Gabrielle shook her head looking over the semester plan for her second years. It seemed like all the other years got to go on excursions out of the castle, except for the second years. She gave the students a sympathetic smile as they entered. "Morning, everyone. Another lecture today, I'm sorry, but this is the last big one you'll have for the semester." Gabrielle at least hoped that helped them feel a little better about it. "We're talking about the historical study of alchemy today." She had her water in hand, cleared her throat, and looked over the students to see if they were ready to take notes before getting started.
"So when you cross chemistry and magic, what do you get? Alchemy." And Potions, kind of, but that was besides the point. "It's the study of the mix of chemicals with magic. Alchemists, you might remember from looking up information on Paracelsus, hint hint, were trying to do things such as turn lesser metals into gold. They wanted to cure every disease, they wanted immortality. In short, they were...let's just say ambitious and leave it at that." Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, before continuing. "It is believed that it was founded and first studied by the Arabs - so, in and around the south-west Asian northern African region - although it was refined and studied all around the world."
"In the late 1500s, the world's leading alchemists were hired to work in Prague, the capital of what we now know as the Czech Republic. This lead to Prague being known as 'The Metropolis of Alchemy'. But of course, greed and ambition are a dangerous combination. A British alchemist, Edward Kelley, was unable to create gold and was thrown into the dungeons by the emperor. Even Queen Elizabeth the First wasn't able to obtain his freedom through diplomacy. Poor old Edward died trying to escape."
Gabrielle cleared her throat, pausing to take a drink and give the students a chance to catch up, before continuing. "Of course, there were many fraudulent alchemists, as you might expect. A man arrived in Prague claiming he would multiply the gold of the wealthiest men around, who, naturally, were greedy enough to say yes. So this man created a mixture that merely turned out to be a stinkbomb, and when everyone was distracted, ran off with all the gold." Gabrielle smirked. "You have to admire the panache, if not the actions. But also, I'm contractually obligated to advise you not to try such a thing on any of your professors," she added, joking. She certainly hoped they wouldn't try anything, not that being a professor meant she had a surplus of money from which to steal.
"On a different alchemical note now, who here has heard of the Philosopher's Stone?" A few students raised their hands, though she wasn't surprised not all of them had. It was distant history now and many of the students may not have had a magical upbringing. "The Philosopher's Stone was the Holy Grail of alchemy - you may remember that term from learning about Merlin and King Arthur. It was believed to be able to create gold from base substances, and had the capacity for rejuvenating life, allowing one to live on as long as they pleased." Gabrielle shook her head. "Naturally, people lost their lives searching for such a miraculous object. And if they didn't lose their lives from that, the fact that their means of creating gold was through using sulphur and mercury - as sulphur was a very yellow substance, or so the logic goes - probably meant that they'd be in some sort of danger of chemical exposure." Gabrielle was no scientist, she was a quintessential liberal arts student, but she knew of the consequences of prolonged experience to mercury. Not to mention the smell of the sulphur.
"Alright, that's enough from me for today. Thanks for being patient. Homework," she paused as a couple of students groaned, and she shook her head with a laugh. "Homework is to look up Nicolas Flamel in the library and write a short essay on him, please." Gabrielle waved her wand to open the doors, letting the students go free.
Homework
RP the lesson. Extra credit if you write a short essay (1-2 paragraphs is fine) on Nicolas Flamel. Would prefer the real one, but if you write about the fictionalized version from the books I'll actually allow it if it's coherent. As always, please cite your sources!
"So when you cross chemistry and magic, what do you get? Alchemy." And Potions, kind of, but that was besides the point. "It's the study of the mix of chemicals with magic. Alchemists, you might remember from looking up information on Paracelsus, hint hint, were trying to do things such as turn lesser metals into gold. They wanted to cure every disease, they wanted immortality. In short, they were...let's just say ambitious and leave it at that." Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, before continuing. "It is believed that it was founded and first studied by the Arabs - so, in and around the south-west Asian northern African region - although it was refined and studied all around the world."
"In the late 1500s, the world's leading alchemists were hired to work in Prague, the capital of what we now know as the Czech Republic. This lead to Prague being known as 'The Metropolis of Alchemy'. But of course, greed and ambition are a dangerous combination. A British alchemist, Edward Kelley, was unable to create gold and was thrown into the dungeons by the emperor. Even Queen Elizabeth the First wasn't able to obtain his freedom through diplomacy. Poor old Edward died trying to escape."
Gabrielle cleared her throat, pausing to take a drink and give the students a chance to catch up, before continuing. "Of course, there were many fraudulent alchemists, as you might expect. A man arrived in Prague claiming he would multiply the gold of the wealthiest men around, who, naturally, were greedy enough to say yes. So this man created a mixture that merely turned out to be a stinkbomb, and when everyone was distracted, ran off with all the gold." Gabrielle smirked. "You have to admire the panache, if not the actions. But also, I'm contractually obligated to advise you not to try such a thing on any of your professors," she added, joking. She certainly hoped they wouldn't try anything, not that being a professor meant she had a surplus of money from which to steal.
"On a different alchemical note now, who here has heard of the Philosopher's Stone?" A few students raised their hands, though she wasn't surprised not all of them had. It was distant history now and many of the students may not have had a magical upbringing. "The Philosopher's Stone was the Holy Grail of alchemy - you may remember that term from learning about Merlin and King Arthur. It was believed to be able to create gold from base substances, and had the capacity for rejuvenating life, allowing one to live on as long as they pleased." Gabrielle shook her head. "Naturally, people lost their lives searching for such a miraculous object. And if they didn't lose their lives from that, the fact that their means of creating gold was through using sulphur and mercury - as sulphur was a very yellow substance, or so the logic goes - probably meant that they'd be in some sort of danger of chemical exposure." Gabrielle was no scientist, she was a quintessential liberal arts student, but she knew of the consequences of prolonged experience to mercury. Not to mention the smell of the sulphur.
"Alright, that's enough from me for today. Thanks for being patient. Homework," she paused as a couple of students groaned, and she shook her head with a laugh. "Homework is to look up Nicolas Flamel in the library and write a short essay on him, please." Gabrielle waved her wand to open the doors, letting the students go free.
Homework
RP the lesson. Extra credit if you write a short essay (1-2 paragraphs is fine) on Nicolas Flamel. Would prefer the real one, but if you write about the fictionalized version from the books I'll actually allow it if it's coherent. As always, please cite your sources!
