Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

John Muller, known as Regiomontanus, was one of the cleverest mechanicians of the fifteenth century--that is, if we can rely on the testimony of Peter Ramus, who did not flourish until a hundred years afterward. We must take Peter’s account cum grano salis. Regiomontanus is stated to have constructed an eagle which, upon the approach of the Emperor Maximilian to Nuremberg, in June, 1470, perched upon the town gate, stretched forth its wings, and saluted him by an inclination of the body. He is also said to have manufactured an iron fly. At dinner one day, when surrounded by his friends, he produced it for their amusement, and caused the insect to fly from his hand, take a circle round the room, and return again to its maker. Charles V. after his abdication entered with zest into the study of mechanism. He engaged the services of Torriano, said to be a very eminent artist, who accompanied him to the Monastery of Juste. Here they worked together. Strada tells us that his Majesty frequently introduced puppets upon the table, some of which beat drums, some blew trumpets, others charged each other with couched spears, and with a ferocity almost human. He made wooden sparrows, which, by their flight, terrified and scared the superstitious monks, who thought him a magician and an accomplice of his infernal majesty. He is said to have made a mill which moved of itself, and which was so small that a monk could put it up his sleeve, and yet we are told that it was powerful enough to grind in a single day grain sufficient for the consumption of eight men!