Page on "Dyamant" from an early 15th-century French lapidary by an unknown author. "Diamond is the first named stone fashioned by the lapidary as the gem only for kings."

Diamonds disappear from Europe for nearly 1,000 years after the rise of Christianity. Roman talismanic and Eastern magical symbolism rendered diamond abhorrent to the rising new religion. Simultaneously, Persia and the new Middle Eastern states gained control over much of the trade, and diverted any diamonds that might flow from India.

Despite its physical absence, diamond survived conceptually, as the Middle Ages witnessed a rediscovery and reinterpretation of early writings on stones. Medieval treatises called lapidaries presented the qualities of different stones; their power; their efficacy as medicine, poison, or antidote; whether they could reproduce; and sundry other properties. Lapidaries were written until the Age of Enlightenment, in the 18th century.

Page on "Adamas" (diamond) from a version of "De gemmarum," by Marbode. Printed in Cologne, 1539.

Marbode, Bishop of Rennes (1061--1081), wrote "De gemmarum," on the spiritual and medicinal attributes of gems. In a book lacking in the expected Christian symbolism, Marbode describes diamond: "This stone has aptitude for magical arts, indomitable virtues it provides the bearer, nocturnal spirits and bad dreams it repels, black poisons flee, disputes and screams are changed. Cures insanity, strikes hard against enemies. For these purposes the stone should be set in silver, armored in gold, and fastened to the left arm."

Title page to series of treatises by various authors, edited by Conrad Gesner, Zurich, 1565. The upper ring is set with a natural diamond point, a talisman for courage and invincibility, the lower with amber. The circumference comprises the 12 stones of the Breastplate.

Diamonds were believed to render their owners courageous and fearless. Thus nobles like Cosimo the Elder, Florence (1389-1464), Henry II of France (1519 -- 59), and perhaps the Dukes of Burgundy used them as symbols in rings and even wore them into battle. Girolamo Cardano (1501--76), an Italian physician, mathematician, and author of "De gemmis et coloribus" (1566), compares the power of the diamond to the light of the sun: If viewed directly it blinds. "It indeed renders fearless, but there is nothing that contributes more to our safety than prudence and fear; therefore it is better to fear." Although Cardano is credited with having grasped the evolutionary principles of life, his empirical experiments with talismanic values of gems are poorly documented.

Diamant manuscript: DeRicci Manuscript 161, courtesy Manuscript and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
De gemmarum: Photo: Craig Chesek, courtesy George F. Kunz Collection, U. S. Geological Survey Library, Reston, VA.
Title page: Photo: Craig Chesek, courtesy George F. Kunz Collection, U. S. Geological Survey Library, Reston, VA.