The Man Behind the Title
Giuseppe Balsamo, better known by his mystical title "Count Cagliostro," was a mid-18th century alchemist, mesmerist, and scam artist who enthralled both commoners and royalty alike with his "magical" remedies and scandalizing schemes. The details of his life, though heavily popularized in media, are cloudy at best. This uncertainty, combined with his firm connection to the occult and freemasonry, has generated a cloud of mystique and intrigue around the man's life and exploits.
Several novels have been written to shed light on the convoluted history of Balsamo's life. One of the most definitive works attempting to clarify the muddy history was from an author called "Barberi;" this biography, entitled The Life Of Joseph Balsamo: Commonly Called Count Cagliostro, attempted to sort out truth from fiction in the legend surrounding Balsamo and the Count. Some novels, like the more recent The Masonic Magician by Philippa Faulks, attempt to present the Count as a positive and influential member of society, not as the popular image of a con-man and a trickster. Though his origins are uncertain and his intentions have been debated, one thing is certain: Giuseppe Balsamo sent shock waves through the history of mysticism and freemasonry.
Giueseppe Balsamo
Giuseppe Balsamo was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1743, according to most accounts. Balsamo's origins are cloudy; by his own account, Balsamo was raised as an orphan after his mother gave him up. However, according to the historian Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his The Autobiography of Goethe, “Piedro Balsamo, the father of the notorious Giuseppe, became bankrupt, and died in his five-and-fourtieth year. His widow, who is still living, had born him, besides the aforementioned Guiseppe Giovanna – Guiseppe Maria, who maried Giovana Battista Capitummino, who begot three children of her body, and died” (478). Goethe's autobiography places Guiseppe Balsamo firmly in the historical sphere by giving him a clear and distinct lineage. This removes the uncertainty cast upon Balsamo's life by the charlatan himself. His lineage also adds clarity to his later assumed title; a great uncle, one whom Balsamo was very fond of, had the surname of “Cagliostro.”
In his early years, Balsamo was groomed by several tutors who encouraged his natural talent and interest in calligraphy and chemistry. These two interests would later be manipulated by an older Balsamo into the arts of forgery and “alchemy.” The young, capricious Balsamo, however, felt stifled under the stricture of these tutors and soon sneaked away to begin a life more fitting to his bold plans. His plans and schemes soon landed him in custody of the law and, subsequently, shipped off to the Fatebenefratelli monastery at Caltagirone where he would learn the life of a monk. Balsamo thrived under the teachings of the monks, and his knowledge of chemistry and alchemy soured while in their service; it wasn't long, however, before Balsamo's true nature as a trickster led to his banishment from the monastery for misconduct. The stuffy, rule-driven lifestyle of the monks didn't sit well with Balsamo, and this expulsion propelled him on his path towards becoming the famed Count Cagliostro.
Count Caglistro
Once banished from the monastery, Balsamo put his exceeding talent of forgery to use; he ran several confidence schemes in which he scammed wealthy patrons out of large sums of money. These schemes, though fruitful at the time, placed Balsamo under constant police observance. This inconvenience caused the trickster to develop an almost nomadic lifestyle during which he traveled across much of Italy. In an attempt to evade police, Balsamo fled to Messina where an affluent aunt of his lived. To his dismay, the aunt had died several years prior and left all of her wealth and property to a local church. The only thing left to inherit was the Cagliostro name. In Messina, Balsamo met a mysterious man named Althotas, and together the two toured Egypt, Malta, and Tunisia; Althotas and Balsamo researched the occult arts while on this tour, and this would become a key foundation in the Cagliostro identity.
Following the death of his mentor Althotas, Balsamo moved back to Rome. There, he met Lorenza Feliciani and soon the two were wed. The couple, now donning the names “Count and Countess Alessandro di Cagliostro,” began their tour of Europe as brand new people. The Cagliostro's career is characterized by a series of ebbs and flows. Their schemes were generally successful, but these successes brought on an unwanted amount of scrutiny. The peak of Count Cagliostros' financial success came when he created the Egyptian Freemasonry movement in England, Germany, and France. Egyptian Freemasonry, as proposed by Cagliostro, was a series of occult rituals that he developed while studying with Althotas. These rituals were designed as a part of the overarching Freemason tradition and, after Cagliostro's successful establishment, later became adapted into actual Freemason rituals. At the time, however, Cagliostro merely introduced the Freemasonry as an abundant source of income for himself.
During his time as an Egyptian Freemason, Caglistro presented himself as a faith healer and alchemical genius. He cured the poor and the downtrodden with a combination of occult and mesmerist techniques as well and a series of carefully crafted medicines; he utilized these mysterious gestures as a way to increase his popularity and, subsequently, his overwhelming wealth. His schemes were not contained to the poor, however; one of the most famous schemes connected to Cagliostro's name is that of The Affair of the Diamond Necklace. In the Affair, an individual tricked Cardinal Rohan, an influential member of the French court, into financing a diamond necklace for Marie Antoinette. This necklace was both extremely expensive and unwanted by Marie Antoinette. Cagliostro was arrested under suspicion of forgery, but was later released after being proven innocent. He was banished from France and forced to return to his native country of Italy. Though innocent, Cagliostro's name is perpetually associated with the high profile scandal.
Cagliostro's reign as occultist, Freemason, and mesmerist ended when his wife, Lorenza Feliciani, betrayed him to the Holy Roman Inquisition after his attempt to establish Egyptian Freemasonry in Rome. He was accused of heresy and sedition against the church and, after a lengthy and very public trial, was found guilty; the sentence for these crimes was execution. However, Pope Pius VI later revoked this penalty and sentenced Cagliostro to life imprisonment in a maximum security prison. Several years after his imprisonment, Caglistro died and left behind a legacy of wonder and mystery.
Count Cagliostro in Popular Culture
Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, features Count Cagliostro as the leader of a fictional country. His forged money brings about the beginning of Lupin's adventure; this plot device connects the fictitious Cagliostro back to the real life forger and con artist.
In this video, Philippa Faulks discusses her novel The Masonic Magician and explains some of the positive outcomes of Count Cagliostro's life.
Black Magic, a 1949 film, tells a highly dramatized and rather fictitious account of Count Calgliostro's life.
--Joe Tutwiler