Arsenic compounds such as the yellow orpiment and red realgar were known in the ancient world, used as pigments and as poisons. The element itself is traditionally said to have been isolated in the thirteenth century by the German Dominican friar and scholar Albertus Magnus, who heated an arsenic compound with soap. Later alchemists and chemists, among them Johann Schroder in the seventeenth century, described the preparation of metallic arsenic in more detail. Its name comes ultimately from the Greek arsenikon, an old name for orpiment. Arsenic was the poison of choice in many historical murders, so much so that it was nicknamed inheritance powder, until the Marsh test of 1836 made it possible to detect it in a body. It has also been used in pigments, medicines and pesticides.
Before and after
- from 22 December 1299 to 23 December 1299Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar
- from 13th century to 20th centuryPasha
- 13th centuryConstruction of Wieliczka Salt Mine
- c. 1300Origins of Amsterdam
- 13th centuryDiscovery of arsenic
- from 1301 to 1500Late Middle Ages
- from 1303 to 1850Little Ice Age
- 1303Founding of Sapienza University of Rome
- from 20 April 1303 to 22 April 1303Battle of Marj al-Saffar
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes.