Lapidary (text)
A lapidary is a text in verse or prose, often a whole book, that describes the physical properties and metaphysical virtues of precious and semi-precious stones, that is to say, a work on gemology.
Several lapidaries also provide information about the countries or regions where some rocks were thought to originate, and others speculate about the natural forces in control of their formation.
Belief in the powers of particular types of jewel to achieve effects such as protecting the wearer against diseases or other kinds of harm was strong in the Middle Ages, and explanations of these formed much of the material in lapidaries.
Theophrastus (died c. 287 BC) treated rocks and other minerals as well as gems, and remained a significant indirect source for the scientific tradition; he was all but unknown in Europe in the Middle Ages, and not translated into Latin until the 15th century.
[9] While Pliny and others wrote on how to detect fake or imitation gems, some, like Jean d'Outremeuse (d. 1400), described how to make them in coloured glass, which by the Late Middle Ages was recommended for use in church metalwork.
The oldest of these sources was Pliny the Elder's Natural History from the 1st century AD, Book 37 of which covered gems, drawing on Theophrastus and other classical predecessors.
[13] Medieval or early modern lapidaries describe particular gemstones' protective and healing properties, including diamond, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, ruby, etc.
Numerous plant-based and animal products like coral and pearl were also included in this category, comprising amber and toadstone as fossilized substances.
[2] Carrying a diamond was recommended to keep limbs healthy, heal lunatics, and act as a shield from the dangers of wild animals and their poison.
Giving the infant ten grains of the coral powder mixed with the mother's milk before they have tasted anything would preserve the newborn from epilepsy in the future.
Theophrastus had described lyngurium, a gemstone supposedly formed of the solidified urine of the lynx (the best ones coming from wild males), which was included in "almost every medieval lapidary" until it gradually disappeared from view in the 17th century.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, the dominant theologian of the Late Middle Ages, propounded the view that the whole of the natural world had ultimately been created by God for the benefit of man, leading medieval Christians to expect to find beneficial uses for all materials.
[14] References in Theophrastus work in lapidaries about the medicinal use of stones mentions that smaragus (emerald) is good for the eyes and that by looking at it, healing effects are produced.
For instance, ruby comes in various colors such as pinkish-mauve and pigeon-blood red; sapphires exist in pink, multiple shades of blue, and a colorless variety.
