From the time of the Roman scholar Pliny, right up until the 19th Century A.D., many gems were classified by their color alone. It was not uncommon that totally unrelated gems shared names in common. Chrysolite was probably our Topaz's earliest pseudonym. The word Chrysolite originated from the Greek 'Khrysolithos', 'Khryso' meaning golden and 'Lithos' meaning stone. It transformed into 'Chrysolithus' in Latin, and 'Crisolite' in Old French, eventually becoming 'Chrysolite' in Middle English. Chrysolite was used to describe the majority of all yellow to yellow-green transparent gemstones including: peridot, prehnite, apatite, sapphire, chrysoberyl, beryl, tourmaline, and andradite garnet. Today, because of its generic nature, the use of the word Chrysolite has been discontinued.

However, soon enough the East became the envy of the West, and under the pious concept of reuniting Christendom with the West, the crusades began. France, with its Templar Knights was at the forefront of the eight crusades that took place between the 10th and the 12th Centuries A.D. During this time the Templar Knights amassed great wealth, returning to Europe with their newly acquired booty of precious metals, jewelry and gemstones, with which they bought position, titles and lands.

Medieval scholars, especially doctors, are often misrepresented as having an insane lust for bloodletting, supposedly believing parasites such as leeches could cure all ailments from headaches to hepatitis. In fact, they were much closer to the alternative healing of today, using naturally occurring elements such as plants and crystals. Gemstones were particularly revered as a source of healing: powdered Chrysolite was used to cure ailments such as asthma, and Chrysolite crystals were used to lessen the thirst of someone seized by fever. The latter is actually true, as the presence of an object placed under the tongue activates the saliva glands.