Giacomo Casanova 17, in 1742, with a degree in law ("for which I felt an unconquerable aversion"). His guardian's hope was that he would become an ecclesiastical lawyer. Casanova had also studied moral philosophy, chemistry, and mathematics, and was keenly interested in medicine. ("I should have been allowed to do as I wished and become a physician, in which profession quackery is even more effective than it is in legal practice.") He frequently prescribed his own treatments for himself and friends. While attending the university, Casanova began to gamble and quickly got into debt, causing his recall to Venice by his grandmother,
Giacomo Casanova in his life, providing valuable contacts and uncensored knowledge. Casanova was also attracted to Rosicrucianism. In Lyons, Casanova become companion and finally took the highest degree of Scottish Rite Master Mason. Regarding his initiation to the Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Lyons, the "Memoirs" said: Casanova stayed in Paris for two years, learned the language, spent much time at the theater, and introduced himself to notables. Soon, however, his numerous liaisons were noted by the Paris police, as they were in nearly every city he visited. In 1752, his brother Francesco and he moved from Paris to Dresden, where his mother