Who is Guiseppe Balsamo?

A contemporary of Casanova's, Giuseppe Balsamo, who called himself Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, was one of the most famous charlatans of all time. Cagliostro was an occultist who traveled widely and became involved in one of the most notorious criminal situations of the time. Cardinal de Rohan of France believed that Cagliostro could make gold and construct a huge diamond from several tiny stones. Rohan attempts to deceive Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, in a jewelry scheme and Cagliostro is imprisoned in France for a brief time.