Did you know that? An electric lamp at the time of Saint Louis

Well, guess what? The electric lamp seems to have been around a lot longer than you think...

Chroniclers of the 13th century reported that a very learned French rabbi by the name of Jechielé, advisor and protégé of King Saint Louis, had in his possession the secret of a "dazzling lamp that lit spontaneously". If its inventor never revealed its principle clearly, the chroniclers of the time agree to tell that this lamp did not function with oil and did not have a wick.

He sometimes amused himself by placing it in front of his window, which aroused curiosity. He had also found the trick to discourage people who came to disturb him and knocked on his door or who tried to steal from him... The texts of the time tell us that all he had to do was touch a nail stuck in his wall to make a bluish spark appear and, at the same time, send a shock to the person who waved the iron handle hanging on his door, making him flee immediately!

There is no doubt that this rabbi was an initiate who had access to a scientific secret that he refused to confide, neither to his beloved Saint Louis, nor to the rest of humanity in the 13th century!

EXtraordinary HIStory the electric lamp under Saint Louis - Rabbi Jechielé, image book right, Canva

Sources :

Elyphas Lévi, Histoire de la Magie, Trédaniel, 2008, p. 206

Robert Charroux, Le livre de ses livres, chapitre “A la recherche de l’insolite”, pp. 430-431