The Theatre of the World: Alchemy, Astrology and Magic in Renaissance Prague

by Peter H. Marshall

A captivating portrait of the crucible of magic, science, and religion at the court of the doomed dreamer Rudolf II in Renaissance Prague.

At the end of the sixteenth century, the greatest philosophers, alchemists, astronomers, and mathematicians of the day flocked to Prague to work under the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The Theatre of the World is the enchanting story of Rudolf II, an emperor more interested in the great talents and minds of his times than in the exercise of his power. Rarely leaving Prague Castle, he gathered around him a galaxy of famous the Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, the German mathematician Johannes Kepler, and the English magus John Dee.

Entranced, like Hamlet, by the new Renaissance learning, Rudolf found it nearly impossible to make decisions. He faced the threats of religious discord and the Ottoman Empire, along with deepening melancholy and an ambitious younger brother. As a result, he lost his empire and nearly his sanity, but he enabled Prague to enjoy a golden age of peace and creativity before Europe was engulfed in the Thirty Years War.

The Theatre of the World is a beguiling and dramatic human story filled with angels and devils, high art and low cunning, talismans and stars. It offers a captivating perspective on a pivotal moment in the history of Western Civilization.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Alchemy

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 25, 2006

About the author

Peter Hugh Marshall (born 23 August 1946, Bognor Regis, England) is an English philosopher, historian, biographer, travel writer and poet. He has written fifteen books which are being translated into fourteen different languages. He wrote, presented and partly filmed the 6-part HTV series 'Voyage Around Africa', first shown in 1994. He also wrote and presented the two-part series 'Celtic Gold: A Voyage around Ireland' for BBC Radio Wales in 1995, which later became a book.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

I've been aware of Rudolf II for a long time; as host to John Dee and Giordano Bruno he looms large in one of the key books which shaped me, John Crowley's Aegypt. And Prague is the only city outside Britain to which I've ever felt the need for a return visit. But until now I'd never read a whole book on the man, and there are layers to him. Yes, he was the reclusive monarch distracted from his realm and responsibilities by higher, madder dreams. Yes, we all know by now that in the early modern age science and sorcery were close kin (Tycho Brahe and Kepler were making ends meet by casting horoscopes at the same time as they were revolutionising astronomy). But who knew that Rudolf was a shagger as much as a mystic? That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Brahe's cousins? That Bruno had a sect of followers called, of all things, the Nolans?
The problem, as with so much non-fiction, is that while there's great information here, the delivery is at best serviceable - one is left wishing for an alchemist of prose (Richard Holmes, for instance) who could really make of this rich material the grand work that it deserves. Granted, my copy is a proof, and I can only hope that some of the clumsinesses, repetitions, and simple errors of English and fact were remedied by the finished copies - but there are limits to what an editor can do, let alone a sub-editor. And in that respect, I'd still consider John Crowley a better port of call for the core of the story, with this taken more as a very extensive footnote.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one to write reviews but I felt the need to defend this book due to some asinine reviews on here.

This book is an intriguing account of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf the 2nd, his Hapsburg upbringing, his glorious and eccentric court at Prague and his wide ranging interests from collecting art and precious stones to alchemy and the occult.

Rudolf cared more about his intellectual pursuits than the responsibility which came with his title. This was a time of great religious conflict yet Rudolf was a ruler who had tolerance for non Catholics and created a safe environment for free thinkers. He was a bibliophile who collected books deemed heretic by the Vatican.

Marshall's writing is well paced and concise. In a book dealing with alchemy, hermeticism, cabala, mysticism, demonology, neoplatonism, "magic", and various branches of the occult, Marshall is able to explain these worldviews and place them into the context of the times in a clear manner.

There are a plethora of eccentric and intelligent characters in this book (John Dee, Paracelcus, Giordano Bruno, etc) who have warranted books of their own.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in renaissance Prague or the history of esotericism.

[The Logophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd actually only give this 3.5 stars. The author's writing style was easy & enjoyable. Unfortunately, even though I was enthralled with the beginning, I found myself bored halfway through. It did eventually pick up again, but it was almost too late.

[Mila · Rating 3 out of 5]

How could I resist a book with this title? The illustrations on the jacket are also enticing.

This is the story of Rudolf II (1552-1612), the Holy Roman Emperor who lived in Hradcany aka Prague Castle. One of his ancestors was Charles IV who built the Charles Bridge.

Peter Marshall brings medieval Prague to life and allows one to step back in time to "see the hordes of alchemists, astrologers and magicians, soothsayers, fortune-tellers, charlatans, swarming on the gloomy streets of Old Town."

Marshall sounds like he knew Rudolf and I also appreciate the mini geography lesson here:

“Temperamentally, Rudolf appreciated the strong elements of water and earth of Prague to balance the air and fire of his upbringing in Spain; its brooding black spires and scudding grey clouds suited his melancholic disposition. He not only liked the weather in Prague – cold in winter and hot in summer – but the mountains on its borders made it comparatively safe from attack by the Ottoman Turks who were constantly threatening to cross the Hungarian plain to Vienna. Situated in the middle of the Bohemian basin created millions of years previously by a gigantic meteorite, surrounded by green forests and sturdy hills, it rose on a great outcrop which made it a natural fortress. Prague moreover was at the geographical centre of Europe.”

Rudolph sought to make Prague the centre of the world by surrounding himself with the greatest philosophers, alchemists, astronomers, and mathematicians of the day.

Rudolf loved the natural world and was passionate about collecting all kinds of things: art, books, specimens for his museum… He also loved botanical art and paid an artist named Joris Hoefnagel to add drawings to Mira calligraphiae monumenta (Wonderful Monuments of Calligraphy). Here is a link to this masterpiece of manuscript illumination:

Mira calligraphiae monumenta

Marshall brilliantly puts the reader in medieval Prague:

“Rudolf looked out from his castle to the Charles Bridge, founded by his ancestor Charles IV on 9 July 1357 at 5:31 a.m., a time chosen carefully for its propitious astrological and numerological associations. At that very moment a conjunction of the Sun with Saturn occurred, with the great luminary of the sky overpowering the gloomy influence of the malefic planet. As a student of the Cabala as well as astrology, Rudolf was fascinated by its sacred numerology: the date and time of its foundation consisted of favourable odd primary numbers which ascended and descended palindromically: 1/3/5/6/9/7/5/3/1. In addition, the setting sun on the summer solstice lined up Charles Bridge with an architrave of the Castle’s cathedral.”

I would have liked to have dinner with Rudolf II:

“Despite his strict Catholic upbringing and the constant reproofs of the Vatican, as he grew older and his sphere of enquiry grew broader, Rudolf refused to distinguish between Catholic, Protestant, Jew or Muslim in the pursuit of truth and beauty. “

This is a lovely book and now I know how to make gold and bring about universal harmony. What more could I ask for?

Here is the secret:

In order to produce the Philosopher’s Stone and to bring about universal harmony, all one needs to do is perform the marriage of the sun (Sol) and the moon (Luna) which represent Sulphur and Mercury.

[Haleth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book can be summed up quite succinctly. Catholic Church = bad
Alchemy, astrology and assorted claptrap = good
As a scientist, I have a difficult time with this seventeenth century attitude.

[Ankh156 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather good.