Academic Alchemy: The Fundamentum scienciae nobilissimae secretorum naturae of Adam of Bochyń

Alchemy was never taught at any medieval or early modern university, yet there is evidence of interest in the art among students and professors throughout Europe. Studies of academic alchemy have generally focused on the interests of individuals rather than examining communities of university alchemists. At the turn of the fifteenth century, the University of Cracow hosted a larger community of practitioners than previously acknowledged. This article presents a discussion, edition, and translation of a text that came out of that community: the Fundamentum scienciae nobilissimae secretorum naturae, written by Adam of Bochyń in 1489 while a student at the University of Cracow. In Adam’s day, the university was experiencing an exceptionally vibrant moment in the sciences, particularly astronomy. Editing Adam’s text will lay the groundwork for further studies of Cracow’s alchemical community, studies that will change our understanding of the university’s scientific flourishing as well as of the geography of central European alchemy, which has been dominated in the scholarship by Rudolf II’s Prague.