This strange pseudosience was brought to Poland by monks. It is considered that the fire balls that were used during the fights with Tatars in XIII century, were invented by Dominican monk Czesław Odrowąż with the use of alchemy knowledge.
Each alchemist’s dream was to create the philosopher’s stone, which would turn everything into gold and give its owner health and long life.
Alchemy as a science existed even in the XVII century.
Alchemy in Krakow
Big fires in Domininican monastery in 1403 and at Wawel Castle in 1595 are claimed to be provoked by the experiments of alchemists.
Alchemy became very popular at the age of renaissance in the university environment mostly thanks to palmistry, astrology and the art of summoning ghosts(necromancy).
The inheritor of alchemy became chemistry. In the Museum of Jagiellonian University in Krakow part of the exhibition is dedicated to alchemy, you can find there special oven, cylinders and flasks, which were used by the scientists almost 400-500 years ago.
