The Alchemists' Promised Home

In Třeboň, alchemical work was carried out chiefly in the former monastery. Daniel Prandtner and Petr Hlavsa of Liboslav worked there alongside the female alchemist Salomena Scheinpflugová. Václav Lavin and Bavor Rodovský of Hustiřany also stayed here. Later, under Ferdinand II, Kollart of Passau worked here in 1627–1628. According to a mocking remark by the chronicler Březan, the alchemists 'sowed gold in the earth' here. This needs explaining. The overwhelming majority of alchemists expressed themselves in symbolic language, with particular regularity using gardening and farming terminology. At a certain stage of the process their material was called 'leafy earth', into which 'gold', meaning the colour red, had to be sown. It was one of the key operations of the Great Work. To sow actually means to cook, continuing with the proper management of the fire. 'Sow your gold into well-prepared white leafy earth' means: work so that your substance passes from white to red. The well-known English magician and alchemist John Dee stayed and worked here in 1586. He remained for two years under the protection of Vilém of Rosenberg, although Emperor Rudolf II had banished him from the country. Edward Kelley also worked in Třeboň in 1588. Lord Vilém gave him Libeřice Castle, now Liber, with its village, as well as several other estates and villages. In Třeboň he lived in rooms of the château above the upper gate, opposite the former brewery. Dr John Dee was born in London on 13 June 1527. He studied at Cambridge and in the Netherlands, later teaching at Cambridge and in Paris. His best-known work is Monas hieroglyphica, published in 1564. In 1581 he met E.Kelley, and together they carried out a series of necromantic experiments, documented in Dee's diaries kept at Oxford University. In 1583 they travelled with Prince Vojtěch Laski first to Poland and later to Bohemia. In Prague, Dee was first examined by Tadeáš Hájek at his house on Old Town Square. Later, he performed a transmutation of mercury into gold before Emperor Rudolf II and presented him with his crystal ball and magical anthracite mirror. He claimed to understand the language of birds. The emperor eventually banished him for political intrigue, but he secretly returned and stayed in Třeboň, where he rejoined E.Kelley. In 1589, Queen Elizabeth summoned him back to England and granted him the profitable office of prefect of Manchester. After Elizabeth's death, King James did not favour him, and Dee wanted to leave England forever. But he fell ill and died before leaving, at Mortlake in 1608. (See Prague and Jílové u Prahy.)