In the footsteps of the alchemist Nicolas Flamel and his wealthy widow, in the 14th century, in Paris

2023-07-29 17:31:02

Every week this summer, Philippe Gloaguen, director of the “Guide du Routard”, lets us discover his secret France. Anecdotes, hidden or mysterious stories of astonishing personalities who have marked a place, or transformed a landscape.

Philippe Gloaguen, director of Backpacker’s Guide, makes us discover this summer, his “secret France”, and takes us today to Paris. Here is the edifying story of Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist. At 51, rue Montmorency, in the old halls, the house of Nicolas Flamel is known to be one of the oldest in Paris.

Born around 1330, this brave bourgeois was first of all a public scribe and copyist. Her job brought her a certain prosperity, but it was above all her marriage to Pernelle, twice widowed, that brought her real prosperity. A sudden fortune, which the rumor amplified, is at the origin of this mystification: was he really an alchemist?

Had he found the secret of this philosopher’s stone which transformed metals into gold? It must be said that his job as a copyist enabled him to translate many old books, written in Latin. Very quickly, as soon as the author was an incomprehensible scientist or a doctor with mysterious treatments, the good people considered all these obscure authors as alchemists.

This fortune has questioned everyone

In 1394 Charles VI drove the Jews out of Paris. Anti-Semitism is a stupidity older than you think. Nicolas Flamel, already quite wealthy, bought off the debts of the Jews condemned to exodus at a low price. And there, super banco. To hide this fortune earned too quickly, but in a very dishonorable way, Nicolas Flamel then boasted of having discovered the philosopher’s stone, which made alchemists so fortunate. He even managed, according to him, to transmute the silver mercury.

But the Hundred Years War caused a terrible economic crisis and terrible famines. Quick fortunes were suspect, and rather frowned upon. As an extension of his discoveries, he even claimed to have found the elixir of long life, which was called “drinking gold”. This elixir of youth was fatal to Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II. She drank it and she died of it.

Financing of pious foundations and renovation of chapels

To pass on this considerable fortune, he financed pious foundations, the construction of hospitals and the renovation of chapels. To support this reputation as an alchemist, he continued to translate works by foreign alchemists. Sometimes he did not hesitate to discreetly replace the author’s name with his own.

Of course, with the advent of modern chemistry in the 19th century, it was soon realized that alchemy, like astrology, had fooled generations of naive people for centuries. And yet, Nicolas Flamel had a little revival of notoriety since we talk about him in the film Harry Potter at the sorcerer’s stone. Without forgetting a rue Nicolas Flamel in the 4th arrondissement. It is already a lot.