Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Flashcards
Charles Mackay · Public domain edition · 427 cards · 113 chapters
Charles Mackay argues that crowds abandon reason collectively and recover only slowly, and he examines John Law's character and responsibility for the Mississippi Scheme. The deck covers Mackay's preface claims, Law's early life and duel, his Land-bank scheme, and the bank privileges and monetary proposals behind the bubble.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What does Mackay argue about John Law's character and responsibility for the Mississippi Scheme?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author argues Law was neither knave nor madman but "more deceived than deceiving, more sinned against than sinning." He credits Law with understanding credit and the monetary question better than any man of his day, and blames the collapse partly on the French people's avaricious frenzy, which Law failed to foresee.
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Section 14 cards
What does Mackay argue about John Law's character and responsibility for the Mississippi Scheme?
The author argues Law was neither knave nor madman but "more deceived than deceiving, more sinned against than sinning." He credits Law with understanding credit and the monetary question better than any man of his day, and blames the collapse partly on the French people's avaricious frenzy, which Law failed to foresee.
Chapter 1
According to the Preface, how do crowds behave when seized by a delusion, and how do they recover?
Mackay writes that whole communities suddenly fix their minds on one object and go mad in pursuit, with millions simultaneously impressed. He states that men "think in herds" and "go mad in herds," but recover their senses slowly and one by one.
Chapter 1
What does the Preface say about the scope of the book and the exclusion of religious matters?
Mackay says popular delusions began so early, spread so widely, and lasted so long that fifty volumes would scarcely suffice; the work is a miscellany of delusions, a chapter only in the book of human folly. He purposely excludes religious matters as incompatible with the prescribed limits, noting a mere list would fill a volume.
Chapter 1
What examples of mass delusion does Mackay list in the Preface?
He cites populations losing their wits about the sepulchre of Jesus and crowding to the Holy Land, an age going mad for fear of the devil and sacrificing victims to witchcraft, the craze for the philosopher's stone, the fashion of slow poisoning, and duelling and belief in omens, which he says defy the progress of knowledge.
Chapter 1
Section 24 cards
How did John Law first make money in the capital before becoming an irrecoverable gambler?
He was young, vain, good-looking, tolerably rich, and uncontrolled. He became a frequenter of gaming-houses and, by pursuing a plan based on an abstruse calculation of chances, gained considerable sums; other gamblers envied his luck and staked money on the same chances. He was also fortunate in gallantry among ladies of the first rank. After nine years of this gay life, he became an irrecoverable gambler.
Chapter 2
What happened after Law killed Mr. Wilson in a duel?
Law was challenged by Mr. Wilson over a flirtation with a lady named Villiers. Law shot him dead, was arrested the same day, and tried for murder by Wilson's relatives. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to a fine on the ground that the offence amounted only to manslaughter. On appeal by the deceased's brother, Law was detained in the King's Bench and escaped.
Chapter 2
What was Law's Land-bank scheme, and how did the Scottish Parliament respond?
Law proposed a Land-bank whose notes were never to exceed the value of the entire lands of the state upon ordinary interest, or equal the land's value with a right to enter into possession at a certain time. The project was discussed in the Scottish Parliament, and a motion was brought by the Squadrone. Parliament resolved that establishing any kind of paper credit so as to force it to pass was an improper expedient for the nation.
Chapter 2
What financial disorder did the regent face, and what measures were adopted?
The national debt was 3000 million livres, revenue 145 million, and expenses 142 million per annum, leaving only three million to pay interest. St. Simon advised convoking the states-general and declaring national bankruptcy; Noailles and the regent opposed this. Instead a recoinage depreciated the currency one-fifth, gaining the treasury seventy-two million livres while disordering commerce, and a Chamber of Justice pursued the farmers-general.
Chapter 2
Section 34 cards
How were the funds from the Chamber of Justice levied and distributed?
About one hundred and eighty million livres were levied. Eighty million were applied to pay debts contracted by the government, while the remainder found its way into the pockets of the courtiers. Madame de Maintenon noted that the people murmured at this mode of employing money taken from the peculators, and the Chamber was suppressed after a year with a general amnesty.
Chapter 3
What privileges did Law's bank receive, and what was the first departure from sound principles?
The bank obtained the monopoly of tobacco sales, the sole right of refining gold and silver, and was erected into the Royal Bank of France. Once it became a public institution, the regent caused notes to be fabricated to the amount of one thousand million livres. While under Law's control, issues had never exceeded sixty million; Mackay argues the blame for the change belongs to the regent.
Chapter 3
What did Law's memorials propose regarding currency and a bank?
Law asserted that a metallic currency unaided by paper money was wholly inadequate to the wants of a commercial country, citing Great Britain and Holland. He proposed a bank to manage royal revenues and issue notes on that and landed security, administered in the king's name but subject to commissioners named by the States-General.
Chapter 3
Why did Law's notes rise to a premium over specie?
Law made all notes payable at sight and in the coin current at the time they were issued. Because the metals were constantly liable to depreciation by government tampering, a note retained its original value while silver might lose a sixth. His notes advanced to one per cent above specie, later fifteen per cent, while billets d'état fell to a discount of seventy-eight and a half per cent.
Chapter 3
Section 44 cards
What happened to the Rue de Quincampoix as the center of stock speculation?
It became the grand resort of jobbers, and because it was narrow and inconvenient, accidents occurred from the tremendous pressure of the crowd. Houses worth a thousand livres yearly rent yielded twelve to sixteen thousand. A cobbler's stall earned about two hundred livres a day renting it out with writing materials, and a hunchback reportedly gained sums by lending his hump as a writing-desk. Thieves and rioters gathered, and soldiers were often needed at nightfall.
Chapter 4
Why did stock trading move to the gardens of the Hôtel de Soissons?
Law bought the Hôtel de Soissons from the Prince de Carignan at an enormous price, the prince reserving the gardens as a new source of profit. An edict then forbade buying or selling stock anywhere but those gardens. About five hundred tents and pavilions were erected among the trees, each let at five hundred livres a month, giving the prince a monthly revenue of at least 250,000 livres.
Chapter 4
What did La Motte and the Abbé Terrason conclude after meeting at the Hôtel de Soissons?
The two men of letters had congratulated each other on being free from the infatuation, then each encountered the other coming to buy Mississippi shares. They agreed that a man ought never to swear against his doing any one thing, and that there was no sort of extravagance of which even a wise man was not capable.
Chapter 4
How did the Duke de St. Simon illustrate the avarice of the higher ranks?
He related that André, a man without character or education, gained enormous wealth through well-timed Mississippi speculations and sought noble alliance for his three-year-old daughter. The Marquis D'Oyse agreed to marry her himself at age twelve in exchange for a hundred thousand crowns plus twenty thousand livres yearly until the marriage, with the Duke of Brancas sharing the profits. The project collapsed with Law's overthrow, but the noble family never returned the hundred thousand crowns.
Chapter 4
Section 53 cards
How did the regent respond to pleas for mercy for Count d'Horn?
Noble relatives blocked the regent's ante-chambers, claiming the count was insane and arguing that a kinsman's public execution would disgrace the Orleans family. The regent refused, quoting Corneille that "the crime makes the shame, not the scaffold," and offered to share any shame willingly. He was briefly moved by St. Simon's argument for beheading, but Law confirmed him in letting the law take its course.
Chapter 5
What happened when Montmorency brought poison to the condemned count?
The Prince de Robec Montmorency smuggled a cup of poison into the Count d'Horn's dungeon and begged him to take it to spare the family disgrace. The count refused and turned away. Montmorency pressed him once more, then lost patience, called him a mean-spirited wretch fit only to perish by the hangman's hands, and left him to his fate.
Chapter 5
What economic effects did the paper-money boom have on Paris?
The Duchess of Orleans estimated the population grew by 305,000 from the influx of strangers. Housekeepers made up beds in garrets, kitchens, and stables; streets were so crowded with carriages they moved at a foot-pace. Silks, laces, cloth, and velvets rose four-fold in price, as did bread, meat, and vegetables, while wages rose proportionally — an artisan's daily wage went from fifteen to sixty sous. The author calls this prosperity illusory.
Chapter 5
Section 63 cards
What did the February 1720 edict forbidding specie accomplish?
It forbade anyone to hold more than five hundred livres in coin under heavy fine and confiscation, banned buying up jewellery and plate, and rewarded informers with half the sums discovered. Instead of restoring credit, Mackay says it destroyed the paper's credit irrecoverably and drove the country to the brink of revolution. Searches violated family privacy, servants betrayed masters, and courts were overwhelmed with cases.
Chapter 6
How did Bourdon, La Richardière, and Vermalet react to the coming crash?
These stockjobbers quietly converted notes into specie in small quantities and sent the money abroad to England, Holland, or Belgium, along with plate and jewellery. Vermalet procured nearly a million livres in coin, hid it in a farmer's cart under hay and cow-dung, disguised himself as a peasant, and drove it safely into Belgium, later transporting it to Amsterdam.
Chapter 6
What happened to Law after the bank stopped payment in specie on 27 May?
Law and D'Argenson were dismissed from the ministry, and the regent publicly blamed Law for all the mischief, refusing him admittance at the Palais Royal. That night the regent secretly admitted him and apologized for his public severity; two days later he took Law publicly to the opera. But the mob stoned Law's carriage at his own door.
Chapter 6
Section 74 cards
Why was D'Aguesseau recalled in 1718, and what did he do on return?
D'Aguesseau had been dismissed in 1718 for opposing Law's projects. The regent, acknowledging he had treated the ablest and perhaps sole honest public man of that corrupt period with unjustifiable harshness, recalled him to aid in restoring credit. Law and the Chevalier de Conflans were sent in a post-chaise to bring him from Fresnes. He consented despite friends' advice against accepting a recall carried by Law.
Chapter 7
What measures were taken in June to restore credit and withdraw bank-notes?
An order of 1st June abolished the law making it criminal to amass more than five hundred livres in coin, letting everyone hold as much specie as they pleased. To withdraw bank-notes, twenty-five million new notes were created on the security of Paris city revenues at two-and-a-half per cent; withdrawn notes were publicly burned before the Hôtel de Ville. The bank reopened on 10th June with enough silver for change.
Chapter 7
What happened at the bank crowds in July, and how did the regent respond?
Crowds around the bank were so great that hardly a day passed without someone being pressed to death. On 9th July guards closed the Mazarin Gardens gate; stones were thrown, a soldier fired into the crowd, killing one man and severely wounding another. Eight days later fifteen people were squeezed to death at the bank doors; the regent promised the three bodies brought to him would be decently buried at his own expense.
Chapter 7
What did the caricatures and songs say about Law's System?
Caricatures showed the 'Goddess of Shares' in a triumphal car driven by Folly, drawn by impersonations of the Mississippi, South Sea, Bank of England and other companies, with agents turning the wheels, legitimate commerce crushed beneath, and a demon blowing soap bubbles the crowd fights to reach; the car heads toward hospitals for fools, the sick and beggars. Songs mocked Law and the regent; one epigram runs from buying shares Monday to the hospital Saturday.
Chapter 7
Section 84 cards
What did Law do with his Mississippi gains, and what did he leave France with?
Law invested all his gains in landed property in France, hoarded no plate or jewellery, and sent no money abroad. When he left the country he was almost a beggar, retaining only one diamond worth about five or six thousand pounds sterling. The chapter argues this fact alone should rescue his memory from the charge of knavery so often brought against him.
Chapter 8
How did the regent explain the 1200 million unauthorized notes at the council meeting?
The regent stated that Law, on his own authority, had issued 1200 million notes at different times, and that he (the regent), seeing the thing irrevocably done, had screened Law by antedating the council decrees authorizing the augmentation. The chapter says it would have been more to his credit to admit that his own extravagance and impatience had induced Law to overstep safe speculation.
Chapter 8
What did the visa commission do with state creditors' securities?
The visa divided state creditors into five classes: the first four comprised those who had purchased securities with real effects, while the latter comprised those who could give no proof their transactions were real and bona fide. The latter's securities were ordered destroyed, and the first four classes were subjected to rigid scrutiny. The commission then recommended reducing interest on the securities to fifty-six million livres.
Chapter 8
What did the Chambre de l'Arsenal uncover and how were Falhonet and Clement punished?
The Chambre de l'Arsenal took cognizance of malversations in government financial departments. Falhonet, a Master of Requests, the Abbé Clement, and two clerks were concerned in peculation amounting to upwards of a million livres. Falhonet and Clement were sentenced to be beheaded and the clerks hanged, but the punishments were commuted to imprisonment for life in the Bastille.
Chapter 8
Section 94 cards
What was the South-Sea Company's proposal to Parliament regarding the national debt?
The company proposed to take on the state's debts amounting to 30,981,712l., receiving five per cent per annum secured until Midsummer 1727. After that the debt would be redeemable at the legislature's pleasure and interest reduced to four per cent. The proposal was received with great favour, though the Bank of England also competed with its own offers.
Chapter 9
How did Robert Walpole oppose the South-Sea scheme, and how was he received?
Walpole warned the scheme countenanced dangerous stock-jobbing, would divert the nation from trade and industry, and lure the unwary to ruin with imaginary wealth. He predicted directors would become masters of government or bring ruin. He was mocked as a false prophet or croaking raven, and benches emptied when he rose to speak on the question.
Chapter 9
What happened to South-Sea stock after the bill received royal assent?
Contrary to expectation, stock fell: quoted at 310 on 7 April and 290 the next day. Directors then spread rumours, including an alleged French overture to exchange Gibraltar and Port Mahon for Peruvian places, and stock rose rapidly. They opened a million subscription at 300l. per 100l., which drew over two million, and a second subscription at 400 per cent drew a million and a half within hours.
Chapter 9
What were the 'Bubbles,' and how did the chapter describe their impact?
Innumerable joint-stock companies sprang up, nicknamed Bubbles; some lasted a week or a fortnight, others less. Every evening produced new schemes and every morning new projects, with aristocrats as eager as Cornhill jobbers. The Political State called them promoted by crafty knaves and pursued by covetous fools. Nearly one and a half million sterling was computed won and lost, impoverishing many fools and enriching many rogues.
Chapter 9
Section 103 cards
What were the Globe Permits, and what did they actually entitle holders to?
They were square pieces of playing-cards sealed in wax with the Globe Tavern sign and the words "Sail-Cloth Permits." Holders gained only the right to subscribe later to a projected sail-cloth manufactory. The projector was thought wealthy but was later caught in the South-Sea directors' peculation and punishment. The permits sold for as much as sixty guineas in Change Alley.
Chapter 10
How did the government respond to the bubble companies in 1720?
On 11 June, the day parliament rose, the king's proclamation declared the unlawful projects public nuisances and barred brokers from trading their shares under a £500 penalty. On 12 July, the Lords Justices in privy council dismissed all petitions for patents and charters and dissolved the bubble companies, publishing a list of the projects.
Chapter 10
What does the chapter say about the range of projects listed as bubbles?
The list runs from fisheries, sail-cloth, and insurance to a wheel for perpetual motion, insuring children's fortunes, furnishing funerals, and one undertaking "of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is." The author argues the public mind shows a similar tendency toward such practices at periodic intervals.
Chapter 10
Section 114 cards
What did the satirical bubble playing cards do to the schemes of the time?
Each card of the pack exposed some knavish scheme and ridiculed the persons who were its dupes, using caricatures and doggerel epigrams. The nine of hearts mocked the English Copper and Brass Company, and the eight of diamonds mocked the Acadia colonisation company. It was computed that the total sums proposed for these projects was upwards of three hundred millions sterling.
Chapter 11
How did South-Sea stock move between late May and early June?
On 29th May stock reached five hundred, and about two-thirds of government annuitants had exchanged state securities for South-Sea stock. On 28th May it was quoted at five hundred and fifty, then leapt from five hundred and fifty to eight hundred and ninety. On 3rd June, with many sellers and few buyers, it fell at once to six hundred and forty; directors' agents bought, and it recovered to seven hundred and fifty.
Chapter 11
What happened at the 8th September general court at Merchant Tailors' Hall?
The room was filled to suffocation by nine o'clock and Cheapside was blocked by crowds unable to gain admittance. Sir John Fellowes took the chair; Secretary Craggs praised the directors and moved a vote of thanks. Hungerford delivered an extravagant eulogy claiming the company had enriched the whole nation; there was some hissing, but the winners applauded. That same evening stock fell to six hundred and forty, then five hundred and forty.
Chapter 11
Why did the Bank of England decline to carry out its agreement with the South-Sea company?
The Bank found it could not restore public confidence or stem the ruin without risking being swept away with those it intended to save. It was under no obligation, since the so-called Bank contract was only a rough draught with blanks left for important particulars and no penalty for secession. South-Sea stock fell to one hundred and fifty, then gradually to one hundred and thirty-five.
Chapter 11
Section 123 cards
Whom does Mackay say the public blamed for the South-Sea ruin, and whom did they overlook?
Mackay says the public blamed only the South-Sea directors, calling them robbers to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Nobody blamed the people's own credulity, avarice, and degrading lust of gain, or the infatuation that drove the multitude into the projectors' net. The author argues the nation itself was as culpable as the company.
Chapter 12
What remedy did Walpole urge before punishing the South-Sea culprits?
Walpole recommended that the first care be restoring public credit, comparing it to a city on fire: wise men would extinguish the flames before inquiring after the incendiaries. Public credit lay bleeding from a dangerous wound, so a speedy remedy should come first, and it was time enough to punish the assassin afterwards.
Chapter 12
What did Lord Molesworth propose in the Commons debate on punishing the directors?
Molesworth invoked the ancient Romans, who had no law against parricide until one was made after the crime, punishing the guilty by sewing them in a sack and throwing them alive into the Tiber. He called the South-Sea schemers parricides of their country and said he would be satisfied to see them tied in sacks and thrown into the Thames.
Chapter 12
Section 134 cards
What reward did the royal proclamation offer for apprehending Knight?
A royal proclamation issued the same evening offered a reward of two thousand pounds for the apprehension of Knight, the company's treasurer who had fled abroad with books and documents. The Commons had resolved unanimously to address the king for this reward and to stop the ports, and the addresses were carried to the king by Mr. Methuen almost before the ink was dry.
Chapter 13
What did the Committee of Secrecy's first report reveal about fictitious stock?
The report found an entry of 1,259,325l. for stock stated to have been sold, amounting to 574,500l., all fictitious and disposed of to promote the passing of the bill. The company held only about thirty thousand pounds of stock in its own right, and no money or security was paid by the supposed purchasers. After the act passed, the pretended purchasers were paid the difference out of the company's cash.
Chapter 13
How did Sir John Blunt behave when examined at the bar of the House of Lords?
Blunt refused to answer several important questions, saying he had already been examined by a committee of the House of Commons and did not remember his answers, so he might contradict himself. He again declined to say whether he had sold stock to members of the administration or Parliament to facilitate the bill, claiming it was hard to be compelled to accuse himself.
Chapter 13
Why did the states of Brabant refuse to hand over Knight?
Knight was apprehended at Tirlemont near Liege and lodged in the citadel of Antwerp, but repeated applications to the court of Austria to deliver him up failed. Knight threw himself on the protection of the states of Brabant and demanded trial there, citing the Joyeuse Entrée privilege that every criminal apprehended in the country be tried in it. The states insisted on the privilege; Knight later escaped from the citadel.
Chapter 13
Section 143 cards
Why was the Earl of Sunderland acquitted, and what did the country believe?
Every effort was made to clear him. His case rested chiefly on evidence extorted from Sir John Blunt, so pains were taken to discredit Blunt's word, especially in a matter affecting a peer and privy councillor. The ministry's friends rallied, since a guilty verdict was thought to bring a Tory ministry to power. He was acquitted by 233 against 172, but the country was convinced of his guilt and indignation was expressed everywhere.
Chapter 14
How were the South Sea directors' estates confiscated and redistributed?
Each director's case was considered individually. A sum of two million and fourteen thousand pounds was confiscated from their estates toward repairing the mischief, each man allowed a residue in proportion to his conduct and circumstances. Sir John Blunt kept only 5,000l. of upwards of 183,000l.; Sir John Fellows 10,000l. of 243,000l.; Sir Theodore Janssen 50,000l. of 243,000l.; Mr. Edward Gibbon 10,000l. of 106,000l.; Sir John Lambert 5,000l. of 72,000l.
Chapter 14
What did Gibbon the historian argue about Parliament's treatment of the directors?
Gibbon, whose grandfather Edward Gibbon was a director, admits he is not unprejudiced but says all other writers were prejudiced the other way. The author argues his account has value on the principle audi alteram partem. Gibbon condemns the retroactive bill of pains and penalties, the refusal to hear the directors by counsel, and fines imposed on vague reports and trivial remarks, calling such bold oppression scarcely shielded by parliamentary omnipotence.
Chapter 14
Section 154 cards
How did the Dutch tulip trade escalate in 1636, and what gambling practices appeared?
Regular marts for tulip sales were established on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and in Rotterdam, Harlaem, Leyden, Alkmar, Hoorn and other towns. Stock-jobbers dealt largely in tulips, causing price fluctuations, and speculation in rise and fall of tulip stocks became apparent for the first time. People of all grades converted property into cash and invested in flowers, and a code of laws plus tulip-notaries were created for the trade.
Chapter 15
What did the sailor do with the merchant's Semper Augustus tulip, and what was the outcome?
A merchant rewarded a sailor with a red herring, and the sailor, fond of onions, mistook a Semper Augustus bulb on the counter for an onion and pocketed it as a relish. He was found eating it on a coil of ropes. The bulb was worth three thousand florins. The merchant charged him with felony, and the sailor remained in prison for some months.
Chapter 15
What did the English traveller do to the Dutchman's tulip bulb, and how was he punished?
An amateur botanist saw a tulip-root in a wealthy Dutchman's conservatory, and, ignorant of its quality, peeled off its coats with a penknife and cut it into two sections while making learned remarks. The owner revealed it was an Admiral Van der Eyck worth four thousand florins. The traveller was led before the syndic and imprisoned until he found securities for payment.
Chapter 15
How did the tulip mania collapse, and what did the Amsterdam deputies decide about contracts?
Prudent people saw the folly could not last, rich buyers purchased only to resell at profit, prices fell and never rose, and a panic seized dealers. Defaulters appeared daily, and many were ruined. Deputies at Amsterdam agreed that contracts made before November 1636 were null and void, and later purchasers were freed on paying ten per cent to the vendor. The decision satisfied nobody.
Chapter 15
Section 164 cards
What three causes does Mackay say excite mankind's discontent?
Mackay identifies death, toil, and ignorance of the future as the three causes that have excited human discontent. He argues these led people to seek remedies for the irremediable: the search for the elixir vitæ to avoid death, the philosopher's stone to create plenty from metals, and astrology, divination, and related false sciences to pierce the future.
Chapter 16
How did the Dutch tulip trade end, and what was the aftermath?
The chapter states the matter rested with no remedy within the government's power. Those holding tulips at the sudden reaction were left to bear their ruin; those who had made profits kept them. The commerce of the country suffered a severe shock from which it took many years to recover.
Chapter 16
How did tulipomania spread to England and Paris?
In 1636 tulips were publicly sold at the Exchange in London, and jobbers tried to raise them to the fictitious Amsterdam value. In Paris jobbers also tried to create a tulipomania. Mackay says they only partially succeeded in both cities, though the force of example brought tulips into great favour among a certain class.
Chapter 16
What did Geber believe about gold, disease, and the philosopher's stone?
Geber thought a preparation of gold would cure all maladies in humans, animals, and plants. He imagined all metals laboured under disease except gold, the only one in perfect health. He affirmed the philosopher's stone's secret had been discovered more than once, but ancient wise men never communicated it due to men's unworthiness and incredulity.
Chapter 16
Section 174 cards
Why did Richard Russell translate Geber's 'sum of perfection' into English?
Richard Russell, described as a great enthusiast in alchymy, published an English translation in London in 1686, with a preface dated eight years earlier from his house 'at the Star, in Newmarket, in Wapping, near the Dock.' He states his design was to expose the false pretences of the many ignorant pretenders to the science who abounded in his day.
Chapter 17
How did Alfarabi impress the court of Sultan Seifeddoulet?
Arriving in travelling attire, Alfarabi sat uninvited beside the prince and dared the court to remove him. He then answered all questions with superior knowledge and spoke eloquently on alchymy, so he was reckoned second only to Geber. Asked about music, he played a lute: tender airs moved the court to tears, sprightly ones set them dancing, and mournful strains made them sob.
Chapter 17
What story explains Albertus Magnus's early dullness and later brilliance?
For his first thirty years Albertus seemed remarkably dull, and he nearly abandoned his studies in despair. It was asserted and believed that the Virgin appeared to him in the cloister and asked whether he wished to excel in philosophy or divinity. He chose philosophy; she granted he would become the age's greatest philosopher but would relapse into stupidity at the height of his fame.
Chapter 17
How did Thomas Aquinas stop horses from clattering past his lodging?
Annoyed by horses led daily through his Cologne street, Aquinas asked the grooms to choose another spot, but they ignored him. He made a small bronze horse, inscribed cabalistic characters on it, and buried it at midnight in the highway. The next day horses reared and plunged at the spot and would not pass; after a second failed day the grooms moved their exercise elsewhere.
Chapter 17
Section 184 cards
What did Alain de Lisle write a commentary on?
Alain de Lisle of Flanders, called the "universal doctor" for his great learning, wrote a commentary on the prophecies of Merlin. He was thought to know all the sciences and to have discovered the elixir vitæ. He became a friar of the abbey of Citeaux and died in 1298, aged about one hundred and ten.
Chapter 18
How did Arnold de Villeneuve escape Pietro d'Apone's fate?
Arnold de Villeneuve, born 1245, was a celebrated physician who dabbled in astrology and alchymy. When Pietro d'Apone was arrested in Italy and tried as a sorcerer, a similar accusation was made against Arnold, but he managed to leave the country in time and so escaped his friend's fate.
Chapter 18
What happened to Pietro d'Apone after his trial?
Pietro d'Apone was accused of heresy and sorcery before the Inquisition. He protested his innocence even on the rack, where he suffered more torture than nature could support, and died in prison before his trial concluded. He was afterwards found guilty; his bones were ordered dug up and publicly burned, and he was burned in effigy in Padua.
Chapter 18
Why did Raymond Lulli abandon his court life?
Raymond Lulli, born in Majorca in 1235, was Grand Seneschal and a notorious womanizer. Pursuing the married Ambrosia de Castello, he was repulsed until she revealed a large cancer on her breast, urging him to turn to God. He then renounced his post, separated from his wife, gave half his fortune to his children and half to the poor, and vowed to convert the Mussulmans.
Chapter 18
Section 194 cards
What did Raymond Lulli's admirers claim he did in the Tower of London?
His admirers claimed he refined gold, supervised the coinage of rose-nobles, and made gold from iron, quicksilver, lead, and pewter amounting to six million. The Biographie Universelle denies he was ever in England, suggesting he was confused with a Jew of Tarragona. Naudé instead says the six million came from a wool tax Lulli advised Edward to levy.
Chapter 19
How did Raymond Lulli die, according to the chapter?
He went to Africa alone in 1314 to preach, landed at Bona, and so angered the Mahometans by cursing their prophet that they stoned him and left him for dead. Genoese merchants found him and sailed toward Majorca, but he died just as the ship reached sight of his native shores. He was buried with pomp at St. Eulalia, Palma.
Chapter 19
What does the chapter say about Roger Bacon's discoveries and reputation?
The author calls Bacon the most learned man of his age, said to know the properties of concave and convex lenses and to have invented the magic lantern, which earned him a reputation that embittered his life. The author credits him with the telescope, burning-glasses, and gunpowder. Contemporaries explained his learning by supposing he owed it to the devil.
Chapter 19
How do alchymists defend Pope John XXII against charges of fraud?
They claim his bulls targeted only false pretenders, stressing the word pauperes — poor alchymists — in his bull. They cite the eighteen million florins left in his coffers as proof he made, not amassed, the gold, learned from Arnold de Villeneuve and Raymond Lulli. The author notes their secret is never divulged, which conveniently makes it unverifiable.
Chapter 19
Section 204 cards
How did Nicholas Flamel first earn a living in Paris?
Flamel came to Paris from Pontoise with no patrimony and worked as a public scribe, letter-writer, and copyist at the corner of the Rue de Marivaux. He was well educated, skilled in learned languages, and an excellent penman, but earned barely enough to live on. He then tried poetry and painting with little success before turning to alchemy and fortune-telling, which improved his fortunes.
Chapter 20
What was the mysterious book Flamel bought, and what did it contain?
Around 1257 Flamel bought an old book for two florins, written with a steel instrument on tree bark, containing twenty-one (three times seven) leaves in elegant Latin. Every seventh leaf held a picture and no writing: a serpent swallowing rods, a serpent crucified on a cross, and a desert fountain with crawling serpents. It claimed to be by Abraham the patriarch and was a treatise on transmuting metals.
Chapter 20
What did skeptics say was the real source of Flamel's great wealth?
The chapter says Flamel's wealth is undoubted, as church and hospital records testify, and that he certainly practiced alchemy, leaving works on the subject. But those who knew him and doubted the philosopher's stone said he was always a miser and usurer: his Spain journey was really to collect debts owed by Jews there to Paris brethren, charging about cent per cent commission, and he lent at enormous profit to dissipated young courtiers.
Chapter 20
What did Flamel do with his wealth, and how did he die?
On Petronella's advice, since they had no children, Flamel endowed churches and hospitals: he richly endowed St. Jacques de la Boucherie near his home, plus seven other churches, fourteen hospitals, and three chapels. Legends say the elixir of life let him live to 116, dying in 1415. Petronella died in 1414, and he was buried with great pomp by the grateful priests of St. Jacques.
Chapter 20
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What were the twelve gates of Ripley's alchemy, and what did he ask of readers before dying?
George Ripley's Compound of Alchymy listed twelve gates: calcination, solution, separation, conjunction, putrefaction, congelation, cibation, sublimation, fermentation, exaltation, multiplication, and projection. Before dying, Mackay says, Ripley seems to have admitted misspending his life and asked that anyone finding his books burn them or give them no credit, since they were written from opinion, not proof, and trial had shown them false and vain.
Chapter 21
How did Basil Valentine's manuscripts supposedly come to light after his death?
Basil Valentine, born at Mayence and made prior of St. Peter's at Erfurt around 1414, wrote works on transmutation thought lost for years. After his death they were found enclosed in the stone-work of an abbey pillar—twenty-one in number, set out in Lenglet's History of the Hermetic Philosophy. Alchemists claimed heaven conspired: a thunderbolt miraculously shattered the pillar, and it closed again once the manuscripts were freed.
Chapter 21
What did Bernard of Trèves learn at the end of his life, according to Mackay?
Bernard spent from age fourteen to eighty-five among drugs and furnaces, wasting his life to prolong it and beggaring himself to grow rich. Alchemists say he found transmutation at eighty-two and lived three more years to enjoy wealth. But Mackay says he made a discovery more valuable than gold or gems: just before eighty-three he learned that the great secret of philosophy was contentment with one's lot.
Chapter 21
What happened at Bernard's Vienna experiment with Master Henry's forty-two marks of gold?
Master Henry, confessor to Emperor Frederic III, confessed he had never found the philosopher's stone. At supper the alchemists agreed to pool forty-two marks of gold, which Henry claimed would increase fivefold in five days. Bernard gave ten marks, Henry five, others one or two each. The crucible held salt, copperas, aquafortis, egg-shells, mercury, lead, and dung. After three weeks they quit; only sixteen marks were found.
Chapter 21
Section 224 cards
How did Trithemius educate himself despite being set to vineyard work?
Trithemius did not learn his letters until age fifteen, and his stepfather kept him working in the vineyards all day. He studied at night, often slipping out when the household slept to pore over books in the fields by moonlight, and so taught himself Latin and the rudiments of Greek. He later left home, claimed his patrimony, and studied at Trèves under eminent masters.
Chapter 22
How did Trithemius become abbot of Spannheim, and what reforms did he make?
Caught in a snowstorm, he sheltered at a monastery near Spannheim; the monks kept him several days, and he resolved to join them, being elected abbot within two years. He repaired the ruined building, regularized expenditure, produced a yearly surplus, and set the monks copying manuscripts, expanding a library of about forty volumes into several hundred.
Chapter 22
Why did the monks of Spannheim revolt against Trithemius?
Trithemius retained the dignity of Abbot of Spannheim for twenty-one years, but the monks eventually tired of the severe discipline he maintained, revolted against him, and chose another abbot in his place. He was afterwards made Abbot of St. James in Wurzburg, where he died in 1516.
Chapter 22
What led Marshal de Rays to turn to alchemy?
Gilles de Laval, Lord of Rays, inherited vast wealth but spent it on extravagant living. When his funds ran out, the Duke of Brittany sought to buy his seignory of Ingrande, but Charles VII issued an edict, confirmed by the Parliament of Brittany, forbidding him to alienate his paternal estates. Unable to retrench, he turned to alchemy hoping to make gold.
Chapter 22
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What crimes was Gilles de Rays charged with, and what was his sentence?
He was charged with sorcery, sodomy, and murder, and found guilty on the clearest evidence. Nearly a hundred children from around his castles had vanished in three years. He and Prelati were condemned to be burned alive, but out of consideration for his rank Gilles was strangled first and then thrown into the flames.
Chapter 23
What did Jacques Coeur claim, and why does the chapter say he made that claim?
He boasted of having discovered the art of transmuting inferior metals into gold and silver. The chapter says it was to hide his delinquencies and divert attention from the real source of his riches, which he amassed by peculation and plunder of the country he should have served.
Chapter 23
How did Jacques Coeur rise from his humble origins to become the richest man in France?
His father was a goldsmith in Bourges. Jacques became a workman in the Royal Mint of Bourges in 1428, showed knowledge of metallurgy, and gained rapid promotion. Patronized by Agnes Sorel, he became master of the mint and grand treasurer, then speculated in necessities like grain and wine, selling at scarcity prices for enormous profit.
Chapter 23
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Why did Jacques Coeur invite alchemists and claim to have the philosopher's stone?
The chapter states that Jacques Coeur, alarmed by rumors that he had debased the coin of the realm and forged the king's seal, invited many foreign alchemists to reside with him and circulated a counter-rumor that he had discovered the philosopher's stone. He also built houses inscribed with emblems of the science and wrote a treatise on hermetic philosophy pretending to know how to transmute metals.
Chapter 24
On which charges was Jacques Coeur convicted, and on which was he acquitted?
Coeur was acquitted of the one charge the chapter calls the malice of his enemies: being accessory to the poisoning of his patroness Agnes Sorel. He was found guilty of forging the king's seal, debasing the gold and silver coin as master of the mint of Bourges, and supplying the Turks with arms and money against Christian neighbors. He was banished and fined four hundred thousand crowns, later reduced.
Chapter 24
How did European nobles and monarchs treat alchemists in this period?
The chapter says the possibility of transmutation was so generally admitted that every chemist was more or less an alchemist, and monarchs were no less persuaded than their subjects. Henry VI. and Edward IV. of England encouraged alchemy, as did German emperors. In Germany, nobles and petty sovereigns commonly invited an alchemist to reside with them so they could confine him in a dungeon until he made enough gold to pay a ransom.
Chapter 24
What did sixteenth- and seventeenth-century alchemists claim the philosopher's stone could do beyond transmutation?
The chapter states that eminent men of this period expanded the stone's powers beyond converting base metals into precious ones. They pretended it would solve all difficulties of other sciences, bring man into closer communion with his Maker, banish disease and sorrow from the world, and make visible the unseen spiritual beings who walk the earth, who would become mankind's friends, companions, and instructors.
Chapter 24
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Why did Agrippa choose Margaret of Austria's service over Henry VIII's invitation?
Agrippa was invited by both Henry VIII of England and Margaret of Austria, governess of the Low Countries, to reside in their dominions. He chose Margaret's service, and through her influence was made historiographer to Emperor Charles V. The chapter notes he never had stability enough to remain long in one position and offended his patrons by his restlessness and presumption.
Chapter 25
What did Agrippa write while residing at Louvain in Margaret's service?
At Louvain he wrote his famous work on the Vanity and Nothingness of Human Knowledge. He also wrote, to please his royal mistress, a treatise on the Superiority of the Female Sex, dedicated to her in gratitude for favours she had heaped upon him. The chapter says his reputation in those provinces was anything but favourable, and many marvellous tales about him date from this period.
Chapter 25
According to Delrio's story, why did the demon kill the student in Agrippa's study?
The student borrowed the study key from Agrippa's wife and read the open grimoire. His reading summoned a demon, who demanded why he was summoned. The student denied it, but the demon said demons are not invoked in vain and strangled him for presuming to summon him uninitiated. Agrippa later ordered the demon to reanimate the body and walk with it until sunset.
Chapter 25
What happened when Paracelsus sued a cured citizen for his fee?
Paracelsus cured a dying citizen with two small pills after other physicians gave him up. The man promised a magnificent recompense but later refused to pay more than the usual single-visit fee, thinking a speedy cure was worth little. Paracelsus brought an action and lost it, then left Basle in high dudgeon and resumed his wandering life.
Chapter 25
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What did Agricola's real name mean, and how did he change it?
His real name was Bauer, meaning a husbandman. Following the common fashion of his age, he latinised it into Agricola. Born in the province of Misnia in 1494, he delighted in the hermetic science from youth and published a treatise on it at Cologne in 1531, which won him the patronage of Maurice, duke of Saxony.
Chapter 26
How did Agricola's views on the philosopher's stone change while at Chemnitz?
Maurice employed him as superintendent of the silver mines of Chemnitz, where he made experiments in alchymy underground and gained great knowledge of metals. The miners had no faith in alchymy and converted him to their way of thinking. He gradually got rid of his extravagant notions about the philosopher's stone, and from their legends became convinced the earth's bowels held good and evil spirits.
Chapter 26
What happened to Zachaire's money during his early alchymical experiments?
He received two hundred crowns for himself and his tutor, but it all went up in the smoke of their furnaces before year's end. After mortgaging property for four hundred crowns, his experiments reduced that sum to two hundred and thirty; later working at Toulouse brought four hundred crowns down to one hundred and seventy. Of the eight hundred crowns shared with the abbé, only one hundred and seventy-six remained.
Chapter 26
What trick did the foreign gentleman in Paris use, and how did Zachaire learn it?
The gentleman sold pieces of gold and silver to goldsmiths, claiming they were the produce of his experiments. Zachaire stuck closely to him hoping to learn his secret; the man refused for a long time but finally revealed it, and Zachaire found it was nothing more than an ingenious trick. He sent the abbé a relation of it. The king of Navarre later rewarded Zachaire for the receipt.
Chapter 26
Section 274 cards
What did Zachaire claim happened to the quicksilver on Easter Sunday, 1550?
Zachaire claims that some common quicksilver, placed in a small crucible on the fire, was converted into very good gold in less than an hour. He says he observed the three colours foretelling the work's perfection the year before, then made this great trial. He took care not to boast, thanked God, and prayed to use the gold for divine glory.
Chapter 27
How does Mackay explain Zachaire's sudden retreat and sale of his property?
Mackay doubts Zachaire's account, noting he is less candid at the conclusion than at the start and left the world uncertain about his real motives. Mackay argues it probable that the explanation Zachaire puts into his acquaintances' mouths was true: he was reduced to poverty and hid his shame in foreign countries. Nothing further is known of his life or real name.
Chapter 27
How did Dee's fortunes change under Queen Mary and then Elizabeth?
Under Mary, Dee was suspected of heresy and charged with attempting Mary's life by enchantment. He was acquitted of the latter but kept imprisoned on the heresy charge under Bishop Bonner, narrowly escaping being burned at Smithfield before persuading Bonner of his orthodoxy and being freed in 1555. Under Elizabeth he gained favour: Leicester consulted him about her coronation day, and she later visited his Mortlake house.
Chapter 27
How does Mackay contrast Dee and Kelly's characters?
Mackay says both were crazy about the philosopher's stone, but Dee was more an enthusiast than an impostor, while Kelly was more an impostor than an enthusiast. Kelly had lost both ears for forgery and hid the loss under a black skull-cap, which Dee apparently never discovered. Mackay describes Kelly as just the man to carry on roguery for his own advantage or to nurture Dee's delusions.
Chapter 27
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Why did Count Laski travel to England, and how did Queen Elizabeth receive him?
Laski, a wealthy Polish nobleman and Count Palatine of Siradz, said he came chiefly to visit Queen Elizabeth's court, whose fame had reached distant Poland. Elizabeth received the flattering stranger with the most splendid hospitality and appointed her favourite Leicester to show him all that was worth seeing in England, including Oxford and Cambridge.
Chapter 28
How did Dee and Kelly draw Count Laski into their schemes?
They wove a web of hints about the philosopher's stone, the elixir, and spirits who could reveal the future. They delayed granting his request to witness a séance, pretending reluctance about summoning spirits before a stranger, to whet his appetite. Dee's diary records them conversing of 'that noble Polonian Albertus Laski' just before a spirit appeared.
Chapter 28
What did the spirits promise Laski, and what did they require of him?
They prophesied that Laski would possess the philosopher's stone, live for centuries, be chosen King of Poland, win great victories over the Saracens, and make his name illustrious. For this he had to leave England, take Dee and Kelly with their wives and families, treat them sumptuously, and let them want for nothing.
Chapter 28
How did Laski finally free himself of Dee and Kelly?
The transmutation experiments kept failing, and Laski sold portions of his deeply mortgaged estates to fund the crucibles and the alchemists' households. Only when ruin stared him in the face did he awake from his infatuation. Not wishing to quarrel, he proposed they go to Prague with letters of recommendation to Emperor Rudolph, and they accepted.
Chapter 28
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Whom did Dee choose as Kelly's successor for consulting the spirits, and with what result?
Dee chose his son Arthur, a boy of eight, consecrating him to the service with great ceremony. The boy lacked Kelly's imagination, faith, and artifice; he stared at the crystal but could see and hear nothing, and at last reported only a vague indistinct shadow. Dee was in despair, having grown happiest when he fancied he conversed with superior beings.
Chapter 29
How did Kelly die after escaping his second imprisonment?
Imprisoned a second time on charges of heresy and sorcery, Kelly saw no prospect of release and resolved to escape. One stormy night in February 1595 he twisted his bed-clothes into a rope and lowered himself from his dungeon window atop a very high tower. Being corpulent, the rope gave way; he fell, broke two ribs and both legs, and died a few days later.
Chapter 29
How did Sendivogius free Seton from the Elector of Saxony's prison?
Sendivogius sold property near Cracow and used the proceeds to lead a merry life at Dresden, giving elegant suppers to the guard officers and gaining free access to Seton. On the fixed day he drugged the guards' wine, scaled a wall with Seton unobserved, and had a post-chariot ready. Seton's wife waited in the chariot with a small packet of black powder.
Chapter 29
What became of Dee after his return to England under Elizabeth?
Elizabeth received him kindly in words and ordered he not be molested in chemistry and philosophy, but gave little money, reasoning a man who could make gold needed none. He worked at the philosopher's stone, nearly poisoning himself with fumes, but his crystal failed with Bartholomew and Hickman. He got the Chancellorship of St. Paul's, then the Manchester wardenship, resigned as his strength failed, and died at Mortlake in 1608 in near want.
Chapter 29
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Why did Sendivogius pretend to be poor and bedridden after the theft?
After the theft, Sendivogius became more prudent and refused to perform transmutation before strangers, however highly recommended. He pretended to be very poor and sometimes lay in bed for weeks so people would believe he suffered a dangerous malady and could not possibly own the philosopher's stone. He even coined false money, preferring to be thought a cheat rather than a successful alchymist.
Chapter 30
What did the Rosicrucians claim about the scope of the philosopher's stone?
The author credits the Rosicrucians with spiritualising and refining alchymy, which before them was a grovelling delusion. They enlarged its sphere, supposing the philosopher's stone to be not only the means of wealth but of health and happiness, and the instrument by which man could command superior beings, control the elements, defy time and space, and acquire intimate knowledge of all the universe's secrets.
Chapter 30
What were the six rules of conduct of the Rosicrucian fraternity?
The rules were: to cure all diseases gratuitously while travelling; to dress according to the fashion of the country where they resided; to meet yearly at the appointed place or send a written excuse; for each brother, when inclined to die, to choose a worthy successor; to use 'Rose-cross' as the recognition sign; and to keep the fraternity secret for six times twenty years.
Chapter 30
What did the 1623 Paris placards claim about the Rosicrucians?
In March 1623, Paris walls were placarded with a manifesto in which the deputies of the principal College of the Brethren of the Rose-cross claimed to have taken up abode, visible and invisible, in the city by grace of the Most High. They claimed to teach without books or signs, speak all languages in countries where they dwell, and draw mankind from error and death. A second placard said thought and sincere will sufficed to make them known.
Chapter 30
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How did defenders of the Rosicrucians explain their name and their longevity?
They denied using magic or consulting the devil, claiming they lived over a century and expected to live many more, with knowledge of nature given by God as reward for piety. They said their name came from Christian Rosencreutz, their founder, not from a cross of roses, and that they knew no thirst, having higher pleasures than the palate.
Chapter 31
What did the Rosicrucians claim about spirits, souls, and the fall of Adam?
They discarded tales of sorcery, incubi, and succubi, claiming the air, water, earth, and fire teemed with sylphs, undines, gnomes, and salamanders friendly to man. These spirits lacked immortal souls but could gain one by inspiring love in a human; the beloved imparted celestial fire. They attributed Adam's fall solely to want of chastity.
Chapter 31
Who was Robert Fludd and how did he defend the Rosicrucians?
Fludd was an English physician born in 1574 at Milgate, Kent, son of Sir Thomas Fludd. He studied medicine, traveled abroad, and joined the Rosicrucians, publishing in 1616 an Apologia defending them against Libavius. Kepler, Gassendi, and Mersenne refuted him; he replied calling Mersenne an ignorant calumniator. He died in London in 1637.
Chapter 31
What ended the Rosicrucian excitement in France, and who wrote the decisive work?
Gabriel Naudé published his Avis à la France sur les Frères de la Rose-croix, which the author says successfully exposed the sect's folly. Though not well written, it was well timed and quite extinguished the French Rosicrucians; afterward only swindlers used the name, sometimes hanged for fraud. The doctrine persisted in Germany and England.
Chapter 31
Section 323 cards
What did Heydon claim about nourishment and eating?
Heydon held that eating and drinking were unnecessary, citing mouthless people near the Ganges who lived by breath and smelled flowers on journeys. He claimed pure air carried a "fine foreign fatness" from sunbeams sufficient for most people, and that applying cooked meat as a plaster to the epigastrium could nourish even the voracious without letting in disease through the mouth.
Chapter 32
What did Addison conclude the Rosicrucian's great secret really was?
Addison recounts a Rosicrucian describing the secret as a spirit living within an emerald that perfects everything near it, giving lustre to the sun and enriching lead with gold's properties. After the man's unintelligible cant, Addison found he jumbled natural and moral ideas together, and concluded the great secret was nothing else but content.
Chapter 32
Who was Jacob Böhmen and what did he teach?
Jacob Böhmen was a Görlitz shoemaker born in 1575 who, influenced by Paracelsus and the Rosicrucians, abandoned his trade for poverty and metaphysics. He taught that the philosopher's stone could be found by searching the Bible, especially the Apocalypse, and that divine grace purified minds as fire purifies metals. He claimed invisibility, absolute chastity, and years without food or drink.
Chapter 32
Section 334 cards
What was Borri's fate after his arrest on the Hungarian frontier?
Borri was detained on suspicion of involvement in the Nadasdi and Frangipani conspiracy. A letter was sent to Emperor Leopold asking what to do with him; the pope's nuncio, present at that moment, demanded him as a prisoner of the Holy See. Borri was manacled and escorted to the Inquisition prison in Rome, where he recanted and received perpetual imprisonment instead of death.
Chapter 33
How did Borri live in Amsterdam before his money ran out?
Borri hired a magnificent house, kept an equipage outshining the richest merchants, and styled himself 'Excellency.' Sensible people believed his wealth came from rich Milanese disciples who, following a fundamental rule of the sect, had surrendered all their earthly wealth to their founder. When funds ran low, he gave up the house, coach, horses, and servants.
Chapter 33
What did Helvetius claim happened when he first tried the stranger's powder?
Helvetius scraped a grain from the stranger's stone and threw it into molten lead, but it evaporated entirely, leaving the lead unchanged. Weeks later the stranger returned and explained the grain must be wrapped in wax before being thrown on the molten metal, or its volatility would make it vaporize. They tried again and succeeded; Helvetius later converted six ounces of lead into gold.
Chapter 33
How did Father Kircher's attack on alchemy differ from the views of other scholars?
In his Subterranean World, Kircher called alchemists a congregation of knaves and impostors and their science a delusion. He admitted he had himself laboured diligently in the field and reached this conclusion only after mature consideration and repeated fruitless experiments. Alchemists responded angrily; Solomon de Blauenstein, Zwelfer, and Glauber tried to refute him, some attributing his enmity to spite and jealousy.
Chapter 33
Section 344 cards
What trick did alchemists most often use to fake gold transmutation, per Geoffroy?
M. Geoffroy reported to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1722 that the commonest trick was a double-bottomed crucible, the lower surface of iron or copper and the upper of wax painted to resemble metal, with gold or silver dust hidden between them. When the experiment ended, a lump of gold was always found at the bottom.
Chapter 34
How did alchemists use hollow wands and drilled lead to deceive observers?
Some stirred boiling metal with a hollow wand filled with gold or silver dust and stopped with wax or butter, adding ceremonies to divert attention. Others drilled holes in lead, poured in molten gold, and sealed the aperture with the original metal. Geoffroy cited these among the tricks behind supposedly successful transmutations.
Chapter 34
What did Geoffroy conclude about famous transmutation histories?
Geoffroy concluded there was every reason to believe all the famous histories of transmuting metals into gold or silver by projection powder or philosophical elixirs rested on successful deceptions of this kind. The pretended philosophers invariably vanished after one or two experiments, or their powders failed, either because attention was aroused or because they lacked enough gold dust for more trials.
Chapter 34
Why did alchemists' apparent disinterestedness actually serve their schemes?
The author argues their apparent disinterestedness was among their most cunning maneuvers. Abandoning profits or the honor of discovery kept up popular expectation, seemed to prove the philosopher's stone was possible, and provided future advantages such as entrance into royal households, maintenance at public expense, and gifts from potentates greedy for promised gold.
Chapter 34
Section 354 cards
Why did the Bishop of Senés change his mind about Delisle's transmutations?
The bishop long doubted Delisle and even helped a person prosecute him. He wavered after hearing that gold and silver had been carried to goldsmiths at Nice, Aix, and Avignon. He then saw Delisle turn iron nails into silver before six or seven witnesses, and the jeweller Imbert confirmed it was good silver. Later experiments at Castellane and Senés, verified by Paris goldsmiths, convinced him.
Chapter 35
How did the bishop explain Delisle's failure to travel to Paris?
The bishop argued Delisle's working year consisted only of the four summer months, so lost summers meant lost years. He blamed the first safe-conduct's uselessness on the Duke of Savoy's 1707 irruption, and said the second was thwarted when Delisle was insulted by armed men claiming the Count de Grignan's authority. Delisle also lacked sufficient oil and powder.
Chapter 35
How did the gendarmes escorting Delisle to the Bastille try to profit from him?
Believing he possessed the philosopher's stone, they conspired to rob and murder him. One pretended to pity him and offered to help him escape. On a signal, Delisle fled, another gendarme shot him through the thigh, and they planned to kill him and claim he was shot while escaping. Arriving peasants prevented the killing.
Chapter 35
What happened to Delisle after he was imprisoned in the Bastille?
He was thrown into a dungeon, maimed and bleeding from the thigh wound. He obstinately tore away the bandages the surgeons applied to his wound. According to the chapter, he never afterwards rose from his bed. Mackay concludes that Delisle was no ordinary impostor but a man of consummate cunning and address.
Chapter 35
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How did Delisle respond to the Bishop of Senés's offer of liberty for gold?
He refused to confess he was an impostor, saying he did not know how to make the powder of projection but had received a quantity from an Italian philosopher and used it all in his transmutations in Provence. He lingered seven or eight months in the Bastille and died from the effects of his wound at forty-one.
Chapter 36
How did Aluys deceive the Duke de Richelieu at Vienna in 1726?
Aluys apparently turned lead into gold several times and even made the ambassador turn an iron nail into a silver one. The duke later boasted to Lenglet du Fresnoy of his alchemical achievements and regretted not discovering the secret of the powder. Aluys found he could dupe the duke but get no money from him.
Chapter 36
What did Aluys's usual practice involve when staying at noblemen's houses in Bohemia?
He pretended to possess only a few grains of powder, with which he would operate in any house where he intended to stay for the season. He would give the proprietor a piece of transmuted gold and promise millions if provided with leisure to gather lunaria major and minor on mountain-tops, plus board, lodging, and loose cash for himself, his wife, and his pupil.
Chapter 36
What did the Count de St. Germain claim about his age and powers?
He pretended to have discovered the elixir of life, could make anyone live for centuries, and allowed it to be believed his own age was upwards of two thousand years. He boasted of intercourse with sylphs and salamanders and of drawing diamonds from earth and pearls from sea by incantations, but did not claim to have discovered the philosopher's stone.
Chapter 36
Section 373 cards
How did St. Germain respond to the exaggerated rumors about his age?
He did not contradict them. The author notes he was too much a man of the world to assert anything so monstrous, yet took no pains to deny it. With educated people he claimed modestly, seldom alleging longevity beyond three hundred years, except among those who would believe anything. He confirmed the Parisians' belief that he was over five hundred years old, telling Baron de Gleichen he did so because they insisted.
Chapter 37
What practical method does the chapter suggest St. Germain used to gain wealth?
The author states he possessed the secret of removing spots from diamonds, likely buying flawed stones cheaply and reselling them at a profit of cent per cent. Madame du Hausset recounts the king's flawed diamond, valued at six thousand livres, which St. Germain returned spotless a month later; a jeweller then offered nine thousand six hundred livres for it. How he otherwise obtained wealth remains a secret.
Chapter 37
How did Cagliostro, born Joseph Balsamo, first distinguish himself as a young man?
Born at Palermo about 1743 to humble parents, he left the monastery uninformed and dissipated, then joined the fraternity known as the Knights of Industry. The author says his first distinction was forging orders of admission to the theatres; he afterwards robbed his uncle and counterfeited a will, earning frequent compulsory visits to Palermo's prisons.
Chapter 37
Section 384 cards
How did Balsamo and Altotas first make money together?
Altotas had discovered a chemical ingredient that improved flax manufacture, giving it a gloss and softness almost equal to silk. Balsamo advised abandoning the philosopher's stone and making gold from flax instead. They took a large stock to Alexandria, stayed forty days, and gained a considerable sum; they were equally successful in other Egyptian cities and sold drugs and amulets in Turkey.
Chapter 38
What powers did Cagliostro claim as restorer of the Rosicrucian philosophy in Rome?
He gave himself out as the restorer of the Rosicrucian philosophy, saying he could transmute all metals into gold, render himself invisible, cure all diseases, and administer an elixir against old age and decay. Letters from Grand Master Pinto gained him entry to the best families, and he made money rapidly selling his elixir vitae, performing cures by inspiring patients with complete faith in his powers.
Chapter 38
How did Cagliostro meet and use his wife Lorenza?
He met the beautiful but fortuneless noblewoman Lorenza Feliciana in Rome and married her. He then instructed her in all the secrets of his calling, teaching her to invoke angels, genii, sylphs, salamanders, undines, and devils. She proved an apt scholar, learning the alchemists' jargon and enchanters' spells, and the pair set out to levy contributions on the superstitious and credulous.
Chapter 38
How did Cagliostro's London associates turn on him?
After he pushed Miss Fry out, she swore a two-hundred-pound debt against him and had him arrested. Scot broke into his laboratory and stole a box of powder and cabalistic manuscripts, and an action was brought for the necklace. Miss Fry accused him and his countess of sorcery and foretelling lottery numbers by the Devil; the case was heard before Mr. Justice Miller.
Chapter 38
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Why was Cagliostro taken to the King's Bench prison in England?
Cagliostro was ignorant of English legal forms and had no adviser. One of his bail invited him into a hackney coach to meet someone who would see him righted, and he was driven to the King's Bench prison and left there. He did not realize for several hours that he was a prisoner, nor understand being surrendered by his bail.
Chapter 39
What did the arbitrators award against Cagliostro in the dispute with Miss Fry?
The arbitrators ruled against Cagliostro, ordering him to pay the two hundred pounds Miss Fry had sworn against him and to restore the necklace and gold box presented to the countess. Disgusted, and with his pretensions exposed by Morande and his identity as Joseph Balsamo recognized, he determined to quit England.
Chapter 39
How did the countess's claim about her age help the couple in Strasbourg?
Though not more than five-and-twenty, the countess spoke openly of her eldest son as a fine young man of eight-and-twenty, some years a captain in the Dutch service. The trick succeeded: old women thronged her saloon for the elixir to become as blooming as their daughters, and young women came to preserve their charms.
Chapter 39
What did Cagliostro announce on arriving in Paris, and how did he enter society?
He announced himself as the restorer of Egyptian Freemasonry and founder of a new philosophy, and made his way into the best society through his friend the Cardinal de Rohan. He claimed to converse with elementary spirits, invoke the dead, transmute metals, and discover occult things, and his success as a magician was extraordinary.
Chapter 39
Section 403 cards
How did Cagliostro explain his apparently limitless wealth?
Cagliostro claimed he was born in Medina and raised by the Great Muphti, and that wherever he traveled he found accounts opened for him at leading bankers, drawable to the amount of hundreds of thousands on mention of the name 'Acharat.' He believed the Cherif of Mecca was his benefactor, so he had no need to steal a diamond necklace.
Chapter 40
What verdicts did the court reach in the necklace trial?
The Cardinal de Rohan, shown to be the dupe of a conspiracy, and Cagliostro, against whom no evidence appeared, were both acquitted. Madame de la Motte was found guilty and sentenced to be publicly whipped and branded with a hot iron on the back. Cagliostro and his wife were then discharged from the Bastille.
Chapter 40
What charges did the Papal government bring against Cagliostro in 1789?
The Papal government arrested Cagliostro and the countess in Italy in 1789 and condemned him to death, charging that he was a freemason, a heretic, and a sorcerer. Mackay calls the sentence unjustifiable; it was commuted to perpetual imprisonment in the Castle of St. Angelo, where Cagliostro died in 1790. His wife was allowed to enter a nunnery instead.
Chapter 40
Section 414 cards
What did prophets across Germany, France, and Italy predict during the plague of 1345–1350?
During the great plague that ravaged Europe between 1345 and 1350, it was generally believed the end of the world was at hand. Pretended prophets appeared in principal cities of Germany, France, and Italy, predicting that within ten years the archangel's trump would sound and the Saviour would appear in the clouds to call the earth to judgment. Mackay notes credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.
Chapter 41
What happened in London in 1761 after two earthquake shocks a month apart?
The first shock was felt on 8 February, the second on 8 March. A soldier named Bell, a Life Guardsman, predicted a third shock would destroy London on 5 April. Thousands believed him and fled to villages within twenty miles, paying exorbitant prices; others camped in fields or filled merchant vessels on the river. The day passed, most returned, and Bell was later confined in a lunatic asylum.
Chapter 41
How was the 1806 Leeds panic over a hen's eggs explained?
A hen near Leeds laid eggs inscribed with the words 'Christ is coming,' and many visited and believed the day of judgment was near. Some gentlemen caught the hen in the act of laying one of the eggs and determined the inscription had been made with corrosive ink and cruelly forced back up into the bird's body. At this explanation, those who had prayed now laughed.
Chapter 41
What did the Milanese believe about the Devil during the 1630 plague?
An ancient couplet foretold that in 1630 the devil would poison all Milan. When doors were found marked with a curious daub, the populace believed hellish agents were spreading infection. Many were accused, tortured, and executed, including Mora, a half-chemist half-barber who confessed under torture. One man claimed the Devil showed him a ghost senate and a poisonous fountain, and crowds believed him.
Chapter 41
Section 423 cards
How did the astrologers explain away the failed 1524 flood prophecy?
When the Thames ebbed and flowed as usual and no flood came, the people discussed ducking the false prophets in the river. The astrologers saved themselves by claiming they had made a slight error of one figure, fixing the inundation a whole century too early—so London would be destroyed in 1624, not 1524. Bolton dismantled his fortress and the emigrants returned.
Chapter 42
According to the eye-witness account of the Great Fire, how did Mother Shipton's prophecy affect Londoners' efforts?
An eye-witness account preserved among the Harleian Mss. states that efforts to check the flames between Fleet-bridge and the Thames were impeded by superstition. Mother Shipton had prophesied London would be reduced to ashes, and people refused to fight the fire. A son of Sir Kenelm Digby convinced them no power could prevent it, so hundreds folded their arms while others turned to plunder.
Chapter 42
Who does Mackay rank as the greatest British prophet, and what does he suggest about Merlin's existence?
Mackay says Merlin stands alone in pre-eminence as the first and greatest British prophet, ranking above Mother Shipton. Opinion is divided on whether Merlin was a real person or a poetic impersonation; Mackay argues it most probable such a man existed and, possessing knowledge far above his age's comprehension, was credited by the wondering crowd with supernatural attributes.
Chapter 42
Section 434 cards
How did Heywood explain the 'hempe' prophecy to cover five English rulers?
Heywood read HEMPE as five initials for successive rulers: H for Henry VIII, E for Edward VI, M for Mary, P for Philip of Spain (who shared the crown by marrying Mary), and E for Elizabeth. When no troubles arose at Elizabeth's death, he claimed the augury still proved true through the great mortality after James's peaceful accession.
Chapter 43
What did Peter of Pontefract prophesy about King John, and what happened?
Peter, a Yorkshire hermit, claimed by revelation that King John would reign no longer than Ascension Day 1211, and that neither John nor his line would rule after that day. John scoffed, then had him imprisoned; when the day passed safely, the king ordered Peter and his son hanged.
Chapter 43
How did Peter's supporters reinterpret his prophecy after Ascension Day passed?
When John passed Ascension Day in prosperity, his enemies turned the prophecy into an allegory: John was 'no longer king' because the pope reigned and not he, since John had surrendered his crown and paid tribute. Heywood found this explanation perfectly satisfactory and the prophet's credit forever established.
Chapter 43
What legend surrounds Merlin's building of Stonehenge?
Early tradition held that Merlin whirled the mighty stones through the air from Ireland to Salisbury Plain by his command, then arranged them in their present form to commemorate forever the unhappy fate of three hundred British chiefs massacred on that spot by the Saxons.
Chapter 43
Section 444 cards
How did Nixon die despite the king's orders to feed him well?
Nixon feared starvation and begged not to be left behind when the king hunted. The king ordered an officer to care for him, but palace servants jeered at Nixon, so the officer locked him in the king's closet with four meals daily. When a messenger summoned the officer to Winchester, he rode off and forgot Nixon, returning three days later to find him starved to death, as predicted.
Chapter 44
How do Nixon's admirers interpret his prophecies about the Pretender?
His admirers claim the prophecy of a great man defeated by a king's son foretells Prince Charles Edward's defeat at Culloden by the Duke of Cumberland. Crows drinking nobles' blood is said to mean the executions of Lords Derwentwater, Balmerino, and Lovat, and the fleeing cock of the North is read as the Pretender's retreat from Britain. Mackay presents these as the admirers' readings.
Chapter 44
What does Mackay identify as the root of belief in fortune-telling and astrology?
Mackay argues that an undue opinion of humanity's own importance underlies these notions. He says people flatter themselves that the stars watch over them and that empires, storms, and monarchs' falls exist to predict their fate. He compares this arrogance to a worm imagining meteors warn it of a tom-tit, and calls astrology, augury, and palmistry equally presumptuous.
Chapter 44
Why were alchemists and astrologers often the same people in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Mackay says the union is unsurprising: those claiming power to prolong life for centuries would also claim to foretell events across that span, since the world would as readily believe they knew all secrets as one. He notes Agrippa, Paracelsus, Dr. Dee, and the Rosicrucians stressed knowledge of future days as much as the philosopher's stone and elixir of life.
Chapter 44
Section 454 cards
How does Mackay explain Nostradamus's prophecies being so often 'fulfilled'?
Mackay argues the prophecies consist of over a thousand four-line stanzas as obscure as ancient oracles, taking such latitude in time and space that they are almost sure to be fulfilled somewhere within a few centuries. He says a little ingenuity, like Lilly's explanation of General Monk and the 'dreadful dead man,' could easily make events fit some of them.
Chapter 45
What three prophecies did Antiochus Tibertus make, and what undercuts the story?
Tibertus foretold that his friend Guido di Bogni would be falsely suspected by his best friend and lose his life; that he himself would die on the scaffold; and that his patron Pandolfo di Malatesta would suffer great want and die a beggar in Bologna's hospital. All three came true, but Mackay notes the only thing detracting from the story is that the prophecy was made after the event.
Chapter 45
What excuse does Mackay report Kepler making for practicing astrology?
Mackay reports that Kepler called his Ephemerides 'nothing but worthless conjectures' but was obliged to devote himself to them or he would have starved. In Tertius Interveniens Kepler asked whether critics knew that astrology 'must support her mother by her charms,' since an astronomer's scanty reward would not provide bread unless men hoped to read the future in the heavens.
Chapter 45
How did governments treat necromancy compared with astrology, according to Mackay?
Mackay states that while astrology was encouraged and its professors courted and rewarded, necromancers were universally condemned to the stake or the gallows, and all governments looked upon the art as a crime of the deepest dye. Despite this, many pretenders existed in all ages, and accusations of necromancy were notoriously hard to disprove.
Chapter 45
Section 463 cards
According to Mackay, what are the chief forms of divination in civilized Europe today?
Mackay states that divination as practised in civilized Europe is chiefly from cards, the tea-cup, and the lines on the palm of the hand. Gipsies alone make a profession of it, but thousands of humble families use tea-cup grounds to learn of harvests, litters, and marriages. He notes card divination is modern since cards are only about four hundred years old, while palm and cup divination are older.
Chapter 46
What single rule does Mackay say interprets dreams in Christendom?
Mackay says dreams are to be interpreted by contraries: dreaming of filth means acquiring something valuable, of the dead means news of the living, of gold and silver means risking being without either. But he notes the rule does not hold in all cases—little pigs are fortunate, big bullocks unfortunate—and that rules vary by country, so the same dream means different things to an English girl and a Norman paysanne.
Chapter 46
How does Mackay describe the effect of belief in omens on people?
The author argues that belief in omens is a means of self-annoyance, since evil omens outnumber good ones and people are more ingenious at tormenting themselves than at finding reasons for enjoyment. Quoting Addison, he notes trivial accidents—a shooting star, a screech-owl, a cricket—can terrify more than real evils. He adds that this belief is not confined to the humble and uninformed.
Chapter 46
Section 474 cards
According to Mackay, what makes thirteen at a table the worst omen?
Mackay says that if thirteen persons sit at table, one of them will die within the year and all will be unhappy, calling it the worst of all evil omens. He notes the superstition prevails across almost all of Europe, with some casting away a thirteenth coin. He cites Dr. Kitchener's joke that it is truly unlucky only when there is dinner enough for twelve.
Chapter 47
What good omens does Mackay list, and what conditions do they require?
Mackay lists meeting a piebald horse as a conspicuous good omen, and two is still more fortunate; if you spit thrice and form a reasonable wish, it will be gratified within three days. Putting on a stocking wrong side out is lucky only if done inadvertently, not wilfully. Sneezing twice is lucky, but a third sneeze nips the fortune. A friendly strange dog or male cat brings prosperity; a she cat brings misfortune.
Chapter 47
What does Mackay say itching body parts prognosticate?
Mackay reports that an itching eye or nose means you will shortly be vexed; an itching foot means you will tread upon strange ground; an itching elbow means you will change your bedfellow. Itching of the right hand predicts soon receiving a sum of money, while itching of the left hand predicts being called upon to disburse it.
Chapter 47
How does Mackay characterize the decline of belief in omens?
Mackay argues the main features of this folly are essentially the same across countries, differing only by local character and surroundings, and spring from the same desire to know what Infinite Mercy has concealed. He says it is unlikely this curiosity will ever be wholly eradicated, since death and ill fortune remain bugbears to the weak-minded and ignorant. Still, he argues such follies have greatly diminished, with soothsayers now skulking in secret.
Chapter 47
Section 484 cards
What did the Prince of Orange give the scurvy-stricken garrison at Breda, and why did it work?
He sent physicians phials of a decoction of camomile, wormwood, and camphor, instructing them to claim it was a rare, precious Eastern remedy so strong that a few drops cured a gallon of water. The soldiers trusted their commander, took it cheerfully, and recovered rapidly, then thanked the prince profusely. Mackay uses this to illustrate the power of imagination.
Chapter 48
What role does Mackay assign Paracelsus in the history of magnetism?
Mackay says Paracelsus can scarcely be denied the title of first magnetiser, since he attributed occult and miraculous powers to the magnet and claimed his azoth cured epilepsy, hysteria, and spasmodic affections. Mackay argues this was the origin of magnetism, with a regular succession of mineral magnetisers running from Paracelsus until Mesmer gave the delusion a new feature.
Chapter 48
How did Kircher the Jesuit propose to cure a hernia with the magnet?
Kircher, though a firm believer in the magnet's efficacy, directed the patient to swallow a small magnet reduced to powder while an iron-filing poultice was applied to the external swelling. He expected the swallowed magnet, reaching the corresponding place inside, to draw in the iron and with it the tumour, safely and expeditiously reducing it.
Chapter 48
What was the weapon-salve, and what did Mackay's cited reviewer say about its success?
It was a salve, credited to Paracelsus, applied to the weapon that inflicted a wound rather than to the wound itself, excluding wounds to the heart, brain, or arteries. The reviewer in the Foreign Quarterly Review said its success was certain, since surgeons still follow the same method—washing, bandaging, opening the wound daily—except anointing the weapon.
Chapter 48
Section 491 cards
How was the 'sympathetic alphabet' supposed to let two people communicate?
A piece of flesh was cut from each of two persons and transplanted warm and bleeding onto the other's arm. The pieces grew but kept sympathy with their native limbs, and letters tattooed on them meant pricking one arm pained the same letter on the correspondent's arm—so messages crossed even the Atlantic.
Chapter 49
Section 504 cards
What did Maxwell claim was necessary to work prodigies?
Maxwell, a disciple of Paracelsus, argued that to work prodigies one must abstract from the materiality of beings, increase the sum of spirituality in bodies, and rouse the spirit from its slumbers. Unless you can bind the idea, he said, you can never do anything good or great. Mackay quotes this approvingly by Dupotet but argues it actually undermines the animal magnetists' universal fluid theory.
Chapter 50
Who were the Convulsionaries of St. Medard and what did they do?
They were eighteenth-century fanatics who gathered at the tomb of the Jansenist priest Paris, believing he would cure their infirmities. Working themselves into excitement, they fell into convulsions; some endured extreme voluntary suffering, including one woman called the Salamander who lay on a red-hot brazier. Mackay calls the scenes a scandal to civilisation and religion, and rejects Deleuze's claim that magnetism explains them.
Chapter 50
How did Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism originate?
Mesmer, born in 1734, studied medicine at Vienna and wrote his dissertation on planetary influence on the body. Father Hell, a Jesuit astronomer, invented steel plates for magnetic cures around 1771-72 and communicated his system to Mesmer in 1774. Mesmer improved on Hell's ideas, then found he could produce effects without plates by passing his hands over patients, and built his own theory of a universal magnetic fluid.
Chapter 50
How did Mesmer respond when Mademoiselle Paradis was declared still blind?
Mesmer magnetised the blind, convulsion-prone Mademoiselle Paradis and declared her cured. The oculist Barth examined her and said she was as blind as ever, and her family said the convulsions continued. Mesmer insisted she was cured anyway, claimed a conspiracy against him, and asserted she feigned blindness at her family's instigation to injure his reputation. Mackay compares this to the philosopher who said 'so much the worse for the facts.'
Chapter 50
Section 514 cards
What was the baquet and how did patients use it?
The baquet was an oval vessel about four feet long and one foot deep, filled with magnetised water in corked wine-bottles arranged with necks outward, plus iron filings. An iron cover pierced with holes held movable iron rods that patients applied to afflicted body parts. Patients sat around it holding hands and pressing knees together to ease passage of the magnetic fluid between them.
Chapter 51
What did the 1784 royal commission conclude about animal magnetism?
Two commissions, including Franklin, Lavoisier, and Bailly, investigated and reported that the only proof for animal magnetism was its effects on the body; those effects occurred without passes or magnetic manipulations; manipulations produced no effect when the patient was unaware of them. Therefore imagination, not animal magnetism, accounted for the phenomena. The report ruined Mesmer's reputation in France.
Chapter 51
What happened when Mesmer's doctrine was proposed for official examination?
Mesmer, advised by D'Eslon, challenged the Faculty of Medicine: he would magnetically treat twelve of twenty-four patients while the faculty treated the other twelve conventionally, with non-physicians present and the inquiry limited to whether effects were curative, not how produced. The faculty rejected that limitation and the proposal fell through. Later Mesmer sought royal patronage and a château.
Chapter 51
What did Bailly's report say about the convulsions observed?
Bailly described patients around the baquet in varied states: some calm and unaffected, others coughing or sweating, others convulsed. Convulsions spread from one patient to others, lasted over three hours, and involved involuntary limb movements, throat contraction, shrieks, sobbing, and laughter, influenced by piano tempo. Women were far more often affected than men.
Chapter 51
Section 524 cards
How did M. de Puysegur magnetise the elm tree at Busancy?
He touched the tree with his hands, then retired a few steps and directed streams of magnetic fluid from the branches toward the trunk and from the trunk toward the root. He then had circular seats erected around it and cords suspended from it in all directions, which patients twisted around diseased parts while holding each other by the thumbs to form a channel for the fluid.
Chapter 52
What did M. Cloquet report about patients in the magnetic sleep?
Cloquet said patients appeared in deep sleep with physical faculties suspended, eyes closed, and hearing abolished, waking only at the magnetiser's voice. Touching a patient or even his chair caused pain and convulsions. He claimed they could detect disease by passing a hand over clothes, remembered nothing afterward, and could be led by the magnetiser pointing a finger from a distance despite closed eyes.
Chapter 52
How did the Barbarinists differ from the Puysegur experimentalists?
The Barbarinists, followers of the Chevalier de Barbarin of Lyons, held that a mere effort of will, without wands or baquets, produced the magnetic sleep; Barbarin reportedly achieved it by sitting at patients' bedsides and praying. Called spiritualists in Sweden and Germany, they maintained that one human soul acted on another and could influence a patient at any distance, even hundreds of miles, by will alone.
Chapter 52
How did animal magnetism spread in England in 1788?
Dr. Mainauduc, a pupil of Mesmer and then D'Eslon, lectured publicly in Bristol, attracting 127 people of rank and fortune, then moved to London and proposed a Hygeian Society for ladies at fifteen guineas each. Holloway charged five guineas per pupil, and the painter Loutherbourg and his wife drew crowds of up to three thousand at Hammersmith, with tickets from one to three guineas.
Chapter 52
Section 534 cards
What were Perkins's Metallic Tractors claimed to cure?
Benjamin Douglas Perkins, an American surgeon in Leicester Square, patented two small magnetised metal pieces called Metallic Tractors, sold at five guineas a pair. He claimed they cured gout, rheumatism, palsy, and almost every disease, when applied externally and moved gently over the afflicted part. The Society of Friends patronised the invention and built the Perkinean Institution so the poor could be magnetised free.
Chapter 53
How did Dr. Haygarth test the tractors' real value?
Dr. Haygarth of Bath made wooden tractors painted to resemble the steel ones and applied them to five hospital patients, four with chronic rheumatism and one with gout. Four reported immediate relief and three said they were much benefited; one walked across the room. The next day the real tractors produced nearly the same descriptions. A similar Bristol test on a rheumatic shoulder succeeded within four minutes.
Chapter 53
What rules did Deleuze give for becoming a magnetiser?
Deleuze told would-be magnetisers to forget all knowledge of physics and metaphysics, remove all objections, imagine they could throw the malady aside, never reason for six weeks after beginning study, and hold an active desire to do good with firm belief and entire confidence in magnetism. Mackay summarises this as: be very credulous, be very persevering, reject all past experience, and do not listen to reason.
Chapter 53
What did Deleuze claim about somnambulists' faculties?
Deleuze claimed that in magnetic somnambulism the person gains a prodigious extension of faculties: sight and hearing become internal, carried by the magnetic fluid directly to the brain without nerves or organs, so the sleeper sees and hears better than when awake. He also claimed somnambulists see inside their own bodies and others', intuitively prescribe remedies, have generally true prophetic visions, and speak with astonishing eloquence.
Chapter 53
Section 544 cards
How did Abbé Faria induce sleep in his patients, and what did Mackay conclude from it?
Faria seated patients in an arm-chair, told them to shut their eyes, and loudly commanded "Sleep!" with no manipulations or baquet. He claimed to have produced five thousand somnambulists this way. Mackay argues his experiments convincingly prove imagination alone can produce the results, and that the supposed magnetic fluid produces none of them.
Chapter 54
Whom did magnetisers claim could not be magnetised, and what excuse covered failures?
Magnetisers did not claim universal efficacy: the strong, healthy, incredulous, and those who reason about it could not be magnetised, while the weak in body and mind could. If such people resisted, the apostles declared there were times even they could not be acted upon, and that one scorner or unbeliever present might weaken the fluid.
Chapter 54
What did Alexander the Great do about his soldiers' beards, and why?
Alexander thought the beards of his soldiery gave the enemy convenient handles to grab before cutting off their heads. To deprive them of this advantage, he ordered his whole army to be closely shaven. Mackay contrasts this with the North American Indians, among whom it was a point of honour to leave a "chivalrous lock" for the foe to catch hold of when scalping.
Chapter 54
How did St. Wulstan of Worcester treat men with long hair, according to William of Malmesbury?
Wulstan was peculiarly indignant at the sight of long hair, which he denounced as immoral, criminal, and beastly. He carried a small knife in his pocket and, whenever an offender knelt before him for a blessing, would slyly cut off a handful, throw it in the man's face, and tell him to cut off the rest or go to hell.
Chapter 54
Section 554 cards
What tax did Peter the Great impose on Russians who kept their beards in 1705?
Peter the Great decreed in 1705 that all ranks, from nobles to serfs, must shave; anyone choosing to keep a beard paid a tax of one hundred roubles. Priests and serfs were placed on a lower footing, paying a copeck each time they passed through a city gate. Collectors issued a copper receipt coin called the borodováia, and those who refused to pay were imprisoned.
Chapter 55
What did the 1327 Scottish epigram posted at St. Peter Stangate say about England?
The epigram, stuck on the church door of St. Peter Stangate by Scots visiting London in 1327 for the marriage of David, son of Robert Bruce, to Joan, sister of King Edward, ran: 'Long beards heartlesse, Painted hoods witlesse, Gray coats gracelesse, Make England thriftlesse.' It shows beards had grown long again in little more than a century after Richard I's short-bearded era.
Chapter 55
How did the Roundheads and Cavaliers read hair as a sign of politics and religion?
Mackay describes England divided into Roundheads and Cavaliers, when hair became the symbol of creed in both politics and religion. Puritans believed vice and iniquity lurked in the long tresses of monarchists, while monarchists thought opponents lacked wit, wisdom and virtue as much as hair. The saying ran that the more abundant the hair, the more scant the faith.
Chapter 55
What did the king of Bavaria's 1838 ordinance forbid, and what happened?
An ordinance signed by the king of Bavaria, reported in German newspapers of August 1838, forbade civilians on any pretence to wear moustaches and ordered police to arrest and shave offenders. According to Le Droit, moustaches then disappeared immediately like leaves in autumn; everyone hurried to obey and not one person was arrested. Mackay calls this licence neither poetical nor reasonable.
Chapter 55
Section 564 cards
What two contrasting views of the Crusaders does Mackay say history and romance present?
Mackay states that history's solemn page calls the Crusaders ignorant and savage men, driven by unmitigated bigotry, whose pathway was one of blood and tears. Romance, by contrast, dwells on their piety, heroism, virtue, and magnanimity, and the imperishable honour and services to Christianity it claims they acquired. Mackay proposes to draw on both, using history for facts and poetry and romance to illuminate feelings, motives, and opinions.
Chapter 56
What popular belief at the close of the tenth century swelled pilgrim numbers to Jerusalem?
It was universally believed that the end of the world was at hand, that the thousand years of the Apocalypse were near completion, and that Christ would descend upon Jerusalem to judge mankind. Panic seized the weak, credulous, and guilty, who forsook homes and occupations to await the Lord. Falling stars, earthquakes, and hurricanes were read as forerunners of judgment, and each meteor sent more pilgrims to the holy city.
Chapter 56
What tax did the Fatemite caliphs impose on pilgrims entering Jerusalem, and how did some pay it?
The Fatemite caliphs, more pressed for money than the Abbasids, imposed a tax of a bezant on each pilgrim entering Jerusalem. This was a serious hardship for the poor who arrived without a coin, and they had to wait at the city gate until some rich devotee paid for them. Robert of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror, found scores waiting and paid their tax.
Chapter 56
According to Mackay, what motives drew the nobility and the kings to support the Crusades?
Mackay argues the nobles were fierce, lawless, and courageous, feeling only the religion of fear; with sins to answer for, they welcomed remission promised for following their love of war. Kings and princes were moved by policy, seeing advantage in the absence of restless, intriguing, bloodthirsty men whose insolence strained royal power. Thus clergy and kings acted by policy, nobles by turbulence and love of dominion, and the people by religious zeal.
Chapter 56
Section 574 cards
What did Peter the Hermit do after his interview with Patriarch Simeon?
Simeon, Patriarch of the Greek Church at Jerusalem, entered into Peter's views and, at his suggestion, wrote letters to the Pope and influential monarchs of Christendom detailing the sufferings of the faithful and urging armed defence. Peter then took leave of the Patriarch and returned in all haste to Italy, where he followed Pope Urban II to Apulia and received full powers to preach the holy war.
Chapter 57
Why was Pope Urban II residing in Apulia under Robert Guiscard's protection?
Urban's predecessor Gregory had left him many disputes with Emperor Henry IV of Germany, and he had made an enemy of Philip I of France by opposing the king's adulterous connexion. So many dangers surrounded him that the Vatican was no secure abode, and he took refuge in Apulia under the renowned Robert Guiscard. Peter the Hermit appears to have followed him there.
Chapter 57
What did Urban promise crusaders in his Clermont sermon?
Urban portrayed both spiritual and temporal advantages: Palestine, a land flowing with milk and honey, should be divided among them, and they should have full pardon for all offences against God or man. He urged them to go in expiation of their sins, assured of imperishable glory in the world to come. The crowd answered with the cry 'Dieu le veult!'
Chapter 57
What privileges did the papal edict grant to those who joined the Crusade?
Every debtor who joined the Crusade was freed by the papal edict from the claims of his creditors, and outlaws of every grade were made equal with the honest on the same conditions. The property of those who went was placed under the Church's protection, and St. Paul and St. Peter were believed to descend from heaven to watch over the chattels of absent pilgrims.
Chapter 57
Section 584 cards
How did Guibert de Nogent's monk explain the cross-shaped wound on his forehead?
Guibert de Nogent tells of a monk who made a large incision on his forehead in the form of a cross, colored it with a powerful ingredient, and told the people an angel had done it while he slept. The monk profited from this claim, receiving food and money from Crusaders and growing fat before reaching Jerusalem.
Chapter 58
What happened to property prices as people prepared for the Crusade?
All who had property rushed to convert it to hard cash. Lands and houses sold for a quarter of their value, while arms and war equipment rose in proportion. Nobles mortgaged estates cheaply to Jews and unbelievers or granted charters of immunity to towns for sums they would previously have rejected. Corn suddenly became plentiful, and seven sheep sold for five deniers.
Chapter 58
What was the Truce of God and how well did it work?
The Truce of God, solemnly proclaimed in 1041, banned violence and revenge from Wednesday evening to Monday morning each week. Few would promise peace for even five days, and some made amends on the two open days. It was later shortened from Saturday evening to Monday morning with little reduction in violence. Urban II proclaimed it again at Clermont, and the author says religious feeling made all hasten to obey.
Chapter 58
Who led the first Crusader multitudes, and what happened to Walter's army?
Peter the Hermit led the largest multitude, while Walter the Pennyless led the first, setting out in spring 1096. A third German multitude followed the monk Gottschalk. The bands totaled a reported three hundred thousand men, women, and children. Walter's force plundered in Hungary, was attacked at Semlin, harassed through Bulgaria, and reached Constantinople reduced to a third of its original number.
Chapter 58
Section 594 cards
What happened to Peter the Hermit's army after the siege of Exorogorgon?
Reinhold, the leader of the Franks and Germans at Exorogorgon, renounced the Christian faith and surrendered the fortress to Sultan Solimaun after an eight-day siege in which the Christians suffered from lack of water. Two or three officers followed him, but all the rest refused to become Muslims and were put to the sword. This was the last remnant of the multitude that had crossed Europe with Peter the Hermit.
Chapter 59
What befell Walter the Pennyless and his army near Nice?
Walter opposed advancing without reinforcements, but his army demanded to march. He then led them himself. Near Nice (modern Isnik) the sultan's army intercepted them; of twenty-five thousand Christians, twenty-two thousand were slain, including Walter, who fell pierced by seven mortal wounds. The remaining three thousand retreated to Civitot and entrenched themselves.
Chapter 59
What did the bands under Gottschalk and later nameless leaders do in Germany and Hungary?
Gottschalk's host of at least one hundred thousand took the route through Hungary, committing robbery and murder until King Karloman's subjects slaughtered them; none reached Palestine. Later bands from Germany and France murdered and mutilated Jews, killing over a thousand in Germany despite clergy efforts, and were largely destroyed by the Hungarians at Mersburg on the Danube.
Chapter 59
How does Mackay contrast the later chivalric leaders with the earlier crusaders?
The author argues that after this worst paroxysm of madness, men of cool heads and mature plans stepped forward, notably Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse, with four other royal-blooded chiefs. He says they were tinged with the age's fanaticism but not reckless like Gautier, crazy like Peter, or brutal like Gottschalk, their valour tempered by caution and ferocity by chivalry.
Chapter 59
Section 604 cards
Why did Godfrey of Bouillon accept the Hungarians' explanation at Mersburg?
Godfrey found the country strewn with the corpses of Jew-killers and asked the king of Hungary why his people had attacked them. The king detailed the atrocities the Crusaders had committed, making it evident the Hungarians had acted only in self-defence. The high-minded Godfrey declared himself satisfied and passed on without giving or receiving molestation.
Chapter 60
How did Alexius respond to Godfrey's threats, and what lesson did the Crusaders draw?
Alexius first refused to release the imprisoned count of Vermandois, so Godfrey gave the country up to pillage. Learning the Crusader was no utterer of idle threats, Alexius consented to the release. The author argues this taught the Crusaders they could hope nothing from his sense of justice, but everything from his fears.
Chapter 60
What stratagem let Alexius take Nice instead of the Crusaders?
After a siege of six-and-thirty days, the Crusaders prepared to take the city, but saw the flag of Alexius flying from the battlements. His emissary Faticius had gained admission with Greek troops at an unprotected point and persuaded the Turks to surrender to him rather than to the Crusaders. The army was with difficulty restrained from renewing the attack.
Chapter 60
How did Godfrey end the panic caused by the giant Turkish archer at Nice?
A gigantic Turk on the battlements killed many Crusaders with his bow, and his arrows seemed harmless when aimed at him, so a report spread that he was the Arch Fiend. Godfrey, disbelieving the supernatural claim, took a huge cross-bow, stood in front of the army, and shot him through the heart, to shouts of Deus adjuva!
Chapter 60
Section 614 cards
Why did famine strike the Crusaders so soon after reaching Antioch despite abundant provisions?
Although the army of three hundred thousand had so much provision that, according to Raymond d'Argilles, they threw away most of every animal they killed and ate only choice parts, their extravagance was so insane that famine began within ten days. The chapter repeatedly notes they were 'untaught by the bitter experience of famine' and again gave themselves to luxury and waste.
Chapter 61
How was Antioch finally taken, and what reward did Bohemund demand?
The city fell by treason within, not by assault. Phirouz, an Armenian captain entrusted by emir Baghasihan with a tower, communicated daily with Bohemund and agreed to hand over his post on a dark, stormy night. Bohemund stipulated that if the city were won he should be Prince of Antioch; the other leaders hesitated, then acquiesced, and seven hundred knights entered by a rope and hide ladder.
Chapter 61
What happened to the Crusaders' supplies after the relief from St. Simeon?
A reinforcement with abundant provisions landed at St. Simeon, the port of Antioch. The famishing Crusaders marched out with Bohemund and the Count of Toulouse to escort the supplies; Turks ambushed them, but Godfrey and the Duke of Normandy rescued the convoy after a battle from noon to sunset, recapturing all the provision. Yet it was not economised, and in a short time famine returned.
Chapter 61
What did the Crusaders find inside Antioch after the massacre and plunder?
At daylight the massacre ceased and the Crusaders plundered, finding gold, jewels, silks, and velvets in abundance — but little provision of any kind. Corn was excessively scarce, and they discovered to their sorrow that in this respect the besieged had been little better off than the besiegers. Soon after, Kerbogha's army invested the city and famine and pestilence reduced the host to sixty thousand.
Chapter 61
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Who was Peter Barthelemy, and what role did he play at Antioch?
Peter Barthelemy was a priest from Provence who claimed visions of St. Andrew revealing the Holy Lance's location. Mackay says it remains doubtful whether he was a knave, an enthusiast, or both, or a tool of others, but credits him with raising the siege of Antioch and causing the eventual triumph of the crusading armies.
Chapter 62
How did the Holy Lance supposedly be found, and who doubted it?
Twelve men dug from sunrise to near sunset without success until Peter jumped into the pit; he and the chaplain Raymond then saw the point in the earth, and Raymond drew it out and kissed it before the crowd. The Bishop of Puy initially disbelieved the story, and Godfrey, Bohemund, and Tancred received it with much suspicion but did not discredit it.
Chapter 62
What effect did the lance and vision stories have on the Crusaders' army?
The tales revived the army's courage: despondency gave way to hope, hunger was for a time disregarded, and the soldiers loudly demanded to be led against the enemy. Mackay notes the leaders were not unwilling, since battle was their only chance of salvation, and even skeptical leaders were too wise to discredit an imposture likely to open the gates of victory.
Chapter 62
How did the battle of June 28, 1098, end for Kerbogha's army?
After fierce fighting, a cry arose that saints in white on white horses were fighting for the Christians, reportedly the distant smoke of burning weeds. The Crusaders rallied with the cry 'God wills it!' and the Turkish and Persian forces panicked and fled. Mackay reports nearly seventy thousand of Kerbogha's dead left on the field, while the Crusaders acknowledged losing nearly ten thousand men.
Chapter 62
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Why did the Crusader leaders delay marching on Jerusalem after retaking Antioch?
The leaders were reluctant to move: the prudent, like Godfrey and Tancred, for reasons of expediency, and the ambitious, like the Count of Toulouse and Bohemund, for self-interest. Godfrey proposed the army rest in Antioch during August and September and march in October with reinforcements from Europe. The advice was adopted, though enthusiasts murmured at the delay.
Chapter 63
How did Peter Barthelemy's trial by fire end, and why was it staged?
Bohemund challenged Peter to prove the Holy Lance story by the fiery ordeal, partly to annoy the Count of Toulouse. Peter walked into the flames but lost his presence of mind, turned around, and passed through the fire twice instead of stepping out. He was burned so severely that he died in great agony after lingering for some days.
Chapter 63
What vision did Raymond d'Agilles record about Engelram and Anselme at the siege of Marah?
Raymond, the chaplain involved in the Holy Lance affair, recorded that Anselme de Ribeaumont saw the dead Engelram in his tent, surrounded by strange brightness and pointing to a diamond and crystal palace in the sky. Engelram said those who fight for Christ never die and that a dwelling was prepared for Anselme, who would join him tomorrow. Anselme took the sacrament and was killed the next day by a Turkish sling-stone.
Chapter 63
How did the Crusaders react upon first seeing Jerusalem, according to the chapter?
After marching through the night from Emmaus, they saw Jerusalem's towers at sunrise. The chapter says their tender feelings were touched; no longer brutal fanatics but meek pilgrims, they knelt and wept, crying 'Jerusalem! Jerusalem!' Some kissed the ground, others stretched out full length upon it, and others prayed aloud. The women and children were more boisterous in their joy.
Chapter 63
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How did the Christians of Jerusalem react to Peter the Hermit after the battle?
After the battle, the Christians of Jerusalem came out of hiding to welcome their deliverers and recognized the Hermit as the pilgrim who years before had spoken to them of their wrongs and promised to stir up Europe on their behalf. They clung to his garments in gratitude, vowed to remember him in their prayers, and many wept on his neck, attributing Jerusalem's deliverance solely to his courage and perseverance.
Chapter 64
What happened to Peter the Hermit's later life and fate according to the chapter?
Peter afterwards held some ecclesiastical office in the holy city, but the chapter states that history has forgotten what it was or what his ultimate fate was. Some say he returned to France and founded a monastery, but the author notes this story does not rest upon sufficient authority, so it is presented as unverified tradition rather than established fact.
Chapter 64
How did Godfrey de Bouillon become ruler and what did he achieve before dying?
The Crusaders soon felt the need for a recognized chief, and Godfrey de Bouillon, less ambitious than Bohemund or Raymond of Toulouse, gave his cold consent to wield a sceptre the others would have clutched eagerly. When the Saracens menaced his capital, he marched out and defeated them at Ascalon with great loss, but he died of a fatal illness after reigning only nine months, succeeded by his brother Baldwin of Edessa.
Chapter 64
Why does the author, following Guizot, say enthusiasm for later Crusades declined?
The author rejects the common claim that Europe was simply weary of invading Asia, citing Guizot's argument that weariness is personal, not inherited, so the men of the thirteenth century were not tired by twelfth-century Crusades. Instead, ideas, sentiments and social conditions had changed: people no longer believed what their ancestors believed. The author argues the Crusades themselves advanced European civilization, strengthening kings and communes against the nobility and softening manners through chivalry and contact with a more civilized people.
Chapter 64
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Why did Louis VII set fire to the church at Vitry, and who perished?
Louis besieged Vitry to chastise Thibault de Champagne, who had taken up arms for Papal authority. After the count surrendered, upwards of thirteen hundred inhabitants, about half of them women and children, took refuge in the church. When resistance ceased, Louis inhumanly ordered the sacred edifice set on fire, and a thousand persons perished in the flames. The chapter says this act reflects indelible disgrace upon Louis VII.
Chapter 65
Why did Louis VII undertake the crusade despite Suger's objections?
Suger, Louis's able minister, tried to dissuade him from so long a journey when his own dominions needed him. But the king was pricked in conscience by the cruelties of Vitry and wanted to make the only reparation the religion of that day considered sufficient. He also wished to show he could obey spiritual decrees when it suited his interest or prejudices, though he resisted temporal encroachments.
Chapter 65
What happened to Conrad's German army after Greek guides led it into Cappadocia?
Historians almost unanimously believe the wily Manuel gave guides instructions to lead the Germans into danger. Instead of districts with water and provisions, they entered the wilds of Cappadocia, where the sultan of the Seljukian Turks attacked with an immense force. The guides fled at first sight of the Turks. Count Bernhard's whole division was surrounded and destroyed; Conrad was twice wounded and reached Nice with only fifty or sixty thousand worn men.
Chapter 65
What does the chapter suggest about St. Bernard's claim that towns were emptied of men?
St. Bernard wrote to the Pope that in several towns no male capable of bearing arms remained, and castles and towns were filled with women weeping for absent husbands. The chapter argues his description was much more poetical than true: the levy amounted to no more than two hundred thousand men, hardly enough to depopulate France as he claimed. The numbers were inconsiderable compared to the first Crusade.
Chapter 65
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Why did the council decide to besiege Damascus instead of marching on Edessa?
A great council of the Christian princes of Palestine and the Crusade leaders determined that laying siege to Damascus and driving the Saracens from that strong position would further the cause of the cross more than proceeding to Edessa. The author calls this a bold scheme that, had it been boldly followed out, would in all probability have insured the success of the war.
Chapter 66
What internal dispute caused the siege of Damascus to fail?
The author argues insane jealousy among the leaders doomed the siege. Though the Christians gained advantages for weeks and the city seemed near collapse, twenty claimants started competing for the principality of Damascus. Count Robert of Flanders was chosen, but the other claimants refused to cooperate, the discontented withdrew to another side of the city, the weakest side was left uncovered, and the enemy resupplied and refortified.
Chapter 66
How did Geoffroi de Clairvaux defend St. Bernard's failed prophecy?
Geoffroi de Clairvaux insisted in his life of St. Bernard that the Crusade was not unfortunate: Bernard had prophesied a happy result, and that result could not be considered other than happy since it had peopled heaven with so glorious an army of martyrs. The author notes Geoffroi was a cunning pleader who convinced a few of the zealous, while plain people retained their own opinion.
Chapter 66
What was Saladin's tithe and what penalty fell on those who refused to pay?
At the meeting at Gisors in January 1188, it was agreed that a tax called Saladin's tithe — a tenth of all possessions, landed or personal — should be enforced over Christendom on everyone unable or unwilling to take the cross. Each lord was charged to raise it within his jurisdiction, and anyone refusing to pay his quota became by that act the bondsman and absolute property of his lord.
Chapter 66
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Why did Richard attack and storm Messina?
Richard's army, unable to afford the Sicilians' exorbitant prices, plundered them, sparking continual battles. When his favourite attendant Lebrun was killed and report said King Tancred fought with his people, Richard joined the mêlée, beat back the Sicilians, stormed the battlements, tore down Sicily's flag, and planted his own. The author notes this gave great offence to the king of France.
Chapter 67
What made Richard finally leave Sicily for Acre?
Richard lingered for weeks in luxurious inactivity, forgetting his purpose. The author says his soldiers' superstition recalled him: a comet appeared for several nights, shooting stars gave similar warning, and a fanatic named Joachim roamed the camp howling predictions of plague and famine unless they departed. Richard did humble penance for his remissness and set sail for Acre.
Chapter 67
What terms ended the siege of Acre, and how did Saladin respond?
Acre capitulated on severe terms: restoration of the true cross, payment of two hundred thousand gold pieces, and release of Christian prisoners plus two hundred knights and a thousand soldiers held by Saladin. Saladin, anxious to keep the cross for its effect on Christian morale, refused to ratify any conditions, so Richard barbarously ordered all Saracen prisoners in his power put to death.
Chapter 67
How did the Crusade end, and did Richard and Saladin ever meet?
Richard relieved besieged Jaffa after the French refused to help; his name put the Saracens to flight. Saladin, admiring him, agreed to a truce of three years and eight months: pilgrims could visit Jerusalem freely and tax-free, and the Crusaders kept Tyre, Jaffa, and the intervening country. The author states the two never met, despite Walter Scott's fiction, though each admired the other.
Chapter 67
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What did young Alexius offer the Crusaders to help depose his uncle?
Alexius, son of the deposed Isaac, fled Constantinople and offered the Crusaders magnificent terms if they would restore his father's dominions: he would place the Greek Church under the authority of the Pope of Rome, lend the whole force of the Greek empire to conquering Palestine, and distribute two hundred thousand marks of silver among the crusading army. Some leaders accepted with a proviso freeing them if the pope disapproved.
Chapter 68
How did the Crusaders pay Venice, and what did Dandolo require first?
The Crusaders were too poor to pay even half the sum Dandolo demanded for the galleys, despite melting down plate and ladies giving up trinkets. Dandolo offered to convey them to Palestine at the Republic's expense if they would first help recapture Zara, seized from Venice by the king of Hungary. They consented despite the pope threatening excommunication on all diverted from Jerusalem.
Chapter 68
What does the author argue motivated the popes in promoting the Crusades?
The author argues that each succeeding pope zealously agreed in maintaining papal ascendency by every possible means, and no scheme aided this like the Crusades. As long as kings and nobles could be persuaded to fight and die in Syria, the popes' sway over minds at home was secured. Thus they never inquired whether a Crusade was likely to succeed, whether the time was well chosen, or whether men and money could be procured.
Chapter 68
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Who was elected emperor after the crusaders distributed the spoils at Constantinople?
Six Franks and six Venetians were chosen to elect an emperor, having first sworn to pick the best-qualified candidate. The choice wavered between Baldwin count of Flanders and Boniface marquis of Montferrat, but fell on Baldwin, who was robed in imperial purple and founded a new dynasty. The author notes the Franks' rule at Constantinople ended disastrously in less than sixty years, the grand result of the fifth Crusade.
Chapter 69
What was the Children's Crusade, and what did the monks allegedly intend?
In spring 1213, two monks persuaded an immense number of boys and girls, by some accounts thirty thousand, to journey to Palestine. The author says they were likely idle, deserted city children. He argues the monks' object was atrocious: inveigling them into slave-ships bound for Africa. Most vessels were wrecked off Italy and all perished; the rest were sold as slaves in Africa. A Genoese detachment was sent home.
Chapter 69
How did Cardinal Pelagius affect the siege of Damietta and the peace offer?
Cohreddin and Camhel offered all of Palestine for the Christians' evacuation of Egypt, but the terms were refused, chiefly through Cardinal Pelagius, whom the author calls an ignorant and obstinate fanatic. He argued infidels never keep their word. After Damietta fell, Pelagius marched on Cairo, found his army inadequate, and was trapped when the Nile rose. He then sued for the peace he had spurned, and Damietta was given up.
Chapter 69
Why did the seventh Crusade proceed, and what disrupted it?
Frederic II of Germany married Princess Violante, daughter of John of Brienne and heiress of Jerusalem; her father abdicated his rights, and Frederic raised a large army. A pestilential disease at Brundusium delayed departure for months. Meanwhile Violante died in childbed; John of Brienne, already repentant and insulted, sought the pope's help to undo the abdication, and Pope Gregory IX, holding a grudge against Frederic, encouraged him.
Chapter 69
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How did Frederick II respond when no priest would crown him in Jerusalem?
The churches were shut against Frederick and no priest would officiate at his coronation because he remained under the ecclesiastical ban. The author recounts that Frederick, having long despised papal authority, took the royal diadem from the altar with his own hands and crowned himself, while a thousand swords were drawn to testify that their owners would defend him to the death.
Chapter 70
Why does the author call the seventh Crusade more useful than those before it?
The author argues the seventh Crusade produced more real service to the Holy Land than any earlier one, despite every obstacle and disadvantage. He attributes this result solely to the bravery of Frederick and the generosity of Sultan Camhel, who proposed a three-year truce and allowed Moslems to worship freely in the temple of Jerusalem—terms the bigoted Christians of Palestine resented.
Chapter 70
What happened to the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic knights at Jaffa?
The three orders set aside their animosities and entrenched at Jaffa against the Korasmins, joined by four thousand Moslem allies. After a two-day battle the sultan of Emissa fled and Walter of Brienne was captured and suspended on a cross, urging his soldiers to hold out. The slaughter left only sixteen Hospitallers, thirty-three Templars, and three Teutonic cavaliers, who fled to Acre.
Chapter 70
Why did Louis IX undertake his Crusade, and why was popular zeal lacking?
Louis IX fell sick and dreamed in his fever of Christians defeated before Jerusalem, then vowed to pilgrimage to the Holy Land if he recovered. News of the massacres at Jerusalem and Jaffa confirmed his belief the dream was from heaven. The author notes the masses no longer sympathized, since taxation had cooled zeal, and it was no longer a disgrace for a knight to refuse the cross.
Chapter 70
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What did the Saracens use to destroy Louis's movable towers at the Thanisian canal?
The Saracens destroyed the two cat-castles, or high movable towers, by throwing quantities of Greek fire upon them. Mackay calls Greek fire "the artillery of that day." This forced Louis to abandon the bridge-building plan and instead accept a peasant's offer, for a considerable bribe, to point out a ford where the army could wade across the canal.
Chapter 71
What happened to the Count d'Artois after his victory at the ford?
Flushed with victory, the Count d'Artois forgot the inferiority of his numbers and pursued the enemy into Massoura, cutting himself off from his brother Crusaders. The Moslems rallied with the garrison and reinforcements and surrounded his force. D'Artois was among the foremost slain, and of his fourteen hundred men only three hundred remained when Louis arrived.
Chapter 71
What terms did the sultan initially demand for peace, and what was finally agreed?
The sultan first insisted on immediate evacuation of Damietta and that Louis himself be delivered as hostage; the army refused and talks broke off. The sultan also demanded cession of Acre, Tripoli, and other cities of Palestine, which Louis refused. Finally the sultan waived these terms: Damietta was restored, a ten-year truce agreed, and ten thousand golden bezants paid for Louis's release and the captives' liberation.
Chapter 71
Why did Louis sail to Tunis in 1270 instead of Acre?
A change of plans occurred while he was driven by weather into Sardinia. The king of Tunis had earlier seemed favourably disposed toward the Christians, and Louis hoped to convert him and secure his aid against the sultan of Egypt. Mackay reports Louis saying he would gain honour if he could become godfather to this Mussulman king. The king of Tunis had no intention of converting or aiding the Crusaders.
Chapter 71
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Why did Edward agree to the sultan's peace terms instead of continuing the war?
Edward suspected the sultan was behind the assassination attempt, and the sultan's offer of peace showed weakness that would normally make Edward more eager to fight. However, news arrived in Palestine of the death of his father, King Henry III, and his presence was needed in England, so he accepted terms allowing Christians to keep their possessions in the Holy Land and a ten-year truce.
Chapter 72
How did the Christians lose Palestine after the last Crusade?
The Christians broke the truce by plundering Egyptian traders near Margat. The sultan retaliated by taking Margat, and war resumed. With no reinforcements from Europe, Tripoli and other cities fell in succession until Acre alone remained. At Acre the Grand Master of the Templars and his knights were overwhelmed; the king of Cyprus fled, the Grand Master fell, and only seven Templars and seven Hospitallers escaped.
Chapter 72
What does the author argue was the overall result of the Crusades?
The author argues the Crusades were not unmitigated evil despite the fanaticism that started them and the folly that conducted them. He notes Europe spent millions and two million lives for a hundred years of a handful of quarrelsome knights holding Palestine. Yet feudal chiefs improved through contact with a superior Asian civilisation, people gained some rights, kings passed good laws, and minds were prepared for the Reformation.
Chapter 72
How does the author explain the witch mania's origins?
The author attributes it to misunderstanding of the Mosaic law "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," which he says led conscientious men astray. He argues the Hebrew word rendered witch means a poisoner and divineress, not the modern witch who supposedly made a blood pact with the devil. He also says unexplained natural phenomena were attributed to supernatural agency before science explained them.
Chapter 72
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According to the chapter, what powers and habits did demons possess?
The chapter says demons' bodies were of thin air and could pass through the hardest substances. They had no fixed residence, were tossed through space, and in multitudes excited whirlwinds and tempests, delighting in destroying nature's beauty and human monuments. They increased among themselves and were joined by souls of wicked men, still-born children, women who died in childbed, and those killed in duels.
Chapter 73
How many demons did Wierus claim existed, and how were they organized?
Wierus asserted there were exactly seven million four hundred and five thousand nine hundred and twenty-six demons, divided into seventy-two companies or battalions, each with a prince or captain. The chapter notes most people said the number was too great to count, making Wierus's precise figure a minority claim among the demonologists.
Chapter 73
What happened at the Sabbath, and what punishment followed failure to attend?
The Sabbath was a general meeting of demons and witches, held after midnight on Fridays or on Saturdays, sometimes on the Brocken. Satan appeared as a large he-goat and examined witches for an insensible mark. Witches who failed to attend were lashed by demons with rods made of serpents or scorpions for their inattention or unpunctuality.
Chapter 73
What did Charlemagne's edicts decree against witchcraft, and what did critics wrongly claim about Tasso?
Charlemagne published edicts forbidding all magic, enchantment, and witchcraft, decreeing death for those who evoked the devil, made love-philters, caused barrenness, raised tempests, destroyed crops, dried cows' milk, or inflicted sores and diseases; even those who consulted such persons could be executed. The chapter argues critics who said Tasso wrongly attributed belief in magic to the Crusaders were in error, since Charlemagne's edicts prove such belief existed.
Chapter 73
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How did the Frieslanders and Stedinger govern themselves before their suppression?
The Frieslanders formed a confederacy against Norman and Saxon encroachment, divided into seven seelands that held an annual diet under an oak at Aurich near the Upstalboom. Deputies levied taxes and deliberated community affairs, functioning like representative assemblies. The Stedinger, devoted to their ancient laws, refused taxes to feudal chiefs and tithes to clergy, and in 1204 rose in insurrection to defend their customs.
Chapter 74
What did Pope Gregory IX allege about the Stedinger to justify their extermination?
Gregory IX declared the Stedinger heretics and witches, claiming they abjured God's and man's laws, slandered the Church, insulted the sacraments, consulted witches, shed blood, killed priests, and worshipped the devil as Asmodi. He said the devil appeared as a goose, duck, or pale black-eyed youth, presided at their sabbaths, and enveloped them in darkness for debauchery.
Chapter 74
What charges were brought against the Templars and what happened to them?
The Templars were accused of selling their souls to the devil, renouncing Christ, spitting on a crucifix, kissing the superior on cheek, navel, and breech, and engaging in debauchery. It was said they tossed and roasted infants and drank powdered dead knights in wine. Philip IV ordered their arrest, the pope supported the cause, and hundreds confessed under torture, later recanting and being burned as relapsed heretics.
Chapter 74
What happened to the Waldenses of Arras accused of sorcery in 1459?
A congregation of Waldenses at Arras, worshipping at night in solitary places, was accused of sorcery: the devil allegedly appeared in human form, read laws from a large book, and distributed money and food. Creditable persons and decrepit old women were seized and tortured until they confessed, naming people of rank suggested by examiners. Old women were hanged and burned; wealthier defendants paid fines to escape.
Chapter 74
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What did Innocent VIII's 1488 bull claim witches did, and what did it appoint?
Innocent VIII's bull called European nations to rescue the Church from Satan's arts, claiming many of both sexes had intercourse with demons, afflicted man and beast, blighted marriage, destroyed births and cattle, and blasted corn, grapes, fruits and herbs. To punish such criminals, he appointed inquisitors in every country armed with apostolic power to convict and punish.
Chapter 75
Why did confessions of accused witches resemble each other so closely?
Mackay argues the resemblance was not proof of the crime but of the method: the same questions from Sprenger's Malleus Maleficarum were put to all suspects, and torture never failed to produce the answer the inquisitor required. Some victims, their imaginations filled with these horrors, confessed even more than expected hoping to escape the rack.
Chapter 75
What happened to the Piedmont inquisitor who burned too many victims?
In a rural Piedmont township the inquisitor burned victims so plentifully that no family escaped losing a member. The people finally rose up, and the inquisitor was glad to escape the country with whole limbs. The archbishop of the diocese then tried those the inquisitor had left in prison; some were freed, others met the usual fate.
Chapter 75
How did husbands' testimony fail to save accused wives in the Piedmont trials?
Husbands of several accused women, two young and beautiful, swore their wives were asleep in their arms at the stated time. The archbishop replied they had been deceived by the devil and their own senses: the semblance of the wives lay in bed while the originals danced under the oak. The men were confounded and their wives burned.
Chapter 75
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In the 1588 Auvergne case, what did the huntsman find in his bag?
The huntsman shot at a savage wolf and cut off its fore-paw with his knife. When he reached into his bag, he found a woman's hand wearing a wedding-ring. The gentleman at the window recognized it as his wife's ring, which the indictment says made him suspect evil of her. He found her with her arm hidden under her apron, the stump bleeding, and she was burnt at Riom before thousands.
Chapter 76
How did the physicians examining the fourteen accused witches in 1589 judge them?
The parliament of Paris, exiled to Tours, sent four commissioners including Pierre Pigray, the king's surgeon, to examine fourteen condemned witches for the devil's mark. The women were stripped and pricked to test insensibility to pain, but they felt it and some cried out. Pigray reported them as very poor, stupid, and some insane, needing medicine rather than punishment; the parliament then sent them home unpunished.
Chapter 76
How did English witchcraft legislation develop from 1541 to 1562?
The statute of 1541 was the first to specify witchcraft as a crime. Two statutes followed in 1551, one on false prophecies and one against conjuration and sorcery, but the latter punished only those who attempted neighbours' lives by spells or devil contracts. The statute of Elizabeth in 1562 recognized witchcraft as a high crime whether or not it injured lives or property, and persecution in England fairly began from that date.
Chapter 76
What happened to Mother Samuel and her family after the Warbois accusations?
Mistress Joan Throgmorton claimed Mother Samuel bewitched her after a chance look, and the children invented seven spirits including 'First Smack' and 'Pluck.' Lady Cromwell died and her death was blamed on the old woman's curse. All three Samuels were tortured; the mother confessed, the father and daughter maintained innocence, and all were hanged and burned on 7 April 1593.
Chapter 76
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What did Sir Samuel Cromwell do with 40l. from the confiscated Samuels' property?
As lord of the manor, Cromwell received 40l. from the confiscated property of the Samuels and turned it into a rent-charge of 40s. yearly. This endowed an annual sermon or lecture on the enormity of witchcraft, especially this case, to be preached by a doctor or bachelor of divinity of Queen's College, Cambridge. Mackay could not determine when the lecture was discontinued, but it was still preached as late as 1718.
Chapter 77
What act of Queen Mary's ninth parliament (1563) changed witchcraft in Scotland?
Mackay states the ninth parliament of Queen Mary passed an act in 1563 decreeing death against witches and consulters with witches. He argues it was not until religious reformers strained Scripture to extremes that the law punished witchcraft as a crime per se. What Pope Innocent VIII. did for Germany and France, the preachers of the Reformation did for Scotland: witchcraft moved from article of faith to statute-book.
Chapter 77
Who was Gellie Duncan, and how did she come to confess witchcraft?
Gellie Duncan was servant to the deputy bailiff of Tranent in Haddingtonshire, about ten miles from Edinburgh. Though young and good-looking rather than old and ugly, she had some pretensions to healing, and her sudden cures made her master suspect her. He tortured her; she refused to confess until the devil's mark was found on her throat. Tortured again, her fortitude gave way and she confessed to selling her soul and curing by the devil's aid.
Chapter 77
What did Agnes Sampson confess under the pilliewinkis about the witches' meetings?
Under the torture of the pilliewinkis, Agnes Sampson confessed within an hour that she, Gellie Duncan, Dr. Fian, Euphemia Macalzean, and upwards of two hundred witches and warlocks met the devil at midnight in the kirk of North Berwick. They plotted the king's life, incited by the devil, who swore James was his greatest enemy. Gellie Duncan played a reel on a trump or Jew's harp for the witches to dance to.
Chapter 77
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What did the witches do at the North Berwick kirk meeting, and how did the devil react to Gray Meill?
They paced the kirk withershins, Dr. Fian blew the door open and lit candles, and the devil preached from the pulpit in a black gown. When Gray Meill said nothing ailed the king, the devil boxed his ears in a rage. Euphemia Macalzean and Agnes Sampson scolded him for forgetting the king's image, and he then provided a dug-up corpse and wine for a dance until cockcrow.
Chapter 78
What poison method did Agnes Sampson confess to using against King James?
Agnes Sampson, called the wise woman of Keith, said she was to have taken the king's life by anointing his linen with a strong poison. She also confessed raising a tempest by throwing a cat into the sea with four joints of men tied to its feet, and described the devil rolling before them over the waves like a huge haystack.
Chapter 78
What was Euphemia Macalzean's sentence, and why was it harsher than the others?
Most of the accused were sentenced to be hanged and burned, including Gellie Duncan, Agnes Sampson, Dr. Fian, Barbara Napier, and five-and-twenty others. Euphemia Macalzean, because of her connection with Bothwell and her share in poisoning individuals, was instead bound to a stake and burned quick to the death on 25 June 1591.
Chapter 78
According to Sir George Mackenzie, why did some women falsely confess to witchcraft?
Mackenzie, himself a believer in the crime, reported that one woman told him she confessed not from guilt but because, defamed as a witch, she knew she would starve, be beaten, and have dogs set on her, so she wished to be out of the world. He was convinced three-fourths of the prosecutions were unjust and that prison torture produced the confessions.
Chapter 78
Section 792 cards
What two principal opponents of witchcraft belief did James VI name in his 1597 Demonology?
James VI's 1597 Demonology attacked two named authors: Reginald Scot, an Englishman who denied witchcraft existed and was accused of the Sadducees' error of denying spirits, and Wierus, a German physician who wrote an apology for witches. James claimed Wierus thereby betrayed himself as one of the profession.
Chapter 79
What was the Lancashire witches case and how did the boy Robinson's story end?
Around 1634, a boy named Robinson claimed Mother Dickenson turned into a woman from a greyhound, rode him as a horse to a barn where witches pulled food from halters. About twenty were imprisoned and eight executed, including Mother Dickenson, on his evidence alone. He later confessed he had been suborned to give false evidence.
Chapter 79
Section 804 cards
How did Matthew Hopkins test suspected witches using insects?
Hopkins seated the suspect cross-legged on a stool or table, bound her if she refused, and had watchers keep her without food or drink for twenty-four hours. A hole was made in the door or window so her supposed imp could enter as a wasp, moth, or fly. Watchers were ordered to kill any insect; if one escaped, the woman was judged guilty and sentenced to be burned, with twenty shillings going to Hopkins.
Chapter 80
How did the common pricker John Kincaid test Janet Peaston in 1646?
The magistrates of Dalkeith had Kincaid, the common pricker, exercise his craft on Janet Peaston. He found two marks of the devil's making, because she could not feel the pin when it was put into either mark, and the marks did not bleed when the pin was removed. Asked where she thought the pins had been inserted, she pointed to a part of her body distant from the real place. The pins were three inches long.
Chapter 80
What happened to Matthew Hopkins at the end of his career?
Mackay writes that Hopkins perished in his own snare. Gaul's exposure and Hopkins's own rapacity weakened his influence with magistrates, and the populace turned against him. A mob at a Suffolk village accused him of being a wizard, stripped him, tied his thumbs and toes, and threw him into a pond. Some say he floated and was tried and executed; others say he drowned. No judicial record exists, so Mackay thinks he likely died at the mob's hands.
Chapter 80
What evidence convicted Amy Duny and Rose Cullender in 1664?
The two old women were refused herrings at a shop and abused the dealer; his daughter then fell sick with epileptic fits. The girl's eyes were blindfolded and the women told to touch her; she immediately had a fit. Later, when an indifferent person touched her while she thought it was the witches, she fit again, but this was not received in the accused's favor. Sir Matthew Hale condemned both to the stake.
Chapter 80
Section 814 cards
What two questions did Sir Matthew Hale tell the jury to decide?
Sir Matthew Hale instructed the jury to inquire into two things: first, whether the children were bewitched; second, whether the accused women did bewitch them. He said he did not doubt witches existed, citing Scripture and the laws of all nations, especially England, as proof of belief in the crime. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all thirteen indictments.
Chapter 81
How did the children's health change after the conviction?
The next morning the children came with their father to Sir Matthew Hale's lodgings, quite well and restored to their usual health. Mr. Pacey, asked when their health began to improve, replied that they were quite well half an hour after the conviction of the prisoners. Many attempts were made to induce the women to confess, but in vain, and both were hanged.
Chapter 81
What rule did Sir George Mackenzie try to establish in Scottish witch trials?
The author states that Sir George Mackenzie, though a firm believer in witchcraft, laboured to introduce the rule that the confessions of witches should be held of little worth, and that evidence from prickers and other interested persons should be received with distrust and jealousy. This reversed old practice and saved lives. In 1680 he reported that imprisoned women had no evidence but absurd confessions drawn by torture, and they were discharged.
Chapter 81
What happened to Jane Wenham, the Witch of Walkerne?
Jane Wenham was tried in 1711 before Lord Chief Justice Powell. The jury found her guilty on the evidence, and the foreman answered that they found her guilty of conversing with the devil in the shape of a cat. The judge reluctantly passed sentence of death, but by his persevering exertions a pardon was obtained and the old woman was set at liberty.
Chapter 81
Section 824 cards
What sentence did Elspeth Rule receive for witchcraft at Dumfries in 1708?
Elspeth Rule was found guilty of witchcraft before Lord Anstruther at the Dumfries circuit in 1708. She was sentenced to be marked in the cheek with a red-hot iron and banished from the realm of Scotland for life. Her case follows an earlier one in Mackay's account, after which there is again a long interval before the Caithness outbreak of 1718.
Chapter 82
How did the 1718 Caithness witchcraft case against Nanny Gilbert end?
Carpenter William Montgomery attacked cats in his yard, wounding several; when two old women died with matching marks and Nanny Gilbert was found with a broken leg, she was accused. She first gave a natural explanation for her injury, but under torture confessed to witchcraft and named about a score of others. She died the next day in prison. King's advocate-general Dundas of Arniston then quashed all further proceedings.
Chapter 82
What was the last execution for witchcraft in Scotland, and when were the penal statutes repealed?
The last execution in Scotland was of an insane old woman at Dornoch, condemned to death by the sheriff-depute of Caithness for bewitching neighbours' cows and pigs; she laughed and clapped at sight of the fire that would consume her. The penal statutes were repealed in 1736, after which whipping, the pillory, or imprisonment became the punishments for pretenders to magic.
Chapter 82
What did Bodinus and Boguet argue about trying witchcraft cases?
Bodinus argued that witchcraft must not be tried like other crimes, that ordinary justice perverts divine and human law, and that the accused should never be acquitted unless the prosecutor's malice is clearer than the sun. Boguet's seventy-article code held that mere suspicion justified immediate arrest and torture, and that muttering, looking at the ground, or not weeping were positive proofs of guilt.
Chapter 82
Section 832 cards
According to Mackay, what kept the witchcraft delusion alive besides the judges?
Mackay argues the delusion was sustained by hypochondriac and diseased persons who came forward voluntarily and confessed to witchcraft. Some victims, including the apothecary's wife and daughter, pretended to sorcery and sold poisons or tried charms to raise the devil. Depraved persons added sorcery to their crimes hoping for power or impunity, and the criminals' delusion equaled the judges'.
Chapter 83
How did Pierre de l'Ancre explain the many witches at Labourt, and how were they identified?
De l'Ancre claimed witches abounded at Labourt because the country was mountainous and sterile. He identified many from their partiality to smoking tobacco, suggesting he shared King James's view of tobacco as the devil's weed. About forty persons were tried daily, with acquittals under five percent, and roughly two hundred were hanged or burned.
Chapter 83
Section 844 cards
Why was Urbain Grandier accused of bewitching the Ursuline girls of Loudun?
Mackay states the charge was a pretext resorted to by Grandier's enemies to ruin a man against whom no other charge could readily be brought. He argues it did not spring from the epidemic dread of sorcery but from intriguers sworn to take his life. In 1634 the accusation could not be refuted, and Grandier was burned alive under great cruelty.
Chapter 84
What happened at Antoinette Bourignon's school in Lille in 1639?
Bourignon imagined she saw little black angels around the children's heads and repeatedly warned them of the devil. One girl ran away and, on return, claimed the devil carried her off and that she was a witch; others fell into fits and confessed likewise, until all fifty children confessed to attending the Domdaniel, riding broomsticks, and creeping through keyholes. Bourignon fled before a second examination.
Chapter 84
How did the Duke of Brunswick expose the unreliability of witch confessions?
He invited two Jesuits who strongly believed in witchcraft to hear a suspected woman's confession, having instructed the torturers beforehand. Through artful leading questions the anguished woman confessed she had seen two Jesuits at the witches' sabbath, in animal forms, fathering monstrous children, and said they were in the room beside her. The duke then explained the stratagem, convincing both of their own potential fate.
Chapter 84
What effect did Frederick Spee's Cautio Criminalis and later rulers have on witch trials?
Spee, one of the two Jesuits at Brunswick, published Cautio Criminalis in 1631, exposing the horrors of witch trials and greatly influencing Germany. Schonbrunn, Archbishop and Elector of Menz, abolished torture in his dominions, imitated by the Duke of Brunswick and others; the Elector of Brandenburg's 1654 rescript forbade torture and condemned swimming witches as an unjust, cruel, deceitful test.
Chapter 84
Section 854 cards
What did Louis XIV do with the Normandy parliament's appeal to continue witch executions?
Louis paid no attention to the appeal. The lives of the old women were spared, and prosecutions for mere witchcraft, unconnected with other offences, were discontinued throughout France. In 1680 an act was passed punishing not witches but pretenders to witchcraft, fortune-tellers, divineresses, and poisoners.
Chapter 85
What happened at Mohra, Sweden, in 1669 after witchcraft was reported?
The king appointed a commission of clergy and laymen with power to punish. On 12 August 1669 they arrived; the whole population of three thousand assembled, a sermon was preached, and the commission was read. Seventy persons, including fifteen children, were taken into custody, and more were arrested in Elfdale. All confessed under torture.
Chapter 85
What did the accused in Sweden say about their journey to Blockula?
They said they anointed themselves with salve from a horn given by the devil, who appeared as a little old man in a grey coat with red and blue stockings and a long red beard. He gave them beasts to ride — horses, asses, goats, monkeys — plus a saddle, hammer, and nail, and they flew over churches, walls, rocks, and mountains to Blockula.
Chapter 85
What was the outcome of the Mohra witch trials?
Seventy persons were condemned to death on the confessions. Twenty-three were burned together in one fire at Mohra before thousands of spectators; the next day fifteen children were burned; the remaining thirty-two were executed at Fahluna. Fifty-six children found guilty in a minor degree received running the gauntlet, imprisonment, or weekly public whipping for a twelvemonth.
Chapter 85
Section 862 cards
What does Mackay say about the survival of witchcraft belief in his own day?
Mackay argues the belief has retreated to remote villages and uneducated people, who still attribute unexplained natural events to the devil and witches. He claims catalepsy is mistaken for Satan's work and hypochondriacs believe their visions. He asserts old women in England still suffer insults from neighbours, and that only the law's enlightenment prevents a recurrence of seventeenth-century scenes.
Chapter 86
How did the 1760 Glen, Leicestershire, swimming ordeal end?
Two old women accused each other of witchcraft and agreed to the swimming ordeal, stripped to shifts with thumbs and toes tied crosswise and a cart-rope about them. One sank, the other floated and was deemed guilty, then named supposed accomplices at Burton. The mob ducked three women there without killing them. Two ringleaders were pilloried and imprisoned a month; about twenty were fined and bound over.
Chapter 86
Section 874 cards
What annual confession did the Seceders still read from the pulpit in 1785?
According to Arnot's collection of Criminal Trials in Scotland, as late as 1785 the sect of Seceders read an annual confession of national and personal sins from the pulpit. Among the national sins specifically named was "the repeal by parliament of the penal statute against witches, contrary to the express laws of God."
Chapter 87
What did the Hastings fisherman's neighbors do to test his supposed supernatural powers?
It was said the fisherman had sold himself to the devil, could creep through a keyhole, and had made a witch of his daughter. His brother fishermen tested him by placing long needles in alehouse chair cushions so he could not fail to pierce himself when sitting down. He never flinched, which they took as confirmation of his powers.
Chapter 87
What did the Lincoln cunning man claim caused the patient's abscess, and what cure did he prescribe?
The witch-doctor said the abscess was inflicted by the devil through next-door neighbors, who molded a wax image, pierced it with pins, repeated the Lord's Prayer backwards, and prayed to the devil. He prescribed medicine and a parchment charm worn on the body, plus daily recitation of the 109th and 119th Psalms, for a fee of one guinea.
Chapter 87
How were Desbourdes and Bridier punished for drowning Renard, and why was Baudouin released?
Julian Desbourdes and his son-in-law Bridier were convicted of aggravated manslaughter only, not murder, and sentenced to be burnt on the back and to work in the galleys for life. The white-witch Baudouin, who had urged them to force a confession, was acquitted on the ground of insanity.
Chapter 87
Section 884 cards
What did the 21st year of Henry VIII's reign make slow poisoning, and what was the penalty?
An act passed in the twenty-first year of Henry VIII made slow poisoning high treason, and those found guilty were to be boiled to death. Mackay notes the crime increased early in the sixteenth century and spread across Europe like a pestilence in the seventeenth, often practiced by pretended witches and sorcerers and becoming a branch of education among claimants to magical arts.
Chapter 88
How did Rochester lure Overbury into refusing the Russian embassy and into the Tower?
Rochester pretended warm attachment, advised Overbury to refuse the embassy as a trick to get him out of the way, and promised to shield him from consequences. Overbury declined; James, offended, committed him to the Tower. Rochester then had the Lieutenant replaced with his creature Sir Jervis Elwes and installed Richard Weston, a former druggist's shopman, as under-keeper with direct custody.
Chapter 88
What poisons were used on Overbury, and how were they administered?
Franklin the apothecary confessed he and Dr. Forman prepared seven poisons: aquafortis, arsenic, mercury, powder of diamonds, lunar caustic, great spiders, and cantharides. They were mixed into pastry, game sauces, and other foods in small quantities to wear out his constitution; arsenic was mixed with his salt and cantharides with his pepper. Mrs. Turner supplied the poisoned articles to the under-keeper.
Chapter 88
How did Overbury actually die, according to Mackay versus Weldon?
Mackay says a dose of corrosive sublimate was administered in October 1613, ending his sufferings after six months in their hands; he was buried without ceremony in a pit within the Tower. Weldon instead reports that Franklin and Weston, fearing recovery as boils and blains broke out, stifled him with the bedclothes, the conspirators assuring all that poison killed him.
Chapter 88
Section 894 cards
What four methods of administering poison did Lord Coke describe at Weston's trial?
Lord Chief Justice Coke told the jury that poisoners could kill at whatever distance they pleased by consuming the nativum calidum or humidum radicale over one to three months, and that they did so in four ways: haustu (by drinking), gustu (by tasting), odore (by smell), and contactu (by touch). He called poisoning base and cowardly because it strikes secretly against which a man has no defence.
Chapter 89
What happened to Sir Thomas Monson, and why was his trial cut short?
Monson was arrested after evidence at Sir Jervis Elwes's trial suggested he had guilty knowledge of the poisoning. His trial was abruptly ended and he was set at liberty. Mackay states he was too dangerous to bring to the scaffold because he knew too many of James I's secrets, and his dying speech might have compromised the king.
Chapter 89
What sentences did the Earl and Countess of Somerset receive, and what was their actual fate?
The countess pleaded guilty and received a death sentence; the earl pleaded not guilty, defended himself for eleven hours, and was condemned to a felon's death. James, afraid to sign the death-warrant, kept them in the Tower nearly five years, then pardoned both, ordered them from court, and granted the earl 4,000l. a year from his forfeited estates.
Chapter 89
How did Mackay's account differ from Clarendon's on the death of James I?
Eglisham, a royal physician, claimed Buckingham gave James a white powder in wine during an ague, after which the king worsened and cried out against it; he also described the body swelling and hair and nails falling out. Clarendon blamed the ague in a fat, unwieldy body of fifty-eight and dismissed the poisoning rumours as groundless libels. Mackay argues the inquiries were not strict and Buckingham's influence defeated them.
Chapter 89
Section 904 cards
How did Gennaro survive the poisoned dose intended for him?
The Duke of Guise's account says Augustino supplied a clear, tasteless poison to be given to Gennaro, who was expected to suspect nothing. Gennaro happened to eat only cabbage dressed with oil that day; this acted as an antidote, made him vomit profusely, and saved his life. He was very ill for five days but never suspected poisoning.
Chapter 90
What did Pope Alexander VII learn in 1659 about poisonings in Rome?
In 1659 it was made known to Pope Alexander VII that many young women had confessed in the confessional to poisoning their husbands with slow poisons. The clergy, though keeping penitents' names secret, told the head of the Church. Rome also buzzed with gossip of unusually many young widows and husbands who sickened and died in unhappy marriages.
Chapter 90
Who was La Spara and how was her poison ring exposed?
La Spara, a reputed witch and fortune-teller, presided over a nocturnal society of young wives, some from Rome's first families. A lady dressed richly and, supplied with money, pretended distress over an ill-treating husband and bought La Spara's drops. Analysis showed a clear, tasteless slow poison; police arrested the group. La Spara, Gratiosa, and three husband-poisoners were hanged; about thirty women were publicly whipped.
Chapter 90
How did Tophania evade capture, and what ended her career?
Tophania sold aqua, or aquetta, labeled 'Manna of St. Nicholas of Barri' to evade customs. She changed names and residences, lodged in monasteries, and sought ecclesiastical protection. The viceroy had soldiers break into a nunnery and seize her; to quell the crowd, agents spread word she had poisoned the wells. She confessed under torture, was strangled, and her body thrown into the convent garden.
Chapter 90
Section 914 cards
What did Sainte Croix and La Brinvilliers agree to do to the D'Aubray family, and why?
Sainte Croix conceived the plan to poison M. D'Aubray and his two sons so that Madame de Brinvilliers could inherit the property. His motives were revenge, because the family had imprisoned him, and avarice, because they were rich. He undertook to compound the poisons and she to administer them, and she agreed without the slightest scruple.
Chapter 91
How did La Brinvilliers test her poisons before using them on her father?
She first administered the poisons to dogs, rabbits, and pigeons. Then she went round the hospitals giving them to the sick poor in soups she brought in apparent charity. She also poisoned a pigeon-pie served to guests at her father's table, and finally poisoned herself, then took an antidote from Sainte Croix. None of the poisons were meant to kill at the first dose.
Chapter 91
How was La Brinvilliers captured at Liège?
She sheltered within the walls of a convent, beyond the reach of the law. Desgrais, an officer of the maréchaussée, disguised himself as a priest and obtained an interview, flattering her beauty and misfortunes. Her vanity was flattered, and she agreed to meet him outside the convent walls, where she found herself in the custody of a policeman rather than a gallant.
Chapter 91
What happened to La Brinvilliers' ashes after her execution, according to Mackay?
The populace came in crowds on the morrow to collect her ashes and preserve them as relics. She was regarded as a martyred saint, and her ashes were supposed to cure all diseases by divine grace. Mackay argues that popular folly has often canonised persons of equivocal sanctity, but this instance has never been surpassed.
Chapter 91
Section 924 cards
What was the Chambre Ardente, and why did Louis XIV institute it?
Louis XIV established the Chambre Ardente, or Burning Chamber, with extensive powers to try and punish prisoners, in order to stop the spread of the poisoning mania. The chapter says the corrupt government tolerated atrocities by wealthy courtiers like Penautier but was scandalised to see the crime spreading among the people, and disgrace was entailed upon the French name in the eyes of Europe.
Chapter 92
Who were Lavoisin and Lavigoreux, and how were they punished?
They were Parisian midwives and pretended fortune-tellers who sold slow poisons, chiefly to women wanting to get rid of husbands and occasionally to husbands wanting to get rid of wives. They were detected at the close of 1679, tried, found guilty, and burned alive on the Place de Grève on 22 February 1680, after their hands were bored through with a red-hot iron and cut off.
Chapter 92
Why did slow poisons appeal to murderers, according to the chapter?
The chapter states that the diabolical ease of murder by scentless, tasteless poisons enticed the evil-minded: jealousy, revenge, avarice, and even petty spite alike resorted to them. Those deterred by fear of detection from using pistol, dagger, or strong doses that kill at once employed slow poisons without dread.
Chapter 92
What caused the mysterious knockings in the haunted house at Aix-la-Chapelle?
The cause was a broken door latch combined with a broken pane of glass opposite. When the wind blew from a certain quarter, the draught slammed the door shut; with no latch it swung open again, and each fresh gust repeated the noise. The new proprietor discovered this, sent for a glazier, and the noises ceased, though the house took two or three years to regain popular favour.
Chapter 92
Section 934 cards
How did six monks of St. Bruno acquire the palace of Vauvert near Paris?
Sent by Bernard de la Tour to a house at Chantilly, the monks coveted the nearby deserted palace of Vauvert. It then acquired a bad name: shrieks, colored lights, clanking chains, and a green spectre with a serpent's tail. They hinted to King Louis's commissioners that inhabiting it would clear the spirits. The king granted the palace by deed dated 1259, and the disturbances ceased.
Chapter 93
How did the Parliament of Paris rule in Gilles Blacre's haunted-house lease case?
Blacre, leasing a house near Tours from Peter Piquet, wanted the lease cancelled and claimed witches and spirits plagued it. The Civil Court of Tours annulled the lease and charged Piquet costs. Piquet appealed, and the Parliament of Paris confirmed the lease—not because haunting was disproved, but because of an informality in the lower court's proceedings.
Chapter 93
Who caused the disturbances at Woodstock in 1649, and how?
The commissioners sent by the Long Parliament were driven out by noises, dancing furniture, flying bricks, and stones. The cause, discovered at the Restoration, was Giles Sharp, their trusted clerk—really Joseph Collins, a concealed royalist who knew the building's trap-doors and secret passages. He abused the commissioners' confidence for his own amusement and that of a few cavaliers let into the secret.
Chapter 93
What happened at Tedworth in 1661, and who publicized it?
At Mr. Mompesson's house at Tedworth, strange knocking noises were heard, beginning during his absence in London and continuing after his return. He armed himself with pistols to confront what he assumed was a robber, but the noise seemed to move before or behind him. Rev. Joseph Glanvil narrated the case as The Demon of Tedworth in Sadducismus Triumphatus.
Chapter 93
Section 944 cards
What did Mr. Mompesson believe caused the noises in his house?
He recalled that he had earlier ordered the arrest and imprisonment of a wandering drummer who solicited alms, and had kept the man's drum. He concluded the drummer was a wizard who sent evil spirits to haunt his house in revenge, an opinion strengthened as the noises came to resemble drumbeats, "like that at the breaking up of a guard."
Chapter 94
What happened to the disturbances while the king's commissioners investigated?
Gentlemen sent by the king to investigate and report on the occurrences found that during the whole time they were in the house the noises ceased and nothing was heard or seen. Glanvil reluctantly admits this, but suggests the intermission may have been accidental or that the demon preferred not to give public testimony that might convince unbelievers.
Chapter 94
What did the imprisoned drummer say to a visitor from Wiltshire?
Asked whether people talked of a drumming in a gentleman's house, the drummer said, "I have done it; I have thus plagued him; and he shall never be quiet until he hath made me satisfaction for taking away my drum." Mackay suggests the fellow, apparently a gipsy, spoke the truth and that his gang knew more about the noises than anyone else.
Chapter 94
What did Parsons claim about the Cock Lane ghost and his daughter?
Parsons spread word that his house was haunted by the ghost of Fanny, who had died of smallpox, and that his twelve-year-old daughter alone saw and conversed with the spirit. The ghost allegedly told her Fanny had been poisoned by Mr. Kent, her sister-in-law's intended, rather than dying of smallpox.
Chapter 94
Section 952 cards
How did Anne Robinson cause the Stockwell disturbances, and why?
Anne Robinson, servant to Mrs. Golding, wanted a clear house to carry on an intrigue with her lover. She placed china on shelves so it fell on the slightest motion and attached horse-hairs to other articles, jerking them down from an adjoining room unseen. The disturbances ceased when she was dismissed, and she later confessed to the Rev. Mr. Brayfield.
Chapter 95
What does the author argue about why such clumsy deceptions succeed?
The author argues that the precise method of the Cock Lane deception was never explained, with the knocking likely done by Parsons' wife and the scratching by the girl. He wonders that so clumsy a contrivance could deceive anyone, and argues that if two or three people lead in any absurdity, however great, plenty will imitate them, like sheep following one over a stile.
Chapter 95
Section 964 cards
Who was behind the disturbances at Baldarroch, and what was their motive?
The two servant lasses were solely responsible. They loosened bricks in the chimneys and placed dishes so they would fall at the slightest motion, then swelled the alarm with invented stories. Their motive was the gratification of a love of mischief, the same purpose behind the Stockwell tricks. Once they were jailed, the noises ceased and most people accepted that human agency alone had worked the wonders.
Chapter 96
What did the farmer of Baldarroch do about the disturbances, and why did few believe the fraud theory?
Convinced the devil and his imps caused the trouble, the farmer traveled forty miles to an old conjuror named Willie Foreman, offering a handsome fee to remove the enchantment. Some sensible people blamed gipsies or the inmates themselves, but the last opinion gained few believers because the farmer and his family were much respected, and many had openly declared belief in supernatural agency and did not like to stultify themselves by admitting deception.
Chapter 96
What does the author argue the fate of the Baldarroch lasses shows about society's improvement?
The author argues that had the contrivers of such deceptions lived two hundred years earlier, they would have been hanged as witches rather than imprisoned as vagabonds. He finds it pleasant to reflect that though folly and credulity remain in one class of society, there is more wisdom and mercy in another, and that lawgivers have made one step toward teaching the people by blotting sanguinary enactments from the statute-book.
Chapter 96
What was the origin of the phrase 'What a shocking bad hat!'?
It came from a hotly contested election for the borough of Southwark, where one candidate was an eminent hatter. He canvassed voters by telling anyone whose hat was worn or poor, 'What a shocking bad hat you have got; call at my warehouse, and you shall have a new one!' On election day his opponents incited the crowd to chant the phrase throughout his speech. From Southwark it spread over all London.
Chapter 96
Section 974 cards
What was the origin of the slang phrase 'flare up'?
The author states it arose during the Reform riots, when Bristol was nearly half burned by the infuriated populace and the flames were said to have flared up in the devoted city. The phrase then spread across London, applied to quarrels, drunkenness, disturbances, and even a lovers' quarrel, becoming the most comprehensive phrase in the English language.
Chapter 97
What did the phrase 'Does your mother know you're out?' originally target?
The author says it was aimed against precocious youths who gave themselves airs of manhood before their time—young men who smoked cigars in the streets and wore false whiskers. Its sting lay in the doubt it implied about their capability of self-guidance. Even a young lord had a cab driver fined for directing it at him.
Chapter 97
How did the phrase 'Who are you?' gain renewed popularity?
The author recounts that a spectator in a criminal court shouted praise of a prisoner's character; the judge asked 'Who are you?' and the court was convulsed with laughter. The judge's wit made him suddenly popular, and the phrase renewed its lease of public favour for another term.
Chapter 97
What does the author say about the succession of slang phrases and songs?
The author argues there were interregna between slang phrases; they did not arise in one unbroken line but shared popular favour with song. When people were in the mood for music, slang made no headway, and when inclined for slang, music was ignored. He cites manias for 'Cherry ripe!' and 'The Sea, the Sea!' as examples.
Chapter 97
Section 984 cards
What two causes does Mackay suggest for popular admiration of great thieves?
Mackay suggests the multitude, feeling the pangs of poverty, may sympathise with daring depredators who take the rich man's superfluity; alternatively, mankind in general feels interest in records of perilous adventure. He says perhaps both causes combine to invest the thief's career with charms in the popular eye, and notes almost every European country has its traditional thief celebrated in poetry.
Chapter 98
According to the Abbé le Blanc, how did English mobs react to criminals going to the gallows?
Le Blanc, who resided in England in the early eighteenth century, says the mob in all countries looks with concern on criminals going to the gallows, but an English mob looked on such scenes with extraordinary interest. They delighted to see them go through their last trials with resolution, and applauded those insensible enough to die as they had lived, braving the justice of God and men.
Chapter 98
Why does Mackay say Jack Sheppard earned popular admiration, unlike Robin Hood or Turpin?
Mackay says Sheppard was as brutal a ruffian as ever disgraced his country. He did not plunder the rich to relieve the poor like Robin Hood, nor rob with uncouth courtesy like Turpin; instead he escaped from Newgate with fetters on his limbs, more than once repeated. This achievement encircled his felon brow with the wreath of immortality and made him a pattern thief among the populace.
Chapter 98
What does Mackay conclude about the London multitude's harmless follies, such as slang phrases and choruses?
Mackay calls these the whimsies of the mass—harmless follies by which they unconsciously lighten the load of care pressing on their existence. The wise man, even though he smile at them, will not altogether withhold his sympathy, and will say let them enjoy their slang phrases and choruses; if they cannot be happy, at least let them be merry. He notes such peculiarities appear when no riot, execution, murder, or balloon disturbs the current of their thoughts.
Chapter 98
Section 994 cards
What evidence does the Inspector's report give for the harm of Jack Sheppard romances?
The Sixth Report of the Inspector of Prisons for the Northern Districts of England contains interviews with boys at the Manchester New Bailey prison school. Several boys testified that seeing or reading Jack Sheppard led them to steal money—from mothers, masters, and shops—to attend the theatre repeatedly, and one admired Sheppard as a clever fellow for escaping and robbing his master.
Chapter 99
How does the street-preacher's sermon spiritualize Jack Sheppard's escape?
The preacher, reported by Rev. Mr. Villette in the Annals of Newgate, urges listeners to be like Sheppard spiritually, not carnally. He turns each feat into allegory: open the locks of your hearts with the nail of repentance, burst the fetters of lust, mount the chimney of hope, break the stone wall of despair, fix the blanket of faith with the spike of the Church, and descend the stairs of humility.
Chapter 99
Why did the crowd favor Turpin and Sheppard over Jonathan Wild?
The author explains that Wild lacked the virtues that, combined with crimes, make up the great thief: he informed on his comrades and feared death. The crowd pelted him with dirt and stones on the way to Tyburn. Turpin and Sheppard, by contrast, died in neat attire with nosegays and the courage a crowd expects, and the people rescued Turpin's body from dissection.
Chapter 99
What does Aimerigot Têtenoire's will reveal about robber-heroes?
The author presents Têtenoire, a French robber chief of four or five hundred men with two castles, as having much of the feudal baron about him. His will left 1,500 francs to St. George's Chapel, 2,500 to his loyal sweetheart, and the surplus to his companions, advising them to live as brothers or else break open his strong box with a sharp axe and let the devil seize the hindmost.
Chapter 99
Section 1004 cards
According to Macfarlane, who caused more mischief than priests and monks?
Macfarlane remarks that abuses of the Catholic religion, with its confessions and absolutions, have tended to promote banditry, but he adds more truly that priests and monks have not done half the mischief perpetrated by ballad-mongers and story-tellers. Mackay suggests adding playwrights would complete the list, since the theatre prospers by pandering to popular taste and drawing heroes from thieves and banditti.
Chapter 100
How did Neapolitan authorities respond to the stage portrayal of banditti?
According to the Memoirs of the Duke of Guise on the Neapolitan Revolution of 1647–1648, the manners, dress, and mode of life of the banditti were made so captivating on the stage that authorities found it absolutely necessary to forbid dramas in which they figured, and even to prohibit their costume at masquerades. The duke raised an army of 3,500 such men in his attempt to seize the throne of Naples.
Chapter 100
What evidence did Sir John Fielding offer about The Beggar's Opera's effect?
Dr. Johnson doubted that the opera multiplied robbers, reasoning that highwaymen seldom frequent the playhouse and no one would think robbing safe because Macheath is reprieved on stage. Mackay counters that highwaymen did frequent the theatre and that Fielding, chief magistrate of Bow Street, asserted positively and proved by the records of his office that the number of thieves greatly increased while the opera was popular.
Chapter 100
What happened to German students who imitated Schiller's Räuber?
Mackay says Schiller's Räuber, written by a green youth, perverted the taste of young men in Germany; Hazlitt said it stunned him like a blow and remained an old dweller in his brain after twenty-five years. Several raw students, admiring the high-minded metaphysical thief, abandoned homes and colleges for the forests to rob travellers, but experience cooled them: real robbers were unlike stage banditti, and three months in prison with bread, water, and damp straw was less agreeable in person.
Chapter 100
Section 1014 cards
Why did the clergy oppose judicial duels while supporting ordeals?
The author argues the clergy condemned duels not from hatred of bloodshed but from self-interest: in ordeals the power to decide guilt lay wholly in their hands, while trial by battle gave them no power or privilege. Ordeals kept the Church the first party in the state; individual prowess in combat made their influence secondary to the nobility.
Chapter 101
How was the trial by the cross conducted?
Two identical sticks, one carved with a cross, were wrapped in fine wool and laid on the altar with prayers asking God to reveal the truth. A priest took up one stick and it was unwrapped: crossed meant innocent, unmarked meant guilty. The author notes those who wrapped the sticks could distinguish them, so priests likely decided beforehand after secret inquiry.
Chapter 101
What was the corsned, and why was it reserved for clergy?
The corsned was a bread-and-cheese ordeal reserved for members of the clergy's own body. The accused priest pronounced conjurations praying that if guilty, God would send the angel Gabriel to stop his throat so he could not swallow. The author notes there is no recorded instance of a priest being choked this way, and that ecclesiastics were too wise to be caught in a trap of their own setting.
Chapter 101
How did the fire ordeal let clergy control the outcome?
The author argues the clergy arranged the ordeal so results matched their wishes: they could warn the innocent beforehand, or space red-hot ploughshares irregularly so the accused would surely tread on one. He suggests hot iron held unhurt was likely treated with preservatives or merely cold iron painted red, and that priests kept the scalded arm under their exclusive care for three days.
Chapter 101
Section 1024 cards
According to Mackay, what did Montesquieu observe about the regulation of duels?
Mackay cites Montesquieu's Esprit des Loix for a summary of the duelling code, and notes his remark that as many wise matters were conducted very foolishly, so many foolish matters were conducted very wisely. Mackay argues the trial by battle, with its wise and religious rules, is the greatest example of this paradox.
Chapter 102
How did French law restrict trial by battle from Louis IX to Philip the Fair?
Before Louis IX, duels in France were permitted only for lèse majesté, rape, incendiarism, assassination, and burglary. Louis IX removed all restrictions, making them legal in civil cases; this worked poorly, so in 1303 Philip the Fair confined criminal duels to state offences, rape, and incendiarism, and civil duels to disputed inheritance. Knighthood could still defend its honour whenever it liked.
Chapter 102
What happened in the 878 duel between Gontran and Ingelgerius over the Countess of Gastinois?
Ingelgerius, count of Gastinois, was found dead in bed beside his countess. Gontran, a relative, accused her of murder and adultery and challenged her to produce a champion. No one dared face him until Ingelgerius of Anjou, her sixteen-year-old godson, took up the cause. He unhorsed Gontran, pierced him with his lance, and cut off his head; the countess was proclaimed innocent.
Chapter 102
Why did Henry II of France renounce trial by battle after the 1547 Jarnac duel?
François de Vivonne, lord of La Chataigneraie, and Guy de Chabot, lord of Jarnac, were friends from youth. Chataigneraie asked how Jarnac afforded such splendour; Jarnac replied that his father had married a young, beautiful woman who loved the son better than the sire and supplied him money. The encounter's unfortunate issue led Henry II to declare he would never again permit such combats in civil, criminal, or honour cases.
Chapter 102
Section 1034 cards
What did Henry II swear after La Chataigneraie's death, and did he keep it?
Henry was so grieved at losing his favourite that he swore he would never again permit a duel while he lived. Some writers, including Mezerai, claim he issued an edict forbidding duels, but no registry of it exists, so it was probably never issued. Two years later the council ordered another duel, and Henry encouraged it rather than preventing it.
Chapter 103
How did De Jarnac defeat the stronger La Chataigneraie, and what phrase resulted?
La Chataigneraie was strong and overconfident; De Jarnac was nimble and desperate. Overpowered, De Jarnac covered his head with his shield and crouched, then struck two blows at his opponent's uncovered left thigh. La Chataigneraie fell, refused to have his wounds dressed, and died two days later. Ever since, the French have called a sly, unforeseen attack a coup de Jarnac.
Chapter 103
What did Sully estimate about duelling deaths under Henry IV, and what did he advise?
Sully reports M. de Lomenie's 1607 calculation that since Henry's accession in 1589, about four thousand French gentlemen had died in duels—roughly four or five a week, or eighteen a month. Sully blamed the king's good-natured tolerance. He urged Henry to renew the edicts, aggravate punishments, grant no pardons, and create a prompt court of honour for slanderous language.
Chapter 103
What did the edict from Henry IV's Fontainebleau council provide, according to Father Matthias?
Henry called an extraordinary council at Fontainebleau; when the councillors stayed silent, Sully, pressed by the king, gave a history of duelling. A royal edict followed, which Sully sent to the provinces with notice that the king was in earnest. Father Matthias says the marshals of France became judges of a court of chivalry, duellists faced death and confiscation, and seconds lost rank and were banished from court.
Chapter 103
Section 1044 cards
What did De Bouteville reportedly do upon hearing a man was brave?
According to Amelot de Houssaye, De Bouteville would seek out any man reputed brave and say, "People tell me that you are brave; you and I must fight together!" He kept a house where notorious bravos gathered each morning for bread, wine, and fencing practice. No quarrel was needed to provoke a duel with him.
Chapter 104
Why did Cardinal Richelieu become a determined opponent of duelling?
The author explains that the Marquis de Themines, unable to challenge the ecclesiastic Richelieu, challenged his brother instead. The Marquis de Richelieu accepted, met Themines in the Rue d'Angoulême, and was stabbed to the heart. The author argues that reason and brotherly love alike made the bishop detest duelling, and he later repressed it vigorously.
Chapter 104
How did Louis XIV's 1679 edict punish challengers, acceptors, and fighters?
Challengers and acceptors forfeited redress from the court of honour, were suspended three years from office, imprisoned two years, and fined half their yearly income. Bearers of challenges faced the pillory and whipping, then the galleys. Anyone who actually fought was guilty of murder even without a death; nobles were beheaded, commoners hanged, and denied Christian burial.
Chapter 104
Why does the author argue Richelieu miscalculated the spirit of duelling?
The author argues that duellists feared shame and the contempt of their fellows, not death. Punishments therefore failed to reform them. He cites Addison's later remark that standing in the pillory, not death, would deter these "imaginary men of honour." The author concludes that Richelieu never thought of this, so severity could punish but not persuade.
Chapter 104
Section 1054 cards
What did Bacon argue about duelling in his Star Chamber charge against Priest and Wright?
Bacon argued duelling troubles peace, disfurnishes war, brings calamity on private men and peril on the state, and breeds contempt for law. Its root is a false imagination of honour, nourished by vain discourse and unripe conceits. True fortitude judges whether a quarrel is just and worthy, and a man's life should be sacrificed only to honourable services, public merits, and noble adventures.
Chapter 105
Why did Lord Sanquir arrange the murder of fencing-master Turner instead of challenging him?
Turner had accidentally blinded Sanquir's eye in a trial of skill, and Sanquir forgave him. Three years later in Paris, Henry IV asked whether the man still lived, and the query sank deep. Sanquir returned to England burning for revenge, but deemed it beneath his dignity to meet a fencing-master as an equal in open combat, so he hired two bravos who murdered Turner in his Whitefriars house.
Chapter 105
How did the duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun arise?
A lawsuit had pended eleven years between them, leaving them cold toward each other. Meeting in Mr. Orlebar's chambers on 13 November, Hamilton reflected on a witness, saying he had neither truth nor justice in him. Lord Mohun, nettled, replied that Mr. Whiteworth had as much truth and justice as the Duke, and the quarrel escalated into the fatal duel of November 1712.
Chapter 105
What did Steele argue about honour and forgiveness in the Guardian?
Steele argued that 'Christian' and 'gentleman' are made inconsistent appellations of the same person: one is told eternal life requires forgiving injuries, yet mortal life is made uncomfortable unless ready to commit murder over an affront. He concluded that to forgive is the most arduous pitch human nature can arrive at, and that a coward has often fought and conquered, but a coward never forgave.
Chapter 105
Section 1063 cards
What verdict did the jury reach in the 1808 trial of Major Campbell for killing Captain Boyd?
The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Major Campbell, though it recommended him to mercy on the ground that the duel had been fair. He was condemned to die the following Monday but was respited for a few days. Evidence showed the duel was not fought immediately after the offence, since Campbell went home and drank tea with his family first.
Chapter 106
How did the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun's fatal duel end, and what did Colonel Hamilton claim?
Both principals fought with swords and fell mortally wounded; Mohun died on the spot and the Duke of Hamilton died as servants carried him to his coach. Colonel Hamilton deposed that he saw Macartney make a push at the duke, prompting a royal proclamation offering 500l. for Macartney's apprehension, plus 300l. added by the Duchess. Hamilton's statements were later found unreliable.
Chapter 106
What was the outcome of the 1765 duel between Lord Byron and Mr. Chaworth?
The dispute arose at a club-dinner over which man had more game on his estates. They fought with swords across a table by candlelight; Chaworth, the better swordsman, was mortally wounded. Lord Byron was tried before the House of Lords and, since the duel was not premeditated but fought in heat of passion, was found guilty of manslaughter only and discharged on payment of fees.
Chapter 106
Section 1074 cards
What does Mackay say about the causes of modern duels?
The author argues that if the general causes of modern duels were examined, they would be found in every case to be either of the most trivial or the most unworthy nature. He cites examples including Sterne's father fighting over a goose, Raleigh over a tavern-bill, and disputes at cards or over a place at a theatre.
Chapter 107
What condition did Frederick the Great attach to duelling in his army?
Mackay records a popular anecdote that Frederick permitted duelling in his army only on condition that the combatants fight before a whole battalion of infantry drawn up to see fair play. The battalion had strict orders, when one belligerent fell, to shoot the other immediately. The king's known determination reportedly stopped the practice.
Chapter 107
What did Colonel Thomas add to his will before his fatal duel?
Colonel Thomas, an officer in the Guards killed in a duel, added a clause the night before he died committing his soul to Almighty God while hoping for mercy and pardon for the irreligious step he was taking in compliance with the unwarrantable customs of this wicked world. Mackay uses him to show duellists knew and abhorred their error but could not resist.
Chapter 107
What does Mackay identify as the real cause of duelling's persistence?
The author argues that severe laws never eradicate duelling as long as lawgivers sympathize with it in their hearts. He says society, not the duellist, is to blame, and that female influence takes the evil part by treating a successful duellist as a hero and a refuser as a poltroon. He quotes Mr. Graves blaming public opinion.
Chapter 107
Section 1084 cards
According to Mackay, what alone will end duelling, regardless of severe laws?
The author argues that duelling will persist as long as society believes a man who refuses to resent an insult deserved it and should be shunned. Since no tribunal handles such delicate injuries, the wronged will take the law into their own hands at the hazard of their lives rather than live as a by-word of reproach.
Chapter 108
What remedy does Mackay propose for duelling, and how should it punish refusal?
The author argues for a court of honour modeled on the one established by Louis XIV, weighing complaints of wounded honour and forcing a public apology. An offender who refuses would break a second law, be liable to fine and imprisonment lasting until he repents and makes the demanded concession. For those still resorting to pistols, he suggests shame, transportation, the tread-wheel, or public whipping rather than hanging.
Chapter 108
When and how did Mackay say modern reliquism originate?
Mackay dates modern reliquism to the centuries just before the Crusades, when pilgrims to the Holy Land brought back thousands of apocryphal relics after spending all their store. The favourite was wood of the true cross, said to never diminish; fragments in eleventh- and twelfth-century European churches would, if collected, nearly have built a cathedral. Tears, blood, milk, hair, and toe-nails were also sold at extravagant prices.
Chapter 108
What does Mackay say about relics of criminals, citing Longbeard, Masaniello, and Brinvilliers?
Mackay remarks that people in all ages eagerly sought relics of notorious figures, even criminals. After William Longbeard was hanged at Smithfield, women collected mould from his gallows and hairs from his beard. Masaniello's dress was rent into shreds and his hut's door cut up after his magnificent reburial. Even the poisoner Madame de Brinvilliers, once pitied for her beauty, had her ashes collected as a preservative against witchcraft.
Chapter 108
Section 1094 cards
Why did police guard the Camberwell Lane house in 1837?
After Greenacre murdered Hannah Brown there in 1837, crowds flocked to the house so eagerly seeking relics that a strong police detachment was stationed on the spot. The police had to use force to stop people from carrying away tables, chairs, and even the doors.
Chapter 109
What superstition was attached to an executed criminal's hand?
It was believed that rubbing a dead criminal's hand on a patient's body would instantly cure the king's evil. The Newgate executioner formerly earned considerable revenue from this practice. In Charles II's time, ten guineas was thought a small price for one of these relics, valued also for curing diseases and preventing misfortune.
Chapter 109
What relics were treasured after the maniac Thom was shot in 1838?
His long black beard and hair, cut off by surgeons, were kept reverently by his disciples; a lock of hair fetched a high price among followers and wealthy Canterbury residents. The tree he fell against was stripped of bark, a signed letter sold for gold, and his horse became celebrated. Visitors came up to 150 miles to stroke the horse, and his grave was watched for months.
Chapter 109
What Chinese custom honored an upright magistrate's boots?
According to Davis's description of China, when a judge of unusual integrity resigns, the people gather to honor him. If he leaves the city, the crowd escorts him to the gates, where his boots are drawn off with great ceremony and preserved in the hall of justice. New boots replace them, and may be drawn off again almost immediately, since merely pulling them on consecrates them.
Chapter 109
Section 1103 cards
How does the index describe the Children's Crusade and its outcome?
The index notes children in the Crusades and their 'personal bravery' at ii. 45, and separately records that children undertaking the Crusade were 'betrayed to slavery' at ii. 80. It also lists children executed for witchcraft at ii. 163, 179, and 181, a distinct topic.
Chapter 110
What does the index record about Charles II and duelling?
The index lists Charles I. preventing a duel at ii. 287, then records Charles II.'s 'disgraceful conduct in reference to a duel' at ii. 288, alongside Orders of the Commonwealth and Charles II. against the practice. It also notes the Duke of Buckingham's duel with Earl Shrewsbury.
Chapter 110
What does the index say about the Cock-Lane Ghost?
The index describes the Cock-Lane Ghost as a 'history of the deception,' with views of the 'haunted house' at ii. 228 and 230. It is listed among haunted-house cases, alongside the Drummer of Tedworth and Joseph Collins's contrived noises at Woodstock Palace.
Chapter 110
Section 1114 cards
What does Mackay's index say about the Rosicrucians' claim regarding food?
The index entry for the Rosicrucians states that the necessity of food was denied by them (i. 176). This is listed alongside other Rosicrucian claims such as pretended invisibility and the claim that Ezekiel was a Rosicrucian. The entry appears in Mackay's chapter on the Rosicrucians, where he treats their doctrines as delusions.
Chapter 111
According to the index, how did Louis VII's haircut affect his marriage?
The index entry reads: 'Louis VII. cuts short his hair, and loses his queen, i. 299.' This falls under Mackay's section on hair length being influenced by religious and political prejudices, with legislative enactments. The entry links the king's short hair to the loss of his queen, Eleanor, though the index gives no further detail.
Chapter 111
What does the index say about Frederick II's actions during the Crusade?
The index states that Frederick II, Emperor of Germany, undertakes the Crusade (ii. 84), crowns himself king at Jerusalem (ii. 86), and returns to Germany (ii. 87). These entries appear under Mackay's account of the Crusades, where he describes Frederick's expedition and his self-coronation in Jerusalem.
Chapter 111
What does the index record about executions for witchcraft in Labourt, France?
The index entry states 'Labourt, France, 200 witches executed, ii. 166.' This appears under Mackay's broader treatment of witchcraft executions in France, which the index also lists for other locations (ii. 119, 122, 174). The figure is presented as part of the historical record of persecution Mackay surveys.
Chapter 111
Section 1124 cards
What was the Mississippi Scheme and who was its architect?
The Mississippi Scheme was a financial bubble in France, covered in pages 1-44, engineered by John Law, a Scot whose name was rendered in French as "Lass." He established a bank and a Mississippi trading company, and the bank became a public institution with extensive note issues. The Regent Orleans patronized the scheme despite financial difficulties and official corruption in France.
Chapter 112
How did the Mississippi Scheme collapse?
Distrust grew as coin was further depreciated and specie use was forbidden at Law's suggestion, exciting popular hatred. Shares fell, notes were issued further, and payment was stopped; Law was dismissed from the ministry and left France. The Mississippi and India companies were deprived of their privileges, and D'Aguesseau took measures to restore credit.
Chapter 112
What does the chapter record about Mesmer and animal magnetism?
Anthony Mesmer founded animal magnetism; the chapter gives his history and theory (i. 275), his theory and practice (276), the elegance of his house at Paris (278), and the infatuation of his disciples (282). Paracelsus is called the first of the magnetisers, and the Marquis de Puysegur discovered clairvoyance and had a magnetic elm.
Chapter 112
What does the chapter say about poisoning in Italy and France?
Poisoning spread in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was declared high treason in England. In Italy, slow poisoning was prevalent, used by the Duke of Guise and Roman ladies against husbands; La Spara and others were executed, and La Tophania was protected in sanctuary by Naples clergy before the viceroy seized and executed her. In France, Exili, Glaser, and Sainte Croix were the first criminals, followed by Madame de Brinvilliers.
Chapter 112
Section 1134 cards
What was the South-Sea Company's original purpose and who originated it?
The chapter states the South-Sea Company was originated by Harley, Earl of Oxford, and that its primary object is described at page 45. It also notes visionary ideas of South-Sea trade and restrictions imposed by the Spanish Government at page 46. Later the Company applied to take the whole state debt, competing with a counter application by the Bank of England.
Chapter 113
How did South-Sea stock prices move from 130 to 1000 and then collapse?
The chapter records stock rising from 130 to 300 after Parliament adopted the Company's proposal, then to 400, falling to 290 but raised again by the directors' schemes. It later reached 1000 before Sir John Blunt, the chairman, sold out and stock fell, leading to panic, negotiation with the Bank of England, and total failure of the company.
Chapter 113
What punishments followed the South-Sea Bubble's collapse?
The chapter lists: directors apprehended, the treasurer absconding and later imprisoned at Antwerp but escaping; directors expelled from Parliament; the chairman examined; Mr. Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, committed to the Tower amid public rejoicings; Sir George Caswall punished; the Earl of Sunderland acquitted; and heavy fines imposed on the directors. Mr. Stanhope was charged but acquitted, causing dissatisfaction.
Chapter 113
What does the chapter say about the Tulip Mania in Holland?
The chapter states the tulip was first introduced into Europe by Gesner, with great demand for plants in Holland and Germany and introduction into England from Vienna. It describes rage for bulbs and enormous prices in Holland, marts for bulb sales, jobbing and gambling, appointed 'tulip-notaries,' sudden loss of confidence and falling prices, and law courts repudiating unfulfilled bargains.
Chapter 113
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Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-28. Cards reviewed 2026-10-28.
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