|
Roger Bacon
(Page 2)
In 1277, after the Minister General of the Franciscans condemned
Bacon's work because of the 'suspect novelties' it contained,
the loyal Brothers of the Order tried to have him imprisoned. Bacon had always
submitted his writings to the judgment of the Church, and now appealed to
the new Pope. His appeal was lost and Bacon was actually imprisoned, but the exact
amount of time he served is unknown. Some sources say two years, others much
longer. His last work, published the year of his death (1294), was a
stinging reproach of a corrupted Church. Although largely incomplete,
Bacon's last contribution found him just as determined as any time in his
life to expose ignorance.
Bacon's writings included treatises on optics (then called
perspective), mathematics, chemistry, arithmetic, astronomy, the tides, and
the reformation of the calendar. His skill in the use of optical and
mechanical instruments caused him to be regarded by many as a
sorcerer.
Bacon believed that the Earth was spherical and that one
could sail around it. He estimated the distance to the stars at 130 million
miles, and he used a camera that projected an image through a pinhole to
observe solar eclipses. Bacon's work became so popular that it encouraged
others to experiment on their own, and by so doing helped bring about the
Renaissance.
He was acquainted with the properties of mirrors, knew the powers of
steam and gunpowder, had a working knowledge in microscopy, and possessed an
instrument very much like a modern telescope. Some say that he claimed that his telescope
could make the most distant object appear near, that it could make stars
appear at will, and even further, that it had the power of visualizing
future events.
In England before the Reformation, the study of
magic and alchemy were extremely common among the Roman clergy. The popular
belief in magic was reinforced by the extraordinary effects of natural processes
then known only to a small number of individuals who concealed their knowledge
with the most intense secrecy. In England's early times, magic coexisted with
witchcraft, and Roger Bacon was the first to display a separation between the
two. Bacon accepted what he termed the 'natural magic' that occurred within
mathematical and physical areas of experimentation, but he was decisively
against the use of incantations, the invocation of spirits, and the casting of
spells. He recognized that there were mysterious forces that appeared to be
magical, such as those that moved the stars and the planets; but he argued that
all knowledge that existed on Earth depended upon the power of mathematics.
Of course the occult traditions concerning Bacon are merely legendary, but
they help to crystallize the popular idea of an English
magician of medieval
times. The Elizabethan
History of Friar Bacon was
probably the first to put these legends on record. It has no factual concern
with the Bacon of science, for the Bacon of superstitious belief is a magician
who cheated the Devil, made a brazen head that spoke, and engaged in all manner
of black magic.
See
Alchemy,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1)
Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, Carol Publishing Group; (2) Ephraim,
Chambers,
Cyclopaedia (An Universal
Dictionary of Arts and Sciences), Rivington et al Straham (1778); (3)
Steiger, Brad and Sherry Hansen,
The Gale Encyclopedia of
the Unusual and Unexplained,
Thomson Gale; (4)
The Encyclopaedia
Britannica Eleventh Edition Handy Volume Edition,
Oxford University Press.
|
|
|
