King James IV (r. 1488-1513),
besides being one of Scotland’s most charismatic and internationally active
kings, was also an advocate of education and a generous patron to the arts and
sciences. As a king with such a renaissance spirit, European intellectuals were
naturally drawn to Scotland to join the court of James IV. Among the
interesting courtiers of the king, one ambitious man stood out from the rest of
the crowd—John Damian of Falcuis.
In the second half of the
15th century (possibly around 1470) John Damian of Falcuis was born in Italy,
the heart of the Renaissance. Young John had a wide variety of interests, but
he decided to embark on a career path in medicine. He either studied or
practiced in France, later earning him the nickname, the “French Leech,” but
eventually found himself employed as the court physician of the Scottish King
James IV.
Damian landed in Scotland
around 1500 or 1501 and soon found that King James IV was willing to fund studies
and experiments that expanded well beyond the typical realm of a court
physician. Upon discovering this, John Damian of Falcuis must have been
delighted, for he was not only interested in medicine, but was also passionate
about alchemy and experimental engineering.
James IV patiently provided
funding as John Damian attempted to change base metals into gold, a favorite
hobby of alchemists. In between his failed alchemical experiments, Damian also
studied how to produce life-prolonging elixirs. Despite his attempts in these
fields always ending in disappointment, James IV continued to support the
energetic dreamer, and even bestowed on Damian the title of abbot of Tongland.
It was after he had become an
abbot that John Damian of Falcuis attempted an experiment that would secure his
name in history. This time, however, he was not going to try to create gold or
produce an elixir of life. In this experiment, he wanted to achieve what mankind
often dreams of while gazing up at the clouds—he wanted to fly.
In 1507, John Damian of
Falcuis became obsessed with an idea. After observing and studying birds,
Damian deduced that the ability of flight had to come from wings. Therefore, to
achieve flight, John Damian simply concluded that he needed to manufacture his
own personal set of feathery wings.
With his plan concocted,
Damian sent his aids to scavenge the land for eagle feathers—for some reason he
had concluded that eagle feathers, and only eagle feathers, could do the job.
With all the plumage gathered together, the ambitious inventor pieced together
two large wings that he could attach to his arms.
John Damian took his great
flight in late September 1507, in the city of Stirling, Scotland. Outfitted in
his carefully crafted wings, he climbed to the battlements of Stirling Castle,
which stood an estimated 70 feet above the ground. Once he was atop the wall, Damian
presumably took a few deep, but shaky, breaths as he looked over the
surrounding landscape. Yet, in the end he mustered his courage and leapt from
the castle walls. Frantically flapping the makeshift wings with as much energy
as he could exert, Damian soared away from the side of Stirling Castle.
Nevertheless, he only traveled as far as he could jump, and after that short
trip, he was violently pulled down to the hard earth by the unsympathetic force
of gravity. Damian was granted a bittersweet blessing, for the force of his
crash was somewhat dissipated by the trash heap or dung pile in which he landed.
In the end, despite having jumped from the walls of a castle, John Damian of
Falcuis only suffered a broken leg as a result of his unsuccessful flight and
messy landing. Damian never retried the experiment, but he publicly claimed
that his unfortunate crash only occurred because hen feathers had been mistakenly
woven into the wings.
Although John Damian was
unsuccessful in most of his experimental endeavors, King James IV still found
the man’s resolve and determination in the face of failure to be charming. Even
after the pseudo scientist broke his leg by jumping from the walls of Stirling
Castle, the king’s support never wavered. John Damian of Falcuis was still on
the payroll of the Scottish monarch when English forces killed King James IV in
1513, during the Battle of Flodden.
Written by C. Keith Hansley.
Top picture attribution: (Illustration of an ornithopter (man with manufactured
wings) illustrated prior to 1830 from the Tissandier Collection of early
European flight designs, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
- Mystery at the Castle, Season 2, Episode 10
- http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/the-alchemist-who-thought-he-could-fly-1-466848
- http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/d/johndamian.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/renaissance/oddities_renaissance.shtml
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/honoured-at-last-scotlands-answer-to-wright-brothers-526353.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-IV-king-of-Scotland
- https://www.britroyals.com/scots.asp?id=james4_scot
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