Elisir di lunga vita e principi alchemici in alcune ricette mediche medio inglesi

From the 13th century onwards, alchemical science and its theory on the elixir of long life became prominent within the studies on prolongatio vitae in England. The creation of the philosopher’s stone to transmute base metals into gold also became a means for obtaining a perfect medicine that could heal bodies and make them un-alterable. Many alchemical experimentations for the production of the elixir of long life that spread throughout the 14th and 15th centuries were based on the connection between medicine and alchemy. Texts centred on remedies and plasters for healing the body that involved alchemical processes were produced by composers who for the most part remained anonymous. This work intends to analyse some 15th-century medical recipes aimed at the creation of medicinal waters and ointments against age-ing and for the regeneration of the flesh after wounds and sores, in order to investi-gate the relationship between alchemy and this particular field of medieval medicine.