Jewish Alchemists in Central Europe in the Later Middle Ages: Some New Sources

"Alchemy [as well as astrology] was regarded as a Jewish specialty, despite the fact that the number of Jewish alchemists known to us is small."¹ Although this statement by Joshua Trachtenberg, which dates from 1943, remains basically valid, a close look at the sources reveals that records of Jewish alchemists are not quite as rare as Trachtenberg and other authors, with the exception of the late Raphael Patai,² have assumed. Here I will present hitherto neglected evidence about a number of Jews who engaged (or may have engaged) in alchemy.

1. About half a century ago, Gerhard Eis examined a manuscript in the library of the University of Heidelberg, entitled Alchymey teuczsch (= "Alchemy in German"). He came to the conclusion that it was "one of the earliest German monuments of alchemical activity and literature."³ Writing in code, one of its authors hinted that the composition of the text began in 1426 under the sign of Taurus. There are other astrological sections, too, but the manuscript is mainly about a group of four alchemists who tried to produce gold in the year 1423. Eis showed that the alchemists endeavored to attract the interest of Bishop Leonhard of Passau and must have lived not far from this city. The leader of this group seems to have been a certain Master Niklas Jankowitz. The codex itself does not deal with a Jew, but its cover does: a parchment diploma edited by the cousins Johannes and Georg, landgraves of Leuchtenberg and counts of Hals, two noblemen from the Passau region. They guaranteed the Jew Salman Teublein, his wife, and his servants the same rights enjoyed by the Jews of Regensburg and Straubing. At the time, the landgraves represented the duke of Bayern-Straubing vis-à-vis the Jews of Regensburg. They allowed Salman Teublein to hold religious services and maintain a school in any town in their territory and to lend money as well.⁴

At first sight this diploma has nothing to do with the manuscript it binds. A closer look indicates otherwise: in the document, the landgraves insist that Salman Teublein not reveal his secret art to anyone as long as he and his family live under their jurisdiction. If Salman intended to leave, he must teach the landgraves the three best procedures he knew or the three they liked best, and declare under oath that he had not withheld any further information concerning these operations. For their part, the landgraves agreed never to reveal to anyone outside their own family details about Salman's secret knowledge, so that it would not become known beyond the borders of their county. I agree with Gerhard Eis's hypothesis that the authors of the Alchymey teuczsch were probably Salman Teublein's successors and were the alchemists of the landgraves of Leuchtenberg.⁵

Fortunately, this is not all we know about Salman Teublein's career. There is evidence that in 1415 he was called Salman of Hals and lived in Innsbruck. This must have been after his engagement at the landgraves' court. His new lord, Duke Frederic IV of Austria, who was also Count of Tyrol, somehow became aware of the special expertise of his new Jew. When a Jew named Isaak of Nuremberg was arrested in the duke's lands without a travel permit and sent to prison, Isaak's sister Henndlein and his brother Simon tried to get him released with the help of the magistrate of Regensburg, where they were both living. Salman got involved in the case and tried to help Isaak gain his freedom. A third party offered the duke 2,000 florins, but could not reach an agreement with him to allow Isaak to return to Nuremberg. Salman was more successful. On March 18 he reported to the magistrate of Regensburg that Duke Frederic had agreed to release Isaak from prison on condition that Salman pay over 600 florins. In addition, and evidently of greater importance to the prince, Salman had to reveal to Frederic the precious art which he had mastered and which had...