Renaissance Archives
Figures and manuscripts of the Renaissance period.
The Renaissance (c. 1460–1600) represents the 'golden age' of Western Hermeticism, initiated by Marsilio Ficino's translation of the Corpus Hermeticum into Latin. This period saw the synthesis of Hermeticism with Christian Kabbalah, Neoplatonism, and humanism.
Figures like Pico della Mirandola and Giordano Bruno utilized the 'Yates Paradigm' of the active magus to challenge traditional scholasticism, while Cornelius Agrippa provided the definitive synthesis of 'Occult Philosophy' that would define the era's magical worldview.
Figures
Andreas Libavius
Critic of Paracelsus; author of the first chemistry textbook, 'Alchemia'....
Basil Valentine
Legendary monk-alchemist behind the 'Twelve Keys'....
Francesco Patrizi
Attempted to replace Aristotle with Hermes Trismegistus in Catholic university curricula....
Giordano Bruno
Hermetic philosopher and cosmological visionary....
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Synthesized Hermetism, Kabbalah, and Platonism....
Guillaume Postel
French linguist and Christian Kabbalist who translated the Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah....
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Author of 'De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres'....
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Author of the encyclopedic 'De Occulta Philosophia'....
Heinrich Khunrath
Author of the 'Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae'....
Johann Valentin Andreae
Lutheran theologian and putative author of the Rosicrucian manifestos....
Johannes Reuchlin
The founder of Christian Kabbalah....
Johannes Trithemius
Abbot, cryptographer, and theorist of angelic magic....
John Dee
Elizabethan polymath and author of the 'Monas Hieroglyphica'....
Lodovico Lazzarelli
Hermetic poet and author of the 'Crater Hermetis'....
Marsilio Ficino
Translator of the Corpus Hermeticum into Latin....
Michael Maier
Alchemist and physician to Rudolf II; author of 'Atalanta Fugiens'....
Nicholas of Cusa
German cardinal, philosopher of the coincidentia oppositorum....
Pietro Pomponazzi
No short definition available...
Robert Fludd
Engish physician and author of the 'Utriusque Cosmi Historia'....
Symphorien Champier
No short definition available...
Theophrastus Paracelsus
Swiss-German physician and alchemist; founder of Iatrochemistry....
Tommaso Campanella
Dominican friar and author of 'The City of the Sun', imprisoned for magic and heresy....
Manuscripts & Texts
Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae
Khunrath's masterpiece of theosophical alchemy....
Aurora Consurgens
Illuminated alchemical manuscript attributed to Aquinas....
Crater Hermetis
A 15th-century dialogue by Lodovico Lazzarelli that synthesizes Hermetic regeneration with Christian theology....
De Occulta Philosophia
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's monumental three-book synthesis of occult knowledge (1533)....
De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres
Agrippa's massive synthesis of natural, celestial, and ceremonial magic....
Monas Hieroglyphica
John Dee's esoteric mathematical symbol....
Rosarium Philosophorum
16th-century compilation of early alchemical authority....
Splendor Solis
One of the most beautifully illustrated alchemical manuscripts....