The Soals of His Feet, Which Had Some Passions

The title for this one was a tossup between the line I used, and:  The Unexpected Zaniness of Bacon 

I'm reading for research, and to flavor a story I'm planning to write soon. It will be set on Malta, and it will involve an alchemist, a cat, and possibly Roger Bacon. Not really sure. What I do know is that reading Bacon's writings has been both delightfully amusing and unexpectedly insightful. 

"in the dayes of King William; A Countreyman plowing in the field, found a golden vessel, containing a certain liquor, which he supposing to be the Dew of Heaven, washed his face withall, and drunk of it, whereby he became renued in spirit, body and excellency, De bubulio factus est Bajulus Regis Sicilie, from a Plow-man he was made Porter to the King of Sicily. And the Popes Letters assures us, That Almannus, held Prisoner by the Saracens, through the use of a Medicine lived five hundred years. For the King, whose Captive he was, having received this Medicine from the Embassadours of the great King, and being suspicious of them, made tryall hereof upon this Captive, which was brought him for that purpose. And the Lady of the Woods in great Britanny searching for a white Hinde, found an Ointment, wherewith the Keeper of the Woods anointed his whole body, except the soals of his feet, and he lived three hundred years without any corruption, save in the soals of his feet, which had some passions. " 

If that doesn't give you, me, and anyone else reading this the kernels for some darn good stories, I don't know what would. But then again, there's this... 

Now, mind you, this is a man writing in the thirteenth century. And yet, here we have a decent description of a helicopter. Well, ornithopter, but those led to the airplanes and 'choppers' of today. 

Just when I start to ponder how seriously to take Bacon, I read this, and this. 

But you have to admit, that's some really good story fodder for a great fantasy world, right there. 

And there I go, back to respecting the man's perception of human nature, even if his grasp of natural history was loose, at best.