Blackpowder 101

[Jay Edward (deceased)]

Theophilus, the Monk

This German chemist is called "the monk" to distinguish him from his namesake, the ancient Greek chemist Theophilus. His real name was Rogerus von Helmarshausen. "Rogerus" is the latinified form of the Old-German first name "Rüdiger" (=famous), in English called Roger. In the 12th century our Theophilus wrote a comprehensive book about chemistry "Schedula Diversarum Artium". For well understood reasons he didn't dare to publish it. Thus this treatise received no attention in the middle ages and fortunately escaped destruction by the Roman church. As late as 1781 it was rediscovered by chance by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 – 1781) then librarian of the Wolfenbüttel library, Germany. The best modern English translation is by J.G. Hawthorne & C. St. Smith (1963) 1).

Indeed, Theophilus was an experienced professional, who obviously obtained his knowledge firsthand. As a fellow professional, you have an intuitive feeling if somebody is an experienced chemist. There are those little hints between the lines, signaling that the author actually has worked in a laboratory himself.

What occupied the chemists in the 12th century? You can take it from Theophilus - they worked on exactly the same problems as today's chemists, things such as drugs, textile dyes, detergents, metals and their alloys, glass and glaze, or making pigments for paints. Especially in glassmaking Theophilus proved to be an expert.

Saltpeter e.g. is an important ingredient for glassmaking. If saltpeter had been known to Theophilus, he certainly would have mentioned it. He didn't! So we can safely conclude saltpeter was unknown in the 1100s.


Marcus Graecus and his "Liber Ignum per Comburandum Hostes"

Because of the prohibition of chemistry by the Roman church, Christian alchemists published under pseudonyms. A well know pseudonym is Marcus Graecus (Marc the Greek). It was used by many authors, since anything of Greek origin was highly esteemed.

The macabre meaning of the title "liber ignum per comburandum hostes" 2) is "book of fire for burning enemies". There are six copies known today. They are stored in the libraries of Paris (2 copies), Vienna, Munich, Nuremberg and Berlin. Most of them are undated. By examining the script and the cover, an estimation of their age is possible. The oldest is ca. 1250, the youngest is dated 1481. According to different experts, the very first issue was published ca. 800. In the course of time its copyists added ever more recipes of their own.

The copies available today are more or less identical and contain about 160 recipes. If typewritten, all the recipes together would fill about six pages. Elucidated here we find the oldest recipe for purifying saltpeter (sal petrosus = salt from stone) and for making black powder. Concerning saltpeter, the following recipes (more or less literally translated from Latin) are interesting

Recipe 12:...Note, there are two kinds of flying fires, whereof the first:

Take 1 part of colophony, the same amount of sulfur and (??) parts of saltpeter. Saturate this thoroughly powdered mixture with linseed oil, which is better than laurel oil. Then fill a reed with it. Ignited, it suddenly shoots away, to any target you wish and burns anything.

Recipe 13: ...The second method to make a flying fire is as follows:

Take 1 pound of sulfur, 2 pounds of charcoal from linden or willow, and 6 pounds of saltpeter. Finely grind these on a marble plate. Then pour this powder into a vessel of your choosing, suitable for flying fire (rocket) or making thunder (blasting).

Recipe 14: ...Note, Saltpeter is a mineral of the earth and is found as brush-like flours on stones.

Dissolve this earth in boiling water, and purify it by filtration. Boil the filtrate by day and by night and then you'll find scales at the bottom of the vessel, solid and clear.

Recipe 33: ...Note: Another flying fire is made from saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal from grape-wood or willow.

They are mixed and poured into a paper tube. Ignited, it suddenly flies into the air. And note: With respect to sulfur you take 3 parts of charcoal, and with respect to charcoal 3 parts of saltpeter.
(Plainly this is: 9 parts of saltpeter, 3 parts of charcoal and 1 part of sulfur. I'd say it is an ideal recipe by modern standards)