Paul of Taranto to recreate the same metal that he started with, he obviously did not break the metal down into the pure elements, but instead into some intermediate phases. Paul of Taranto Paul of Taranto was a 13th-century Franciscan alchemist and author from southern Italy. (Taranto is a city in Apulia.) Perhaps the best known of his works is his "Theorica et practica", which defends alchemical principles by describing the theoretical and practical reasoning behind it. There is also evidence to suggest, however, that Paul is also the author of the much more widely known alchemical text "Summa perfectionis magisterii", generally attributed
Charles of Taranto corpse of Charles of Taranto. Bartholomew of Lucca helped arrange the retrieval of Charles' body from the Pisans after the battle. Remigio dei Girolami, a Dominican supporter of Charles' uncle, Robert, King of Naples, preached a sermon on Charles' death. Charles of Taranto Charles of Taranto (1296 – 29 August 1315) was the eldest son of Philip I, Prince of Taranto and titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople, and his wife, Thamar Angelina Komnene, daughter of the Despot of Epirus, Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas. Charles' father, Philip, was invested with the Principality of Achaea in southern Greece in 1307. However, there