Page "Albertus Magnus" Paragraph 19

In the centuries since his death, many stories arose about Albertus as an alchemist and magician.

On the subject of alchemy and chemistry, many treatises relating to Alchemy have been attributed to him, though in his authentic writings he had little to say on the subject, and then mostly through commentary on Aristotle.

For example, in his commentary, De mineralibus, he refers to the power of stones, but does not elaborate on what these powers might be.

A wide range of Pseudo-Albertine works dealing with alchemy exist, though, showing the belief developed in the generations following Albert's death that he had mastered alchemy, one of the fundamental sciences of the Middle Ages.

These include Metals and Materials ; the Secrets of Chemistry ; the Origin of Metals ; the Origins of Compounds, and a Concordance which is a collection of Observations on the philosopher's stone ; and other alchemy-chemistry topics, collected under the name of Theatrum Chemicum.

He is credited with the discovery of the element arsenic and experimented with photosensitive chemicals, including silver nitrate.

He did believe that stones had occult properties, as he related in his work De mineralibus.

However, there is scant evidence that he personally performed alchemical experiments.