The Politics of Alchemy in Reformation Germany

When Duke Julius took the throne of the small north German territory of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in 1568, he launched an ambitious modernization program. Not only did he introduce the Reformation into this staunchly Catholic realm, but he also reorganized the administrative structure of the state, spearheaded bold new mercantilist economic programs, and founded the University of Helmstedt. Six years into this ambitious reign, however, a scandal erupted at Julius’s court when two alchemists and their assistants were arrested and accused of numerous crimes, including fraud, murder, theft, and magic. The subsequent trial revealed that one of these alchemists, Anna Zielgerin, had convinced the duke that she possessed the secret of an alchemical oil she called the lion’s blood, which could transmute metals and stimulate nature’s fecundity. Zieglerin also appears to have persuaded Duke Julius that she was the subject of a prophesy by which she, like a “new Virgin Mary,” would use the lion’s blood to purify and repopulate the world in preparation for the Last Days. Duke Julius’s court in Wolfenbüttel was to host this spectacular alchemical drama as Zieglerin prepared for nothing less than the end of the world.

Although German historians have noted Julius’s program of reform, the story of Zieglerin and her fellow alchemists stands as an embarrassing footnote: a bizarre and inexplicably foolish misstep from an otherwise impressive modernizing sixteenth-century prince. I take this apparent contradiction as my point of entry, examining why Zieglerin’s apocalyptic alchemical message would have appealed to this practical and reform-minded Lutheran prince. Whereas previous historians have resorted to Zieglerin’s seductive charisma or Duke Julius’s naïveté as explanations for Zieglerin’s success, I argue that Duke Julius found the lion’s blood compelling because it directly and profoundly addressed his intertwined religious, political, economic, and intellectual agendas.