CHAPTER II 



SCOT AT THE COURT OF SICILY 



All tradition assures us that the chief occupation 

 of Scot's life was found at the Court of Frederick ii., 

 King of Sicily, and afterwards Emperor of Ger- 

 many : a Prince deservedly famous, not only for 

 his own talent, but for the protection and en- 

 couragement he afforded to men of learning. A 

 manuscript in the Laurentian Library,^ hitherto 

 unnoticed in this connection, seems to throw some 

 light upon the time and manner of this employ- 

 ment : points that have always been very obscure. 

 The volume is a collection of Occulta, and at p. 256 

 we find the following title, ' An Experiment of 

 Michael Scot the magician.' What follows is of 

 no serious importance : such as it has we shall 

 consider in speaking of the Master's legendary 

 fame. The concluding words, however, are of great 

 interest, especially when we observe that this part 

 of the manuscript, though written between 1450 

 and 1500, is said^ to have been copied 'from a 

 very ancient book.' The colophon runs thus : 

 'Here endeth the necromantic experiment of the 

 most illustrious doctor, Master^ Michael Scot, who 

 among other scholars is known as the supreme 



^ PI. Ixxxix. sup. cod. 38. See Appendix, No. i. 

 ^ See p. 244 of the ms. '^ Domini Magistri. 



