Preface to the Reader.

The table of Lucius Verus the Roman.

Ulrich von Jungingen. Year of Christ 1410.

Whenever, honest reader, I consider the opinion of that Majorcan Philosopher Referring to Ramon Llull (c. 1232–1315), a polymath and mystic. Though he likely did not practice alchemy, many influential alchemical texts were attributed to him in the centuries following his death., that most sharp investigator of nature, which he reports as a conclusion in his Theory of the Testament original: Theorica Testamenti; one of the most famous alchemical works attributed to Pseudo-Llull. in this manner: HE WHO HAS COME TO SUCH A TEMPERAMENT In alchemy, "temperament" refers to the perfect balance of qualities (hot, cold, moist, dry) achieved in the Philosopher's Stone. shall be worthy to be seated at the TABLE OF THE TWELVE PEERS, I am reminded of the ancient custom by which men distinguished by martial virtue and military glory, and as it were equals [peers], were accustomed to recline at the Golden Table—that is, one most magnificently furnished with golden utensils, cups, and platters. Just so, in ancient times among the Romans, Lucius Verus, having returned to Rome from Syria, celebrated a banquet to which only twelve guests were admitted, at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns. For he gave to the guests all the servants waiting on the banquet, the gold and silver vessels, the couches, the tapestries, and the rest of the feast's apparatus.

Moreover, a little before our own age, we have noticed something similar practiced most honorably very frequently in the Tournaments of the Germans (to say nothing of other nations) and, within the memory of our ancestors, in Prussia original: Borussia by a certain Master of the Teutonic Order Ulrich von Jungingen (1360–1410) was the 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. He is famously associated with the Battle of Grunwald.. For just as this was, like a prize original Greek: brabeion, meaning the award given to the winner of a contest. of virtue and a cloak original: paludamentum, a ceremonial cloak worn by Roman commanders. of martial honor, always praiseworthy in every age, so it was an especially useful invention for this nation, since it so animated the nobility devoted to arms toward virtuous deeds and noble exploits that very many thought life bitter to them if [they did] not