1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracey V. Wilson. So dray Z, 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: I think the name Caliostro kind of automatically comes with 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: all kinds of just instant connotations and imagery when you 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: say it. Um. He is connected to everything from petty 7 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: crime to mysticism, to claims of nearly eternal life to 8 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: one of the most famous crimes in all of history. 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: And one of my favorite things in researching this was 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: actually the way that Britannica defines Caliostro, and that's what 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: the subheader of Italian charlatan um. I love those sort 12 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: of qualifiers, like one of the other episodes that we're 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: recording today, which you know, who knows what order these 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: are actually going to come up in. But when I 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: was looking for artwork, there are lots of people with 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: the same name, and so some of them had the 17 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: qualifier in parentheses murderer. And here's the thing, if you 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: look at any number of different sources, you'll get a 19 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: different qualifier like that, because everybody has a different point 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: of view about him. So I wanted to approach his 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: story in a way that kind of pears down some 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: of the gauze, much of which he hung himself, uh, 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: and just looks at his biography. But even so so 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: it gets quite long, despite the fact that there's a 25 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: lot of his biography we don't know, and it still 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: feels like I left so much out. This is a 27 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: person who is very busy and involved with a lot 28 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: of people. So if you have a faive Kaliostro story 29 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: and it did not make it in, I am sorry. 30 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: There's just so much. A lot of it is very 31 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: fun and fantastical. That just means there's more fun stuff 32 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: for you to read out in the world. I also 33 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: do want to make sure that we give a heads 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: up here that this episode contains discussion of sexual coercion 35 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: and sex trafficking. And with that warning out of the way, 36 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: the story of this man who became really a legend. 37 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: I mean, there are people who know his name who 38 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: don't really know who he was. But he started with 39 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: a pretty meager beginning, so let's jump right in there. Yeah, 40 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: he was born Giuseppe Balsamo on June's second, seventeen forty 41 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: three and Palermo Sicily. Sometimes you'll see other dates in 42 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: early June cited depending on the source, and a note 43 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: on that name. He's written about as both Giuseppa and 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: as the Anglicized version of that name, which is Joseph, 45 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: and all of that was before he took the name 46 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: that became way more famous. So for the first part 47 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: of his life, before he takes on that assumed name, 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: we're going to go with Giuseppa, and then once he 49 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: starts calling himself Cagliostro, will will transition over to that name. 50 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: And while he eventually came to be known as a 51 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: count sort of, we'll talk about that. His family in 52 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: Palermo was extremely poor. His father was Peter Balsamo and 53 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: his mother was Felicia Braconniere. Peter Balsamo was a merchant, 54 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: but he also was not around for much of his 55 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: son's life. He died when Giuseppa was still just a baby, 56 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,119 Speaker 1: and then his mother's uncle's Antonio and Matteo Braconniere, took 57 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: care of him and kind of were in charge of 58 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: raising him. He was enrolled in seminary school in Palermo. 59 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: That didn't work out fabulously. He kept running away, So 60 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: we should note that the earliest years of his life, 61 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: including the place of his birth, those were shrouded in 62 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: mystery even during his own lifetime because he deliberately shrouded 63 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: all of that. He published an account of his life 64 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: in which he said that he wasn't sure where he 65 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: had been born. This led to rumors and beliefs among 66 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: his followers that he was really the child of a royal, 67 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: or a mystic or some other important figure. And it 68 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: wasn't until he got into legal trouble later on in 69 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: his life there was a concerted effort to track down 70 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: and document the particulars of his story. I mean, this 71 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: is not unusual for folks who you know, came from 72 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: meager beginnings but then became notorious later on. Yeah, although 73 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: his um his possible beginnings that get introduced to get 74 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: wilder and wilder as you go. But according to a 75 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: biography that was originally written in sevente after his brief 76 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: time in seminary school, he was sent next at the 77 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: age of thirteen, to live in a monastic community and 78 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: Calton under the care of a monk there, and it's 79 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: here where the young Balsamo is said to have first 80 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: been exposed to lessons in chemistry and medicine through the apothecary. 81 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: There that was a man that's usually referenced as Father Albert, 82 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: and working alongside Father Albert just sap I learned about 83 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: things like mercury and sulfur, and how to manipulate salts, 84 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: and about various mystical and religious texts that referenced alchemy. 85 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: According to the same biography, though quote, he did not 86 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: continue long in this asylum. During his stay, however, he 87 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: exhibited so many new symptoms of a vicious character that 88 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: the religious were often under the necessity of chastising him. 89 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: Some of his recorded infractions were things like telling his 90 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: own stories instead of reading from the text when he 91 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: was asked to read aloud for the community during meals. 92 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: He would substitute names when he did read from the text, 93 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: using the names of well known sex workers instead of 94 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: the names that were actually there on the page. Soon 95 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: he left the community and was back in Palermo. Yeah, 96 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: sometimes those substitutions were putting those names in in lieu 97 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: of saints names when he was doing like biblical study reading. 98 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: So you could see where this would be a problem. 99 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: Not a popular move among the monks. No, after his time, 100 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: you know, having been in a religious setting with few temptations, 101 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: it seems like he went in completely the opposite direction 102 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: as a team. Once he got back to his hometown, 103 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: he got in fights, he stole money, even from his uncles. 104 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: You'll see some records to say he mugged one of 105 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 1: his uncles. He started drawing, and he was apparently pretty 106 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,239 Speaker 1: good at that, but uh he used that skill instead 107 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: of making art to forge theater tickets and then entire documents. 108 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: As his skills got better and better, and over time, 109 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: young Giuseppe became well known to the authorities because he 110 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,679 Speaker 1: just loved to stir up trouble and get into altercations. 111 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: Often he would get into altercations with the men who 112 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: came to arrest him. He's also said to have helped 113 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: other arrested men escape authorities. And he ran a scheme 114 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: where he feigned to be running love notes back and 115 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: forth between two young people, and he would then add 116 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: requests for money or gifts from the young lady involved 117 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: in her letters to the young man, who is sometimes 118 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: reported as a cousin of Giuseppe's, and then uh he 119 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: would pocket any extra goods that he was given to 120 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: take to her by her paramore. So he was just 121 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: kind of running this nice little scheme of like what 122 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: will someone in love give me as a gift intended 123 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: for his actual beloved. This is but a sampling, though, 124 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: of his rap sheet of petty crimes. And he eventually 125 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: became the leader of a street gang that routinely just 126 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: robbed people, and rumors went around town that he had 127 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: stabbed a man. Sometimes that is reported as he stabbed 128 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: a priest to death, but everyone was too afraid of 129 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: him to really question the situation. Even though he was 130 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: arrested a lot, he was released pretty soon afterward. All 131 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: the time, there was rarely enough evidence to keep him 132 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: locked up, or one of his relatives would intervene and 133 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: pay whatever fine or bail was involved. But then he 134 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: fleeced a silversmith of sixties silver pieces, and that man 135 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: was Vincenzo Morano. While Samo had told Morano that he 136 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: knew of a treasure that had been buried at Mount Pellegrino, 137 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 1: he had come to know this information, he said, you 138 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: an ancient document, And already as a teenager, Jusippa had 139 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: a reputation for having a connection to other worldly things 140 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: and possibly even for sorcery. He made amulets. Uh. He 141 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: also claimed to have visions, often through dreams, and he 142 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: not only told Vincenzo Morano that he had seen impressive 143 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: treasures buried at Mount Pellegrino in his dream about it, 144 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: but that he had also seen a treasure demon guarding it, 145 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: and that only he knew how to defeat it. But 146 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: he also needed money to buy supplies to do the 147 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: magic that would enable them to get the treasure from 148 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: that demon protector, and those supplies were going to cost 149 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: sixty silver pieces. As a note, if you look up 150 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: the same story or if you've heard it before, it's 151 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: sometimes relayed with Morano being a goldsmith and the cost 152 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: of supplies at sixty gold pieces. I saw so much 153 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: of both that I just went with the one I 154 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: saw more of. So when Morano and Giseppa Balsamo went 155 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: to get this treasure, Balsamo had a gang of his 156 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: friends waiting. They were dressed as demons, and they attacked 157 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: and beat the silver smith. When the assault was over 158 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: and Morano was able to get up, all of them, 159 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: including Balsamo, had vanished. So initially the silver smith was 160 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: worried for his young guide, and then he heard that 161 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: Balsamo had left town, he realized he had been swindled. Yeah, 162 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: at that point, Balsamo was not going back because he 163 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 1: knew that the silversmith, who was not a small or 164 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,439 Speaker 1: gentle man necessarily was really going to have his hide. 165 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: So after leaving Cecily, Giuseppe began a life of travel. 166 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: As far as we know, there's actually little to no documentation, 167 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: so we only have his word for it, or in 168 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: some cases there are additional um accounts and on occasion 169 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: some some actual written record, but relying initially on the 170 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: money that he had made through his deception of Morano, 171 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: he reported visiting Greece, Persia, Egypt, and Arabia, as well 172 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: as other locations. And that's also when he told people 173 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: that he really studied deeply the world of alchemy. His 174 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: first stop was in Messina, and that makes a lot 175 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: of sense because Palermo is on the western half of 176 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: the island of Sicily, and then Messina is over on 177 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: the far eastern tip of the island, right where Sicily 178 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 1: and the boot of Italy almost kiss, so to get 179 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: off the island would have been best to go that way. 180 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: This was also a large port, so from Messina he 181 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: could get almost anywhere that he might think of. And 182 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: in Messina, Giuseppe said that he met a man named Altotas, 183 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: who was either Greek or Spanish, he wasn't certain, and 184 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 1: who he claimed to be a chemist or an alchemist. Altotas, 185 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,359 Speaker 1: according to kelly Ostro, also had several ancient Arabic manuscripts 186 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: with him, and he knew a lot of magic that 187 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: kelly Stro was very eager to learn from him. Of course, 188 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: he wasn't going with Caliostro yet. Uh. There is the 189 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: possibility that this character of Altotas was actually a priest 190 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: that Giuseppe was already traveling with, who was named Father Atansio. 191 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: Because when Giuseppe fled Palermo, two of his cohorts in 192 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: that theft of Vincenzo Morano's money fled with him. One 193 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: of those was a priest and one was a valet. 194 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: And in his descriptions of his relationship with Alttas, he 195 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: claimed that he studied botany, physics, various foreign languages, and 196 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: quote all the wonders of Egypt. Uh. That is all 197 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: according to that late eighteenth century biography we referenced earlier 198 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: from Messina, Giuseppa and Altota sailed together to Alexandria, Egypt, 199 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: and the two of them started performing what sounds like 200 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: street magic. They did what was called operations in chemistry, 201 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: and they made money doing it quite a bit by 202 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: Calioster's account, but their travels during this time are still 203 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: pretty hard to track. It was pretty common for Sicilians 204 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: to visit Egypt at this point. We don't know if 205 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: he actually went there at all, but we do have 206 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:14,080 Speaker 1: fixed information on where Giuseppe was in seventeen sixty five, 207 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that and more of 208 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: his adventures after a quick sponsor break. We mentioned before 209 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: the break that we don't know for certain that Giuseppe 210 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: Bosama went to all of the places that he claimed, 211 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: but we do know that he was on the island 212 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,239 Speaker 1: of Malta starting in seventeen sixty five. Alttas that alchemist 213 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: that he claimed to be traveling with uh He said 214 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,199 Speaker 1: that he died shortly after they arrived there, and he 215 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: was specifically in the city of Medina working for the 216 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: Knights Hospital or you'll see that as the Order of 217 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. This 218 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: was a military and clerical order that combined both combat 219 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: and medical hair and by the time Giuseppe started working 220 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: in a service job for the organization, the primary focus 221 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: was on serving as sort of a way point for 222 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 1: travelers to Jerusalem, offering care and food and lodging his 223 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: need in This was a very wealthy charity by the 224 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,719 Speaker 1: time that Giuseppe landed on Malta, and it also had 225 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: an alchemy lab, and that seems to have kept him 226 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: happy for at least a little while. He mixed medicines 227 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: using some of the skills he had acquired in his 228 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: religious schooling days, and he also searched for the Philosopher's stone. 229 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: He was not the only one. They're doing this, He 230 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: was helping other workers of alchemy do the same thing. 231 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: And he actually worked there for two years and was 232 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: well liked enough to have glowing recommendation letters when he 233 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: chose to move on in seventeen sixty seven. When he left, 234 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: it was to go to Italy. He passed through a 235 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: few cities before making his way to Rome and hunting 236 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: for work there, showing his recommendation letters to as many 237 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: high ranking church official as he could until he found 238 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: somebody who needed his skills, and that man was Cardinal Orsini. 239 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: But this job wasn't particularly thrilling, It just involves some 240 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: light secretarial work. So ga Seppa picked up a side 241 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: hustle as well, selling fake potions to tourists claiming that 242 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: they were from Egypt. He also made money selling drawings, 243 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: which were first printed on copper plates and then inked 244 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: by hand. And it seems that while he was in room, 245 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: Balsamo had started to shift his identity to suit various situations. 246 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: So sometimes he would appear to be tied to the 247 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: Catholic Church, like in full robes, and other times he 248 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: represented himself as like a secular man, just like a merchant. 249 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: And he also fell back into a pattern of getting 250 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: in trouble with the law. He was held in jail 251 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: for several days, for example, after getting into a fight 252 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: with a waiter. But the more important thing that happened 253 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: to him in Rome was that he met a girl 254 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: named Lorenz Feliciani, and we say girl pretty pointedly here. 255 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: She was only fourteen when they met, and Giuseppa was 256 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: twenty five. She's described as a blonde, blue eyed beauty, 257 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: and Giuseppa was completely smitten with her to be clear, 258 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: though this age difference was recognized as significance. Lorenzo's parents 259 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: were initially very reluctance to approved the two of them 260 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: marrying because their daughter was so young, but because Giuseppa 261 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: was so well connected, two men high up in the 262 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: church and so well respected, despite the fact that he 263 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: still seemed to have some connections to his friends from 264 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: his petty crime days back in Palermo. The felicianis ultimately 265 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: caved on this whole matter, and initially Giuseppa and Lorenzo 266 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: lived with her family, but that caused all kinds of tension. 267 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: The conservative and very devout flies didn't like the way 268 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: Giseppa behaved, including influencing their daughter to be less pious. 269 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: Giuseppe fel like his new in laws cramped his style 270 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: and we're just too judgmental, and eventually there was a 271 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: huge fight that ended with the newlyweds moving out. Let's 272 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: put the two of them in a tight spot financially, 273 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: and Gaseppa once again fell back on illegal methods of 274 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: making a living. He became friends with a man named 275 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: Agliata who claimed to be a Prussian marquis and a colonel, 276 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: among other things, and he taught him how to advance 277 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: his forgery skills. Agliata had forged his own military commission papers. 278 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: He was not a colonel at all, but his document 279 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: forgeries were good enough that nobody questioned them, and he 280 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: trained Gieseppa to do the same. Balsamo had also learned 281 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: how to forge bank documents from Agliata, basically enable him 282 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: to finance his life through scammed money whenever he wanted 283 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: and just write your own money, no problem. It turned out, though, 284 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: that sharing all of these tricks of the trade on 285 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: the part of Agliata was not merely some magnanium kindness 286 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: to an up and comer. Agliata found Lorenza beautiful and desirable, 287 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: and he made it clear to Giuseppa that he would 288 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: like to have sex with his wife. It is not 289 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,439 Speaker 1: clear whether Giuseppa Balsamo had always intended to use Lorenza 290 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: and what amounts to sex trafficking, but it does seem 291 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:24,959 Speaker 1: that way. Before this, before his friendship with Agliata, he 292 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: had certainly encouraged her to dress more provocatively, and then, 293 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 1: by his own description, had taught her to be more 294 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: alluring to men. This is one of the issues that 295 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: her family really had with him. It even shifted her identity, 296 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: having her go by the name Sara Fina rather than Lorenza. 297 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: And so when Agliata made this overture to Giuseppe, Balsama 298 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: was not scandalized by it in the least. He seemed 299 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: to see it as a commercial transaction, and he coerced 300 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: Lorenza to acquiesce. Please remember she was still a young teenager, 301 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,360 Speaker 1: she had still grown up in a very religious family, 302 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: and while he wasn't scandalized, she was very, very concerned 303 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: about her immortal soul and the moral consequences of adultery. 304 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: According to that eighteenth century account of things, Balsamo told 305 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: his wife quote that adultery is no crime in a 306 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: woman who commits it on account of her interests, and 307 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: not simply through affection to another man. For a while, 308 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: the Balsamo's continued to travel with Agliata, although two outward 309 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: appearances it probably seemed like Sarafina was Agliata's wife. They 310 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: were traveling together as a couple, and Gieseppa and some 311 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: of his friends were traveling in a separate carriage, and 312 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: the course of this arrangement, Gieseppa profited because both he 313 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: and Sarafina were receiving money and gifts from Agliata. This 314 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,440 Speaker 1: entire group profited as well because Giuseppa and Agliata teamed up. 315 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: They were forging various letters to scam wealthy families out 316 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: of money along the way. But while they were in Bergamo, 317 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: the group and their illicit business came to the attention 318 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: of the authorities. It is possible that they were betrayed 319 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: from within the group. Historian Ian Mcalman writes this incident 320 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: as though one of Giuseppa's other traveling companions turned his 321 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: friend in out of jealousy, but regardless of how the 322 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: police learned about them. Sarafina or Lorenza and Giuseppa were arrested. 323 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: Agliotta escaped, taking all of their money with him. The 324 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: worst and most incriminating documents that they had on them 325 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: were stuffed down Lorenzo's bodice. She was able to destroy 326 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: them before they could be used against her husband. The 327 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: two ended up banished from Bergamo, but Giuseppa believed that 328 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: he would have been killed if those papers had been seized. 329 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: After this incident, Giuseppa and his wife took on the 330 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: guise of religious pilgrims so they could go to the 331 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This is the 332 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: very a location of saints. And then later in his 333 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: life Caliostro would claim that he had truly wished to 334 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 1: atone for his life in undertaking this journey, but even 335 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: if that were true, he veered off course pretty quickly. 336 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: They did travel to Spain, but along the way, Jeseppa 337 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: leaned on all of his old tricks to bring in money, 338 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: including once again coercing his wife into sex work. When 339 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: they reached Barcelona, which was about five hundred sixty miles 340 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: away from their original target destination, their money ran out. Lorenza, 341 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: again at her husband's urging, gave a false confession to 342 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: a priest. They're saying that they were from high ranking 343 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,360 Speaker 1: families of Rome, but had been cast out because they 344 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: had married without their family's consent, and so they were 345 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: left penniless, and this was of course a scheme to 346 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: get the church to give the money, and it worked, 347 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: although this led to another deception, as the minister wished 348 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: to see their marriage certificate, which they did not have, 349 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: and so they went to a magistrate for help procuring 350 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: that document that registrate was very interested in Lorenza, and 351 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: the cycle of using her beauty to gain financial favor 352 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 1: from other men began again. The Balsamo's moved from one 353 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: perilous deception to another, this way with Geseppa duping people 354 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: in one place as long as he could until he 355 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: was found out or things got complicated. In some cases 356 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: these men would fall in love with his wife and 357 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: he would be like, this has gone too far, we 358 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: have to leave. So then he would pick up and 359 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: run and start to cycle all over again somewhere else. 360 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: We know that he was in London in seventeen seventies six, 361 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: and at that point he had adopted the title of 362 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: counts and the name of Kliostro. That name was actually 363 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: said to have come from another member of the family, 364 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: an aunt, who had married a Kliostro, and he built 365 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: his wife as the Countess Serafina Felicianikliostro told people that 366 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 1: he was a miracle worker and that he had curative powers. 367 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: He was especially fond of a red powder that he 368 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: used as a prop and he called it materia prima 369 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: in alchemical terms, prima materia, which he was obviously referencing 370 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: is the material from which all other substances are created, 371 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: including the Philosopher's stone. It is the essence of the ether, 372 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: and Caliostro said that he could use it to turn 373 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: base metals into gold. He also carried with him a 374 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: liquid that he called Egyptian wine, and he claimed that 375 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: it could extend a person's life. While Caliostro was in London, 376 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: he became a Freemason. There's a significant aspect of Caliostro's 377 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: entry into freemasonry that's worth considering. Being a Freemason was 378 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: expressly forbidden in the Catholic Church starting in seventeen thirty eight, 379 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: and Caliostro had grown up in deeply Catholic Sicily, so 380 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: although he had pretty clearly been very morally flexible up 381 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: to this point, this is a move that would have 382 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: very clearly communicated his disregard for the Church. But it 383 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 1: also became pretty obvious pretty quickly that he did really 384 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: view freemasonry with any reverence either. While he was in England, 385 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: he claimed that he had come into the possession of 386 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: a book by a man named Koston sometimes see other 387 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: names that are similar to that, which he would later 388 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: say was a sacred manuscript of Lost Knowledge that inspired 389 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: the Egyptian Right. The Egyptian Right was essentially a revision 390 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: of existing Freemasonry, spearheaded by this foulk count who wanted 391 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: to start his own branch of the Order. We will 392 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: talk more about that effort after we take a quick 393 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: break to hear from our sponsors. Magic historian and magician 394 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: Henry Ridgley Evans wrote an article in three titled Caliostro, 395 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: a Study in Charlatanism, in which he describes the count's 396 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: alteration of Freemasonry. Quote as Grand Master of the Egyptian Right, 397 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: he leapt once into fame. His swindling operations were now 398 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,360 Speaker 1: conducted on a gigantic scale. He had the entree into 399 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: the best society. According to him, Freemasonry was founded by 400 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 1: Enoch and Elias. It was open to both sexes. Its 401 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: present form, especially with regard to the exclusion of women, 402 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: is a corruption. The true form was preserved only by 403 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: the Grand Kafta or high priest of the egypt. Up 404 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: until Cagliostro's claims about the order's origins, Freemasonry was believed 405 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,439 Speaker 1: by most of its members, who have been rooted in 406 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: the Stonemason's Guilds of the Middle Ages. The exact origins 407 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,679 Speaker 1: aren't really documented, but the oldest known written reference to 408 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: the order is from and that uncertainty about the earliest 409 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: days of the organization left the door wide open for 410 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: Count Alessandro de Cagliostro to basically write his own version 411 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,200 Speaker 1: of the story and sell it as the truth. When 412 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: he started his own lodges, the fees that initiates paid 413 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: into those lodges kept him with a steady income, and 414 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: his version of Freemasonry, of course, incorporated his own prior interests. 415 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: He promised initiates into his right that he would help 416 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: them obtain quote physical and moral regeneration, and he included, 417 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: of course, alchemy in the mix. He also started incorporating 418 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: seances into the meetings, usually led by a young girl 419 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: or boy is the medium, with the understanding that their 420 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: innocence would make them more able to communicate with other realms. 421 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: No longer hustling on the streets or scheming deceptions around 422 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: entrapping men with his wife's beauty, Kliostro started weaving the 423 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: stories that could make his true biography really difficult to unravel. 424 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: For years. For example, he told people that he was 425 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: ancient and that he had been alive and present during 426 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: biblical events, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. His stories 427 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: were unbelievable, but people did believe them, and he gained 428 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: a very devoted following. He continued to embellish far beyond that, 429 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: and his dedicated followers started to dream up their own 430 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: additions to the story, which he did not ever deny. 431 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: As his legend grew, there were whispers that he could 432 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: time travel, that he was a spy, and even that 433 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: he was a demigod. For the next nearly two decades, 434 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: he made his living trading on this new reputation and 435 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: started touring Europe and beyond, visiting Masonic lodges and forming 436 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: new ones, including an all women lodge in Holland. In 437 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: most places he was received with a lot of interests 438 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: in honor, but it's worth noting that one standout who 439 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,879 Speaker 1: was not taken in with him was Katherine the Second 440 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,880 Speaker 1: of Russia. When he visited St. Petersburg, Catherine the Great 441 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: declared him to be a charlatan and ordered him out 442 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: of the country. During kalliostro seances, he would do the 443 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,959 Speaker 1: types of things that we've discussed on the show before 444 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: in our episod Oodes on Madame Blovotsky and more recently 445 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: Charles Colchester, things like producing papers with names of the 446 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,959 Speaker 1: people present already written on them. Sometimes they were sealed 447 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: when he received them. He would have perhaps been arrested 448 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: for jugglery had he been in the US eighty years later. 449 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: And I did see a couple of older write ups 450 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 1: about him that called him a juggler, which I loved. 451 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,439 Speaker 1: In a couple of instances, though, those young girls that 452 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,679 Speaker 1: he used as the clairvoyance in his seances kind of 453 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: panicked and confessed that the whole thing was staged after 454 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: the fact. And then in one instance, when he appeared 455 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,479 Speaker 1: before a group of Polish nobles dressed as the ancient 456 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: Egyptian high priest that he claimed had given him the 457 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: true knowledge of freemasonry, he was soon recognized as himself, 458 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: and he extinguished the rooms candles in a panic, only 459 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,360 Speaker 1: to appear as good old Kliostro when they were re lit, 460 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: claiming no knowledge of the situation that had just played out. 461 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,120 Speaker 1: And Strasbourg. Kliostro had met and become friends with Cardinal 462 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: de Rohan so much so that he was invited to 463 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: live with the cardinal. One of the nobles who visited 464 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,400 Speaker 1: the cardinal's palace during this time wrote of this situation quote, 465 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: no one can ever form the faintest idea of the 466 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: fervor with which everybody pursued Cagliostro. He was surrounded, besieged, 467 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: everyone trying to win a glance or a word. A 468 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: dozen ladies of rank and two actresses had followed him 469 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: in order to continue their treatment. If I had not 470 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,479 Speaker 1: seen it, I should never have imagined that a prince 471 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,880 Speaker 1: of the Roman Church, a man in other respects intelligent 472 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: and honorable, could so far let himself be imposed upon 473 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: as to renounce his dignity, his free will, at the 474 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: bidding of a sharper. Yes, so while a lot of 475 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: people believed in him, there were always people who were 476 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: like shady. By the time Caliostro moved on from Strasbourg, 477 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,480 Speaker 1: he had a veritable parade to see him out, and 478 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: he next moved on to Leon, France, where he set 479 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 1: up new Masonic lodges again and according to his rules, 480 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: and he told the heads of other lodges that if 481 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: they wished to visit him, they had to burn all 482 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: of their old traditional Masonic materials. When he moved on 483 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: to Paris, in his reputation had preceded him, and he 484 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: was received as though he were a marvel beyond all marbles. 485 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: He stayed in a hotel that the Cardinal de Rohan 486 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: had secured, and there were rumors that he was creating 487 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: gold and diamonds there. Late into the night, of course, 488 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: Cagliostro stoked these fires of interest and mystery. He claimed 489 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: that he held the secret of universal medicine, meaning that 490 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: he had the knowledge and skill to cure just about anything, 491 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: and through which he intended to convey bodily health to 492 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: all of his followers. He was also offering spiritual health 493 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: through his Egyptian right, and wealth through his alchemical use 494 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: of the Philosopher's Stone. He was said to have hosted 495 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: a Sayance dinner in which six guests each asked for 496 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: a spirit to join them at the table. Caliostro used 497 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: his magic to produce all of the requested deceased attendees. 498 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: Those included the Duc de Choisoe Voltaire d'Alembert, de de Roux, 499 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: the Abbe de Voisenon, and Montesquiume Unfortunately, when these ghost 500 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: guests spoke, only gibberish came out. But the story of 501 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: this astonishing and spectacular event spread like wildfire through Parisian society. 502 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: This actually irritated the Queen Marie Antoinette, because she believed 503 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: that Caliostro was a charlatan. And though many of the 504 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: ladies of the court wished to have a series of 505 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: lectures from Caliostro because they did not think he was 506 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: a charlatan. Uh they had set this up and then 507 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,840 Speaker 1: they blabbed, and once word got out, that series of 508 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: lectures came to an abrupt end. But Paris loved Caliostro, 509 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: and soon there were trinkets and souvenirs available that featured 510 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: his face on them. He had a lot of wealthy 511 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: followers who were willing to attend his answ is. One 512 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: such event was described in the autobiography of the Count 513 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: de bouge Neeux quote as a sorcerer. He had a 514 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: cabalistic apparatus on the table with a black cloth on 515 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: which were embroidered in red the mysterious signs of the 516 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: highest degree of the Rosicrucians. There stood the emblems little 517 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: Egyptian figures old vials filled with lustral waters in a 518 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: crucifix very like though not the same as the Christians cross. 519 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: And there too Cagliostro placed a glass globe filled with 520 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: clarified water. Before the globe he used to place a 521 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 1: kneeling sear, that is to say, a young woman who 522 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: by supernatural powers, should behold the scenes which are believed 523 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: to take place in the water within the magic globe. 524 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: The sear became convulsed. She ground her teeth and exhibited 525 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: every sign of nervous excitement. At last she saw and 526 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: began to speak what was taking place that a moment. 527 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: Hundreds of miles from Paris, in Vienna, or St. Petersburg 528 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 1: in Austria, or Pekin. It would be hard to believe 529 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: that such scenes could have taken place in France at 530 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: the end of the eighteenth century, yet they aroused great 531 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: interest among people of importance in the court and the town. 532 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: And Caliostro is one of the many people who have 533 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: come up on the show who are part of the 534 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: affair of the Diamond Necklace. And in Caliostro's case, it 535 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: was because he was close friends with the Cardinal de Rohan. 536 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: Here's the brief version of that whole situation in case 537 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 1: you need a refresher. The jeweler Boehmer Embassage had created 538 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: an extravagant necklace for King Louis to purchase for his mistress, 539 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 1: Madame Duberry, but Louis the fifteenth died before that transaction 540 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: was completed. The jeweler then tried to sell this necklace 541 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: to the next monarch, Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, 542 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: but they were not interested. The Countess de la Motte 543 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: decided to cocta scheme to get the necklace for herself, 544 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: and she suggested to the Cardinal de Rohan, who was 545 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: on the ounce with Marie Antoinette, that he could help 546 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: facilitate this purchase of the necklace for the queen. All 547 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 1: of this hinged on a lie that she told that 548 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette actually wanted this necklace but could not afford 549 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: it or be linked to its purchase during the time 550 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: when the country's money needed to be elsewhere. De la 551 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: Motte forged letters from the queen to Rohan and arranged 552 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: a meeting late at night in the Versailles gardens with 553 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: a stand in who claimed to be the Queen. The 554 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: Cardinal agreed to the plan based on all of this 555 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: and signed a contract with Boehmer and Bassage for the 556 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: purchase as a representative of Marie Antoinette. But then when 557 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: he was unable to secure the funds, the jewelers went 558 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: to the monarchs for the money that obviously uncovered the 559 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: whole scheme. The necklace had already been handed over to 560 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,959 Speaker 1: the Countess de la Motte, who had broken it apart 561 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 1: and sold it, so because of his involvement, Cardinal de 562 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 1: Rohan was arrested after Countess de LaMotte implicated him, and 563 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: that meant that Caliostro was also on the hook. The 564 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: countess had told the authorities that Kliostro had been the 565 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: one to break up the necklace and to tell her 566 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: to sell the diamonds in London. Kliostro wrote his account 567 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 1: of his arrest quote, on the twenty of August, a Commissarie, 568 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,800 Speaker 1: an exempt and eight policemen entered my home. The pillage 569 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: began in my presence. They compelled me to open my secretary. Elixirs, 570 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: bombs and precious liquors all became the prey of the 571 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:46,080 Speaker 1: officers who came to arrest me. I begged the Commissari 572 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: to permit me to use my carriage. He refused. The 573 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: agent took me by the collar. He had pistols, the 574 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,800 Speaker 1: stocks of which appeared from the pockets of his coat. 575 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: They hustled me into the street, and scandalous LYE dragged 576 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: me along the boulevard all the way to the Rue 577 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 1: Notre Dame du Nazareth. There a carriage appeared, which I 578 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 1: was permitted to enter to take the road to the 579 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,920 Speaker 1: best deal. He and his wife Lorenzo, were both taken 580 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: into custody on August seventy five, and he stayed in 581 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:21,359 Speaker 1: prison awaiting a hearing until January of seventy six. As 582 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: all the legal maschinations played out, Lorenza was found to 583 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 1: have had no involvement in this and was freed. The 584 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:32,399 Speaker 1: cardinal was also revealed to have been foolish but an 585 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:37,359 Speaker 1: innocent dupe, but Caliostro was still regarded with suspicion. There 586 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: was testimony that he had known of this deception, that 587 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: he wanted to break up the necklace so that he 588 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: might multiply the number of diamonds through alchemy and thereby 589 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,720 Speaker 1: increase his wealth. But Caliostro had actually gotten to Paris 590 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,840 Speaker 1: the day after the Cardinal had entered into this contract 591 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:58,839 Speaker 1: with the jewelers. Because of that timing, and because he 592 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: was obviously an extremely confident man, Caliostro was pretty relaxed 593 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: on the witness stand. When he was asked who he was, 594 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: he simply replied, I am an illustrious traveler that made 595 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: all present laugh, according to witness accounts, and of course 596 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:20,160 Speaker 1: he was let go. He was finally released on June one, 597 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 1: so you might think that he would want to put 598 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: this whole ugly business behind him. But Caliostro, after returning 599 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,239 Speaker 1: to his home and reuniting with his wife dramatically and 600 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,239 Speaker 1: in front of a huge gathering of friends and curious onlookers, 601 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 1: he immediately started legal proceedings against the governor of the 602 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: Bastille and the commissioner of Police. He wanted them to 603 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,240 Speaker 1: answer for the seizure of his personal property. But before 604 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: those charges could get off the ground, King Louis the 605 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:53,239 Speaker 1: sixteenth banished the alchemist from France entirely. There was an 606 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,360 Speaker 1: offer for him to return to continue his legal case, 607 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: but klio Star thought it was a trap and refused. 608 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: He did, however, write a pamphlet predicting that the best 609 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 1: deal would fall and he published that from the safety 610 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 1: of London. Yeah, that was actually the first of a 611 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: few where he was basically just publishing pamphlets and sending 612 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 1: them over to France that were kind of a little 613 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: bit you know, barbed and clearly vendetta driven. Uh, London 614 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,400 Speaker 1: did not quite offer Caliostro the same level of embrace 615 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: that he had enjoyed in France. He did certainly have 616 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: supporters there, but he also found that many english people 617 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,839 Speaker 1: were a little more suspicious of his supernatural claims by 618 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,759 Speaker 1: this point, and the Freemasons of London wanted nothing to 619 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: do with him or his Egyptian right. When he attended 620 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,400 Speaker 1: a banquet at the Lodge of Antiquity in the city, 621 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: one of its members put on a performance that was 622 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: clearly meant to be a send up of Caliostro and 623 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 1: his magic, and the faux count left the hall among 624 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: jeers of ridicule from the members. So this performance consisted 625 00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 1: of a song which was acted out and according to 626 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,799 Speaker 1: notation published with an engraving that depicted the scene. The 627 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: song lyrics included these lines, this self dubbed counts. Some 628 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,120 Speaker 1: few years since became a brother Mason, and in a 629 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:17,920 Speaker 1: borrowed name for names like simple, numerous he bears and 630 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,880 Speaker 1: proteus like in fifty forms, appears, I boast of balsam 631 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 1: every ill, to cure my pills and powders, all disease, remove, 632 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 1: renew your vigor and your health improve. This cutting part 633 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:36,200 Speaker 1: the arch impostor acts, and thus the weak incredulous attracts. 634 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,839 Speaker 1: But now his history is rendered clear, the errant, hypocrite 635 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: and quack appear. May all true mason's his plain tail 636 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,440 Speaker 1: attend and satire's lash to fraud shall put an end 637 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:56,360 Speaker 1: pretty great, probably not for Caliostro. But to make matters worse, 638 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,319 Speaker 1: the high style in which he lived his life had 639 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,319 Speaker 1: really put him into deep debt. He also, you know, 640 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,520 Speaker 1: his health was not what it once had been, and 641 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,719 Speaker 1: soon he ran from London to avoid debtors prison, And 642 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,359 Speaker 1: he really hoped that he would regain his footing both 643 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 1: in finances and reputation elsewhere in Europe. But all of 644 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: these scandals that he had been embroiled in were starting 645 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 1: to catch up with him. He was forbidden, specifically from 646 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,280 Speaker 1: practicing any of his alchemy or rights in Russia Spain, 647 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 1: Germany and Austria, and he was still banished from France. 648 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,360 Speaker 1: He tried to establish a lodge in Italy, which was 649 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:38,319 Speaker 1: very brazen giving the papal stance on freemasonry. That plan 650 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: did not pan out, and then he petitioned France to 651 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: let him return, But before anything came of that petition, 652 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: his life was abruptly interrupted. On December nine, Cagliostro was 653 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:56,320 Speaker 1: arrested and imprisoned in the San Angelo, Italy. The Holy 654 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: Inquisition had seized his personal effects, particularly his documents regarding 655 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 1: Egyptian masonry, and in a turn that's often called a betrayal, 656 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:09,799 Speaker 1: his wife Lorenza was the primary witness against him. She 657 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: revealed that his work in alchemy and the supernatural was 658 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,720 Speaker 1: all trickery, and while he was discredited in that regard 659 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,600 Speaker 1: from any sort of magic that would go against the 660 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:23,920 Speaker 1: Church doctrine, he had used his tricks to deceive and steal. 661 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:26,280 Speaker 1: I don't know if I can call that a betrayal. 662 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,160 Speaker 1: I was going to talk about that, and behind the 663 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: scenes we can sure do that. Um yeah uh. And 664 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,960 Speaker 1: there was no walking back the fact that he was 665 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,360 Speaker 1: a freemason. He did attempt to claim that he was 666 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: trying to reform the order through its Egyptian roots in 667 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 1: order to come back to the doctrines of the Catholic Church. 668 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: It's kind of a desperate move, it sounds like. But 669 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: after that entire explanation was met with doubt. Understandably, he 670 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,800 Speaker 1: tried once again to assert his connections to all manner 671 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,680 Speaker 1: of underworld secrets, some of which he said could damage 672 00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:04,960 Speaker 1: the Church. He talked to the inquisitors for hours, constantly 673 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,239 Speaker 1: trying to angle and shift the conversation to kind of 674 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:10,560 Speaker 1: explain his way out of it and get things to 675 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: come around to his benefit. This was a fruitless effort, though. 676 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,880 Speaker 1: He was found guilty of heresy, sorcery, and freemasonry and 677 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,880 Speaker 1: sentenced to death. That sentence was commuted to life in 678 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:27,080 Speaker 1: prison by Pope Pious the sixth His Egyptian manuscript was 679 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:31,920 Speaker 1: deemed blasphemous and burned when Caliostro was imprisoned in the 680 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,440 Speaker 1: Fortress of San Leo, which is a castle in Urbino, Italy. 681 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: He died there in August, as historian Henry Ridgley Evans 682 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 1: wrote about him in the early twentieth century quote and 683 00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:48,919 Speaker 1: so ended the career of Cagliostro one of the most 684 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,319 Speaker 1: romantic of history. His condemnation as a sorcerer and freemason 685 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:56,640 Speaker 1: has invested him with the halo of a religious martyr, 686 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 1: of which perhaps no one was less deserving. It is incidentally, 687 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,759 Speaker 1: through the inquisition investigation that most of Kliostro's biographical details 688 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 1: were finally discovered, and the many embellishments that he had 689 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:14,320 Speaker 1: created were stripped from this story. For the first time publicly, 690 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,320 Speaker 1: in eighteen ten, the home in which Kaliostro had lived 691 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,040 Speaker 1: was opened for the first time since he locked it 692 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,960 Speaker 1: up for the last time. In all of the effects 693 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:29,000 Speaker 1: within furniture and the allegedly magical items were auctioned off 694 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:33,000 Speaker 1: by the French government. In the eighteen forties, Alexandra Duma, 695 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,399 Speaker 1: who we've covered on a show before, wrote a two 696 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 1: volume fictionalized version of Kliostro's life titled Balsamo the Magician 697 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 1: or The Memoirs of a Physician. These are part of 698 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 1: a larger series of works by Duma, which were known 699 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:50,920 Speaker 1: as the Marie Antoinette Romances, and they cover the period 700 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: of time in which she was Queen. Today, the perception 701 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:57,080 Speaker 1: of Kliostro is kind of all over the map, fueled 702 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,960 Speaker 1: by the inconsistencies and lack of evidence the true details 703 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,440 Speaker 1: of his life, as well as the various mystical claims 704 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:07,160 Speaker 1: that he made. While Geta described him as a Charlatan 705 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:11,399 Speaker 1: and many people agree with that characterization, there are still 706 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: people who believe that he was truly a spiritual visionary 707 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:19,680 Speaker 1: intend on merging the ideas of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism 708 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:24,080 Speaker 1: all under one greater religious philosophy, whether or not he 709 00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:27,040 Speaker 1: ever believed his own hype or he was just always 710 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:29,759 Speaker 1: fleecing the easily lad, It's one of those things that 711 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,719 Speaker 1: will probably remain a history mystery forever. Do you have 712 00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:36,560 Speaker 1: some listener mail to take us out? Okay, this is 713 00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:39,040 Speaker 1: a fairly short email. It is from our listener, Didra, 714 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:42,680 Speaker 1: who writes High Holly and Tracy. Catching up with recent podcasts, 715 00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: and something occurred to me while listening to the Mildred 716 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,279 Speaker 1: Fish Harnack episode. What exactly has meant when you say 717 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:52,200 Speaker 1: someone joined the Nazi Party? My party affiliation was simply 718 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,160 Speaker 1: a check of a box when I signed up to vote, 719 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:58,120 Speaker 1: But this oft used phrase seems to imply more. She says, 720 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: please forgive me for asking you to do this work. 721 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:02,120 Speaker 1: But the thought of searching for the phrase join the 722 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,440 Speaker 1: Nazi Party online, I don't really want to see those 723 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,680 Speaker 1: search results. Uh. And she also attached a picture of 724 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,560 Speaker 1: her very pretty rescue kitty taken the day that we 725 00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:13,840 Speaker 1: brought her home as a reward for doing this. I 726 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:15,359 Speaker 1: don't actually have to look this one up, and did 727 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,840 Speaker 1: come up in my research. UM. For Mildred at least 728 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:22,160 Speaker 1: and her husband, they had to basically sign a note 729 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:25,080 Speaker 1: of intent that said like I am of you know, 730 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:28,960 Speaker 1: my own free will, joining the Nazi Party, etcetera. That note, 731 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:31,840 Speaker 1: I think Mildred's. I can't remember if it's Mildred's or 732 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:35,080 Speaker 1: her husband's that have come out UM as part of 733 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:38,480 Speaker 1: the documentation over the years to have existed. So it 734 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:40,440 Speaker 1: was that it's more than just checking a box. It's 735 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:43,279 Speaker 1: like you had to make the effort to write your 736 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,919 Speaker 1: intent and sign your name to it. Which is why 737 00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:49,560 Speaker 1: UM people thought it was so damning. It wasn't as 738 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,440 Speaker 1: simple as just saying like, yep, I'm part of that, UM, 739 00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:55,239 Speaker 1: that's all. It was easy peasy. But I do appreciate 740 00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: cat pictures just the same, and her cat is one 741 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:02,040 Speaker 1: of my favorite flavors. And I think Tracy's too all black. 742 00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:05,600 Speaker 1: Ya I love them. Uh so thanks. I hope that 743 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:07,040 Speaker 1: cleared that up. I know that was a quick one, 744 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,759 Speaker 1: but this was kind of a longish episode, so uh. 745 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,279 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can 746 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,439 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 747 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:16,879 Speaker 1: You can also find us anywhere on social media as 748 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:19,600 Speaker 1: Missed in History And if you haven't subscribed and you 749 00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:22,000 Speaker 1: feel like it's time that sounds grand, you can do 750 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,359 Speaker 1: that on the I heart Radio app, at Apple podcasts, 751 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:32,560 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you 752 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:35,280 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 753 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:38,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I 754 00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:41,440 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 755 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:42,320 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.