The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

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Dyer remained in Prague through the winter of 1590-91 and worked alongside Kelley in an attempt to learn his alchemical secrets. 134 If Kelley could not be convinced to return, surely he would be willing to teach Dyer his process, thereby allowing England the benefits of alchemical transmutation. Kelley later recalled their collaboration: what delight we tooke together, when from the Mettall simply calcined into powder after the vsuall manner, distilling the Liquor so prepared with the same we converted appropriat bodies (as our Astronomie inferious teacheth) into Mercury the first matter 135 If Cecil had wanted someone to learn the secret from Kelley for England‘s benefit, Dyer, with his alchemical experience gained under Dee, would have been the obvious choice. On 1 May 1591 Cecil once again wrote to Kelley, this time stressing the medical potential of Kelley‘s alchemical skills. Cecil requested that Kelley send him ―some thing of your operation to strengthen me afore the next wynter against myne old ennemye the goute‖. 136 Wilding argued that this may have been a coded message; that a prominent political figure would be unlikely to reveal a disabling illness via easily intercepted letter. 137 Interpreting Cecil‘s complaints as referring to the political situation in the Holy Roman Empire, Wilding proceeds to speculate about the possibility of Kelley acting as a spy in the Imperial Court. 138 This interpretation is unconvincing. Most of Europe knew that Cecil suffered from gout—endemic throughout the upper strata of European society—as demonstrated by the offers of cures that Cecil received from throughout Europe. If Cecil coded any sort of message within the letter, it seems more likely that he was attempting to disguise an appeal for alchemical gold as a less politically sensitive plea for alchemical medicine. Without the trustworthy Dyer as a courier, the possibility of interception would have concerned Cecil. Cecil certainly skirted around any direct mention of transmutation, writing in more general terms about ―the satisfaction of us all here that 134 Sargent, The Life and Lyrics, p. 112. 135 Kelley to Dyer, quoted in Sargent, p. 112. 136 Cecil to Kelley, May 1591, BL, Lansdowne Vol. 103, No. 72, (Lansdowne Vol. 104, No. 56 is identical without a concluding sentence begging Kelley to use his gift for the benefit of his own country rather than for strangers). 137 Wilding, ‗A Biography of Edward Kelly‘, pp. 61-62. 138 Ibid. 98
love and honor vertue and knolledge‖. 139 Perhaps Cecil knew that Dyer‘s presence was raising doubts in Prague about Kelley‘s loyalty to the Emperor. Regardless, Cecil‘s previous consultation with Paracelsian physicians such as Russwurin suggests his medical appeal was not entirely disingenuous, for whilst the moste dyrect cause [of his illness] is oppression with affaires, and lacke of liberty, against the which no medicinall receipt can serve... yett I wilbe glad to make much of any that you shall send me, with your assurance that it shall do me no harme 140 That the astute Cecil would trust the tinctures of a man so often derided by historians as the archetypal alchemical charlatan, is indicative of both his belief in alchemical medicine and the reputation Kelley enjoyed in England. A letter to Dyer, drafted on 12 May in Cecil‘s own spindly hand, provides the most compelling evidence of Cecil‘s genuine belief in Edward Kelley‘s alchemical abilities. Sent by secure courier to his long time acquaintance, Cecil did not have to be concerned about offending the alchemist‘s ego, and could give a truer account of his actual opinion on the matter. The authenticity of Cecil‘s desire for the rogue alchemist to return to England is evident. Convinced by Dyer‘s ―stedfast first opinion of Sir Edward Kelly, namely as you write for that worthy truth in him at that highest poynt that hath bene before by you reported‖, Cecil instructed Dyer to convince Kelley to ―retorn to his natyve contry, to honor hir majesty as a loyal natural subject with the fruits of such great knolledg as God hath gyven hym‖. 141 He once again emphasised that the ―Quene is, of hir very divine nature most redy to reward yea to honor knolledge in any person‖, which would equal anything given to Kelley by foreign princes. 142 Cecil maintained that those in England who wrote against Kelley would either be persuaded by a demonstration of Kelley‘s transmutation, or were enemies of the Crown, attempting to keep the alchemical benefits out of the Queen‘s hands. However, Cecil‘s 139 Cecil to Kelley, Lansdowne Vol.103, No. 72. 140 Ibid. 141 Cecil to Edward Dyer, 12 May 1591, BL, Cotton Titus B. II, no. 110. 142 Ibid. 99
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The Alchemical Patronage of Sir Wil
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Abstract This thesis examines the a
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Acknowledgements Thanks must first
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List of Abbreviations APC Acts of t
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Introduction William Cecil, through
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late seventeenth and early eighteen
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economic policy, only cursory exami
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otherwise. The dull, elderly, burea
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y such prolific authors as A. E. Wa
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marginalised the importance of alch
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Many of the distortions in the hist
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difficult to access with microfilm
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Chapter 1: Cecil and Alchemical Phi
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other aspects of medieval knowledge
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explain why alchemy made sense in t
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accuracy of the Aristotelian texts.
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short-sighted match. 44 There is ev
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University in the period. 56 A high
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some tentative conclusions about Ce
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Cecil tended to favour more practic
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Actes and Monuments (1563), ―fata
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Dee and Cecil‘s relationship over
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symbolism, seems tenuous. It ignore
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great pleasure in the workes of Nat
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demonstrated the divine spirit of l
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alchemical knowledge than his geogr
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eports to Cecil are almost exclusiv
Page 55 and 56: Thynne also affirmed the importance
Page 57 and 58: From Longleat Thynne wrote for Ceci
Page 59 and 60: his desperate financial situation.
Page 61 and 62: no significant records of their pra
Page 63 and 64: such as John Dee and country gentle
Page 65 and 66: The late 1560s saw the first signif
Page 67 and 68: eminently qualified to deal with th
Page 69 and 70: the patronage of James Blount, Lord
Page 71 and 72: medicines. Amongst the collection o
Page 73 and 74: gold into France to fund Catholic e
Page 75 and 76: in distayne‖. 98 However, it is n
Page 77 and 78: of a dedicatory epistle to Cecil, f
Page 79 and 80: home I have not seen‖. 120 Where
Page 81 and 82: of yeeres before Paracelsus time‖
Page 83 and 84: Henry Bossevyle suggested practical
Page 85 and 86: metal and European currencies, furt
Page 87 and 88: De Lannoy first came to the attenti
Page 89 and 90: god send it her majesty as trouly a
Page 91 and 92: perform alchemy. Rather, Waad belie
Page 93 and 94: and Leicester. 56 De Lannoy promise
Page 95 and 96: Cecil could not convince the Queen,
Page 97 and 98: the accounts of Elias Ashmole and S
Page 99 and 100: context of Dee‘s failed English C
Page 101 and 102: By March 1589 Dee had left Bohemia
Page 103 and 104: entirely self centred‖. 117 Cecil
Page 105: Cecil and the Queen‘s demands tha
Page 109 and 110: Kelley‘s demise. 148 Wotton repor
Page 111 and 112: depryved of his libertye and frends
Page 113 and 114: According to Page, Kelley had not i
Page 115 and 116: a number of attempts to convince Ke
Page 117 and 118: For the Queen and Cecil, Smith‘s
Page 119 and 120: £500 from the company, they were t
Page 121 and 122: payment. Peterson refused them; he
Page 123 and 124: Smith‘s plan, they must have been
Page 125 and 126: Chapter Four: Alchemy and Economic
Page 127 and 128: essays Meta Incognita: A Discourse
Page 129 and 130: y chance she threw and burned in th
Page 131 and 132: y others without trewthe‖. 25 Wal
Page 133 and 134: work did not make this link, and ne
Page 135 and 136: linked. It is, however, significant
Page 137 and 138: laming betrayal, setbacks and decep
Page 139 and 140: to involve cementation rather than
Page 141 and 142: Clearly aware of Cecil‘s rising i
Page 143 and 144: certainly the practical expert, who
Page 145 and 146: new process which ―my Lord Burghl
Page 147 and 148: Image 3: An Elizabethan Map of the
Page 149 and 150: was the potential benefit for the C
Page 151 and 152: Medley ―by commaundement mencyone
Page 153 and 154: thanked Wotton for his letter detai
Page 155 and 156: intention to have medled with any c
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and to have received through his fa
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again imprisoned, this time almost
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was a key investor, attempted to ut
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understanding of nature. John Dee,
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promised ―an ounce or so of powde
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conviction regarding the reality of
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———, Calendar of Patent Rolls
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Bennet, Henry, A Famous and Godly H
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Szulakowska, Urszula, ‗The Pseudo
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Fiddler, Paul A., and Thomas J. May
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Matthews, John, (ed.), The Rosicruc
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———, The Life of the Learned
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The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

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