“The truth about me will never be written, because nobody knows it”. These prophetic words, attributed to the man himself, encapsulate the enduring mystery of Count Alessandro di Cagliostro. To his adoring followers in the 18th century, he was the “Divine Cagliostro,” a miracle healer, alchemist, and spiritual reformer who could cure the sick for free and peer into the future. To his legions of detractors, he was Giuseppe Balsamo, a petty criminal from the slums of Palermo, a pimp, a charlatan, and the “Quack of Quacks”.
Was he a genuine mystic persecuted for his gifts, or one of history’s most audacious and successful impostors? The story of his life is a whirlwind of contradictions, moving through the royal courts and grim prisons of pre-revolutionary Europe, leaving a legacy that continues to fascinate, confuse, and inspire debate to this day.
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The Scoundrel from Sicily? The Story of Giuseppe Balsamo
The identity most commonly forced upon Cagliostro is that of Giuseppe Balsamo, born on 2 June 1743, in the Albergheria quarter of Palermo, Sicily. His family was poor; his father, a cloth seller, died shortly after his birth, and his mother was unable to support him. As a youth, Balsamo was reportedly a scamp and a leader of a street gang, frequently in trouble with the law.
Hoping to set him straight, his uncles sent him to the Benedictine monastery of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God in Caltagirone. There, he became a novice and, working as an assistant to the monastery’s apothecary, discovered a talent for chemistry and pharmacology. However, his felonious nature was ill-suited for monastic life; when he was caught selling the monastery’s medicines on the street, the abbot expelled him.
Back in Palermo, Balsamo’s schemes grew more ambitious. His most infamous early con involved a wealthy goldsmith named Vincenzo Marano. Feigning an interest in alchemy, the 17-year-old Balsamo convinced Marano that he knew the location of a vast hidden treasure, guarded by demons. After extracting 60 ounces of gold from the goldsmith for “magical ceremonies,” he led him to a field at midnight where Marano was promptly mugged by Balsamo’s associates disguised as spirits. With the gold in hand, Balsamo was forced to flee Sicily to avoid arrest and Marano’s vengeance.
The Birth of a Legend: A New Name, A New Past
After leaving Sicily, the man known as Balsamo began a period of reinvention. He travelled throughout the Mediterranean, studying forgery and soaking up occult knowledge. It was during this period that he shed his old identity and adopted the much grander name of Count Alessandro di Cagliostro. He concocted a fantastical biography for himself, claiming to be a noble orphan abandoned on the island of Malta. He alleged he had been raised in Medina and Mecca in the palace of the Mufti, under the tutelage of a mysterious master of alchemy and magic named Althotas.
In 1768, at the age of 25, he arrived in Rome. There, he worked briefly as a secretary for Cardinal Orsini but soon returned to a life of crime, selling fake magical amulets. He also met and married a 14-year-old girl named Lorenza Feliciani, who preferred the name ‘Serafina’. Lorenza proved to be a gifted partner in his cons, and Cagliostro frequently used her beauty to attract and swindle wealthy men. Together, they travelled across Europe, from Naples to London, running scams that ranged from casino cheating to blackmail.
The Grand Cophta: Mystic, Healer, and Masonic Reformer
While his early career was defined by petty crime, Cagliostro’s ambition soon turned to grander designs. In London, on 12 April 1777, he was initiated into Freemasonry at the Espérance Lodge. This marked a pivotal moment. He saw in Freemasonry a powerful vehicle for his own philosophy and quickly sought to reshape it.
He created his own audacious new branch of the order: the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry. Blending Hermeticism, alchemy, and Masonic ritual, the rite promised followers moral purification and physical regeneration. In a radical departure from the traditions of the time, Cagliostro’s Egyptian Rite welcomed women into separate lodges, a move that was both revolutionary and scandalous. With himself as the “Grand Cophta,” he travelled across Holland, Germany, and Russia, founding lodges and collecting money from aristocrats eager to join his mystical new order.
Alongside his Masonic activities, Cagliostro cultivated a reputation as a miraculous healer. This was perhaps his most paradoxical role. While critics dismissed him as a charlatan, thousands revered him for his benevolence. In Strasbourg, between 1780 and 1783, he became a celebrated figure, reportedly treating over 15,000 people, mostly the poor, for free. He established clinics where he dispensed medicines at his own expense, using a combination of herbal remedies, mesmeric passes (magnetic healing), and sheer charisma. An eyewitness, the composer Jean-Benjamin de Laborde, described scenes of Cagliostro dividing his purse among destitute patients, who fell at his feet, calling him “their savior, their father, their God”.
The Diamond Necklace Affair: A Scandal that Toppled a Throne
By 1785, Cagliostro was a fixture in Parisian high society, holding séances at his lavishly decorated home and enjoying the patronage of one of France’s most powerful noblemen, Cardinal de Rohan. It was this connection that peripherally embroiled him in the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace,” a scandal that would ruin the reputation of Queen Marie Antoinette and help ignite the French Revolution.
The affair was a sophisticated con masterminded by an adventuress named the Comtesse de la Motte. Knowing that Cardinal de Rohan was desperate to regain the Queen’s favour, she convinced him that Marie Antoinette secretly desired a monstrously expensive diamond necklace, valued at 1.6 million livres. Using forged letters signed “Marie-Antoinette de France”—a blunder, as French royals only signed with their given names—she duped the Cardinal into purchasing the necklace on the Queen’s behalf. Cagliostro, as the Cardinal’s trusted advisor, was consulted on the matter and gave an oracle predicting success, though he later claimed to have warned Rohan that La Motte was deceiving him.
The necklace was handed over to La Motte’s accomplices, who promptly broke it apart and sold the diamonds in London. When the first payment came due and the Queen was never seen wearing the jewels, the plot unravelled. Though Marie Antoinette was innocent and had previously refused the necklace multiple times, public opinion turned viciously against her.
On 22 August 1785, Cagliostro was arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille. After nine months of incarceration and a sensational trial before the Parlement of Paris, he was triumphantly acquitted on 31 May 1786. The crowds celebrated him as a martyr who had stood up to the monarchy. While legally vindicated, the victory was short-lived. The King, furious at the public verdict, had him banished from France.
Prophecy and Downfall: The Inquisition’s Final Judgment
Though free, Cagliostro’s reputation was damaged. In London, a journalist named Theveneau de Morande publicly accused him of being Giuseppe Balsamo, airing all his past crimes. Cagliostro’s life became one of wandering and expulsion from Switzerland and other German states. During this exile, in a 1786 pamphlet titled Letter to the French People, he made a stunningly accurate prophecy: “The Bastille will be destroyed from top to bottom, and the land on which it was erected will be converted into a promenade”. Three years later, his prediction came true.
In a move that sealed his fate, Cagliostro and Serafina returned to Rome in 1789. There, he attempted to establish an Egyptian Rite lodge. The men who sought initiation, however, proved to be spies for the Roman Inquisition. Betrayed by his own wife, who testified against him in exchange for her freedom, Cagliostro was arrested on 27 December 1789.
After an 18-month trial, he was found guilty of heresy, magic, and Freemasonry. The Inquisition sentenced him to death, but a mysterious stranger reportedly interceded with the Pope, who commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Cagliostro was taken to the formidable fortress of San Leo, where he was confined to a windowless dungeon cell known as the “Pozzetto”. He died there on 26 August 1795, at the age of 52.
The Cagliostro Identity: Unraveling the Mystery
For centuries, the equation “Cagliostro = Balsamo” has been the dominant historical narrative. This identification was solidified by investigations conducted by French police, the Roman Inquisition, and famously by the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who personally visited Balsamo’s family in Palermo in 1787 and concluded they were one and the same man.
However, this view is not without its challengers. Many defenders, particularly within Theosophical circles, argue that Cagliostro was a genuine mystic and a misunderstood messenger whose identity was deliberately conflated with that of a petty criminal by his powerful enemies. H.P. Blavatsky, a founder of the Theosophical Society, insisted that whatever his family name was, it was not Balsamo. More recently, some researchers have proposed that Giuseppe Balsamo and Alessandro Cagliostro were two entirely different men, both born in Sicily, whose lives were intentionally tangled to discredit the Count. This theory notes that Balsamo was married to Lorenza Feliciani, while Cagliostro was married to Serafina Feliciani—two different women who happened to share a surname.
Ultimately, Cagliostro’s true origin remains veiled. Perhaps he truly was, as he claimed in his own spiritual autobiography, a being “from no specific period nor time,” a “noble traveler” whose identity was his function.
An Immortal Legacy
Despite his miserable end, Cagliostro’s story achieved a form of immortality. He left an indelible mark on his era, influencing the work of luminaries like Goethe, who based a play on him; Alexandre Dumas, who featured him in several novels; and possibly Mozart, whose opera The Magic Flute echoes the Egyptian mysticism Cagliostro popularised.
His name became synonymous with magic and mystery, inspiring countless stage magicians, illusions, and skits for decades after his death. His legend has permeated modern pop culture, appearing in comics, video games, and most famously, as the namesake for Hayao Miyazaki’s classic 1979 anime film, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.
So, who was he? A charlatan who expertly manipulated the hopes and fears of an age on the brink of revolution? Or a genuine reformer and visionary, a “Friend of Humanity” crushed by the forces of orthodoxy? Like the alchemical transmutations he claimed to perform, his identity remains a substance of unresolved components—a dazzling, maddening, and ultimately unforgettable enigma.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Cagliostro really Giuseppe Balsamo from Palermo?
The traditional historical narrative identifies Cagliostro as Giuseppe Balsamo, born in Palermo in 1743. This identification was supported by investigations by French police, the Roman Inquisition, and Goethe’s personal visit to Balsamo’s family in 1787. However, some modern researchers argue they were two different men whose identities were deliberately conflated to discredit Cagliostro.
What was the goldsmith affair that forced Balsamo to flee Sicily?
At age 17, Giuseppe Balsamo convinced a wealthy goldsmith named Vincenzo Marano that he knew the location of a treasure guarded by demons. After extracting 60 ounces of gold for “magical ceremonies,” Balsamo led Marano to a field at midnight where Marano was mugged by Balsamo’s associates disguised as spirits. This forced Balsamo to flee Sicily to avoid arrest.
How did Cagliostro create his new identity?
After leaving Sicily, he traveled throughout the Mediterranean studying forgery and occult knowledge. He adopted the name Count Alessandro di Cagliostro and created a fantastical biography claiming to be a noble orphan raised in Medina and Mecca under a mysterious master named Althotas.
What made Cagliostro’s Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry revolutionary?
Cagliostro’s Egyptian Rite was revolutionary because it welcomed women into separate lodges, a radical departure from traditional male-only Masonry. It blended Hermeticism, alchemy, and Masonic ritual, promising moral purification and physical regeneration.
How many people did Cagliostro reportedly heal in Strasbourg?
Between 1780 and 1783, Cagliostro reportedly treated over 15,000 people in Strasbourg, mostly the poor, for free. He established clinics where he dispensed medicines at his own expense using herbal remedies, mesmeric passes, and charisma.
What was Cagliostro’s role in the Diamond Necklace Affair?
Cagliostro was peripherally involved as Cardinal de Rohan’s trusted advisor. He was consulted on the matter and gave an oracle predicting success, though he later claimed to have warned Rohan that La Motte was deceiving him. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille but was acquitted after nine months.
What prophecy did Cagliostro make about the Bastille?
In a 1786 pamphlet titled “Letter to the French People,” Cagliostro prophesied: “The Bastille will be destroyed from top to bottom, and the land on which it was erected will be converted into a promenade.” Three years later, his prediction came true during the French Revolution.
Why did Cagliostro return to Rome in 1789?
This remains puzzling, as Rome was the heartland of anti-Masonic policy. He attempted to establish an Egyptian Rite lodge there, but the men seeking initiation proved to be spies for the Roman Inquisition. He was arrested on December 27, 1789.
How did Cagliostro die?
After an 18-month trial, he was found guilty of heresy, magic, and Freemasonry. The Inquisition sentenced him to death, but a mysterious stranger reportedly interceded with the Pope, who commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. He died in the fortress of San Leo on August 26, 1795, at age 52.
What is the “Pozzetto”?
The “Pozzetto” was the windowless dungeon cell in the fortress of San Leo where Cagliostro was confined during his final years. It was a formidable prison cell with no natural light.
Are there alternative theories about Cagliostro’s identity?
Yes. Some researchers propose that Giuseppe Balsamo and Alessandro Cagliostro were two entirely different men, both born in Sicily, whose lives were intentionally tangled to discredit the Count. This theory notes that Balsamo was married to Lorenza Feliciani, while Cagliostro was married to Serafina Feliciani—two different women who happened to share a surname.
What was Cagliostro’s cultural legacy?
Cagliostro influenced luminaries like Goethe (who based a play on him), Alexandre Dumas (who featured him in several novels), and possibly Mozart (whose opera “The Magic Flute” echoes Egyptian mysticism). His name became synonymous with magic and mystery, inspiring stage magicians and appearing in modern pop culture, including Hayao Miyazaki’s anime film “Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.”
What did Cagliostro mean by calling himself a “noble traveler”?
In his spiritual autobiography, Cagliostro claimed to be a being “from no specific period nor time,” a “noble traveler” whose identity was his function. This suggests he saw himself as a timeless spiritual messenger rather than bound to a specific earthly identity.
