The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

a number of attempts to convince Kelley to return, even during the hectic preparations for
the coming Spanish Armada. Both Cecil and the Queen personally wrote to the alchemist,
promising that if only he returned to England, he would be as well rewarded as anywhere
else in Europe. When Rudolf imprisoned Kelley, Cecil feared that it was as a result of the
Emperor, influenced by Catholic courtiers, becoming jealous of English influence over the
alchemist. He assumed that Rudolf had detained Kelley in order to monopolise his
abilities—just as Cecil had done with de Lannoy. After the immediate threat of Spanish
invasion faded, and Cecil delegated increasing responsibility to his son, English interest in
Kelley faded. Whilst Kelley‘s activities would be monitored until his death, his abilities did
not have the same significance to the new generation of English policy makers that it had
to Cecil.
Roloff Peterson
In October 1593, less than two months after Cecil‘s last recorded letter to Kelley,
the Queen received another proposal promising alchemical riches and longevity. Roloff
Peterson, a merchant of Lubeck in the north of modern day Germany, wrote to Elizabeth
offering the materials by which ―any man but meanly skylfull in this arte, will worcke rare
and most admyrable thinges‖. 184 The Elizabethan Court‘s response to this offer further
demonstrates Cecil‘s willingness to see alchemy as a solution to the Crown‘s financial
problems.
The absence of Peterson and his alchemical materials from the existing scholarship
illustrates the distorting effect of the false historical distinction between politics and
alchemy. The mere mention of alchemy has dissuaded political historians from examining
the episode. Alex Ryrie is the only historian to examine Peterson in The Sorcerer’s Tale
(2008), which confuses the issue entirely, stating that Peterson offered to use his own
184 Roloff Peterson to Queen Elizabeth, 20 October 1593, TNA, SP 12/245/130.
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