ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the language of chymistry had a theatrical dimension that resonated with contemporaneous theology. But apart from the science of dramatic illusions, the stage provided a metaphysical model that could be used to explain the nature of matter and Eucharistic theology just as easily as it did the vicissitudes of life. The intersections of power and alchemy and the dramatic implications of alchemical imagery are well understood, thanks to Mar Rey Bueno and Frederick de Armas, among many others. The texts of empirics and serious physicians alike give us evidence that priests and friars, in their capacity as confessors and convent officials, were able to promote chymical remedies, give practitioners of chymical medicine access to patients, and facilitate the publication of works on chymical medicine. The antagonism between proponents of chymical medicine and Galenists, such as Vids's great rival Nicols Moneva, was the great medical drama of the 1670s and 1680s. It was a clash of medical cultures.
