
Google: xL6rAgAAQBAJ
Published: 2013-12-01T09:07:17.603430+00:00


THE NATURAL AND THE ARTIFICIAL

Although Rupescissa praised nature and pondered the transcendence of natural wonders, he also expressed a lack of faith in nature’s ability to manufacture its products flawlessly. By pointing out (corrupted) nature’s inadequacy, Rupescissa provided a rationale for the art of the alchemist as the helper or corrector of nature. A close reading of Rupescissa’s alchemical writings reveals a fascinating interpretation of the relationship between nature and human craft. On the one hand, Rupescissa admitted the inability of human craft to rival the products of the natural world. On the other hand, he heralded the alchemist as a worker of “miracles” to the “cure” of nature.

In one passage of De quinta essentia, Rupescissa portrayed the alchemist as a mere imitator of nature who, despite his efforts, could not match the quality of natural creations. Rupescissa warned that although the human-made quintessence was pure and incorruptible, and although its actions mirrored those of the fifth element in the heavens, quintessence “is not entirely brought to the incorruptibility of heaven, just as artifice does not approach nature. But nevertheless it is incorruptible in comparison to a composition made from the four elements.”35 Such a distinction between the quality of the manufactured quintessence and that of the natural heavenly quintessence was necessary, Rupescissa argued, because if quintessence were totally incorruptible like the heavens, it would preserve the human body forever, against the wishes of the “creator of human nature,” Jesus Christ. Human artifice was therefore limited in its ability to produce the incorruptible quality of the heavens, just as artifice was unable to equal nature.

Although Rupescissa maintained that artificial things were inferior to natural ones, he also suggested in several passages of De quinta essentia that alchemists could serve as conduits for a more perfect form of nature and, as a result, improve upon corrupted nature. In Rupescissa’s discussion, nature is the model for the art of the alchemist, but, in some cases, artificial products may actually be superior to natural ones. Rupescissa’s instructions for preparing the “quintessence of blood” reveal this paradox. According to Rupescissa, the quintessence had to be “extracted through human artifice from the body of nature created by God.”36 Although the quintessence was made by God in the natural world, it still needed to be obtained and refined by means of human art. Both stages of preparation—natural and artificial—were necessary to complete the quintessence and receive its benefits. Rupescissa explained that the quintessence of blood could be used to heal wounds and cure illness because “this extraordinary quintessence is the greatest thing of nature to be had, since in it is the marvelous virtue of our starry heaven and it performs the most divine miracles to the cure of nature, just as I will teach below.”37

Rupescissa here alludes to the “perfected nature” of the quintessence, which has the “marvelous virtue of our starry heaven.” Perfected nature perfects the quintessence so that it is able to bring about marvelous cures; this idea asserts the power of a higher order of nature that operates in the realm of alchemical medicine.



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