The era of the Renaissance and humanism brought with it a huge development of the natural sciences: more and more perfect measuring and observation devices allowed for more accurate detection and description of reality, the invention of the printing press led to the rapid spread of information, and the accumulation of knowledge led to optimism that in the near future it will be possible to find answers to all questions , which humanity assumes. However, this knowledge cannot be accessible to everyone, but only to an exclusive group of initiates. Thus, a group of magicians, astrologers and astronomers formed around Europe, who toured the courts of their patrons, wealthy princes who also fell in love with the desire for knowledge with which they could increase their power. The generosity of Emperor Rudolf II, a great patron who concentrated the world’s largest art collection of the time in Prague Castle, attracted alchemists like bees to honey. This is how Britain attracted two legendary alchemists, Edward Kelley and John Dee. Edward Kelley, formerly known as Talbot, fled England to Prague in 1584 after losing both ears at the hands of the executioner for forging official documents. He was accompanied by the alchemist John Dee, the court astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I. Both were united by the same dream: to gain favor with the emperor. After some time, the alchemists actually reached the emperor. John Dee, however, Rudolph II. he was not impressed, and he was expelled from the country as a spy shortly afterwards. Edward remained in Bohemia and gained the emperor’s attention after his fame spread after he cured the prominent noble William of Rožmberk. The monarch was initially impressed with Kelley. This charming young man was an excellent mystifier. He hid his missing earlobes with long, flowing hair, even though he didn’t finish his medical studies, shamelessly misused university degrees and could convincingly promise anything. This is how he promised the production of the Philosopher’s Stone, i.e. the production of gold from any metal, the mixing of the elixir of eternal youth or the use of a “black mirror” to see at a distance or listen in on other people’s conversations. By successfully transmuting the boiling mercury into gold right before the emperor’s eyes, he literally stunned everyone present, although it was only an illusion. Kelley’s career at the Imperial Court skyrocketed. He was appointed by the Imperial Council, court alchemist and elevated to noble status as a “knight of Imana”. Kelley met in Prague with other alchemists and scholars of Rudolfinian Prague; he went to the mysterious New World, which was inhabited by other connoisseurs of the craft, including the Danish astronomer and mathematician Tycho Brahe. However, he settled somewhat further from the center of events, in the legendary Faust House, which stands on a former pagan altar and on the route of the coronation processions between Vyšehrad and Prague Castle. Undoubtedly, the ancient existence of an old alchemist’s workshop in the bowels of the house was an attraction for buying the house. Kelley’s stay subsequently contributed even more to the rumor of black magic and the legend of Doctor Faustus, who was carried away by the devil through a hole in the ceiling. He lived in the house with his wife Johana Westonová and her daughter Elizabeth Johanna Westonia. Thanks to the support of her stepfather, Johana received an exceptional education, spoke several languages and wrote poems. VPraze remained after Kelley’s death, trying to save the confiscated property. As the only woman, she made it into the catalog of the most important scholars of her time. Edward Kelley had another laboratory in the house U Osla in the cradle near Prague Castle. In two attic rooms he tried to create a homunculus, an artificial man. Would he be inspired by the legend of the Prague Golem? We don’t know. What we do know for sure is how the house got its name. According to legend, the house got its name U Osla vkolébke because the tenant of this Malostran house noticed what the famous alchemist was hiding under the locks of his hair. In a fit of rage, the enraged mage conjured donkey ears for her baby in the cradle! However, every mystifier is revealed once, and Emperor Rudolf II. he already knew that the master was leading him by the nose when he refused to reveal the secret of transmutation. He therefore fled Prague, but on the way he killed a Czech nobleman in a forbidden duel, was imprisoned in Křivoklát Castle and his property was confiscated. He tried to escape from the castle prison. But the rope broke and the unfortunate man broke his leg several times so that it had to be amputated. Although he was pardoned by the emperor, he then fell into debt again and was imprisoned a second time. This time to Hněvín Castle in Most. He also tried to escape with the help of his wife, paradoxically with the same result. He broke his other leg. He solved the hopelessness of his situation by ingesting a strong poison. He died on November 1, 1597 at the age of 42.