Cagliostro: Master Magician of Fraud

by Jay Robert Nash The most flagrant and flamboyant charlatan of the 18th Century was a self-styled magician named Cagliostro (1743-1795 ! "orn #ose$h "alsamo in %icily of $oor $arents& this uneducated $easant boy rose from ab'ect $o(erty to fabulous riches! )any times a millionaire& Cagliostro*s obsessi(e $ursuit of fame and fortune& howe(er& brought him only to a final destination+a dan, $rison cell where he died in agony! The boy li(ed in the s-ualor of .alermo where he learned the techni-ues of $ic,$oc,eting and burglary! /n unaccountable curiosity led him to read! 0e studied mysticism& ancient cults& and su$ernatural $owers! To ma,e his fortune& he decided to become an alchemist! /lchemy was then a $rocess of treating common metals with chemicals that would& it was claimed& change them into sil(er or gold!

Cagliostro& the greatest swindler of the 18th Century& conning ,ings and -ueens to a great fortune! (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection "y the time he was se(enteen& "alsamo had& through tric,ery and guile& gained a considerable re$utation as a successful alchemist and medium! 0e swindled considerable gold from a goldsmith and fled to )essina where he ado$ted the title of Count /lessandro di Cagliostro!

3ith his stolen gold& Cagliostro toured /frica and /sia! 4n 5gy$t& he studied the $yramids and became ,nowledgeable in the history of secret sects and their rites! 6rom this& he organi7ed a loose brotherhood& which he labeled 5gy$tian )asonry! /t age twenty-three& Cagliostro sailed to the )editerranean island of )alta where he met the $owerful .into& grand master of the 8rder of the 9nights of )alta& an organi7ation that stemmed from the crusaders of 8:: years earlier and was now a )asonic sect of great $olitical influence!

Cagliostro*s wife& ;oren7a& an in(enti(e $artner in his confidence games< they were tried& con(icted and im$risoned by the 4n-uisition! (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection .into was im$ressed with the erudite and cunning Cagliostro& $ro(iding him with considerable funds with which to tra(el to 4taly as a sort of )asonic s$y in high $laces& sending bac, information to his mentor in )alta! 4n southern 4taly& Cagliostro established a la(ish resort& which was little more than a gambling casino! 0e tra(eled for some time& meeting the hy$notist& 6ran7 /nton )esmer& creator of mesmerism& and learned how to hy$noti7e e(en the most so$histicated $erson! ()esmer& a charlatan of sorts himself& later denounced Cagliostro as a fraud& a clear-cut case of the $ot calling the ,ettle blac,!

=ueen )arie /ntoinette of 6rance& who welcomed Cagliostro to her court& until he was sus$ected of masterminding the >/ffair of the 2ec,lace!> (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection 4n 1ome& Cagliostro met a beautiful young girl& ;oren7a 6eliciani! They married and she 'oined him in his fabulous confidence swindles! 5stablishing themsel(es in (arious 4talian cities as nobles and renting huge (illas& Cagliostro and his wife culti(ated the com$any of aristocrats and held s?ances and demonstrations of his magical alchemy& where he su$$osedly changed stones into rare gems and ro$e into strands of $riceless sil,! These >miracles&> of course& were nothing more than the magic tric,s Cagliostro had $erfected o(er the years!

The fabulous nec,lace (containing 54: diamonds $urchased for =ueen )arie /ntoinette in a colossal swindle first attributed to Cagliostro! (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection /ll during his tra(els through southern 5uro$e& Cagliostro continued to establish branches of his own sect of 5gy$tian )asonry and these nai(e grou$s regularly sent him money to establish new cha$ters! 0is ego bloated by his own im$ossible claims& Cagliostro insisted that he could $erform acts of astounding wi7ardry& such as bringing forth s$irits! Cagliostro also claimed that he could heal all manner of illnesses by laying his hands u$on sic, $eo$le and by $ronouncing secret oaths! @oubters were fearful of denouncing his frauds& howe(er& since they belie(ed he might bring u$on them deathen(elo$ing curses! >1emember&> Cagliostro was fond of saying& >4 can afflict as well as healA> 5normous amounts of money began to flow into Cagliostro*s coffers& gifts& donations& and outright $ayments from the nobility for his cures& his s?ances& his ad(ice on matters of health& hygiene& and e(en seB! 0e became the highest-$aid oracle on earth! Cou$led to this $rincely income were great gluts of cash he recei(ed from the do7ens of )asonic sects he had established in 4taly& Creece& %$ain& and 6rance! 0e became a court fa(orite of 9ing ;ouis DE4 and his tem$estuous& beautiful -ueen& )arie /ntoinette! 4n 1785& howe(er& the $owerful Cagliostro was undone in the notorious /ffair of the @iamond 2ec,lace& a colossal swindle that& ironically& had nothing to do with Cagliostro!

Count ;a)otte& who fled to 5ngland after $er$etrating the notorious >/ffair of the 2ec,lace&> a scandal that contributed to the 6rench 1e(olution and the e(entual downfall of )arie /ntoinette and ;ouis DE4! (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection / Count ;a)otte and his scheming wife in(eigled ;ouis de 1ohan& the cardinalarchbisho$ of .aris& into $urchasing a fabulous diamond nec,lace from court 'ewelers to secretly $resent to )arie /ntoinette as a gift& in return for her $olitical fa(ors! 1ohan deli(ered this nec,lace to a woman he thought was the -ueen when meeting her in a shadowy garden! The woman was an im$oster& who too, the nec,lace to ;a)otte& who& in turn& sold off the diamonds one by one to fences! 1ohan was disgraced and Cagliostro was accused of masterminding the swindle! Though later eBonerated& Cagliostro was banished from the 6rench court and mo(ed to 1ome! The great swindler grew e(en richer in 1ome& where he $urchased a la(ish (illa and continued his magical rites and s?ances& by then claiming to be thousands of years old and that he had $ersonally ,nown Cleo$atra and the =ueen of %heba! These $erformances& howe(er& were re$orted to members of the 4n-uisition and caused Cagliostro and ;oren7a to be arrested on @ecember F7& 1789& charged as heretics! ;oren7a& re$ortedly under torture& confessed to heresy and wholly im$licated her husband! %he was sent to the con(ent of %anta /$$ollonia in Traste(ere where she remained a $risoner and died many years later! Cagliostro was sentenced to death& but .o$e .ius E4 commuted the sentence to life im$risonment! 4n the Eatican fortress $rison of %an ;eo& Cagliostro li(ed miserably in a s$arsely-furnished cell& chained to the floor! 0e slowly went insane& and died on /ugust F8& 1795! 8ne account held that he was strangled to death by his wardens& who belie(ed that followers of his 5gy$tian )asonic sect were $lanning to free him!

8rson 3elles& $laying Cagliostro in the 1949 film& Black Magic! (image from the #ay 1obert 2ash Collection Cagliostro came bac, to chilling life in the moody 1949 film& Black Magic& starring the un$redictable genius& 8rson 3elles (an amateur magician & who $lays the alchemist with sinister (er(e! >Cagliostro was a man after my own heart&> 3elles told this columnist in 1977& >an actor to the bone!>