Dionysius Rogers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Drafts by Dionysius Rogers
This paper provides an overview of a sub-current within sixteenth and seventeenth century alchemy... more This paper provides an overview of a sub-current within sixteenth and seventeenth century alchemy that assigned the Philosopher’s Stone a power over angels and other spirits. In his study of Robert Boyle’s alchemy, Laurence Principe has coined the term, ‘supernatural alchemy’ to refer to the school that subscribed to this idea, which was also called ‘mystical chymistry’ by its contemporary detractor Meric Casaubon.
Taking Elias Ashmole’s published account of the ‘Angelicall Stone’ in the ‘Prolegomena’ to his Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum as a point of departure, the paper surveys the earlier figures of Edward Kelly, Arthur Dee and William Backhouse with respect to their contributions to Ashmole’s alchemical doctrine. It examines the parallel notion in the work of Boyle, and attends to Robert Plot and John Pordage as prospective but apparently unfulfilled successors to the secret of Ashmole’s Angelical Stone.
A concluding discussion considers the relevance of socio-political and religious conditions to the development of supernatural alchemy in England in the mid-17th century. The paper ends with an additional ‘coda’ speculating on a possible psychopharmacological basis for the lore of mystical chymistry.
Master's Thesis by Dionysius Rogers
The juxtaposition of emblematic and allegorical persons with detailed architectural spaces in Fra... more The juxtaposition of emblematic and allegorical persons with detailed architectural spaces in Francesco Colonna’s 1499 Hypnerotomachia represents an independent Renaissance development of medieval mnemotechnical literature, in a book which declares itself to offer “Things Worthy of Knowledge and Memory.” There are eight chapters of the paper addressing this thesis, summarized as follows:
The first chapter provides a summary of the Hypnerotomachia itself, along with a statement of the central thesis, and a brief review of authors who have previously alluded to the issue of the paper.
The next chapter addresses issues surrounding the authorship of the pseudonymous Hypnerotomachia by the Dominican monk Colonna.
The third chapter reviews some of the overt appeals to the nature and importance of memory in the Hypnerotomachia, and discusses the relationship between memory and mortality.
Following some speculation on the significance of the title “Hypnerotomachia,” a fourth chapter uses paronomasia as a route to discussing the magical and mechanical themes in the text, and how they relate to the art of memory.
The fifth chapter details the mnemotechnical context and features of the Psychomachia of Prudentius (c. 400 C.E.), in order to provide a background and contrast for the Hypnerotomachia.
The sixth chapter examines the ways in which memory arts were applied and demonstrated in the composition of the text of the Hypnerotomachia.
The woodcut illustrations of the Hypnerotomachia have been a great source of interest in the book. The seventh chapter details their relevance to Colonna’s mnemotechny.
The final chapter of the paper addresses the subsequent influence of the mnemonic aspects of the Hypnerotomachia.
Conference Presentations by Dionysius Rogers
The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was first published in Venice in 1499. The author Francesco Colonna... more The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was first published in Venice in 1499. The author Francesco Colonna, writing as "Poliphilo, offered a long dream-narrative in which the protagonist sought to recover his beloved among ancient buildings and monuments, and amidst the festivities and ceremonies of pagan cults. The Hypnerotomachia was in many respects developed from mythic narratives of late antiquity: the pagan Metamorphoses of Apuleius and the Christian Psychomachia of Prudentius. Even more fundamentally, Colonna's book reflects the paradigmatic story of the bereaved Orpheus, both as a tale of lost love and tragic affection, and as a metaphor for the loss and attempted recovery of knowledge.
Papers by Dionysius Rogers
This paper asserts that the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili deserves to be classed among the texts... more This paper asserts that the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili deserves to be classed among the texts of Renaissance Hermeticism. In particular, it examines evidence that the anonymous author of the Hypnerotomachia drew on the Hermetic Asclepius for many of his ideas regarding pagan religion. The demonstrable debt of the Hypnerotomachia to the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, who was supposed by Renaissance readers to have translated the Asclepius, provides a reading bridge between the Hypnerotomachia and the Hermetica, as well as a context for many of the individual themes and ideas which correspond between the two texts.
One point of comparison is the nature of the polytheism of the Hypnerotomachia, along with its references to individual gods. Another is the extent to which the Hypnerotomachia reflects the Egyptianism of the Asclepius and the Hermetica generally. Special attention is given to the idolatrous “magical statues” described in the Asclepius, and their presence in the Hypnerotomachia. The paper inquires into the Hypnerotomachia’s expression of antique philosophical themes of necessity, fate, and order, along with Hermetic ideas of the metaphysical Henad. Finally, there is a discussion of the patent ideology of erotic supremacy in the Hypnerotomachia, and how that position relates to the Hermetic discourse of the Asclepius.
Based on these thematic analyses, the the paper concludes that even if the Hypnerotomachia author had no contact with the Hermetic texts recovered and popularized through the efforts of Marsilio Ficino, strong Hermetic elements are still evident in the text. These elements can be found in the Asclepius, which had long been available in its own right outside of Ficino’s work.
The interaction between the establishment church and Lollard or Wycliffite dissenters in late med... more The interaction between the establishment church and Lollard or Wycliffite dissenters in late medieval England was characterized by the interplay of issues surrounding secrecy and proprietary status regarding scriptures, confession, and other sacraments. The 14 th and 15 th centuries when this conflict developed were also a time in which the social organization of artisan and craft guilds was a matter for public notice, and many Lollards were themselves craftsmen. The Middle English term misterie denotes a craft guild and its secrets, as well as a religious rite, and the confluence of these ideas in the social space of Lollard heresy and its repression helps to illuminate the motives of the heretics as well as the methods of official reaction.
This paper provides an overview of a sub-current within sixteenth and seventeenth century alchemy... more This paper provides an overview of a sub-current within sixteenth and seventeenth century alchemy that assigned the Philosopher’s Stone a power over angels and other spirits. In his study of Robert Boyle’s alchemy, Laurence Principe has coined the term, ‘supernatural alchemy’ to refer to the school that subscribed to this idea, which was also called ‘mystical chymistry’ by its contemporary detractor Meric Casaubon.
Taking Elias Ashmole’s published account of the ‘Angelicall Stone’ in the ‘Prolegomena’ to his Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum as a point of departure, the paper surveys the earlier figures of Edward Kelly, Arthur Dee and William Backhouse with respect to their contributions to Ashmole’s alchemical doctrine. It examines the parallel notion in the work of Boyle, and attends to Robert Plot and John Pordage as prospective but apparently unfulfilled successors to the secret of Ashmole’s Angelical Stone.
A concluding discussion considers the relevance of socio-political and religious conditions to the development of supernatural alchemy in England in the mid-17th century. The paper ends with an additional ‘coda’ speculating on a possible psychopharmacological basis for the lore of mystical chymistry.
The juxtaposition of emblematic and allegorical persons with detailed architectural spaces in Fra... more The juxtaposition of emblematic and allegorical persons with detailed architectural spaces in Francesco Colonna’s 1499 Hypnerotomachia represents an independent Renaissance development of medieval mnemotechnical literature, in a book which declares itself to offer “Things Worthy of Knowledge and Memory.” There are eight chapters of the paper addressing this thesis, summarized as follows:
The first chapter provides a summary of the Hypnerotomachia itself, along with a statement of the central thesis, and a brief review of authors who have previously alluded to the issue of the paper.
The next chapter addresses issues surrounding the authorship of the pseudonymous Hypnerotomachia by the Dominican monk Colonna.
The third chapter reviews some of the overt appeals to the nature and importance of memory in the Hypnerotomachia, and discusses the relationship between memory and mortality.
Following some speculation on the significance of the title “Hypnerotomachia,” a fourth chapter uses paronomasia as a route to discussing the magical and mechanical themes in the text, and how they relate to the art of memory.
The fifth chapter details the mnemotechnical context and features of the Psychomachia of Prudentius (c. 400 C.E.), in order to provide a background and contrast for the Hypnerotomachia.
The sixth chapter examines the ways in which memory arts were applied and demonstrated in the composition of the text of the Hypnerotomachia.
The woodcut illustrations of the Hypnerotomachia have been a great source of interest in the book. The seventh chapter details their relevance to Colonna’s mnemotechny.
The final chapter of the paper addresses the subsequent influence of the mnemonic aspects of the Hypnerotomachia.
The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was first published in Venice in 1499. The author Francesco Colonna... more The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was first published in Venice in 1499. The author Francesco Colonna, writing as "Poliphilo, offered a long dream-narrative in which the protagonist sought to recover his beloved among ancient buildings and monuments, and amidst the festivities and ceremonies of pagan cults. The Hypnerotomachia was in many respects developed from mythic narratives of late antiquity: the pagan Metamorphoses of Apuleius and the Christian Psychomachia of Prudentius. Even more fundamentally, Colonna's book reflects the paradigmatic story of the bereaved Orpheus, both as a tale of lost love and tragic affection, and as a metaphor for the loss and attempted recovery of knowledge.
This paper asserts that the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili deserves to be classed among the texts... more This paper asserts that the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili deserves to be classed among the texts of Renaissance Hermeticism. In particular, it examines evidence that the anonymous author of the Hypnerotomachia drew on the Hermetic Asclepius for many of his ideas regarding pagan religion. The demonstrable debt of the Hypnerotomachia to the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, who was supposed by Renaissance readers to have translated the Asclepius, provides a reading bridge between the Hypnerotomachia and the Hermetica, as well as a context for many of the individual themes and ideas which correspond between the two texts.
One point of comparison is the nature of the polytheism of the Hypnerotomachia, along with its references to individual gods. Another is the extent to which the Hypnerotomachia reflects the Egyptianism of the Asclepius and the Hermetica generally. Special attention is given to the idolatrous “magical statues” described in the Asclepius, and their presence in the Hypnerotomachia. The paper inquires into the Hypnerotomachia’s expression of antique philosophical themes of necessity, fate, and order, along with Hermetic ideas of the metaphysical Henad. Finally, there is a discussion of the patent ideology of erotic supremacy in the Hypnerotomachia, and how that position relates to the Hermetic discourse of the Asclepius.
Based on these thematic analyses, the the paper concludes that even if the Hypnerotomachia author had no contact with the Hermetic texts recovered and popularized through the efforts of Marsilio Ficino, strong Hermetic elements are still evident in the text. These elements can be found in the Asclepius, which had long been available in its own right outside of Ficino’s work.
The interaction between the establishment church and Lollard or Wycliffite dissenters in late med... more The interaction between the establishment church and Lollard or Wycliffite dissenters in late medieval England was characterized by the interplay of issues surrounding secrecy and proprietary status regarding scriptures, confession, and other sacraments. The 14 th and 15 th centuries when this conflict developed were also a time in which the social organization of artisan and craft guilds was a matter for public notice, and many Lollards were themselves craftsmen. The Middle English term misterie denotes a craft guild and its secrets, as well as a religious rite, and the confluence of these ideas in the social space of Lollard heresy and its repression helps to illuminate the motives of the heretics as well as the methods of official reaction.