Research paper on Alchemy

Reade Green

ENG 460

Jeremy Glazier

05.05.2018

Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale and Alchemy

Geoffrey Chaucer. One of the greatest writers of his time and possibly all of time. He wrote some amazing classics but none in comparison to his most famous book of stories The Canterbury Tales. In the book there are numerous people who go on a journey from one town to the next and throughout the journey, each of them tells a story. All the stories are split up into different fragments with quite some being in one and also different genres of the stories. All of the characters in the stories are mentioned at the beginning in the general prologue which provides a bio for all the characters. Though rather two that do not appear in the general prologue are the Canon or his Yeoman. A Canon, back in Chaucer’s day was what today’s historians would consider a scientist or a chemist. But back then, a canon was a scientist who studied and practiced something called alchemy. Alchemy as defined by those who practice or study it is transforming one material into another. Essentially alchemy is the base form of chemistry.

One thing alchemy was mainly used for back in Chaucer’s time was as a way to get wealthy and at a quick pace as well. Canon’s spent a lot of their time trying to perfect their art, not only as a way to creatively get wealthy quickly, but to also experiment on different ways to turn base metals into gold or silver. That was the true purpose of alchemy back then. Turning one thing into another, specifically a base metal like, copper, nickel, or quicksilver into silver or gold which are two very valuable metals to obtain. But they often had to resort to trickery to earn money to fund more of their experiments. They were also tricksters. But alchemy was not just about tricking people out of their money, it was also about knowledge. Expanding one’s knowledge to know more about the world around us.

What will be discussed in this paper is the history of alchemy. The “Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale” will be touched upon as well as an explanation for all the things stated by the Yeoman about the Canon in his story. Also , it will be mentioned how it impacted the Holy Church and also how it has inspired the different kinds of sciences of today as well as how during Chaucer’s time alchemy was considered both a science, and by the Church witchcraft. Going along with these, will be the conclusion with some pop culture and mythological references of alchemy.

Alchemy is old. It is one of the oldest sciences in the world dating as far back as to before the time of Jesus Christ, and is said to have originated in the ancient city of Alexandria, which was found at the mouths of the Nile river in the year 331 BC by the great conqueror, Alexander the Great  (Strathern 29). But it does not have a definite beginning and the first recorded information on the subject in ancient texts are Hellenistic and are a majority Alexandrian (Burland 4).  Alchemy, as it was found out by some great philosophers, is thought to be some newer form of an ancient Egyptian art, or as it was pronounced then, khemia, because it is noted that the word alchemy is derived from the Egyptian word quem or “black” (Radford). It also happens to be the ancient root word for chemistry (Strathern 29-30). It was an early form of chemistry that was first developed by the Egyptians even though the origins of the practice are lost throughout time, and we may never find them. The way that khemia was first used was embalming the corpses of the deceased and the tradition of embalming the dead began as a way to prepare the body for its trek to the world of the deceased (Strathern 30). But when this practice became solely about helping spirits on their journey to land of the dead, or the underworld, Egyptians would then begin to see the practitioners as those who are practiced in the mystic arts such as magicians and sorcerers (Strathern 30), but soon would be disregarded as other uses for it would eventually be found by the Egyptians. And these uses were put to use by glass- making, dyeing, and eventually the art of metallurgy which is how it had become forever tied in with the seven most common metals to be found on earth: gold, silver, copper, iron, iron, tin, lead, and mercury (Strathern 30)- the last being a liquid metal which was also commonly known as quicksilver.

How alchemy was used back thousands of years ago was as practicings for embalming bodies, but as time went on, it became more about getting rich and being used for selfish and greedy purposes such explained in the “Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale” of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales of how the Canon( Alchemist) and his apprentice, joins the pilgrimage near the end of the tales, and the yeoman tells a tale of a Canon that was not his own.

In the beginning of “ The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale” the Yeoman starts off by saying that he had been living with with his master for a long time and hasn’t learned much from him:

For seven years I’ve lived with this Canon,

And I am none the better for his learning, (Chaucer 440)

These lines indicate that even though he has lived with the Canon for so long, he has still not learned anything from watching him, nor with helping him with his experiments. During Chaucer’s time, Canon’s and their apprentices were often poor by trying to turn something into gold.

Try making gold, and see how well you fare!

For that elusive science  stripped me bare,

I’ve nothing left, whichever way I turn;

And I’m so deep in debt, into the bargain,

For all the gold I borrowed, that in fact

Long as I live, I’ll never pay it back.

This particular passage on page 440 is interesting. If you look closely at it you can see that by being with his Canon, the Yeoman is poor. That he has nothing left to his name. He and his master have bargained and borrowed so much gold and silver for their experiments that in their lifetime, they would never be able to pay it back. The science of alchemy was being used as nothing more than a trick to con people out of their money. But it only worked part of the time because sometimes, audiences would not fall for it and would demand their money back.

But in the study and practice of alchemy, one is bound to grow to be poor after spending all their money on supplies to be used, and all the late nights spent trying to perfect the art.

In part two of the tale, the Yeoman then begins to talk about the Canon which is not the one he is apprenticed under. He states that this Canon is quick, cunning, and able to trick anyone out of their money just by talking to them.

He’ll talk in such a convoluted jargon

Spoken so craftily, that in no time

He’ll make a fool of anyone, unless

He is another devil, like that canon. (Chaucer 447)

This passage only goes to suggest that the canon the Yeoman is talking about is good at what he does. Speaking in such a manner that you are tricked into giving him your money.  But the worst trick that this canon played of all, was on a priest.

His first trick to the priest was placing silver inside a piece of wood and placing it in just the right spot so that the priest would think that the mercury which was bought had been turned into silver just by applying large amounts of heat and the priest was indeed fooled

But the poor priest was unaware of this,

Believing that the coals were all alike,

So he’d no notion of the canon’s trick. (Chaucer 452).

This canon is obviously good at what he does, as to being able to trick a priest. The canon performs a couple more experiments in which one where a silver ball drops from his sleeve into a beaker. But the trick part, is when the priest pays the canon for his “formula”. The canon makes the priest pay forty pounds for the formula (Chaucer 456), and the priest does so, and so says that he would pay all that he has should it just cost him his wits (Chaucer 456).

Alchemy is all about creating, not trickery. It is about knowledge. But hundreds of years ago, the practice of alchemy was banned because of the continued practice and how some Christians were practicing it. Roger Bacon, a Roman Catholic Franciscan, tried his hand at it himself in the thirteenth century (“alchemy”). Though Bacon was himself trying to “ establish philosophical connections between alchemy and the study of Christian salvation, based upon the notion of the natural, becoming the supernatural” (“alchemy”). That is part of the reason why the Church banned it. Though there were some Christians who did practice the majority did not and disapproved of the practicing of alchemy. Two disapproving individuals of which are Dante and Geoffrey Chaucer.

But what the Church sees, is individuals attempting to play God by turing one thing into another. And it is in Biblical teachings that we learn that only God has the power to create and it is considered a heresy to do so otherwise. But it is also in teachings that God gave man free will to do with as he pleases. And that also means the pursuing of more knowledge, which is what alchemy is in the long run. Knowledge. It is all knowing. God created man to inherit the Earth and gave him free will, and so part of that free will is the choice to pursue knowledge, and if practicing alchemy is a way to further one’s mind of a particular subject, then maybe it is in God’s will to have man create.

Compared to modern science today, alchemy is but just a single blade of grass, in a world of scientific possibilities. It is the precursor to what we know today. An ever growing universe of possibilities. All knowing, is alchemy. And science is ever expanding and mankind is always trying to understand and trying to create.  The Church will have you believe that it is only ever up to one entity that things should be created and so frown upon new sciences that are just like alchemy. The turn one thing into another. Stem cell research is trying to find ways to stimulate the cell structure to cure diseases. Cloning is another new science that is literally creating an exact duplicate being, from another by taking the DNA of a specific specimen and using that as the nucleus of a healthy female egg cell which will then gestate in the form of a normal pregnancy and create an exact replica of the person whose DNA was used as a template.

Science and medicine- specifically chemistry- owe a great deal to the formation of the alchemical practices. But alchemy is also thought of to be considered a form of magic and witchcraft, because it was creating one thing of another. Some might consider that a reason as well to why the Church outlawed the practice.

There are many pop culture references, and mythological references pertaining to alchemy. One mythological reference also serves as the main goal for all alchemists throughout time. Their search for the philosopher’s stone. The philosopher’s stone is said to be a powerful mystical object, capable of turning base metals, or anything it comes into contact with, into gold. Many alchemists thought that an “elixir of life could be derived from it” (Britannica.com). The philosopher’s stone was thought to also hold the key to cure all illnesses, prolong one’s life, and even bring about the revitalization of spirituality (Britannica.com). But it is mentioned in popular culture as well as in myths.

The philosopher’s stone is mentioned in the first book of the seven book series Harry Potter. Although, in J.K. Rowling’s book, she called it, the Sorcerer’s stone. And in it, the series main antagonist, Lord Voldemort, wanted the stone to bring himself back into being. So being able to create life was on of the main abilities of the stone in the first Harry Potter book so named, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Another pop culture reference made was in the comic book universe, as well as, television. A DC Comics character by the name of The Flash has a villain named Dr. Alchemy who can give ordinary people, superhuman abilities. In the television universe, in 2016, The CW Network’s hit television show, The Flash, starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/ Flash, opened its third season with a particular plot. Quick recap:

16 years earlier Barry’s mother was murdered by the Reverse-Flash, and his father was accused of her murder. Near the end of season two, his father was killed by a new speedster villain named Zoom. At the end of season two, Barry runs back in time and prevents his mother from being murdered and creates a new timeline called Flashpoint, where his parents are alive and well. And the lives of his friends from the original timeline are different as are other lives of citizens.

Continuing- Barry resets the timeline by letting the Reverse-Flash kill Barry’s mother, and inadvertently creates a newer timeline similar to the original but different. All of the individuals who had powers in Flashpoint, do not have powers. But along comes a new character- Dr. Alchemy who begins returning to the metahumans from Flashpoint their powers. All caught up.

Now, the way Alchemy gave back the powers Barry had stolen from the metas in  Flashpoint, was using a stone, which was later discovered to be the Philosopher’s Stone. In the comic book world, the philosopher’s stone is used to give powers to regular humans, in season three of The Flash, who had powers in the timeline Flashpoint. It is later discovered that the first person who gained powers from the stone, that was not from Flashpoint, but was a mythological Hindu god, was the God of Speed, Savitar- the world’s first metahuman. So in DC Comics, the philosopher’s stone was not used to turn base metals into gold, nor was it used to to cure illnesses. It was used by Alchemy, to give superpowers to those who lost theirs when Barry hit the reset button back to the original timeline.

So, there it is, alchemy, the world’s first science. The history being that no one knows the true origin except that it can be dated as far back as the library at Alexandria and was used as a method of embalming corpses. Also discussed was “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale” where the apprentice tells the story of an alchemist who dupes a priest into buying his “formula” for turning quicksilver into silver. And lastly was the mythologies of alchemy and the popular culture references of such things to cause transmutations on a cellular level such as the Philosopher's Stone.

I hope this paper was fun for you to read professor, because it took awhile for me to write.