Robert Fludd by RW Fra Harold Hampton

8/13/2019 Robert Fludd by RW Fra Harold Hampton

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Robert Fludd

Last of the Alchemists, First of the Chemists?

By R.W. Fra. Harold W. Hampton 8

Delivered to Charles Darwin College No. 73 25th

February 2012

Robert Fludds reputation, outside the field of alchemy and mysticism, is not as prominent ashis achievementswarrant. He was born in 1574, well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, towards the end of the Tudor period,and died in London on 8

thSeptember 1637 at the age of 63 during the reign of King Charles I, the second

monarch of the Stuart dynasty. He came of a privileged background; his father being Thomas Fludd who wastreasurer of war to the Queen, in France and the Low Countries. Robert studied at St. Johns college Oxford but

left before obtaining a degree. He then spent six years travelling in Europe. During this period he studied thewritings of Paracelsus which stimulated his interest in alchemy and the occult. On his return to England hewent up to Christ Church college Oxford where he gained a degree in medicine. He built up a medical practicein London and ultimately became a fellow of the College ( later the Royal College ) of Physicians.

1Although

his practice was, by all accounts, successful, he was criticised for his methods. He was said to employ faithhealing, using astrology and numerology, in addition to regular medical practices. No doubt his earlier study ofParacelsus was still an influence. This criticism prompted him to write hisDeclaratio Brevisaddressed to his

patron King James I. I shall return to this later.

Fludd was born during the age of philosophical reasoning and mysticism, and died at the commencement of thebirth of analytical science. His work and his writings typify this period of transition, which I shall refer to as theScientific Awakening. He was much influenced by the early philosophers and the occult. He also felt

constrained to write a defence of the Rosicrucian fraternity with a tract entitled :A Brief Apology, washing awayand cleansing the stain of suspicion and infamy applied to the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross with, as it were, a

Fludd of truth.2( Flood here being spelt as in his surname) There seems to me to be a dichotomy of thought in

FluddsApologia. Whilst he is attempting to justify the principles propounded in the Society of the Rosy Crosshe denounces the old teachings by stating there is a very great defect in all the arts which have until nowflourished in the schools. He goes on to cite what he calls the physical arts of alchemy and mathematicsasbeing the subject of defects.3 Nevertheless some of his writings indicate that he applied the degree of analytical

thought which spawned the Scientific Awakening.

As Freemasons we are familiar with the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences. We may be apt to think that they area peculiarly Masonic concept. However these studies are of much earlier date being taught in monasteries and

universities from the 12

th

century onwards. Indeed very fine frescoes dating from the mid-sixteenth centurydepicting these seven sciences are to be found on the ceiling of the library at the Escorial Palace, Madrid. Threeof the seven, Grammar, Rhetoric and Music, fall into the category of the Arts. Of the four sciences -

Astronomy, Arithmetic, Geometry and Logic - all are of very early date. Astronomy was employed in antiquityfor the purpose of measuring time and the formulation of the calendar. The ancient Egyptians are known tohave observed the heavens and this knowledge was passed to the Greeks. The first scientific calendar must.however, be credited to the Romans who adopted a calendar of twelve months each of thirty days. This soonmoved out of synchronization with the seasons and it was later in 45 BC that the Julian Calendar was introducedwith 365 days and a leap year every fourth year. This was so accurately calculated that it lasted for over 1600years. By 1582 the error amounted to ten days and a further revision was instituted by Pope Gregory XIII whenthe present Gregorian calendar was created. This was immediately adopted by the Roman Catholic countries ofEurope, but was initially rejected by the Protestant nations. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted in England

until 1752.


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Although the ancient astronomers calculated the celestial movements so accurately and were aware of theplanets, or wandering stars, the real nature of the universe was rooted in religious dogma. To the Church theEarth was unquestionably the centre of the universe and all the heavenly bodies rotated about it. Although thePolish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, propounded the heliocentric theory of the solar system in a paperpublished in 1543, its veracity was not immediately accepted. Even when Galileo Galilei, the Italianastronomer, confirmed the Copernican theory by his telescopic discoveries in the middle of the 17

thcentury he

was compelled by the Roman Catholic Church to abjure his beliefs. This alas is only one of many instances

when religious bigotry has hindered the spread of scientific knowledge.

The three other sciences - arithmetic, geometry and logic - are also of early date. These three sciences areclosely connected and, together, are encompassed in what we now term mathematics. The development ofmodern mathematics was in large measure due to the invention of the decimal system and the concept of zero,which we owe to the Arabic world. This system of numeration became current in Europe about 1000 AD andreplaced the cumbersome numeral system used by the Sumerians. Likewise the later Roman system ofnumeration did not lend itself to easy calculation. Mathematics, and its related science, Geometry, developedthrough the process of logical thought and the formulation of axioms and propositions. Euclid, who lived c300BC may be regarded as the father of mathematics. He, and his predecessor Pythagoras, derived their theoriesmore from philosophical thought rather than rigorous application.

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The processes of pure logic instituted by the early Greek philosophers was unable to explain the modern concept

of irrational numbers and the infinite. This philosophical approach to mathematics, astronomy and othersciences inhibited their development until the dawn of, what I termed above, the Scientific Awakening. This isthe era of scientific discovery to which Robert Fludd, in some measure, contributed.

The period of Fludds life was a creative period in the arts as well as a period of d iscovery in the sciences.

Direct contemporaries of Fludd were the great literary figures of Sir Francis Bacon, Ben Johnson, WilliamShakespeare, Edmund Spencer and Miguel de Cervantes. John Donne, one of the great metaphysical poets andThomas Hobbes, the social philosopher who also dabbled in mathematics and mechanics were also hiscontemporaries.

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The discipline of mathematics played an important part in the development of the other sciences. Sir IsaacNewtons mathematical training was the basis of his later discoveries. Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer

became professor of mathematics at Gratz in 1593. Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer, was professor ofmathematics at Padua. Both of these astronomers were able to apply their knowledge of mathematics to theirstudy of astronomy. Mathematical theory took a great step forward when the Scot, John Napier, discoveredlogarithms in 1614.

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Modern methods of scientific analysis were starting to take shape at the beginning of the seventeenth century.William Harvey the English physician conducted serious studies in anatomy and predicated the circulation ofthe blood. Johannes Kepler the German astronomer developed the concept of planetary motion and formulatedthe three laws of planetary motion. However Kepler retained his belief in astrology and maintained hisdiscoveries to be celestial harmonies reflecting Gods design. Even Robert Boyle, who flourished later in the

seventeenth century and who many consider to be the father of chemistry, considered himself to be as much atheologian as a scientist. He is quoted as stating that In the Bible the ignorant may learn all requisiteknowledge and the most knowing may learn to discern their ignorance.

Some of Floods concepts, although drawn from Rosicrucian ideas are strangely reminiscent of modernscientific thinking. Writing of the distinction between the Macrocosm and the Microcosm he talks of thedifferent parts of the cosmos and says

7The highest of these parts is that expanse of the universe where the

fiery spirit was, and .... is so fine and pure that it is totally imperceptible and cannot be seen by us. This surely

describes very well the modern scientific notion of dark matter. In talking of the creation he relies on Biblicaltext saying

8 The Lord said let there be light , but continues the highest heaven, overflowing with light,

was created on the first day. So ... this hitherto shapeless and obscured region was driven down from above in aspiral turn. He says of the primordial matter, that the creation

9causes its substance to expand, as is seen in

the art of Chemistry, where, if some gross matter, shut up in a fairly large, hermetically sealed flask, is made bya strong heat, its rarefied portions naturally want a bigger space, so the glass breaks, so that the rarefied vapoursmay find more room. In the same way, the transparent matter of this heaven, rarefied by its friendly warmth,


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spreads itself out widely. Clearly Fludd is applying observations from his own chemical experiments to thewider concept of the universe. His comments above are uncannily like the 20thcentury big bang theory andthe discovery of the expanding universe. The discovery of the spiral nature of galaxies was only possible whenthe largest astronomical telescopes were built in the middle of the 20 thcentury, but this spiral form was clearlyreferred to in the quotations of Fludd above.

These concepts advanced by Fludd raised critical comment, particularly from Kepler. His motives for writing

them were questioned and it was suggested that he was committing religious innovation or even heresy.Evidently Fludd was forced to justify his assertions about the Macrocosm and Microcosm contained in hisApologia.This he did in a published tract, addressed to King James, and entitledDeclaratio Brevis.

10 In this he

states I will clearly show it here in such a way that Your Majesty will not have any further doubts about myfaithfulness towards God and Your Majesty and to the fatherland. We are able to show certain modest truths, ...and these truths are not to be divulged in a common manner which is uncertain and inconsistent, but in a newway, unknown to the world, which is most certain and infallible. 11 Clearly Fludd was at great pains to justifyhis assertions and, although theDeclaratiois referred to as Brevis, it nevertheless runs to twelve pages in hisbiography! It is not clear to me what criticism Fludd was attempting to refute. It is clear that he had a runningbattle with Kepler over the nature of the universe. Kepler felt that Fludds ideas lacked a rigorous scientificapproach. On the other hand Fludds attempt to refute the suggestion that he had committed religious

innovation suggests that his ideas were too progressive for the Creationists. In his tract A Nosce te ipsumhewrites although men and all things else divide and branch themselves into different persons and shapes ... 12

Is he here giving us a foretaste of the Darwinian theory of evolution which, of course, raised such religiousopposition on its promulgation.

Although his studies of Paracelsus no doubt influenced him throughout his life nevertheless we see in the workof Fludd that he did apply analytical method in much of his work. This is illustrated, when writing his

Philosophical Key about his researches he says To confirm therefore by an evident declaration that myPhilosophy hath flowed only from mine own invention ...

13This ( I say ) is the very cause that I content myself

with speculation of mine own experimental conclusion ....

Notwithstanding his attachment to the Rosicrucian traditions and his own mystical ideas, he did nevertheless

conduct genuine scientific research. Up to the time of the Scientific Awakening the phenomenon of fire wascovered by the phlogiston theory formulated early in the 17th century.14 This theory held that a substance,

phlogiston, was a materialsubstance having weight, and, sometimes, negative weight, and was involved in allcases of combustion. Fludd had a well equipped laboratory which he may have employed in his medicalprofession. He certainly used it for scientific research and conducted an experiment on combustion in a closedcontainer in which he established that a quantity of air had been used up in the process of combustion. This ledto the scientist, Robert Hooke, to suggest that air had a component that, on heating, combined with combustible

substances to produce fire. It was not for another one hundred years that the gas oxygen was isolated. On amore utilitarian level he developed a more efficient process in the smelting of iron. In 1620 the King chargedthe Privy Council to consider Fludds application for a patent method to make steel.

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The dichotomy between Fludds traditional ideas and progressive thinking is perhaps summed up in the

Conclusion of theMosaical Philosophy translated from the Latin and published in 1659 - itis not my intentionto express my more bold and settled opinions touching the true Philosophy and his appendixes in a largerEnglish phrase, considering the roughness and harshness of my pen, by reason of my defect, and in theinsufficiency in the poloshed nature thereof ... and therefore I will say as the Prophet David did, I will sing thetruth under the shadow of thy wings, O Lord, in thee do I put my trust; keep and preserve me from mineenemies, for thy mercy sake AMEN.

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Just two years before Fludds death, the mathematician, Mersennes was instrumental in founding the Academie

Parisien which later became the French Academy of Sciences and at the same period, followers of FrancisBacon formed the Royal Society which was later granted its Royal Charter in 1662. From this point in historythe modern era of scientific discovery commenced.

Whilst the title of this paper is intended to be tongue in cheek Fludd was certainly not the last of theAlchemists, neither was he the first chemist I hope that I have illustrated that he lived at the cusp of theScientific Awakening and played no insignificant part in its birth.


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References contained in the Paper

Page

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica C.D. Edition 2004 Under Fludd2. Robert Fludd Wm. H. Huffman The Aquarian Press 1992 13. do. Do. Do. 544. Encyclopaedia Britannica ibid. Under Maths5. Appendix 16. Appendix 27. Robert Fludd ibid. 728. do. 749. do. 7510. do. 8411. do. 8512. do. 10913. do. 10514. Encyclopaedia Britannica ibid Under Combustion15.

Robert Fludd ibid. 41

16. do. 251


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Appendix 2

Astronomy

Nicolaus Copernicus 19.2.1473 to 24.5.1543. Polish. Propounded heliocentric theory of the solarsystem - c1508-1514; not published until 1543.

Tycho Brahe. Swedish. 1546 to 1601. He rejected Copernican theory but, nevertheless carried outaccurate astronomical measurements.

Galileo Galilei 15.2.1564 to 8.1.1642. Italian. His discoveries with telescope confirmed Copernican

theory. His studies moved thinking from natural philosophy to quantitative mathematicalexperimentation. Medical student in 1581 then professor of mathematics at Padua.

Johannes Kepler 27.12.1571 to 15.11.1630. German. Developed the concept of planetary motion andformulated the three major laws of planetary motion. These were not regarded by Kepler as laws but

celestial harmonies reflecting Gods design. It was not until Newton that these were regarded asphysical principals. Kepler retained the belief in astrology but restricted the domain in which itspredictions could be regarded as reliable. Became professor of mathematics at Gratz in 1593.In 1628 became astrologer to Duke of Wallenstein - commander of forces in 30 years war.

ChemistryRobert Boyle. Irish. 1626 to 1691. The father of chemistry. Although a practical chemist heconsidered himself as much a theologian as a scientist. In the Bible the ignorant may learn all

requisite knowledge and the most knowing may learn to discern their ignorance.

Johanne Bernouille. Swiss. 1677 to 1748. Mathematician and chemist.

Joseph Priestly. English. 1733 to 1804. Discoverer of Oxygen.

Antoine Lavoisier. French. 1743 to 1794. Set modern chemistry on its path. Formulated the theory

of Chemical Elements. Disposed of the notion of Phlogiston.

MathematicsRene Descartes. 1596 to 1650. French Philosopher and mathematician. Co-ordinate geometry.John Napier. Scottish. 1550 to 1617. Invented logarithms 1614.

Omar Khayyam. c1123. Poet and mathematician. Advanced maths thinking.

MedicineHippocrates. Greek. c460 to 377 BC. Regarded as the Father of Medicine.

William Harvey. English 1578 to 1657. Physician who predicated the circulation of the blood.Sir William Jenner. English. 1815 to 1898.

PhysicsBlaise Pascal. French. 1623 to 1662. Also a mathematician and moralist.Robert Hooke. English. 1635 to 1703. Theory of elasticity - vide Hookes Law. Also conductedexperiments on fire.Isaac Newton. English. 1642 to 1727.Benjamin Franklin American. 1706 to 1790. A polymath. Scientist, inventor and philosopher.Leonhard Euler. Swiss. 1707 to 1783. Mathematician.Michael Faraday. English. 1791 to 1867. Electromagnetism and Electrolysis.


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Appendix 1

Fludd ( 1574-1637)Contemporaries

Edmund Spencer. 1552 to 1599. English writer and poet.Sir Francis Bacon. English writer and philosopher. 1561 to 1626. Went up to Cambridge and

Grays Inn. His book The Advancement of Learninggave impetus to inductive methods.

William Shakespeare. 1564 to 1616.Miguel de Cervantes. Spanish c1547 to 1616.Don Quixotesaid to be the first modern novel.Ben Johnson. c1573 to 1637. Poet laureate 1616.Galileo. see Appendix 2.Johannes Kepler. see Appendix 2.

John Donne. English. 1572 to 1631. One of the greatest metaphysicalpoets. Educated atOxford and Cambridge and studied law at London.

Thomas Hobbes. English. 1588 to 1679. Social philosopher. Interest in mathematicsand mechanics. Met with Bacon, Galileo and Descartes.

Rene Descartes. French. 1596 to 1650. Mathematician and philosopher. Founded

Co-ordinate geometry.

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Robert Fludd by RW Fra Harold Hampton