[tytuł] 43

RAFAŁ T. PRINKE
Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego
im. Eugeniusza Piaseckiego w Poznaniu

KAMILA FOLLPRECHT
Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie

THE COURT AT ST. ANNE’S GATE.

NEW SOURCES ON THE CRACOVIAN PERIOD
IN THE BIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL SENDIVOGIUS
(1566–1636)

Poland was never one of those countries where alchemy be-

came very popular. Besides some documented cases of occa-
sional practitioners and a few patrons, there were only two Pol-
ish authors of chymical texts that became highly influential in
Europe and beyond.1 One of them was Alexander von Suchten
(c. 1520–1575), a physician and poet from a Gdańsk patrician
family, whose writings on antimony were widely read.2 There
1
R.T. Prinke, Antemurale Alchimiae: Patrons, readers, and practitioners of al-
chemy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, “Early Science and Medicine”
2012, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 523–547.
2
C. Molitor, Alexander von Suchten, ein Arzt und Dichter aus der Zeit des
Herzogs Albrecht, “Altpreußische Monatsschrift” 1882, Vol. 19, pp. 480–488;
W. Haberling, Alexander von Suchten, ein Danziger Arzt und Dichter des 16.
Jahrhunderts, “Zeitschrift des Westpreußischen Geschichtsvereins” 1929, Vol.
69, pp. 175–230; W. Hubicki, Alexander von Suchten, “Sudhoffs Archiv” 1960,
Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 54–63; H. Strehlau, Die Danziger Patrizierfamilie von Such-
ten, “Ostdeutsche Familienkunde” 1973, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 326–329; W. Hu-
bicki, Suchten (or Zuchta), Alexander [in:] Dictionary of Scientific Biography,
ed. C.C. Gillispie, New York 1976, pp. 140–141; O. Humberg, Die Verlas-
senschaft des oberösterreichischen Landschaftsarztes Alexander von Suchten
44 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

are, however, problems with calling him “a Polish alchemist”

because – although a Polish subject and for some time serv-
ing at the royal court in Cracow – he was of German nation-
ality and (even more importantly) most probably did not be-
lieve in the possibility of metallic transmutation. The Hermetic
and chymical writings of von Suchten do not deal with the Phi-
losophers’ Stone, except for one enigmatic poem, where that
goal of all alchemists is used metaphorically and the context
of its publication shows early Pietistic connotations.3 Thus the
other of the two chymical writers mentioned above – Michał
Sędziwój or, in the latinised version of his name, Michael Sen-
divogius (1566–1636) – may be treated as the only Polish
chrysopoeian (i.e. alchemical in the modern sense)4 author of
international importance. His fame among his contemporaries

(†1575), “Wolfenbütteler Renaissance-Mitteilungen” 2007, Vol. 31, pp. 31–51;

J. Telle, Suchten, Alexander von [in:] New Dictionary of Scientific Biography,
ed. N. Koertge, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 2008, pp. 550–553; here
Telle corrects earlier opinions expressed by Hubicki and updates the biographi-
cal information with the recent discoveries of Humberg.
3
C. Gilly, Paracelsianism brings forth a fine Hermetical treatise: Suchten’s De
tribus facultatibus [in:] Magia, alchimia, scienza dal ‘400 al ‘700. L’influsso
di Ermete Trismegisto / Magic, alchemy and science 15th–18th centuries. The
influence of Hermes Trismegistus, eds. C. Gilly, C. v. Heertum, Firenze 2003,
pp. 193–198; J. Telle, Johann Arndt: Ein alchemischer Lehrdichter? Bemerkun-
gen zu Alexander von Suchtens ‘De lapide philosophorum’ (1572) [in:] Stre-
nae nataliciae: Neulateinische Studien. Wilhelm Kühlmann zum 60. Geburtstag,
Hrsg. H. Wiegand, Manutius, Heidelberg 2006, pp. 231–246; for a brief discus-
sion of von Suchten’s place in the alchemical tradition see: R.T. Prinke, Zwodnic-
zy ogród błędów. Piśmiennictwo alchemiczne do końca XVIII wieku, “Monogra-
fie z Dziejów Nauki i Techniki”, 164, IHN PAN, Warszawa 2014, pp. 338–348.
4
On the usage of the various terms related to early chemistry and the propos-
al of using “chymia” or “chymistry” for discussing alchemy and chemistry be-
fore the 18th century see: W.R. Newman, L.M. Principe, Alchemy vs. chemis-
try: The etymological origins of a historiographic mistake, “Early Science and
Medicine” 1998, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 32–65; some arguments against such usage
were put forward by: H. Tilton, Introduction: Jung and early modern alchemy
[in:] The quest for the phoenix: Spiritual alchemy and Rosicrucianism in the
work of Count Michael Maier (1569–1622), De Gruyter, Berlin 2003, pp. 1–34;
G.-F. Călian, Alkimia operativa and alkimia speculativa. Some modern con-
troversies on the historiography of alchemy, “Annual of Medieval Studies at
CEU” 2010, No. 16, pp. 166–190; por. R.T. Prinke, Zwodniczy ogród błędów…,
pp. 26–27; idem, Stara i „nowa” historiografia alchemii, “Nauka Polska: Jej
potrzeby, organizacja i rozwój” 2015, nr 24 (49), pp. 123–149.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 45

and later generations of alchemists rests on the three published

works: De lapide philosophorum (1604), Dialogus Mercu-
rii, alchymistae et Naturae (1607) and Tractatus de sulphure
(1616), which were later often republished together under the
title of Novum lumen chymicum, reaching the imposing num-
ber of over fifty editions and translations by the year 1800 and
thus becoming the most frequently reprinted early modern al-
chemical texts. Some controversies concerning their true au-
thorship were raised in the mid-17th century and repeated in his-
torical accounts of alchemy until recently, but they have now
been settled beyond reasonable doubt.5 Arguably, Sendivogius
was the most influential Polish scientific writer between Nico-
laus Copernicus and Marie Curie (née Skłodowska). The im-
pact of his ideas on the early development of oxygen chemistry
is now widely recognised,6 as is his influence on Isaac New-
ton.7 Michael Sendivogius was, however, equally (if not more)
important for the esoteric currents of his own times and later
centuries, especially for the Hermetic-Rosicrucian-Pietistic tra-
ditions.8 A prophecy he constructed on the basis of the works
5
R.T. Prinke, New light on the alchemical writings of Michael Sendivogius
(1566–1636), “Ambix” 2016, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 1–27 (online edition).
6
H. Guerlac, The poets’ nitre, “Isis” 1954, Vol. 45, pp. 243–255; A.G. Debus,
The Paracelsian aerial nitre, “Isis” 1964, Vol. 55, pp. 43–61; Z. Szydło, The in-
fluence of the central nitre theory of Michael Sendivogius on the chemical phi-
losophy of the seventeenth century, “Ambix” 1996, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 80–98.
7
B.J.T. Dobbs, The foundations of Newton’s alchemy or “The hunting of the
greene lyon”, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1975; K. Figala, New-
ton as alchemist, “History of Science” 1977, Vol. 15, pp. 102–137; idem, Die
exakte Alchemie von Isaac Newton, “Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Ge-
sellschaft in Basel” 1984, Vol. 94, pp. 157–228; A.R. Hall, Isaac Newton and
the aerial nitre, “Notes and Records of the Royal Society” 1998, Vol. 52, No. 1,
pp. 51–61; K. Figala, Newton’s alchemy [in:] The Cambridge companion to
Newton, eds. I.B. Cohen, G.E. Smith, Cambridge Companions, Cambridge
2002, pp. 370–386; W.R. Newman, The background to Newton’s chymistry [in:]
The Cambridge companion to Newton, pp. 358–369; idem, Geochemical con-
cepts in Isaac Newton’s early alchemy [in:] The revolution in geology from the
Renaissance to the Enlightenment, ed. G.D. Rosenberg, Memoir, 203, Boulder,
CO 2009, pp. 41–50; R.S. Westfall, Newton and alchemy [in:] Occult and sci-
entific mentalities in the Renaissance, ed. B. Vickers, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge 1984, pp. 315–336.
8
R.T. Prinke, Michael Sendivogius and Christian Rosenkreutz: The unexpected
possibilities, “The Hermetic Journal” 1990, pp. 72–98; idem, The twelfth adept.
46 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

of Copernicus and Johannes Rheticus, only briefly presented

in the preface to one of his treatises, became one of the lead-
ing themes among some millenarian groups9. Perhaps most sur-
prisingly, a dialogue written by Sendivogius became an inspi-
ration for Ben Jonson and other Elizabethan playwrights.10 But
above all, he holds a key position in the history of early modern
alchemy (or chymistry), as recent scholarship clearly proves.11
Thus his biography and his works deserve much more exten-
sive and meticulous research than they have received so far.12

Michael Sendivogius in Rudolphine Prague [in:] The Rosicrucian Enlighten-

ment revisited, ed. R. White, Hudson, NY 1999, pp. 141–192.
9
R.T. Prinke, ‘Heliocantharus Borealis’: Alchemy, Polish Sarmatism and the
Fourth Northern Monarchy in the prophetic vision of Michael Sendivogius [in:]
Apocalypticism, millenarianism, and prophecy: Eschatological expectations
between East-Central and Western Europe, 1560–1670, eds. H. Hotson, V. Ur-
bánek, Routledge 2014 [in print].
10
S.J. Linden, Jonson and Sendivogius: Some new light on Mercury vindicated
from the alchemists at court, “Ambix” 1977, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 39–54; C. Nich-
ol, The chemical theatre, London–Boston–Henley 1980.
11
W. Newman, Thomas Vaughan as an interpreter of Agrippa von Nettesheim,
“Ambix” 1982, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 125–140; Z. Szydlo, The alchemy of Michael
Sendivogius: His central nitre theory, “Ambix” 1993, Vol. 40, pp. 129–146;
P. Alves Porto, Michael Sendivogius on nitre and the preparation of the Philos-
ophers’ Stone, “Ambix” 2001, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 1–16; H. Hirai, Michel Send-
ivogius [in:] Le concept de semence dans les théories de la matière à la Re-
naissance: De Marsile Ficin à Pierre Gassendi, ed. H. Hirai, Turnhout 2005,
pp. 351–374; D. Kahn, Le Tractatus de sulphure de Michael Sendivogius
(1616), une alchimie entre philosophie naturelle et mystique [in:] L’écriture du
texte scientifique au Moyen Age, ed. C. Thomasset, Presses de l’Université de
Paris-Sorbonne, Paris 2006, pp. 193–221.
12
The still fundamental biography of Sendivogius by Roman Bugaj is now half
a century old and in need of serious revision: R. Bugaj, Michał Sędziwój (1566–
1636). Życie i pisma, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1968; the research by Włodzimierz
Hubicki is likewise outdated: W. Hubicki, The true life of Michael Sendivogi-
us [in:] Actes du XIe Congrès International d’Histoire d’Sciences, Wrocław–
Warszawa–Kraków 1968, pp. 51–55; while the biographical section in Zbig-
niew Szydło’s monograph is wholly dependent on Bugaj: Z. Szydło, Water
which does not wet hands. The alchemy of Michael Sendivogius, IHN PAN,
Warszawa 1994; more recent finding were reported in numerous papers by Rafał
T. Prinke, with lengthy synthetic treatment in: R.T. Prinke, Beyond patronage:
Michael Sendivogius and the meanings of success in alchemy [in:] Chymia: Sci-
ence and nature in medieval and early modern Europe, eds. M. López Pérez,
D. Kahn, M. Rey Bueno, Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle 2010, pp. 175–231;
idem, Nolite de me inquirere (Nechtyějte se po mniě ptatj): Michael Sendivogius
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 47

As is the case with other important historical figures, even the

minute details of the life of Michael Sendivogius seem to be im-
portant and worth discovering – especially because so little is
known about him due to the alchemist’s secretive nature and lat-
er legends, circulating false information.13 This paper is based on
some newly discovered sources related to the Cracovian period
in the biography of the Polish alchemist. The research in the re-
cords of the municipal court of justice in Cracow was conduct-
ed by Rafał T. Prinke in 2003–2004 and supplemented by the re-
search of Kamila Follprecht undertaken in 2016. The results were
quite extensive and impossible to be fully discussed here, so we
concentrated on identifying the precise locations of the houses
where Sendivogius lived, correcting the earlier (and widely ac-
cepted in tourist guides) wrong identification of one of them. The
same goal was earlier successfully attempted by Prinke for the
houses of Sendivogius in Prague and Olomouc,14 as well as by
both authors for the house where John Dee and Edward Kelley
stayed in Cracow.15

1. Between Cracow and Prague

Although by the “Cracovian period” in the life of Sendi-

vogius we mean the time when he permanently lived there in
his own houses between the years 1613 and 1629, the Polish

(1566–1636) [in:] Alchymie a Rudolf II. Hledání tajemství přírody ve střední

Evropě v 16. a 17. století, eds. I. Purš, V. Karpenko, Artefactum, Praha 2011,
pp. 317–333; idem, Michał Sędziwój – początki kariery, “Kwartalnik Historii
Nauki i Techniki” 2012, nr 58 (1), pp. 89–129.
13
On his secretiveness see especially: idem, Milczenie alchemików. Tożsamość
Michała Sędziwoja zakodowana w tekście Basilica chymica Oswalda Crolla,
“Pamietnik Biblioteki Kórnickiej” 2007, nr 28, pp. 217–241; L.T.I. Penman,
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: Crisis, chiliasm, and transcendence in the thought of
Paul Nagel (†1624), a Lutheran dissident during the time of the Thirty Years’
War’, “Intellectual History Review” 2010, Vol. 20, pp. 201–226.
14
R.T. Prinke, New light on Michael Sendivogius’ writings: The treatises writ-
ten in Prague and maybe in Olomouc [in:] Latin alchemical literature of Czech
provenance, eds. T. Nejeschleba, J. Michalík, Olomouc 2015, pp. 131–147.
15
R.T. Prinke, K. Follprecht, John Dee and Edward Kelley in Cracow: Identi-
fying the House of Enochian Revelations, “The Polish Journal of the Arts and
Culture” 2015, No. 13, pp. 119–136.
48 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

alchemist often stayed in Cracow earlier and most probably was

born there. Little is known about his origins and early years, and
it is quite probable that he was an illegitimate child, because he
went to great lengths to establish his status as a nobleman.16 The
only source for Sendivogius’s date and place of birth is an arti-
cle published in 1855 by Ferdinand B. Mikovec, a Czech play-
wright and journalist. He stated that the alchemist was born “with-
out any doubt” on 2 February 1566 in Cracow.17 Unfortunately, he
did not say where he obtained that information, while the rest of
the multi-part article is not based on primary sources. It is possible
that Mikovec found a horoscope of Sendivogius (we know that at
least one horoscope was prepared for the alchemist,18 so there may
also have been others); therefore, the information may be tenta-
tively accepted. But if the date given by Mikovec is accepted as
valid, it cannot be separated from the place – as Roman Bugaj,
Włodzimierz Hubicki and Zbigniew Szydło did, when they sug-
gested the birthplace was really Łukowica near Nowy Sącz or an-
other village.19 The only source mentioning the father of Sendivo-
gius – Jakub Sędzimir – is a short genealogy provided by Bartosz
Paprocki in the dedicatory preface to one of his books.20 In spite of
the extensive research on the Sędzimir family undertaken by Rafał
T. Prinke (who discovered rich notes from original sources left
by Bogdan Henryk Łuszczyński), by Waldemar Bukowski (who
searched through all the relevant records of the land and cas-
tle courts), and by some members of the family, only one single
source reference to a person of the same name was found.21 On 10
16
R.T. Prinke, Michał Sędziwój – początki kariery…, pp. 102–109.
17
F.B. Mikovec, Zlatodějové v Čechach za Rudolfa II, “Lumír” 1855, Vol. 5,
pp. 87–92, 112–116, 137–140, 159–162, 188–189, 207–209, 233–236, 255–
258, 302–306, here 233.
18
L.T.I. Penman, Climbing Jacob’s Ladder..., pp. 214.
19
That version became standard through Zbigniew Szydło’s entry in the Polish bi-
ographical dictionary: Z. Szydło, Sędziwój Michał h. Ostoja [in:] Polski słownik
biograficzny, t. 36, red. H. Markiewicz, Warszawa–Kraków 1996, pp. 417–419.
20
B. Paprocki, Ogrod krolewsky, Praha 1599, pp. 145v–146r.
21
R.T. Prinke, Michał Sędziwój – pochodzenie, rodzina, herb, “GENS. Kwar-
talnik Towarzystwa Genealogiczno-Heraldycznego” 1992, nr 2, pp. 33–
49; B.H. Łuszczyński, Silva Heraldica, rodowody i inny materiał do rodopi-
stwa z akt grodzkich i ziemskich b. województwa krakowskiego i innych archi-
wów akt dawnej Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Vol. 12 (X), Warszawa, Biblioteka
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 49

January 1551 a certain Jakub Sędzimir accompanied the Cracow

land court warden as a witness of a land purchase procedure.22 It is
obviously not certain whether that man was the father of Sendivo-
gius, but if he was, the context in which he appears indicates that
he was an impoverished member of lower gentry, without a stable
income, and living in Cracow. If we also accept the information
from Mikovec, then it may be provisionally assumed that Michael
Sendivogius was indeed born in Cracow and spent his youth there.
The earliest source reference to the alchemist himself is the
record of his matriculation at the Lutheran university in Leip-
zig for the winter semester of 1590.23 He probably studied at
Cambridge and Ingolstadt without proper matriculation before
going to Leipzig, and then continued at several other univer-
sities.24 Thus he must have received some basic education at
one of the parochial schools in Cracow but we do not know
anything about his life at that time.25 At the end of his aca-
demic peregrinations he married Veronika Stiebar von Butten-
heim, a wealthy widow from Frankonia,26 and on 1 May 1594
Narodowa, rkps. IV 6593, s. 377–425; W. Bukowski, Łukowica [in:] Słownik
historyczno-geograficzny województwa krakowskiego w średniowieczu, red.
F. Sikora, IH PAN, Kraków 2003, pp. 1032–1048; R.T. Prinke, Beyond patronage...,
pp. 192–197, 211–217; idem, Michał Sędziwój – początki kariery…, pp. 96–109.
22
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi ziemskie krakowskie, sygn. 29/1/644
(dawne Terr. Crac. 189), pp. 773–774.
23
S. Tomkowicz, Metrica nec non liber nationis Polonicae Universitatis Lipsien-
sis ab anno 1409 usque ad 1600, z rękopisów Uniwersytetu lipskiego, “Archiwum
do Dziejów Oświaty” 1882, t. 2, pp. 409–467, here p. 437; separate printing Kra-
ków 1881, p. 29; Die jüngere Matrikel der Universität Leipzig, 1559–1809, Bd. 1:
Die Immatrikulationen vom Wintersemester 1559 bis zum Sommersemester 1634,
Hrsg. G. Erler, Leipzig 1909, p. 432; oryginał: Leipzig, Universitätsarchiv, Matri-
kel der Universität Leipzig, sygn. UAL Rektor M 4, p. 228r.
24
Seven universities are named by: J. z. K. Carolides, Praecepta institutio-
nis generosae indolis, Praha [1598], B1r; besides those, Sendivogius also stu-
died in Vienna: Die Matrikel der Universität Wien, Bd. 4: 1579/II–1658/59,
1. Lieferung, Hrsg. F. Gall, Graz–Köln 1961, p. 33.
25
J. Krukowski, Z dziejów szkolnictwa parafialnego Krakowa w okresie odro-
dzenia, “Prace Monograficzne Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej w Krakowie”,
74, Kraków 1986; the gymnasium or Collegium Novodvorscianum in Cracow
started operating only in 1588, too late for Sendivogius to attend it.
26
R.T. Prinke, Veronika Stiebarin, the wife of Michael Sendivogius [in:] Sršatý
Prajz. Erich Šefčík (1945–2004). Sborník k nedožitým 65. narozeninám historika
a archiváře, eds. J. Hanzal, O. Šefčík, Praha 2010, Lidové Noviny, pp. 151–162.
50 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

he became a courtier of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague.27 In 1598

he was made the counsellor and remained on the list of imperial
employees until 1612, but it seems that the first Prague period
in Sendivogius’s life did not last beyond 1606. During that time
he visited Poland and Cracow at least a few times, serving as
a diplomatic envoy between Rudolf and Sigismund III, King of
Poland, as showed by three surviving letters (dated 1598, 1600,
and 1602) sent by the latter monarch to the former,28 and by
his appearance at the castle court in Sącz on 7 October 1598.29
When the alchemist was in Poland in 1600, he was granted the
title of royal secretary by King Sigismund and augmentation of
his coat-of-arms by the Parliament (which was in fact a “hidden
nobilitation”).30 On 30 July 1601 he received a securitas publi-
ca document from Rudolf, ensuring his safe travel to Poland.31
It is not known, however, where he stayed in Cracow during
all those visits. By 1603 Sendivogius was back in Prague and
the following year his De lapide philosophorum was published
there. At the end of December 1604 he was still in Prague, plan-
ning to go to Cracow and report to the king on current political
matters.32 On 20 September 1605 he was again in Cracow, stay-

27
Der Hof Kaiser Rudolfs II. Eine Editition der Hofstaatsverzeichnisse 1576–
1612, ed. J. Hausenblasová, Fontes historiae artium, Praha 2002, pp. 276–277.
28
A. Grabowski, Skarbniczka naszej archeologii, Leipzig 1854, p. 198;
R.T. Prinke, A. Pawlaczyk, Dwa listy Zygmunta III Wazy do cesarza Rudolfa
II w sprawie alchemika Michała Sędziwoja, “Pamiętnik Biblioteki Kórnickiej”
2005, nr 27, pp. 127–134.
29
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie sądeckie, sygn. 29/7/113
(dawne Castr. Sand. 108), p. 387; edited text in: W. Semkowicz, Wywody szla-
chectwa w Polsce XIV–XVII w., “Rocznik Towarzystwa Heraldycznego we
Lwowie” 1911/1912, t. 3, pp. 123–124, nr 216.
30
Warszawa, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Metryka Koronna 145, fol.
48v–50v (draft) and 146, pp. 41–50 (fair copy); edited text in: J. Michta, Przy-
wilej herbowy Michała Sędziwoja z 1600 roku [in:] Rycerze, wędrowcy, kace-
rze. Studia z historii średniowiecznej i wczesnonowożytnej Europy Środkowej,
red. B. Wojciechowska, W. Kowalski, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jana Ko-
chanowskiego, Kielce 2013, pp. 133–148.
31
Praha, Státní ústřední archív, Vereinigte böhmisch-österreichische Hofkan-
zlei, Salbücher, Register No. 168, fol. 420–420v.
32
Warszawa, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Archiwum Koronne Warszaw-
skie, List Marcina Gołogórskiego do króla Zygmunta III Wazy z 20 grudnia 1604
r., sygn. 34a/1, poz. 19, k. 165–168; List Marcina Gołogórskiego do biskupa
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 51

ing at the house of “Nicolai doctoris viduam” on Wiślna Street

(platea Istulana).33 The late owner of the house was Nicolaus
Hussman (or Grosman), a physician, who was regularly called
“alchemista” in the court records of Cracow, so he may have
been a senior friend of Sendivogius or even his tutor in alchem-
ical matters. He purchased the house as early as 1564 and died
in or before August 1597, when his widow Jadwiga and his son
Samuel formally took over the inheritance.34 The house was sit-
uated on the corner of the present day streets Karola Olszews-
kiego and Jagiellońska, next to the city walls.35 This discovery
not only identifies the earliest known place in Cracow where
Sendivogius lived, but also opens new area of research (and
speculation) on his earlier life and possible connections with
Nicolaus Hussman. The connection was already mentioned by
Włodzimierz Hubicki, who stated that Sendivogius rented Huss-
man’s laboratory from his widow and that there were twenty six
pieces of alchemical glassware there, but he failed to give source
references for that statement and we have not been able to find
it.36 Certainly, the record of that renting agreement would be of
podkanclerzego Piotra Tylickiego z 20 grudnia 1604 r., sygn. 34a/1, poz. 20,
k. 169–171); edited text in: R.T. Prinke, Tajna misja alchemika Sędziwoja: Epi-
zod z pogranicza dziejów nauki, polityki i wojskowości [in:] Historia na źródłach
oparta. Studia ofiarowane Profesorowi Tadeuszowi Srogoszowi w 65. rocznicę
urodzin, red. A. Stroynowski, Wydawnictwo im. Stanisława Podobińskiego Aka-
demii im. Jana Długosza w Częstochowie, Częstochowa 2017, pp. 531–550.
33
Stuttgart, Hauptstaatsarchiv, Extract from court records of Cracow, 6 Septem-
ber 1606, unpaginated, sign. A47 Bü 8.
34
J. Lachs, Kronika lekarzy krakowskich do końca XVI w., “Archiwum do dzie-
jów literatury i oświaty w Polsce” 1910, t. 12, pp. 89–176, here 147–148; sepa-
rate printing Kraków 1909, pp. 59–60.
35
K. Follprecht, Z. Noga, Wykaz właścicieli nieruchomości w Krakowie w 1598 r.
[in:] Atlas historyczny Polski. Województwo krakowskie w drugiej połowie XVI
wieku, cz. II: Komentarz, indeksy, red. H. Rutkowski, Neriton, Warszawa 2008,
pp. 163–202, here 201; published also in English: idem, Cracow in 1598 [in:]
Historical atlas of Poland in the 2nd half of the 16th century: Voivodeships of Cra-
cow, Sandomierz, Lublin, Sieradz, Łęczyca, Rawa, Płock and Mazovia, Vol. 3,
ed. M. Słoń, Peter Lang Edition, Frankfurt am Main 2014, pp. 692–764.
36
W. Hubicki, Chemie und Alchemie des 16. Jahrhundert in Polen, “Annales
Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio AA. Chemia” 1955, Vol. 10,
pp. 61–100; repr. idem, Z dziejów chemii i alchemii, red. W. Brzyska, M. Dąb-
kowska, W. Hubicki, Wydawnictwo Naukowo-Techniczne, Warszawa 1991,
pp. 106–135, here 115; idem, Alchimia Cracoviae A.D. 1569 [in:] Pięćdziesiąt
52 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

Fig. 1. The house of Nicholas Hussman or Grosmann in Wiślna Street.

Source: K. Follprecht, Z. Noga, Kraków w 1598 roku [in:] Atlas historyczny
Polski. Województwo krakowskie w drugiej połowie XVI wieku, cz. I: Mapy,
plany, Wydawnictwo Instytutu Historii PAN, Warszawa 2008

considerable interest and may shed new light on both Hussman

and Sendivogius.

2. The Court at St. Anne’s Gate

Shortly after the date of the record mentioned above (prob-

ably in the fall of 1605), Sendivogius went to the court of Fred-
erick I, duke of Württemberg, in Stuttgart and was imprisoned
there by another alchemist, Johann Heinrich Müller von Müh-
lenfels (1578/79–1606). After his adventurous escape (and when
von Mühlenfels was hanged by the duke), Sendivogius started
a long-lasting cooperation with Mikołaj Wolski (1553–1630), at
that time the Crown court marshal, whom he helped to establish
a metallurgy centre in his estates. From 1606 he probably lived
permanently in Wolski’s castle in Krzepice, because on 30 April
1607 he appeared at the castle court in Cracow to display his
wounds and sue Stanisław Picus Zawadzki37 for inflicting them
lat Polskiego Towarzystwa Chemicznego 1919–1969, Kraków 1969, pp. 55–57;
repr. idem, Z dziejów chemii i alchemii…, pp. 178–191, here 188.
37
He was a physician, son of the better known Stanisław (d. 1600), rector of
the University in Cracow; F. Giedroyć, Źródła biograficzno-bibliograficzne do
dziejów medycyny w dawnej Polsce, Druk K. Kowalewskiego, Warszawa 1911,
pp. 900–910; J. Lachs, Kronika lekarzy krakowskich do końca XVI w., pp. 150.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 53

“in arce Krzepicensis.”38 Even as late as 1622 it was common

knowledge that Sendivogius had lived in Krzepice, which can be
seen from a letter written by a Czech physician Matyáš Borbo-
nius (1566–1629) to his Silesian colleague Georgius Claromon-
tanus (Crommeromontanus) or Georg Hellberger (also known as
Jerzy Gorecki, c. 1580–1634), who then stayed at Wolski’s cas-
tle. Borbonius asked him about Sendivogius’s tincture (wrongly
supposing that the alchemist had been already dead). During that
period the Polish alchemist may have received some fixed prop-
erty from Wolski or bought it himself, as testified by an anony-
mous note written in the 1630’s and stating that Sendivogius
“held real estate here in Poland ab anno 1606.”39
About the year 1609 Sendivogius went to Italy and stayed
at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua, probably also vis-
iting Venice, and on his return he sent a letter to the duke, dat-
ed from Cracow on 1 July 1610.40 As his contact address in Po-
land he gave “Signor Celari mercadante di Cracovia”, which
suggests that at that time he did not live permanently there
yet. The merchant in question was certainly Andrzej (I) Cellari
(c. 1556–1616), a prominent member of the patrician family
originating from Milan, elected the mayor of Cracow in 1601
and serving as a municipal councillor during the years 1601–
1616.41 His place of residence was the house at the Main Mar-
ketplace (Rynek Główny), today number 19.42
Over a month later, on 11 August 1610, Sendivogius con-
firmed at the castle court in Cracow the receipt of 8600 florins
from Mikołaj Wolski.43 That sum was apparently the alchemist’s
38
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie krakowskie, sygn. 29/5/678
(dawne Castr. Crac. 539, Cast. Crac. Rel. 34), pp. 725–726.
39
Warszawa, Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Gabinet Rycin, rkps 477.
40
Mantua, Archivio di Stato, Archivio Gonzaga, busta 559, No. 433; edited text
in: L. Szczucki, Fragmenta mantuana, “Studia Polonistyczne” 1992, nr 18/19,
pp. 197–201.
41
K. Follprecht, Przyczynki do dziejów krakowskiej rodziny Cellarich, “Kra-
kowski Rocznik Archiwalny” 1999, nr 5, pp. 69–84.
42
Ibidem, p. 79; K. Follprecht, Z. Noga, Wykaz właścicieli nieruchomości..., p. 167.
43
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie krakowskie, sygn. 29/5/477
(dawne Castr. Crac. 1175), p. 489; W. Urban, Podpisy małopolskich intelektu-
alistów XVI–XVII w., “Biuletyn Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej” 1986, nr 36 (1/2),
pp. 71–78, here 73 and fig. 8; here the sum is incorrectly given as 8000 florins.
54 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

remuneration for his work at Wolski’s industrial enterprise and

it allowed him to purchase his first house just outside the city
walls, in the borough called Garbary, and start to construct his
residence there. The place seems to have been carefully cho-
sen: Sendivogius certainly made sure that there was a perspec-
tive of buying the neighbouring houses. Living outside the city
walls gave him more independence, as for example when re-
ceiving visitor who would not like to be checked at the city
gates, and allowed to have a large garden. The house was lo-
cated next to St. Anne’s Gate, on the other side of which there
was (and still is) the main building of the University, which
the alchemist could easily visit whenever he wanted. We have
not found the record of the purchase yet, but it must have been
in 1611 or 1612, because tax records of 1613 already list “the
house of Sir Sendivogius” between the houses of Lady Barbara
Ożarowska44 (where a woman lived, whose job was ironing and
starching linen) and one belonging to the heirs of Gerard Czap-
nik.45 Thus there were good chances that both of those houses
might be available for purchase. Behind Ożarowska’s house,
there was a small one owned by an elderly and blind widow
named Drotszmit, which Sendivogius bought in 1613 (there is
a later annotation to that effect in the tax records), with the res-
ervation that she would remain there until her death.
On 18 December 1614 Sendivogius purchased a posses-
sion in Czarna Wieś (Villa Nigra) nearby from Paweł Basiowic
and Regina Gorysiowa.46 We have not ascertained the exact lo-
cation of it yet, but it was probably an investment rather than
part of the residence of the alchemist. Three month later, on
12 March 1615, he bought the neighbouring house from Bar-
bara de Wargawa Ożarowska, located between his own and that

44
She was born as Barbara of Wargawa Jarochowska and had two husbands:
Krzysztof Myszkowski (d. 1594/98) and Jan of Wierzbno Ożarowski; A. Bo-
niecki, Herbarz polski, Warszawa 1899–1913, t. 8, p. 257; S. Uruski, A.A. Ko-
siński, A. Włodarski, Rodzina. Herbarz szlachty polskiej, Warszawa 1904–
1917, 1931, t. 9, p. 375, t. 13, p. 139.
45
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 2581, pp. 76–77.
46
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Jurydyka Garbary, sygn. 29/40/20 (dawne
Jur. IV-20), pp. 441–444.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 55

of Wit Piecek, a baker.47 Later the same year, on 6 October, Sen-

divogius purchased the house which belonged to the late Gerard
Czapnik (Gierhardus Gierard), standing between that of Michael
Schwander and his own “court” (here already so called, curia and
arca). The seller was Gerard’s daughter, in the presence of his
brother from Braunschweig.48 In the following three years there
were some controversies about that purchase, raised by Gerard’s
son Krzysztof, finally settled in 1617.49 There are also records
of other real estate, apparently bought by Sendivogius as an in-
vestment, including a house of Andrzej Gawronek, the rights to
which were eventually proved by the Fraternity of St. Sophia and
it was reintroduced into ownership on 2 February 1617.50
In this way Michael Sendivogius became the owner of
a block of three wooden houses and the brick house of Gerard
Czapnik, together with a large garden, outside St. Anne’s Gate
in the city walls of Cracow, which he turned into a cottage be-
ing his residence, and where he lived until 1625.51 Such status
is confirmed by numerous entries in later town court records of
Garbary, where the estate is called “Generosi Domini Michalis
Sendivogii Curia”, as well as by Walerian Nekanda Trepka in
his famous Liber chamorum (written between 1624 and 1640),
where he states that “the alchemist Sendivogius lived in Cra-
cow beyond the Gate of St. Anne until 1626 for nearly twenty
[kilkanaście] years” and later went to live in Germany (mean-
ing the Holy Roman Empire). He adds that through all that time
he lived without marriage with one Rusinoska, whom Trepka
calls a whore (murwa).52 In earlier publications on Sendivogi-
47
Ibidem, pp. 507–510.
48
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Jurydyka Garbary, sygn. 29/40/20 (daw-
ne Jur. IV-20), pp. 681–683, 703–704; Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 2588,
pp. 98–99.
49
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Jurydyka Garbary, sygn. 29/40/20 (dawne
Jur. IV-20), pp. 1256–1258.
50
Ibidem, pp. 1249–1250.
51
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 2597, p. 99.
52
W.N. Trepka, Liber generationis plebeanorum (Liber chamorum), eds.
W. Dworzaczek, J. Bartyś, Z. Kuchowicz, 2 vols, Ossolineum, Wrocław–War-
szawa–Kraków 1963, pp. 465–466; a new popular edition: idem, Liber genera-
tionis plebeanorum (Liber chamorum), ed. R. Leszczyński, Wrocław–Warsza-
wa–Kraków 1995, p. 352.
56 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

us it was assumed that either she or a married woman named

Zofia Necianka was the mother of an illegitimate child of the
alchemist,53 because Ambroży Grabowski reported a “wed-
ding of Sir Sendivogius’s daughter” in 1620 without a source
reference.54 Now we found that source and it turned out that
Grabowski misinterpreted it, because it was the wedding of Zo-
fia Orzeskówna alias Sapientówna, daughter of Stanisław Sapi-
enty from Gołębia Street, and Józef Kowalowski of Mroskow-
icze, a servant of Michael Sendivogius – which explains why
the reception took place in his cottage.55 Also the year was in-
correct, as the information was recorded among the expenses of
the city council on 14 March 1620, but the wedding was cele-
brated on 17 September 1619.56
In 1624 emissaries of the Reformed Franciscans arrived
in Cracow with the intention of founding a monastery there.
A rich widow, Krystyna Grochowska née Zborowska, daugh-
ter of Andrzej Zborowski (c. 1525–1598), court marshal of Po-
land and castellan of Biecz, agreed to sponsor the undertaking.
While looking for a convenient place, the monks approached
Michael Sendivogius, asking if he would sell his cottage (com-
prising a block of three wooden houses, one brick house, an
empty place and a garden) to them.57 After some negotiations,
he eventually agreed and the purchase of the whole residence
by Krystyna Grochowska for 5000 florins was completed on 16
January 1625. The agreement transferring ownership to the Re-
foremed Franciscans was written down by the notary Wojciech
53
R.T. Prinke, Beyond patronage..., p. 207; idem, Nolite de me inquirere...,
p. 324.
54
A. Grabowski, Starożytnicze wiadomości o Krakowie, Kraków 1852, p. 280.
55
On Stanisław Sapienty (Sapienti) see: J. Hiżycka, S. Sławiński, Przemiany hi-
storyczne staromiejskiego bloku nr 27 w Krakowie; dziedziniec Collegium Ma-
ius oraz posesja przy ul. św. Anny 10 w świetle ostatnich badań architektonicz-
nych, “Opuscula Musealia” 2011, Vol. 19, pp. 91–121, here 106.
56
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 1711, p. 106;
Kartoteka wypisów z ksiąg małżeństw parafii św. Anny w Krakowie, wpis
z IX/1619.
57
For the circumstances of the early activities of the Reformed Franciscans
in Cracow and the history of their two monasteries see: J. Pasiecznik, Kościół
i klasztor reformatów w Krakowie, “Biblioteka Krakowska”, 119, Kraków
1978; the purchase of Sendivogius’s cottage is discussed on p. 17.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 57

Maciej Bolgowski58 and recorded at the castle court in Cra-

cow.59 On the same day the transaction was also entered into the
records of the municipal court of Garbary60 and on 25 February
Sendivogius confirmed the receipt of the money.61
A fascinating episode related to the foundation of the mon-
astery was recorded by Stanisław Kleczewski in the 18th cen-
tury, apparently from a chronicle which does not seem to sur-
vive.62 It is worth quoting at length here for its symbolic beauty:

The first arrival of the Reformed Franciscans to Cra-

cow with the Rev. Fr. Alexander Patawin had been an-
nounced by an eagle of exceptional size, never seen in
this country. It flew into the city, then lowered its flight,
circled the town hall several times, and inclined many
people first to admire it, and then to consider it some-
thing exceptional. Having rested for a while in the
marketplace, it flew into the courtyard of Michael Sen-
divogius’s cottage, where it was caught and domesti-
cated, and lived there until the Reformed Franciscans
moved in. For some time later that ground, with other
adjacent ones, was purchased by Christina Grochow-
ska, Countess of Zborów, for the monastery of Refor-
med Franciscans, and so the brethren received it toge-
ther with that eagle, still alive, showing them the way.63

The monastery was soon built but in 1655, during the Swed-
ish siege of Cracow, the mayor ordered to pull it down, because

58
Edited text in: M. Wilczyński, Klasztor Świętego Kazimierza OO. Reforma-
tów w Krakowie, wedlug archiwum tegoż klasztoru, Kraków 1893, pp 38–39.
59
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie krakowskie, sygn. 29/5/222
(dawne Castr. Crac. 222), pp. 110–113.
60
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Jurydyka Garbary, sygn. 29/40/22 (dawne
Jur. IV-22), pp. 517–519.
61
Ibidem, p. 549.
62
It does not appear in the chronicle preserved in: Kraków, Archiwum Prow-
incji Franciszkanów-Reformatów, Monimentum seu archivum Conventus Civi-
tatis Metropolitanae Cracoviensis ad S. Casimirum 1625–1753.
63
Chronologia Polona Fratrum Reformatorum [in:] Kalendarz Seraficzny za-
mykaiący w sobie żywoty wielebnych Sług Boskich Zakonu S. O. Franciszka Re-
formatów Polskich osobliwą swiątobliwoscią znamienitych, red. S. Kleczewski,
Lwów 1760, LIX–LXI.
58 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

it was too close to the city walls.64 Later the Reformed Fran-
ciscans moved into the city, where their monastery is located
today, in the street named Reformacka after them. The exact
location of the first monastery – and therefore the location of
Sendivogius’s cottage – was fortunately marked on the map
prepared by the Swedish army. It can be seen that it was closer
to the city walls than the Church of the Visitation of the Bless-
ed Virgin Mary (of the Carmelites), which is also showed. Their
relative positions on that map confirm the textual descriptions
of “arca Sendivogii” as located just outside St. Anne’s Gate.65
Ambroży Grabowski suggested that it was the same place where
the Capuchin monastery was built in 1700,66 but – considering
the danger brought by the proximity of the Reformed Francis-
cans monastery to the city walls – the new monastic foundation
was certainly removed further away. So there can be little doubt
that the court of Sendivogius was located between that place
and the city walls. Today it is roughly the area demarcated by
the streets Studencka, Loretańska, Jabłonowskich and Strasze-
wskiego, comprising two blocks, one of them housing a voca-
tional high school, popularly called the Loretan Academy.

Fig. 2. Fragment of the Swedish map showing the location of the monastery
of Reformed Franciscans in 1655. Source: Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie

64
J. Pasiecznik, Kościół i klasztor reformatów w Krakowie…, pp. 34–35.
65
H. Gapski, Klasztory krakowskie w końcu XVI i w pierwszej połowie
XVII wieku. Analiza przestrzenna środowisk zakonnych, Lublin 1993.
66
A. Grabowski, Starożytnicze wiadomości o Krakowie…, p. 280.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 59

Fig. 3. The cottage of Sendivogius in the tax records of 1621. Source: Archiwum
Narodowe w Krakowie, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 2597, p. 99

Such a location can be further confirmed by two early 17th

century panoramas of the city: one created from nature and en-
graved c.1603–1605 by an anonymous artist for the famous
Civitates orbis terrarum (later also republished in some later
books),67 and a giant one (over two meters long), engraved in
1619 by Matthias Merian and mostly based on the panorama
from Civitates.68 Thus both display the details as they appeared
some ten years before Sendivogius purchased his cottage.69
67
Civitates orbis terrarum: Theatri praecipuarum totius mundi urbium liber
sextus, eds. G. Braun, F. Hoghenberg, Coloniae Agrippinae 1618, plate 43.
68
There are only two copies known: Kraków, Muzeum XX. Czartoryskich and
Stockholm, Kungliga Biblioteket.
69
J. Banach, Dawne widoki Krakowa, 2 ed., Wydawnictwa Literackie, Kraków
1983, pp. 63–101, 210–213; K. Dąbrowska-Budziło, Wśród panoram Krako-
wa. O przemianach widoków i o tym, jak je ocalić, Wydawnictwa Literackie,
Kraków 1990, pp. 114–126.
 60
Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

Fig. 4. Fragment of Merian’s panorama of Cracow with the cottage of Sendivogius. Source: Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 61

Nevertheless, the engravings clearly show a block of two or

three houses and one separate house within a square garden on
the right side of St. Anne’s Gate. This is as far as we can reach
into the past reality and see, almost touch and feel, the place
where the great Polish alchemist lived for over a dozen years.

3. In the Jewish Street

After selling his court to Krystyna Grochowska and the Re-

formed Franciscans, Sendivogius had to look for a new place
for himself. By 22 May 1625 he had bought a house outside
the city walls, in the area called Kawiory (near his former resi-
dence), from a baker Andrzej Kayle alias Gan, and built a wood-
en wall in front of it, on the ground belonging to the city, for
which reason members of the city council inspected it.70 A lit-
tle later he decided to move into the city and on 7 June 1625
purchased a house in Jewish Street (today Św. Tomasza), be-
tween one called Hordakowski’s (kamienica Hordakowska) and
the house belonging to a baker Stanisław Bębenek Kamieński,
from Zofia Strzegówna, daughter of the late inn-keeper Adam
Strzeg alias Wilk, at the time wife of Adam Laskowski. The
transaction was completed on 24 July 1625 and the alchemist
confirmed he still owed 500 florins to the successors of Adam
Strzeg.71 On 26 August the house was visited by members of
the city council at the complaint of Stanisław Bębenek because
Sendivogius had again built a wooden wall between their hous-
es.72 Presumably Bębenek did not live there himself, as he soon
sold the house to a printer Antoni Woszyński (Wosiński), from
whom Sendivogius bought it in 1626.73
The house in Kawiory was probably only an investment
or temporary habitation and the alchemist planned to have his

70
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 1378, p. 374.
71
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 34, pp. 154–155;
rkps 459, pp. 539–540.
72
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 1378, p. 377.
73
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 34, pp. 490–492;
S. Tomkowicz, Przyczynki do historyi kultury Krakowa w pierwszej połowie
XVII w., Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Lwów 1912, p. 313.
62 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

new residence in Jewish Street. The precise location of the two

houses there was misinterpreted by Stanisław Tomkowicz, who
wrote that Bębenek’s house was at the corner of Szczepański
Square and Woszyński’s was at St. Thomas Street number 3,
and that both of them later became part of the large building of
the Agricultural Society, which still stands there today.74 Tom-
kowicz was an authority on the history of Cracow and his state-
ment was widely accepted, repeated in scholarly publications
and especially in tourist guidebooks. It is, however, clear even
from the record he quoted that the lots extended to Rogacka
Street (today Reformacka), where Sendivogius had his brewery.
Moreover, the neighbouring house called Hordakowski’s was
on the other side of Jewish Street (today number 2), as it be-
longed to a baker Andrzej Hardak in 1598.75 The next one (now
at Szczepański Square) was the first house Sendivogius bought
from the daughter of Adam Strzeg, then Bębenek’s house he
bought from Woszyński (both on the site of the present house
number 7), and then the house of Michał Kataj, later bought by
a nobleman Piotr Krasuski (today the right half of number 8).
The life plans of Sendivogius soon changed when he re-
ceived a nomination for the imperial councillor from Emper-
or Ferdinand II. It was dated 8 January 1626 and Sendivogi-
us had it copied in the records of the castle court in Cracow
on 30 April.76 Before leaving Cracow for good, he wanted to
settle all his financial matters, so he appears in court records
a number of times, requesting the return of debts from various
people. Perhaps the most interesting are two entries from 1627
and 1628, where he exhorted Jan Hiacynt Giebułtowski to give
back a large number of silver and gilded dishes (all of which
are listed) worth 10 000 florins, which the alchemist had lent to
Giebułtowski’s late father Albert.77 By far the most important

74
Ibidem, pp. 245, 313.
75
K. Follprecht, Z. Noga, Wykaz właścicieli nieruchomości..., p. 200.
76
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie krakowskie, sygn. 29/5/695
(dawne Castr. Crac. 556, Castr. Crac. Rel. 51), pp. 639–642; transcribed text in:
R. Bugaj, Michał Sędziwój..., pp. 146–148.
77
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi ziemskie krakowskie, sygn. 29/1/108
(dawne Terr. Crac. 128), p. 162; 29/1/109 (dawne Terr. Crac. 129), pp. 534–536.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 63

Fig. 5. The house of Michael Sendivogius in Jewish Street and the neighbouring
house he owned. Source: K. Follprecht, Z. Noga, Kraków w 1598 roku [in:]
Atlas historyczny Polski. Województwo krakowskie w drugiej połowie XVI wie-
ku, cz. I: Mapy, plany, Wydawnictwo Instytutu Historii PAN, Warszawa 2008

Fig. 6. Present day building on the site of Sendivogius’s house (right half)
and the neighbouring house owned by him (left half). Source: photograph
by Rafał T. Prinke
64 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

legal acts, however, were the transactions of selling real property.

Thus on 30 July 1629 Sendivogius sold (probably part of) the prop-
erty he had purchased from Stanisław Bębenek Kamieński, locat-
ed between that house and the Clockmaker’s (Zegarnika) house,
to the siblings Krystian and Marianna Mroczkowskis.78 Then on
4 August 1629 a haberdasher Jakub Winiarski and his wife Ka-
tarzyna bought from Sendivogius the house (apparently the re-
maining part of the original estate) of Stanisław Bębenek for 2000
florins.79 We have not found the record concerning the sale of the
house in Kawiory yet, but most probably it was also sold.
Thus, when he left Cracow for Prague in 1629 – as record-
ed by Nekanda Trepka quoted above and as confirmed by the
fact that for the final stage of the last transaction he was repre-
sented at court by Sebastian Cyrus – Sendivogius remained the
owner of one house in Cracow. We do not know about any later
visits of the alchemist in Cracow, but it is quite possible that he
occasionally stayed at that house. Shortly after his death in the
summer of 1636, a nobleman Jan Kołaczkowski claimed that
Sendivogius left no heirs (which was not true, as his daughter
was alive and well) and obtained iure caduco the rights to all
real estates and chattel of Sendivogius from the king. The char-
ter was issued in Grodno on 23 October 1636 and entered into
the court records of Cracow on 20 November.80 Interestingly,
Kołakowski was a son-in-law of Gabriel Sędzimir (a well-doc-
umented member of the family, who earlier confirmed Sendivo-
gius’s noble status at the castle court in Sącz, stating that they
were cousins), but he did not claim the inheritance on the basis
of his wife’s relationship proximity to the deceased alchemist,
which seems to confirm the hypothesis that he was not a le-
gitimate member of the Sędzimir family. The following year
Kołaczkowski made an agreement with the city council, who
took over the ownership of the house of Sendivogius.81
78
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 34, p. 1159.
79
Ibidem, pp. 1169–1171, 1188–1189.
80
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 460,
pp. 1628–1629.
81
A. Grabowski, Starożytnicze wiadomości o Krakowie, p. 280; he gives a ref-
erence to book A.9 p. 506 for this entry, but it is an old call number, for which
we have not identified the present one yet.
 The Court at St. Anne’s Gate… 65

It continued to be called “Sendivogius’s house” (kamienica

Sędziwojowska) for at least half a century after his death. For
example, in 1650 when the rent was collected from it, or in 1658
when a debt of the city to Lady Cyrus was drawn on its mort-
gage.82 Finally, on 8 February 1670, the city council sold “Sen-
divogius’s house” to Georg Klausman and his wife Elżbieta,
who already owned the neighbouring Bębenek’s house, former-
ly belonging to Sendivogius and sold by him to Winiarski.83 The
record of that transaction states that the city became the own-
er of the house by the royal decree issued in Warsaw on 16 De-
cember 1635. This must be a mistake, as Sendivogius was then
still alive. Maybe only the year is wrong and there was a de-
cree of the same date in 1636, but so far we have not been able
to find it. In the 19th century both houses were pulled down and
one large building was raised on their place. It is now located at
Szczepański Square number 7, the right half of which stands on
the place of the original kamienica Sędziwojowska.
In the present paper we focused on identifying the places
where Michael Sendivogius lived and the houses he owned in
Cracow. Our research in the records of the municipal court of jus-
tice uncovered a number of other interesting aspects of the alche-
mist’s life in that period, some of which require further research.

Manuscripts Sources

Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 34, rkps

1378, rkps 1711, rkps 2581, rkps 2588, rkps 2597, rkps 459, rkps
460, rkps 466.
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Jurydyka Garbary, sygn. 29/40/20
(dawne Jur. IV-20), sygn. 29/40/22 (dawne Jur. IV-22).
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Kartoteka wypisów z ksiąg małżeństw
parafii św. Anny w Krakowie.
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi grodzkie krakowskie, sygn.
29/5/222 (dawne Castr. Crac. 222), sygn. 29/5/477 (dawne Castr.
Crac. 1175), sygn. 29/5/678 (dawne Castr. Crac. 539, Cast. Crac.
82
Ibidem.
83
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Akta miasta Krakowa, rkps 466, p. 991.
66 Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

Rel. 34), sygn. 29/5/695 (dawne Castr. Crac. 556, Castr. Crac. Rel.
51), sygn. 29/7/113 (dawne Castr. Sand. 108).
Kraków, Archiwum Narodowe, Księgi ziemskie krakowskie, sygn.
29/1/644 (dawne Terr. Crac. 189), sygn. 29/1/108 (dawne Terr.
Crac. 128), sygn. 29/1/109 (dawne Terr. Crac. 129), pp. 534–536.
Kraków, Archiwum Prowincji Franciszkanów-Reformatów, Moni-
mentum seu archivum Conventus Civitatis Metropolitanae Cra-
coviensis ad S. Casimirum 1625–1753.
Leipzig, Universitätsarchiv, Matrikel der Universität Leipzig, sygn.
UAL Rektor M 4.
Mantua, Archivio di Stato, Archivio Gonzaga, busta 559, nr 433.
Praha, Státní ústřední archív, Vereinigte böhmisch-österreichische
Hofkanzlei, Salbücher, Register No. 168.
Stuttgart, Hauptstaatsarchiv, sign. A47 Bü 8.
Warszawa, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Archiwum Koronne
Warszawskie, sygn. 34a/1.
Warszawa, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Metryka Koronna 145 and 146.
Warszawa, Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Gabinet Rycin,
rkps 477.

Rafał T. Prinke, Kamila Follprecht

The Court at St. Anne’s Gate. New Sources on the Cracovian Period
in the Biography of Michael Sendivogius (1566–1636)

Michael Sendivogius (1566–1636) was the only Polish alchemical author

of European fame. His three treatises, now best known under the collective ti-
tle of Novum lumen chymicum, were published and translated more frequently
than any other early modern alchemical text. Their impact on the later alche-
mical tradition was tremendous, but Sendivogius also heavily influenced early
scientists (most notably Isaac Newton) and various currents of Western esote-
ricism, from his contemporary “old” Rosicrucians, through the Pietistic mani-
festations of mystical alchemy, to the Geheime Figuren and some groups of
modern esoteric revival. His biography was misrepresented even in mid-17th
century and little archival research was conducted to correct it. This paper pro-
vides new information on the Cracovian period in the alchemist’s biography,
based on primary sources in the National Archives. The first part discusses Sen-
divogius’s links with Cracow as the place where he most probably spent his
youth and which he often visited at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The
other two parts present detailed documentation of his two residences in the city
during the years 1613–1629.