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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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being largely, but by no means solely, drawn from political
considerations. Even more decidedly was it moral, and thus, while in
not a few instances he displays the working of party-spirit, in others
he permits himself to part altogether with the current Ghibelline
views.
His reference to Michael Scot, then, is undoubtedly a case of the
latter kind. As a seer whose attention was fixed on the past he was
naturally impatient of those who pretended to unfold the future.
Scot, as the author of prophetical verses, seemed to Dante a fair
object for censure, as one who had degraded the sacred art of the
bard to serve the purpose of a charlatan. He placed him with
Amphiareus, with Teiresias and the other diviners, who, because
they sought to pry into the future, appeared to the poet with their
heads turned backward in punishment of their presumption. An
additional proof that this was in fact the reason for Dante’s harsh
dealing with Scot may be seen in the Dittamondo of Fazio degli
Uberti. This poem, composed towards the end of the fourteenth
century, was modelled on the Divine Comedy, and expressly formed
to expound it. Here are the lines which correspond in the
Dittamondo to those of Dante relating to Michael Scot:

‘In questo tempo che m’odi contare

Michele Scotto fù, che per sua arte
Sapeva Simon Mago contraffare,
E se tu leggerai nelle sue carte
Le profezie ch’ei fece, troverai
Vere venire dove sono sparte.’

Here the reader will observe that the prophetical writings of Scot
are distinctly mentioned, and we are not left, as by Dante, to infer,
merely from the company in which we find him, the view that was
taken by the poet of his character and fame.
It was to reinforce this unfavourable judgment based on other
grounds that Dante adopted the legend already popular regarding
Scot’s magical studies. In doing so he gave the matter a turn which
widely separated his version of the tale from the prevailing Ghibelline
stories, told no doubt with bated breath, but told on the whole to
Scot’s credit. In thus dealing with the legend Dante made use of a
distinction well known to the Arabs, and now becoming familiar also
in the West: that, namely, which divided the art of magic into the
real and the illusory; called by Eastern magicians Er Roóhhánee and
Es Seémiya.[299] The former was noble magic, and acted in power
upon high spirits, subduing them to the magician’s will; being either
white or black according to the purpose that was sought by their aid.
The latter, on the other hand, produced no real effects whatever on
material things, but moved altogether in the sphere of mind. At its
highest it gave a mastery, which was perhaps hypnotic, over the
senses of those whom the magician sought to delude. At its lowest it
was the art of the juggler and his apes, cheating eye and ear by
tricks like those which have survived to form our modern conjuring
entertainments.[300] Here the apparatus of the higher magic was still
used, but so as to be degraded and distorted from its original
purpose. The circle now served to secure the mage, not from the
assaults of supernatural beings, but from the indiscreet approach of
too curious spectators. The brazier with its cloud of dense and
stupifying smoke served to affect the senses of the subject; the
strange sound of recited spells to impress his imagination; the magic
mirror to fix his attention, till he became the wizard’s captive and
obedient to his every suggestion. This was the art of glamour, as it
used to be called, which, in one sphere, seemed to change a ruinous
and cobweb-hung hall into a bower of delight; in another, made
visions of distant places and future times appear in mirrors or
crystals; in yet another, provided the philtres which provoked love,
the ligatures which restrained it, and even dealt in that accursed
spell of envoutement which promised to procure for jealousy and
hatred all their wicked will.
Such then were the magiche frode of which Dante accuses Scot,
and it is easy to see that the sting of the verse lies just here; in the
unreality it attributes to this magician’s art, much as if the poet had
called him in plain prose, ‘no mage, but a common juggler.’
Resenting Scot’s pose as a prophet, and persuaded of the futility of
such dreams in comparison with the splendid and enduring
certainties of his own art, Dante used that gift with cruel force to
convey a similar accusation regarding the romantic fame of the
philosopher, holding him up to the world as no mighty master of
mysterious power, but, in this too, a mere impostor.
The anonymous Florentine, in his comment on the Divine Comedy,
softens the matter a little, and at the same time imports into it a
confusion of thought very difficult to unravel, when he says: ‘This art
of magic may be employed in two ways; for either magicians
compose by cunning certain bodies, all compact of air, which yet
appear substantial, or else they show things having the appearance
of reality but not in truth real, and in both these ways of working
was Michael a great master.’ There is an attempt here to vindicate
for Scot a higher place than that of the mere charlatan, but the
commentator’s distinction is one not readily or clearly to be
apprehended, and we may greatly doubt if it ever entered his
author’s mind.
The hint thus given was speedily acted upon. For to it, no doubt,
we owe the numerous tales regarding Michael Scot of which
Benvenuto da Imola and the anonymous Florentine speak. Landino
gives a specimen, as follows. During the philosopher’s residence in
Bologna he used to invite his friends to dinner, but without making
any preparation for their entertainment. When the hour struck, and
the guests were seated at table, they found it nevertheless covered
with the choicest viands. Their host would then explain that one dish
came from the royal kitchen at Paris, another from that of the
English king, and so on with the rest. Jacopo della Lana repeats the
same story, but with certain variations.[301] According to this
commentator, Michael Scot always kept the best company, living in
all respects as a gentleman and cavalier. In his tricks of the table he
did not spare even his own master, but, while choosing his boiled
meat from Paris, and his roasts from London, would always procure
his entrées from the King of Sicily’s provision. The anonymous
Florentine adds another tale to the same purpose, saying that his
guests once asked Scot to show them a new marvel. The month was
January, yet, in spite of the season, he caused vines with fresh
shoots and ripe clusters of grapes to appear on the table. The
company were bidden each of them to choose a bunch, but their
host warned them not to put forth their hands till he should give the
sign. At the word ‘cut,’ lo, the grapes disappeared, and the guests
found themselves each with a knife in one hand, and in the other his
neighbours sleeve. Francesco da Buti adds the significant note, ‘all
this was nothing but a cheat; for they only seemed to feast, and
either did not really do so, or else took the dishes for something
quite other than they really were.’ This is enough to show that the
sense we have given to Dante’s words is one which found favour in
early times.
Boccaccio, commencing his lectures on Dante in the Church of San
Stefano at Florence in October 1373, proceeded in them no further,
unfortunately, than the seventeenth canto of the Inferno, so that we
are deprived of his notes on the passage which refers to Michael
Scot. In the Decamerone, however, he treats the subject in a
passing way; making a citizen of Bologna speak of the magician’s
residence in that town.[302] Scot, he said, had performed many
prodigies there, to the delight of sundry gentlemen his friends, and
at their request had, on his departure, left behind him two scholars,
who kept up fairly the traditions of his art. This seems to indicate
that Boccaccio had in mind the stories told by the other
commentators on Dante, and the tone of his novel supports the
conjecture that he agreed with the great poet and with Da Buti, in
regarding these prodigies as pertaining to the department of
fictitious magic.
More interesting, perhaps, are the tales which involve Michael the
magician with the fates of his great master, Frederick II. In the
Paradiso degli Alberti,[303] for example, we read how, at the feast
given by the Emperor to celebrate his coronation at Rome, which
had taken place on November 22, 1220, the company were
entertained by a strange event. They were just in the act of washing
their hands before sitting down to table in the great hall at Palermo.
The pages were still on foot with ewers and basins of perfumed
water and embroidered towels, when suddenly Michael Scot
appeared with a companion, both of them dressed in Eastern robes,
and offered to show the guests a marvel. The weather was
oppressively warm, so Frederick asked him to procure them a
shower of rain which might bring coolness. This the magicians
accordingly did, raising a great storm, which as suddenly vanished
again at their pleasure. Being required by the Emperor to name his
reward, Scot asked leave to choose one of the company to be the
champion of himself and his friend against certain enemies of theirs.
This being freely granted, their choice fell on Ulfo, a German baron.
As it seemed to Ulfo, they set off at once on their expedition, leaving
the coasts of Sicily in two great galleys, and with a mighty following
of armed men. They sailed through the Gulf of Lyons, and passed by
the Pillars of Hercules, into the unknown and western sea. Here they
found smiling coasts, received a welcome from the strange people,
and joined themselves to the army of the place; Ulfo taking the
supreme command. Two pitched battles and a successful siege
formed the incidents of the campaign. Ulfo killed the hostile king,
married his lovely daughter, and reigned in his stead; Michael and
his companion having left to seek other adventures. Of this marriage
sons and daughters were begotten, and twenty years passed like a
dream ere the magicians returned, and invited their champion to
revisit the Sicilian court. Ulfo went back with them, but what was his
amazement, on entering the palace at Palermo, to find everything
just as it had been at the moment of their departure so long before;
even the pages were still going the rounds with water for the hands
of the Emperor’s guests. This prodigy performed, Michael and the
other withdrew and were seen no more, but Ulfo, it is said, remained
ever inconsolable for the lost land of loveliness and the joys of
wedded life he had left behind for ever in a dream not to be
repeated. This tale appears also in the Cento Novelle Antiche,[304]
but in that collection the place of Michael Scot and his companion is
taken by ‘three masters of necromancy.’
In the Pseudo Boccaccio[305] we find another tale, referring to the
later and less happy period of the imperial fortunes. The scene is
laid in Vittoria, the armed camp which Frederick pitched so long
before the walls of rebellious Parma. The Parmigiani had made a
successful sally, forced the defences of Vittoria, and were plundering
the place. A poor shoemaker of Parma, who made one of this
expedition, was lucky enough to come upon the imperial tent itself.
Entering, he found a small barrel, which he caught up and carried
back to his home. On trial it proved to contain excellent wine, which
the shoemaker and his wife drank from day to day, till at last it
occurred to them to wonder why the supply never came to an end.
They opened the barrel to see, and found within it a small silver
figure of an angel with his foot planted on a grape, also of silver,
from which flowed constantly the delicious wine they had so long
enjoyed. ‘Now, this was made by magic art,’ continues the
commentator, ‘and by necromancy, and it was Thales, otherwise
called Michael Scot, who contrived it by his skill and power.’ Needless
to add that, by this indiscreet curiosity, the charm was broken, and
the generous wine flowed no longer to gladden the hearts of the
shoemaker and his wife.
We have thus traced the development of the legend as far as the
close of the fourteenth century. During the next hundred years no
notable addition seems to have been made to it, nor does it appear
to have attained any further expression of a remarkable kind in the
region of pure literature. But the fifteenth century had by no means
forgotten Michael Scot, nor the tales that embodied his mysterious
fame. This, in fact, seems to have been the period when most of the
magical works attributed to the philosopher’s pen were composed,
and commended to the world under the reputation attaching to so
great a name. Such are the spell, which exists in writing of this age,
in the Laurentian Library of Florence,[306] the Geomantia of the
Munich Library,[307] and, perhaps, the Cheiromantia. As, however, a
tract on at least one of these latter subjects is attributed to Gerard
of Cremona in the Vatican list,[308] it is possible there may here have
been only some not unnatural confusion between two authors who
were closely associated in much of the literary work they
accomplished in Spain.
To the sixteenth century belongs the mock-heroic poem entitled
De Gestis Baldi, composed by the famous macaronic writer Teofilo
Folengo, who wrote under the assumed name of Merlin Coccajo. A
considerable passage in this curious production is devoted to Michael
Scot, of whom the poet speaks in the following terms:

‘Ecce Michaelis de incantu regula Scoti,

Qua, post sex formas, cerae fabricatur imago
Demonii Sathan Saturni facta plumbo
Cui suffimigio per serica rubra cremato
Hac, licet obsistant, coguntur amore puellae.
Ecce idem Scotus qui stando sub arboris umbra
Ante characteribus designet millibus orbem.
Quatuor inde vocat magna cum voce diablos.
Unus ab occasu properat, venit alter ab ortu,
Meridies terzum mandat, septentrio quartum.
Consecrare facit freno conforme per ipsos
Cum quo vincit equum nigrum, nulloque vedutum,
Quem, quo vult, tanquam Turchesca sagitta, cavalcat,
Sacrificatque comas eiusdem saepe cavalli.
En quoque dipingit Magus idem in littore navem
Quae vogat totum octo remis ducta per orbem.
Humanae spinae suffimigat inde medullam.
En docet ut magicis cappam sacrare susurris
Quam sacrando fremunt plorantque per aera turbae
Spiritum quoniam verbis nolendo tiramur.
Hanc quicumque gerit gradiens ubicumque locorum
Aspicitur nusquam; caveat tamen ire per altum
Solis splendorem, quia tunc sua cernitur umbra.’[309]
 Here the legend is not only considerably enriched, but it has
recovered much of its original tone. Michael Scot again appears
rather as the mighty mage than as the adroit juggler which Dante
had represented him to be. One would say Folengo had read the
spell of Cordova, where a circle similar to that described by him is
actually proposed. The use of magical images too, on which he
insists, is the very art which the Arabian author of the Picatrix
professes to teach.
These then, or such as these, must have been the ‘old wives’
tales’ spoken of by Dempster, who says that store of them passed
current in his day.[310] He was, like Michael Scot himself, a Scotsman
long resident in Italy, who taught in the universities of Pisa and
Bologna at the commencement of the seventeenth century:[311] an
origin and situation very favourable to the knowledge of these
stories, both in their Italian and Scottish form. That they had at an
early period become part of the romantic heritage of Scotland seems
very certain. An anonymous author supplies us with the Italian view
of the matter when he says that the great magician taught the Scots
his art to such a degree ‘that they will not take a step without some
magical practice,’ and adds that he introduced into Scotland the
fashion of ‘white hose, and gowns with the sleeves sewed
together.’[312]
Perhaps the best known of these Scottish tales is that which
relates how Michael Scot had a particular spirit as his familiar, and
describes the difficulty he felt in discovering new tasks for his
supernatural servant. Sir Walter Scott says that this story had made
so deep an impression, that in his day any ancient work of unknown
origin was ascribed by the country people either to Sir William
Wallace, Michael Scot, or the devil himself.[313] But, as commonly
told, the legend refers to certain outstanding features of the country
which are natural and not artificial; a fact which may possibly
account for its persistence and survival in this form and not in the
others. Michael is said to have commanded his spirit to divide Eildon
Hill into three.[314] The feat was accomplished in a single night, but,
the magician’s instructions being very precise, and the spirit finding
one of the peaks he had formed greater, and another less than the
mean, accommodated the matter very skilfully by transferring what
seems like a spadeful of earth, still visible as a distinct prominence
on the sky-line of the hill. Next night brought the need for another
task, and Michael gave orders that the river Tweed should be bound
in its course by a curb of stone. The remarkable basaltic dyke which
crosses the bed of the stream near Ednam is said to have been the
result of this command. On the third night, finding his familiar still
keen for employment, Scot bade him go spin ropes of sand at the
river mouth. This task proved so difficult as to relieve the magician
from further embarrassment. It is said to be still in progress, and the
successive attempts and failures of the spirit are pointed out as
every tide casts up, or receding, uncovers, the ever-shifting sands of
Berwick bar.
Another Scottish story, borrowed perhaps from the relations
between Michael Scot and Frederick ii., and possibly suggested by
the philosopher’s journey in 1230, speaks of a high commission he
once held from the King of Scotland.[315] Some Frenchmen, it is
said, had commenced pirates, and had plundered Scottish ships. The
King chose Michael as his ambassador, sending him to Paris to
demand justice and redress. The magician, however, made none of
the ordinary preparations for so considerable a journey, but opened
his Book of Might and read a spell therein; whereupon his familiar
appeared in the form of a black horse, just as Folengo describes
him. In this shape the demon carried his rider through the air with
incredible speed. When the channel lay beneath them, he asked
Michael what words the old wives in Scotland muttered ere they
went to sleep. A less adroit wizard would have simply repeated the
Paternoster, and thus furnished the excuse sought by the demon,
who would then have hurled his rider into the sea. Michael, however,
contented himself by sternly replying; ‘What is that to thee? Mount
Diabolus, and fly;’ and, the demon being thus outwitted and
compelled, they presently arrived in Paris. Finding the French King
unwilling to hear his representations, Scot asked him to delay giving
a final refusal till he should have heard the horse stamp three times.
At the first hoof-stroke, all the bells in Paris rang. At the second,
three towers in the palace fell; and the horse had raised his foot to
stamp once more, when the King cried, ‘Hold,’ and yielded him to do
as his cousin of Scotland desired.
A more trivial and domestic tale is that which relates how Michael
met and overcame the Witch of Falsehope.[316] He was then residing
at Oakwood Tower, and, hearing much talk of this woman’s craft, he
set forth one day to prove her. The witch was cunning, and denied
that she had any skill in the black art, but, when Scot absently laid
his staff of power upon the table, she caught it to her and used it
upon him with such effect that he became a hare; in which shape he
was hotly coursed by his own hounds. Taking refuge in a drain, he
had just time to reverse the spell and resume his own form before
the hunt reached his hiding-place. Thus Michael returned to
Oakwood with a high impression of his neighbour’s skill and malice,
and fully resolved to have his revenge at the first opportunity. This
occurred next harvest, when, under pretext of sport, he sent his
servant to the witch’s house to beg some bread for the hounds. Met
with the refusal that was expected, the man acted upon his master’s
instructions by privately fixing to the door a scroll containing, amid
magical characters, the following rhyme:

‘Maister Michael Scot’s man

Socht breid and gat nane.’

Meanwhile the witch-wife had returned to her work; which was

that of boiling porridge for the shearers. As soon, however, as Scot’s
man had left the door, she began to run round the fire like one crazy,
repeating as she ran the words of the spell. In a little the harvesters
returned from the field to their dinner, but, as each passed the
enchanted door, the spell took him, and he joined the dance within.
Meanwhile Michael and his men and dogs stood not far off on the
hill, whence they could command a full view of what went on. The
last to leave the field was the goodman, who, suspecting something
more than common from the attention Scot was paying to his house,
was too cautious to enter immediately, as the rest had done. He
went to the window, and through it beheld the orgy, now become
terrible, and in the midst of all his wife, half dead from compulsion
and exhaustion, dragged around the house and through the fire by
the bewitched servants. Suspecting how matters stood, he went to
Scot, who, relenting, told him how to remove the spell by entering
the house backwards, and then taking the scroll down from the door.
This he did, and the unearthly dance ceased, but it was long ere
those who had taken part in it forgot the power of the magician, or
ventured again to provoke his resentment.
The northern tales had much to say of Michael’s Book of Might,
from which he learned his art, and of his burial-place, where it lay
interred with him. Dempster tells us that, in his boyhood, it used to
be said in Scotland that Scot’s magical works were still extant, but
might not be touched for fear of the powerful demons that waited
on their opening.[317] This form of the legend belongs then to the
latter part of the sixteenth century. In the beginning of the next age,
and precisely in the year 1629, occurred the traditional visit of
Satchells to Burgh-under-Bowness.[318] This author declares that
one named Lancelot Scot showed him in that place something taken
from the works of the mighty magician:
 ‘He said the book which he gave me
Was of Sir Michael Scot’s Historie;
Which Historie was never yet read through,
Nor never will, for no man dare it do.
Young scholars have pick’d out some thing
From the contents, that dare not read within.
He carried me along the castle then,
And shew’d his written Book hanging on an iron pin.
His writing pen did seem to me to be
Of harden’d metal, like steel or accumie,
The volume of it did seem so large to me
As the Book of Martyrs and Turks Historie.
Then in the church he let me see
A stone where Mr. Michael Scot did lie.
I ask’d at him how that could appear:
Mr. Michael had been dead above five hundred year?
He shew’d me none durst bury under that stone
More than he had been dead a few years agone,
For Mr. Michael’s name does terrifie each one.’

It will be observed that Satchells hesitates here between the title

of knighthood which had been bestowed on Scot for a century past
on the authority of Hector Boëce, and the more authentic dignity of
Master which was really his. He also antedates the philosopher’s
lifetime by more than a hundred years; so that plainly what we have
in these verses is legend and tradition rather than history.
This is probably the latest appearance in literature of the old
stories concerning Michael Scot told in the old way. Naudè[319] and
Schmutzer[320] presently came on the scene, in the late seventeenth
and early eighteenth century, with their critical defences of Scot, all
too imperfectly informed regarding his real reputation. In our own
age the poems of Sir Walter Scott and Rossetti, while serving to
show that so great a name has not been forgotten, breathe, it is
plain, an entirely different spirit. They are but the romantic and
sentimental revival of tales that the poets and their world had
already ceased to believe.
Changed habits of thought, reaching and affecting every class of
society, make it useless now to seek in Scotland for any new
developments of the legend of Michael Scot. This is not so certainly
true, however, of the South of Europe; of Italy, Sicily, and Spain,
where he was once a familiar figure. There the slow progress of
education has left the common people still in possession of much
legendary lore, and even of the living faculty by which in past ages
such tales have been formed. To ascertain what an Italian story-
teller in the present year of grace would make of the name and fame
of Michael Scot were clearly a curious and interesting inquiry. It is
one which, on actual trial, has yielded two tales differing
considerably from any hitherto published.[321] As these are certainly
the very latest additions to the legend, they deserve a place here at
the close of our collection. Freely rendered into English they run as
follows:
‘Mengot was a notable astrologer and magician. Mengot was his
true name,[322] but he had many surnames besides; among which
was that of Scotto. This name of Scotto was given him by a princess.
One night the Prince, her husband, happened to be in a company
where the talk turned on the virtue of women, and the Prince said
he would put his hand in the fire if his wife were not faithful to him;
so sure was he of her virtue. Then spoke up another of the
company, who made light of the caresses and compliments with
which women use to deceive, and told a tale for the Prince’s
warning. “There was once a man,” said he, “who thought as you do,
dear Prince; for he took his wife for a pattern of virtue, and would
have pledged, not his hand only, but his very life that she was so. It
happened, however, that he had a friend who knew of the wizard
whom they call Mengot, dwelling without the Croce Gate of Florence,
and having his house below the ground, closed by a flat stone of the
field so as to be secret. Those who would inquire of him must pass
to the place and cry ‘Mengot! Master Mengot! I seek a favour of
thee, and, if thou tell me true, I shall not stint thy reward;’
whereupon he doth straightway appear. This then was what the
friend of the too confident husband did, for he summoned Mengot,
and, in presence of all, said to him: ‘Tell me the truth, and whether
the wife of this gentleman deserves his confidence or not.’ After
some thought, the wizard replied, ‘Do you wish a true answer, or
one made to please? I should be sorry to hurt the husband’s
feelings.’ When all desired to have the truth, Mengot told them that
the lady in question had gone to a place in the Via Calzaiuoli where
disguises were arranged, and that she would be found next day
dressed as a servant in the course of carrying on a vulgar intrigue in
the Ghetto. Now all this was verified; for the wizard told them even
the very house in the Via delle Ceste where she would be found with
her lover, and it proved to be exactly as he had said.” When this tale
was done, all who heard it cried that Mengot should be summoned
again, to see whether the Princess were faithful or not. So they
called him, as had been done in the other case, but with the same
result; for here also the Prince’s confidence had been misplaced, and
that in a high degree. Then said the Princess, between rage and
shame, “Hast thou scotched me this time; but next time I will scotch
thee.”[323] She straightway sought a witch, said to be more powerful
than Mengot himself, and, telling what had happened, promised her
gold by handfuls if she would revenge her on the wizard. The
woman told her to be easy, for she would arrange the matter. She
paid Mengot a visit as if to take his advice, and, stealing his magic
rod, struck the ground three times, whereupon Mengot was turned
into a hare, and fled from his habitation. Having foreseen, however,
by his art that such danger might arise, Mengot had prepared a pool
of enchanted water at his door. Into this he now leaped, and by its
virtue was able to resume his proper form. The first thing he did was
to seek the magic rod, and, finding it still in his house, he struck the
witch on the head. She became a skinless[324] cat, and in that form
haunted the guilty Princess for her sins; while Mengot was ever
afterwards distinguished by the name of Scot.’
The second tale is to this effect:
 ‘Michael Scotti the wizard was a mighty master of witchcraft.
There came to him one day a young lady, richly dressed, and
wearing a thick veil. She told him that she wished to become a witch
that she might cast a spell upon the child of a man who had
forsaken her for another woman, now his wife; for she said that to
bewitch this child would be the best revenge she could have. Michael
was willing to content her; but we must here remark that wizards
and witches gain their power, either at birth or as a legacy from
some dying person who has the gift. In either of these cases, when
the wizard or witch takes the form of an animal, both body and soul
are present wherever the form may appear. If, on the other hand,
any one becomes a witch of her own desire, as in the case before
us, her spirit may move and act under such a form, but her body lies
all the while where she left it. But to our tale.
‘Michael accordingly took his Magic Book, and the skin of a cat,
and kindling some hempen fibre[325] in an earthen pot, he
commenced to read his spells, which had such effect that the spirit
of the young lady entered into the skin of the cat. In the form of
that animal she then went about her business, while her body
remained still in the chair where she was sitting. At her return the
wizard read again in his book, whereupon the spirit of the new-made
witch returned to her body as before. Michael gave her a book of
this kind, and the skin he had used, and every night she turned
herself into a witch, and became so wicked as to cast ill upon many
children, and even on an infant brother of her own.
‘Thus the sorceress was hardly entered on her power ere she
brought about the death of her rival’s child, and killed many others,
but an end was presently put to these ill-doings. Her brother, whom
she had bewitched out of jealousy, wasted away, and the parents
were in despair, as none of the physicians whom they consulted
could understand the case. One morning the child told them he had
suffered much during the night from a cat, which leaped upon his
bed, howled, and played the most frightful antics. They then began
to suspect witchcraft, and resolved that the household should watch
during the next night. On the stroke of twelve a cat was seen
coming out of their daughter’s room. One of the servants gave
chase, and another went into the room, fearing that the young lady
had also been bewitched, and saw her lying on the bed as cold as
marble. The cry arose that she was killed. The parents, mad with
grief, made after the cat to destroy it, but with leaps and bounds, it
kept them busy all night as if they had been huntsmen chasing a
hare, and all in vain. As the bells began to sound for matins the cat
ran into the young lady’s room, and the mother, beating her brow,
exclaimed: “she who has bewitched my son is none other than his
sister.” Rushing into the room they found her, no longer like a dead
body, but all panting from the night-long chase. Her mother
searched all the corners, and finding the book and earthen pot, bade
throw them into the Arno. They then besought their daughter to
undo the mischief she had wrought upon her brother, and so many
more, and to promise she would never do the like again; but to
nothing of this would she consent. Then they threw her out of
window in fear and to the breaking of her bones. The servants came
and took her up; laying her on her bed again; telling her to heal her
brother. Not even in the last moments of life, however, would she
repent. She could not die till Mengot had read for her a spell of
loosing, and on him therefore she still lay crying. The servants told
this to her parents, who bade put horses to the carriage and fetch
the wizard, who was presently with them. First he commanded her
to cure her brother, and then he read for her in his Magic Book that
she might be loosed, and so she died. But when the skin and
earthen pot were cast away, they sank straight underground. Thus
the witch, who still came back every night to get the skin, and take
the form of a cat, found all her magic art in vain; for Michael Scotti
had taken her power away.’
‘Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne!’ To such vain and trivial
conclusions has a reputation, justly renowned in its own day, been
reduced in ours. Michael Scot, now become a troglodyte, lifts his
head timidly and occasionally from a den in the Florence fields; he
who, while alive, filled Europe with his fame, and, by his Averroës,
ruled the schools of Padua as late as the seventeenth century. If a
remedy is still to be had for this, the fruit of Guelphic rancour, it
must be found in the direction we have sought to keep throughout
these pages: that of a serious and impartial study of Scot’s life, and
of those labours of his in philosophy and science which are so really,
though remotely, connected with the intellectual attainments of our
own times.
 APPENDIX
APPENDIX I

✠ Experimentum Michaelis Scoti nigromantici.[326]

Si volueris per daemones haberi scientem, qui in forma magistri ad
te veniet cum tibi placuerit, expedit tibi primo habere quandam
cameram fulgentem et nitidam, in qua nunquam mulier non
conversetur, nec vir ante inchoationem triginta diebus, computato
itaque tempore taliter quod xxxj die fit luna crescens[327] –o– ☿ eius
hora, castus per septimanam, rasus totus, ac etiam lotus, necnon
vestimentis albis indutus. Solus in ortu solis, in quo, et ipsa hora ☿
habeas quoddam vas in quo sit lignum aloes camphora et cipressum
cum igne, ex quibus fiat fumus, et primo te totum suffumiga, scilicet
primo faciem, deinde alia, postea etiam totam cameram. Quo facto,
habeas oleum bacharum et totum te unge a capite usque ad pedes,
hoc facto, volve te primo versus 🜚 ortum, et sic dic, flexis genibus:
O admirabilis et ineffabilis et incomprehensibilis, Qui omnia ex nihilo
formasti, apud quem nihil impossibile est, te deprecor cum
humilitate vehementi ut mihi, famulo tuo tali, tribuas gratiam
cognoscendi potentiam tuam, Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre per
omnia saecula saeculorum, Amen. Praesta quaesumus mihi tutellam
angeli tui, qui me custodiat, protegat, atque defendat, et adjuvet ad
huius operis consummationem, et faciat me potentem contra omnes
spiritus ut vincam etiam dominer eis, et ipsi adversus me terrendi vel
laedendi nullam habeant potestatem, Amen, [here follow verses 25-
28 of Psalm 119.] Similiter versus occasum, meridiem, et
septentrionem, et debes scire quod, quando vertis te, debes te
totum expoliare nudum, deinde dicere has orationes: quo facto,
debes te induere dicendo hunc psalmum, [Psalm 76: 1-.] usque
quomodo cogitatio hominis, etc. quo dicto, et inducto, dic tu haec
verba [Psalm 37: 30.] Quibus dictis habeas unum frustrum panni albi
de lana, quae nunquam fuerit in usu, et habeas quandam columbam
albam totam vel –o– cuiuscumque coloris sit, et trunca eius collum,
et collige eius sanguinem in vase vitreo, et de dicta columba sive –ͨ
oͦ –ͬ sanguinando dictum cor in 1º. o. Fac cum dicto corde cruentato,
in dicto panno, circulum, ut apparet inferius, quo facto, intra
circulum cum ense in manu: qui ensis debet esse lucidissimus, cum
quo ense avis caput debet truncari ut dictum est, et ipsum tenendo
per cuspidem, aspiciendo versus orientem, dic sic: O
misericordissime Deus, Creator omnium, et omnium scientiarum
Largitor, Qui vis magis peccatorem vivere, ut ad penitentiam valeat
pervenire, quam ipsum mori sordidum in peccatis, Te deprecor toto
mentis affectu ut cogas et liges istos tres demones, videlicet
Appolyin, Maraloch, Berich, ut debeant per virtutem et potentiam
tuam mihi obedire, servire, et parere, sine aliquo fraude,
malignatione vel furore, in omnibus quae praecipio: Qui vivis et
regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Amen. Debet haec enim oratio dici
novies versus orientem, deinde debes dicere, Appolyin, Maraloch,
Berich, Ego talis vos exorcizo et conjuro ex parte Dei Omnipotentis
Qui vos vestra elatione jussit antra subire profundi, ut debeatis
mittere quendam spiritum peritum dogmate omnium scientiarum,
qui mihi sit benivolus, fidelis, et placidus ad docendum omnem
scientiam quam voluero, veniens in formam magistri ut nullam
formidinem percipere valeam, fiat, fiat, fiat. Item conjuro vos per
Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum ut per haec sancta nomina
quorum virtute ligamen, scilicet Dober, Uriel, Sabaoth, Semonyi,
Adonayi, Tetragramaton, Albumayzi, Loch, Morech, Sadabyin,
Rodeber, Donnel, Parabyiel, Alatuel, Nominam, et Ysober, quatenus
vos tres reges maximi et mihi socii, mihi petenti, unum de subditis
vestris mittere laboretis, qui sit magister omnium scientiarum et
artium, veniens in forma humana, placibilis aplaudens mihi et
erudens me cum amore ita et taliter quod in termino xxxta dierum
talem scientiam valeam adipisci, promittens post sumptionem
scientiae dare libi licentiam recedendi, ut hoc etiam totiens dici
debet. Hac oratione vero dicta, ensem depone et involve in dicto
panno, et facto vasiculo, cuba super ipso ut aliquantulum dormias.
Post sompnum vero surge et induas te: quia facto vasiculo homo se
spoliat et intrat cubiculum ponendo dictum vasiculum super capite.
Est autem sciendum quod dictis his conjurationibus somnus acculit
virtute divina, in somno autem apparebunt tibi tres maximi reges,
cum famulis innumeris militibus peditibus, inter quos est etiam
quidam magister apparens, cui ipsi tres reges jubent ad te ipsum
venire paratam. Videbis enim tres reges fulgentes mira pulcritudine,
qui tibi in dicto sompno viva voce loquentur dicentes, Ecce tibi
Domini quod multotiens postulasti, et dicent illi magistro, Sit iste
tuus discipulus quem docere tibi jubemus omnem scientiam sive
artem quam audire voluerit. Doce illum taliter et erudi ut in termino
xxx dierum in qualem scientiam voluerit, ut summus inter alios
habeatur:[328] et ipsum audies et videbis eum respondere, dictum
mei libentissime faciam quicquid vultis. His dictis reges abibunt et
magister solus remanebit, qui tibi dicet, Surge, ecce tuus magister.
His vero dictis, excitaberis statim et aperies occulos et videbis
quendam magistrum optime indutum, qui tibi dicet, Da mihi ensem
quem sub capite tenes. Tu vero dices Ecce discipulus vester paratus
est facere quicquid vultis; tamen debes habere pugillarem et scribere
omnia quae tibi dicet. Primo debes quaerere, O magister, quod est
nomen vestrum: ipse dicet, et tu scribes; secundo, de quo ordine, et
similiter scribe: his scriptis, dabis ensem, quo habito, ipse recedet
dicens, Expecta me donec veniam: tu nihil dices. Magister vero
recedet et secum portabit ensem, post cuius recessu tu solves
pannum, ut apparet inferius,[329] etiam scribes in dicto circulo
nomen eius scriptum per te, et scribi debet etiam cum supradicto, O,
quo scripto involve dictum pannum et bene reconde: his factis debes
prandere solo pane et pura aqua, et illa die non egredi cameram et
cum pransus fueris accipe pannum et intra circulum versus Appolyim
et dic sic, O rex Appolyim magne potens et venerabilis ego famulus
tuus in te credens, et omnino confidens, quia tu es fortior, et valens
per incomprehensibilem majestatem tuam, ut famulus et subditus
tuus talis, magister meus, debeat ad me venire quam citius fieri
potest, per virtutem et potentiam tuam quae est magna et maxima
in saecula saeculorum, Amen. et similiter dicere versus Maraloth,
mutando nomen, et versus Berith similiter, his dictis accipe de dicto
sanguine et scribe in circulo nomen tuum cum supradicto corde ut
hic apparet inferius. Deinde scribe cum dicto corde in angulis panni
illa nomina ut hic apparent. Si autem sanguis unius avis non tibi
sufficeret, potes interficere quot tibi placent: quibus omnibus factis,
sedebis per totum diem in circulo aspiciens ipsum, nihil loquendo;
cum vero sero fuerit, plica dictum pannum spoliato, et intra
cubiculum ponendo ipsum sub capite tuo, et cum posueris dici sit
plana voce, O Appolyin, Maraloch, Berich, Sathan, Belyal, Belzebuch,
Lucifer, supplico vobis ut precipiatis magistro meo, nominando eius
nomen, ut ipse debeat venire solus ante eras ad me, et docere me
talem scientiam sine aliqua alia fallacia, per Illum Qui venturus est
judicare vivos et mortuos et saeculum per ignem, Amen. Cave igitur
et praecave ne signum ✠ facias, propter magnum periculum. In
sompno scies quia videbis magistrum tota nocte loqui tecum,
interrogans a te qualem scientiam vis adiscere, et tu dices, talem.
Itaque ut dictus est tota nocte cum eo loqueris. Cum itaque
excitatus fueris in ipsa nocte, surge et accende candelam, et accipe
dictum pannum et dissolve, et sede in eo, scilicet in circulo, ubi
nomen tuum scriptum est, ad tuum commodum, et voca nomen
magistri tui, sic dicens, O talis de talis (sic) ordine, in magistrum
meum datum per majores reges tuos, te deprecor ut venies in forma
benigna ad docendum me in tali scientia, quia sim probīor omnibus
mortalibus docens ipsam cum magno gaudio, sine aliquo labore, ac
omni tedio derelicto. Veni igitur ex tuorum parte majoris qui regnat
per infinita saecula saeculorum, Amen, fiat, fiat, fiat. His itaque
dictis, ter aspicias versus occidentem, videbis magistrum venire cum
multis discipulis, quem rogabis ut omnes abire jubeat, et statim
recedent: quo facto, ipse magister dicet quam scientiam audire
desideras; tu dices talem, et tunc incipies, memento enim quia
tantum adiscens memoriae commodabis et omnem scientiam quam
habere volueris adisces in termino xxx dierum. Et quando ipsum de
camera abire volueris, plica pannum et reconde, et statim recedet:
et quando ipsum venire volueris, aperi pannum, et subito ibidem
apparebit continuando lectiones. Post vero terminum xxx dierum,
doctus optime in illa scientia evades, et fac tibi dare ensem tuum, et
dic ut vadat, et cum pace recedat. Debes iterum dicere cum pro alia
ipsum invocabis habenda scientia, quod tibi dicet ad tuum libitum
esse paratum. Finis capituli scientiae. Explicit nicromantiae
experimentum illustrissimi doctoris Domini Magistri Michaelis Scoti,
qui summus inter alios nominatur Magister, qui fuit Scotus, et servus
praeclarissimo Domino suo Domino Philipo Regis Ceciliae coronato;
quod destinavit sibi dum esset aegrotus in civitate Cordubae, etc.
Finis

APPENDIX II
Fondo Vaticano 4428, ms. perg. in fol. saec. xiii. cum min.
p. 1 recto. ‘Incipit Logica Avicennae. Studiosam
animam meam ad appetitum translationis lib.
avicennae quem asschiphe i. sufficientiam nuncupavit
invitare cupiens, et quaedam capitula … in latinum
eloquium ex arabico transmutare.’ Then follows a
column and a half commencing: ‘Dixit abunbeidi filius
ab,’ (? avicennae) which seems to give an account of
the manner in which he was wont to compose. At the
middle of col. 2 begins a new paragraph:—‘Dixit
princeps abualy alhysenni filius abdillei filius sciue’
noted in the margin as: ‘Vita avicennae.’ This closes at
the middle of the first col. of p. 1, verso.
p. 8 recto. A footnote says ‘translatus ab auendbuch
de libro avicennae de logico.’
p. 9 recto. ‘Incipit collectio secundi libri sufficientiae
a principiis ph’ici prologus. Dixit princeps Avicenna.
Postquam expedivimus nos auxilio dei.’ A short
prologue follows extending to three-quarters of a col.
Then follows the treatise: ‘Iam nosti ex tractatu.’ It
closes on p. 20 recto with the words ‘per se notae
sunt. Explicit liber phisicorum avicennae Amen.’
p. 20 verso. ‘Incipit liber Avicennae de celo et
mundo, seu collectiones expositionum ab antiquis
graecis in librum Aristotelis. Expositiones autem istae
in quatuordecim continentur capitulis. Per unum quod
corpus perficiens.’ This tract closes on
p. 27 recto. with the words ‘completum xv
capitulum, et ideo completione completus est liber
totus, et laus sit creatori nostro et largitori … et sic pax
et salus omni animae modestae et benignae. Amen.
p. 27 verso. ‘Incipit particula prima Methaᶜᵉ
avicennae cap. 1. de inquisitione … ad hoc ut
ostendatur ipsam esse de numero scientiarum
liberalium. Avicenna de philosophia prima, sive scientia
prima divina. Postquam autem auxilio Dei explevimus
tractatum scientiarum logicalium et naturalium et
doctrinalium, convenientius est accedere ad
cogitationem intentionum spiritualium.’
p. 78 recto. The Metaphysica end here with the
words:—‘quia ipse est rex terreni mundi, et vicarius dei
in illo. Completus est liber. Laudetur deus super omnia
… quem transtulit diaconus gundissalui archidyaco’
tholeti de arabico in latinum.’
p. 78 verso. ‘Incipit liber primus Avicennae de anima
et dicitur sextus de naturalibus. Reverentissimo
tholetanae sedis archiepiscopo et yspaniarum primati
Johannes Avendaut israelita philosophus gratiam et
vitae futuris obsequium.’ … ‘Incipiunt capitula totius
libri. Liber iste dividitur in partes.’ … ‘Ordinatio librorum
Avicennae. Iam explevimus in primo libro.’ …
 p. 79 recto. ‘Capitulum 1. Dicemus ergo …’ The De
Anima closes on
p. 114 verso. with these words: ‘sicut postea scies
cum loquitur de animalibus. Explicit sextus naturalium
Avicennae. Deo gratias et nunc et semper Amen. Qui
scripsit hunc librum Dominus benedicat illum. Ffinito
libro sit laus et gloria Christo. Incipit sermo de
generatione lapidum Avicennae. Terra pura non fit lapis
quia continuationem non facit.’ The second chapter is:
‘De generatione montium’ and the third ‘De
generatione corporum mineralium.’ In the latter
chapter occurs the curious passage: ‘Sciant autem
artifices alkimiae … et salem amoniacum’ which we
have translated on p. 74.
p. 115 recto. The short tract on minerals closes at
the foot of this page with the words: ‘exhibere res
quaedam extraneae. Explicit vere.’
p. 115 verso. is blank.
p. 116 recto. ‘De animalibus Avicennae. Frederice,
romanorum imperator, domine mundi, suscipe devote
hunc librum michaelis scoti ut sit gratia capiti tuo et
torques collo tuo. Incipit abbreviatio avicennae super
librum animalium aristotelis. Et animalia quaedam
communicant in membris, sicut equus et homo.’ The
treatise closes on
p. 158 recto, in the usual way: ‘sed de dentium
utilitatibus jam scis ex alio loco. Completus est liber
avicennae de animalibus scriptus per magistrum
henricum coloniensem ad exemplar magnifici
imperatoris domini frederici apud meffiam civitatem
Apuliae ubi dominus imperator eidem magistro hunc
librum permissum comodavit anno domini mº ccº
xxxijº in vigilio beati laurentii in domo magistri volmari
 medici imperialis liber iste inceptus est et expletus cum
adiutorio iesu christi qui vivit.…

Frenata penna, finito nunc avicenna

Libro Caesario gloria summa Deo
Dextera scriptoris careat gravitate doloris.’

In the second col. of this page commences the

arabo-latin glossary (see facsimile):—

‘Ex libro animalium aristotelis domini imperatoris

in margine.’
‘Passer dicitur pscipsci,’
‘Rumbus. sciathi.’
‘Delfinis, delfinus.’
…
‘Fehed. leopardus.’
…
‘Ex libro secundo.’
…
‘Ex tertio libro.’
…
‘Glosa magistri al.’ ‘Explicit anno domini mº ccº x.’
…
Fondo Vaticano 2089 ms. in fol. perg. finiss. saec. xiii. The first
265 pages of this volume contain the De Causis (pp. 1-5) and the
following commentaries by Averroës: De coelo et mundo (pp. 6-
195); De generatione et corruptione (pp. 195-254); on the fourth
book of the Meteora (pp. 254-260); De substantia orbis, (pp. 260-
265). Then follow the commentaries by Avicenna in this order:—
p. 266 recto. ‘Titulus, Collectio secunda libri
sufficientiae avicennae principis philosophi. Prologus.
Dixit princeps, Postquam expedivimus nos auxilio dei
ab eo quod opus fuit.’ … ‘Liber primus de quaestionibus
et principiis naturalium Capitulum de affligenda via qua
pervenitur ad scientiam naturalium per principia
eorum. Iam scisti ex tractatu.’
p. 282 verso. ‘et consummate certo fine cessabit
interrogatione. Completus est primus tractatus de
naturalibus cum auxilio Dei et gratia. Incipit tractatus
secundus de motu et de quiete et de consimilibus.
Capitulum de motu. Postquam perfecimus librum de
principiis.’
p. 306 verso. ‘cuius tempus non habet (?) esse
initium. Completa est pars secunda de collectione
naturalium. Et ei qui dedit intelligere gratiae sint
infinitae. Pars tertia de hiis quae habent naturalia ex
hoc quod habent quantitatem. Prologus de qualitate
tractandi precipue in hoc libro. Naturalia sunt corpora.’
p. 307 recto. ‘et haec propositiones per se notae
sunt. Explicit liber sufficientiae avicennae. Prologus in
sextum naturalium Avicennae. Reverentissimo
toletanae sedis archiepiscopo et yspanorum primati
auendeueth israelita philosophus gratiam et vitae
futuris obsequium.… Quapropter, domine, jussum
vestrum de transferendo librum avicenae (cod. 4428 p.
78 verso reads aristotelis) philosophi de anima effectui
mancipare curavi ut vestro munere et meo (4428
nostro) labore latinis fieret certum quod hactenus
extitit incognitum scilicet an sit anima, et quid et qualis
sit, secundum essentiam rationibus verissimis
comprobatum. Haberis (4428 habes) ergo librum vobis
precipiente (4428 percipientibus) et me (4428 omits
me) singula verba vulgariter proferente et dominico
archidiacono singula in latinum convertente ex arabico
translatum quo quidquid aristotelis dixit in libro suo de
anima et de sensu et sensato et de intellecto et
intellectu ab auctore libri scias esse collectum. Unde
postquam deo volente hunc habes. In hoc illos tres
plenissime vos habere non dubiteris.’
p. 307 verso. ‘Incipit sextus de naturalibus auicenae
translatus a magistro Girardo cremonensi de arabico in
latinum in toleto. Iam explevimus in primo libro.’ …
‘Capitulum in quo affirmatur esse anima et diffinitur
secundum quod est anima. Dicemus igitur quia quod
primum.’
p. 315 verso. ‘Expleta est pars prima sexti libri de
collectione naturalium. Incipit pars secunda eius.
Capitulum de certificando virtutes quae sunt propriae
animae vegetabilis. Incipiemus nunc notificare
sigillatim.’
p. 322 recto. ‘Completa est pars secunda sexti libri
de collectione naturalium. Deo sit gratia. Incipit pars
eius tertia de visu. Debemus loqui de visu.’
p. 335 recto. ‘non habet sensum communem ullo
modo. Completa est pars tertia sexti libri de
naturalibus, Deo sint gratiae. Incipit iiij vj libri de
naturalibus. Capitulum in quo est verbum commune de
sensibilibus interioribus quos habent animalia. Sensus
autem qui est communis.’
p. 344 verso. ‘et hic est finis eius quod transtulit
Auohaueth ex capitulis illius libri ad hunc locum huius
libri de anima. Completa est quarta pars sexti libri de
naturalibus auxilio Dei. Incipit pars quinta libri
eiusdem. Capitulum de proprietatibus actionum et
passionum hominis, et de assignatione contemplationis
et actionis. Quoniam jam explevimus tractatum de
virtutibus sensibilibus.’
p. 356 verso. ‘quorum quaedam attrahunt materiam
et quaedam expellunt sicut postea scies cum loquitur
de animalibus. Completus est liber de anima qui est
 sextus liber collectionis secundae de naturalibus. Et ei
qui dedit intelligere sint gratiae infinitae. Post hunc
sequitur liber septimus de vegetabilibus et viijº de
animalibus qui et finis scientiae naturalis. Post ipsum
autem sequitur collectio tercia de disciplinalibus in
quatuor libris, seu arismetica, geometria, musica,
astrologia, et post hunc sequitur liber de causa
causarum.’ Then follows an index to the chapters of
the De Anima which ends the whole codex on p. 357
recto.
I have thought it well to give this complete account of these two
remarkable manuscripts not only because they show the exact place
held by the De animalibus in the body of commentaries written by
Avicenna, but also on account of the view they give of the
translations made by the early Toledan school. In this respect they
serve in some measure to correct and extend the conclusions of
Jourdain. It is evident, for instance, that Avendeath did not finish
translating the De Anima, but only proceeded in it as far as the end
of the fourth part.

APPENDIX III
I have thought it best to print these parallel texts
with as close adherence to the manuscript as is
consistent with intelligibility, and they therefore appear
in these pages with all the mistakes of the copyist.
[I have re-arranged the paragraphs of this treatise
so as to fall opposite the corresponding parts of the
Liber Luminis, but have numbered them according to
their original order so that by following the numbers
the book can be read in its own proper form.]
LIBER LUMINIS LUMINUM

Riccardian Library, Florence,

L. III. 13, 119, p. 35 verso,
middle of 2nd col.
Incipit liber luminis luminum
translatus a magistro michahele
scotto philosopho.
Cum rimarer et inquirerem
secreta nature ex libris
antiquorum philosophorum qui
tractaverunt de natura salium
alluminum et omnium
corporum et spirituum minere
pertinentium nullum inveni qui
completam dixisset doctrinam.
Quedam tamen utilia extraxi et
ea secretis nature adiunxi
procedo (?) quidem brevitati et
addendo quae utilia sunt in hac
arte que alkimia nuncupatur. In
quo talia continentur Invencio
(? Intencio) causa intentionis et
utilitas. Invencio (? Intencio)
eius est tractare de
transformatione metallorum
secundum quod hermes dixit
parum enim desint marti quod
non fiat luna non desint aliud
nisi quod non fiat tanta
decoctio in eo sicut luna. Et
notum est quod sicut 7 sunt
metalla ita 7 sunt planete et
quodlibet metallum habet suum
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