Nicolas Barnaud
Encyclopedia
Nicolas Barnaud was a French Protestant writer, physician and alchemist, from Crest
, in Dauphiné
, from which he took the name Delphinas (or Delphinus). He was a member of the Monarchomaques.
He is associated with a number of mysteries. His 1597 collection Commentariolum in Aenigmaticum quoddam Epitaphium, on the Aelia Laelia Crispis puzzle inscription, included the alchemical Mass of Nicholas Melchior, still of disputed authorship. The 1599 Triga chemica: de lapide philosophico tractatus tres was the first publication of the Book of Lamspring, by the unknown Abraham Lambspring.
Other works are the collection Quadriga aurifera of 1599, and De Occulta philosophia (1601).
Barnaud traveled widely around the turn of the seventeenth century. This has led to suggestions that he was setting up some sort of hermetic
network, on the fabled lines of the Rosicrucians.
He is supposed to have lodged with Tadeáš Hájek
, during a stay in Prague
in the 1580s or 1590s, meeting Anselmus de Boodt
. He has been unreliably connected with accounts of John Dee
and Edward Kelley
in Prague.
Earlier in life he played an itinerant role as a Calvinist activist, in Geneva and Holland. Pamphleteering works of politics and satire Le reveille-matin des François et de leurs voisins, and the Le Cabinet du roy de France and Le miroir des Francois of 1581,under the name Nicolas de Montand or Montant, are often attributed to him.
Crest, Drôme
Crest is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are called Crestois.-Sights:* The Tour de Crest, one of the highest medieval keeps in France - 52 m. Its height dominates the town. The tower was part of a castle which guarded one of the entrances to the...
, in Dauphiné
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
, from which he took the name Delphinas (or Delphinus). He was a member of the Monarchomaques.
He is associated with a number of mysteries. His 1597 collection Commentariolum in Aenigmaticum quoddam Epitaphium, on the Aelia Laelia Crispis puzzle inscription, included the alchemical Mass of Nicholas Melchior, still of disputed authorship. The 1599 Triga chemica: de lapide philosophico tractatus tres was the first publication of the Book of Lamspring, by the unknown Abraham Lambspring.
Other works are the collection Quadriga aurifera of 1599, and De Occulta philosophia (1601).
Barnaud traveled widely around the turn of the seventeenth century. This has led to suggestions that he was setting up some sort of hermetic
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
network, on the fabled lines of the Rosicrucians.
He is supposed to have lodged with Tadeáš Hájek
Tadeáš Hájek
Tadeáš Hájek z Hájku , also known as Tadeáš Hájek of Hájek, Thaddaeus Hagecius ab Hayek or Thaddeus Nemicus, was the personal physician of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II and a Bohemian astronomer.Tadeáš Hájek was the son of Šimon Hájek from an old Prague family...
, during a stay in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in the 1580s or 1590s, meeting Anselmus de Boodt
Anselmus de Boodt
Anselmus de Boodt was a Belgian mineralogist and physician from the city of Brugge during the European Renaissance. Along with the "Father of Mineralogy", the German known by his nom de plume Georgius Agricola, Anselmus is responsible for establishing the modern geological earth science study of...
. He has been unreliably connected with accounts of John Dee
John Dee (mathematician)
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
and Edward Kelley
Edward Kelley
Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot was an ambiguous figure in English Renaissance occultism and self-declared spirit medium who worked with John Dee in his magical investigations...
in Prague.
Earlier in life he played an itinerant role as a Calvinist activist, in Geneva and Holland. Pamphleteering works of politics and satire Le reveille-matin des François et de leurs voisins, and the Le Cabinet du roy de France and Le miroir des Francois of 1581,under the name Nicolas de Montand or Montant, are often attributed to him.