The Count of Saint Germain And The Secret of Immortality

The Count of Saint Germain was a controversial figure of the 18th-Century Europe, where intrigues and court’s secrets intertwined with the bold actions of individuals: it was the time of wizards, lights and alchemists.

Saint Germain's life has been the subject of numerous articles and at least one book which, since his death (1784), have not shed full light upon the real figure of this peculiar character. Marked as a charlatan by many, considered immortal by others, his deeds crossed the 1700 of Bach and Mozart like a Bohemian rhapsody.

The first of many mysteries related to Saint Germain concerns his birth. Many scholars believe that he descends from Francis II, king of the Principality of Transylvania that, at the time, had made an alliance with the House of Hesse (Francis II had in fact married with the 16-year-old Charlotte Amalie of Hessen-Reinfels on September 25, 1694 at the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany.)

The relationship between Francis I and Charlotte Amalie resulted in two recognized children; however, at the time of the publication of Francis II’s will (1737) a third unnamed child is mentioned as one of the beneficiaries. It was Leopold-George, the eldest of his sons and therefore a direct heir to the throne of Transylvania. Leopold-George could have been born in 1691 or 1696, and it was never possible to determine whether he was the son of Charlotte of Hesse or of the former wife of Francis II. Leopold-George was "killed" to save him from a conspiracy aimed at destroying the Transylvania dynasty and ending the independence of that territory.

So it is believed that Leopold-George was none other than the Count of Saint Germain himself, who (re-)appeared before the European society around 1743 as a man on his forties.
Nearly nothing is known of his life before that year, although a dossier on the Count had been previously compiled by order of Napoleon III. Unfortunately the dossier burned down in a fire that destroyed the building in which it was kept. The surviving information indicate that Saint Germain was trained to become one of the most daring, active and colorful secret political agents of the 18-Century brotherhood.

Prince Karl Von Hesse wrote that Saint Germain was raised by the last of the mighty Medici family in Florence, Italy. Indeed the Medici’s obsessive interest for mystery or mysteriosophical philosophies was well known and, under their care, Saint Germain had allegedly studied at the University of Siena, Italy.

At the time of Saint Germain’s entry into society, the Jacobite cause was rather pressing and, in the next two years (1745,) the invasion of Scotland would ensue. During these two years Saint Germain resided in London. It seems that he was a talented musician and many of his compositions were performed at the Little Haymarket Theatre.

The British authorities, however, didn’t believe that Saint Germain was in London to pursue a music career, and in December 1745, as the Jacobite pressed forward, he was arrested on suspicion of being a Jacobite agent. He was released only when the alleged letters of Charles Edward, leader of the Stuart invasion, were not found on him. Once free, Saint Germain left England and spent one year hosted by Prince Ferdinand Von Lobkowitz, prime minister of the Austrian Emperor. During this period the Count was introduced to the Marshal de Belle-Isle, the French war minister who, in turn, opened the doors of France to him.

Over the next three years nothing is known of Saint Germain’s deeds. He reappeared again in 1749 as a guest of King Louis XV of France, likely working as his political agent.
During the repression of the Brotherhood that occurred throughout France following the edict of the king and the bull of Pope Clement, Saint Germain, a high-degree Freemason, was at the French court. This seemingly enigmatic paradox can be explained only with the ignorance of the king about the Count’s real involvement inside the Brotherhood, but also by assuming that Saint Germain possessed essential intelligence about the French support to the Jacobite.