A Refuge for Alchemists

After 1583, Budyně belonged to Jan Zbyněk Zajíc, a patron of science and alchemy. The renowned heraldist Bartoloměj Paprocký of Hloholy stayed here for a long time. An alchemical workshop operated here, employing the leading Czech alchemist Bavor the Younger Rodovský of Hustiřany (1526–1600). The famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe also stayed frequently. Jan Zbyněk Zajíc of Házmburk, president of the Court of Appeal in Bohemia, descended from one of the noblest families. He maintained alchemical laboratories at many residences: Budyně, Brozany, Mšenné, Hostinné and his Prague palace. He owned a rich alchemical library and wrote two works whose manuscript copies are in the National Museum. He claimed to have spent more money on alchemy than Emperor Rudolf II. After his death in 1616, it emerged that he had sold all his property and left his sons in poverty. Bavor the Younger Rodovský of Hustiřany and Radoslov was one of several children. He was named after his grandfather, reputed to have been a sorcerer who could make gold. Rodovský first took an interest in many different subjects and wrote numerous books. After marrying Voršila of Šelndorf, he used her dowry to buy the Radostov farm near Nechanice, where he also equipped an alchemical workshop. Debt soon landed him in Prague’s Black Tower, however, and in 1573 he wrote from there pleading for help from Vilém of Rožmberk. Vilém paid for his release, but Rodovský soon had to sell Radostov. His wife left him with their child, and he embarked on the hard life of a hired alchemist. He worked for the Rožmberks and at the imperial court in Prague. Rudolf II probably valued him highly, since after his death he had an allowance paid to his son Jan. Later Rodovský’s financial position improved and he even bought a house on Na Příkopě in Prague, opposite the Royal Court in the area of today’s náměstí Republiky. He spent his final years at Budyně, where he probably died in 1600. He left four original alchemical treatises in Czech, ranking among the most important works of world alchemy: Hermes’s Philosophy (1576), Book of the Perfect Chemical Art (1585), Philosophical Discourses (1591), and Czech Alchemy.