The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

More documents

Recommendations

Info

alchemical skills to create gold for the Queen. 185 Aside from Ryrie, only G. B. Harrison, in his attempt to create ―a record of those things most talked of during the years 1591-1594‖, gives any detail of Peterson‘s offer. 186 Historians have overlooked an episode that not only reveals the Elizabethan attitude towards alchemy, but also England‘s relationship with the German principalities and city states. Peterson‘s letter claimed that an Englishman named Clement Oldfield had come to lodge in his house, where he laboured ―night and daye to the practize of the noble science (as he namede it) of true Alchemy‖. 187 Coming within six months of perfecting his work, Oldfield fell ill, and on his deathbed revealed to Peterson the secrets of alchemy, which consestethe in the knowledge of the grene and rede Lion from wheure a fyry nature is to be felt which the Philosophers do call prima materia: man and woman: Mercury and Sulphur in a homogenall nature 188 Oldfield left Peterson three glass vessels containing the alchemical preparation of Sol, Luna, and Mercury, on the condition that they were offered to the Queen of England before all others. Claiming to be merely fulfilling Oldfield‘s dying wish, Peterson invited the Queen to send a man skilful in the alchemical arts to examine them. 189 Robert Smith of Great Yarmouth delivered Peterson‘s letter to the Privy Council. Smith offered to assuage the Queen‘s doubts by bringing ―both the body of the said Rowlyffe yf he lyve and thes glasses or bodes before hir highnes to be examined and proved as to hir wysdome shall seame best‖. 190 So confident was Smith in the value of the materials, he believed that even if the Queen refused them, other European sovereigns would pay a huge sum for them. Smith, therefore, promised on the peril of his head to sell them and ―bringe fortey thousand dollars [£8,000 contemporary] in to hir majesties coferes for thes glasses or bodies without one peney of hir highnesses expense‖. 191 185 Alec Ryrie, The Sorcerer’s Tale, Oxford, 2008, p. 120. 186 G. B. Harrison, An Elizabethan Journal, Volume 1, London, 1928, pp. 277-8, 282, 287, 325. 187 Peterson to Elizabeth, SP 12/245/130. 188 Ibid. 189 Ibid. 190 Robert Smith to Queen Elizabeth, 2 February 1594, TNA, SP 12/247/36. 191 Ibid. 108
For the Queen and Cecil, Smith‘s offer was too good to resist. The Queen and her council instructed Smith to deliver their response to Peterson and to bring the three glass vessels back to England. The comprehensiveness of the instructions is striking. Smith was to retrieve from Peterson ―all such writings, books and papers lefte in his house by the said Oldfield ... which in any way treate of the arte of Alchemy‖ along with any other chemicals he had that might aid in transmutation. 192 Peterson was also required to reveal the details of his discussion with Oldfield concearning the severall qualities of the said three materials, and whether he did esteeme them in thir kinds perfectly wrought and according to Arte howe longe he have travailled in the worke of eny of them, and yf he signified unto Peeterson any lacke or imperfection in any of the said materialls 193 The intention was clearly to make sure that, if the material would truly allow the transmutation of metals, they had everything necessary to perform the alchemical process. For the English Court the plan seemed foolproof. Even if the alchemical equipment proved to be worthless, they still had Smith‘s promise that he could sell it for a massive profit. Peterson accompanied the materials to England, presumably expecting a reward from the notoriously parsimonious monarch. The Queen, who considered the alchemical equipment to have been ―bequeathed to her majestie‖, was not eager to reimburse Peterson for the materials unless either their worth or resale value could be verified. 194 In September 1594, after months of wrangling, a compromise was agreed upon. The Queen declared that in six months time either the glass bodies would be delivered unopened to the English merchant adventurers in Stade, for Peterson to collect, or Elizabeth would pay him £500 ―if we shalbe pleased to detaine and keepe the thinges bequethed to our own use‖. 195 This solution gave Smith enough time to find a buyer before the Queen would have to pay for 192 Anon. to Robert Smith, 20 February 1594, TNA, SP 12/247/72. 193 Ibid. 194 Ibid. 195 Declaration by Queen Elizabeth, 30 September 1594, TNA, SP 12/250/9. 109
Page 1 and 2:
The Alchemical Patronage of Sir Wil
Page 3 and 4:
Abstract This thesis examines the a
Page 5 and 6:
Acknowledgements Thanks must first
Page 7 and 8:
List of Abbreviations APC Acts of t
Page 9 and 10:
Introduction William Cecil, through
Page 11 and 12:
late seventeenth and early eighteen
Page 13 and 14:
economic policy, only cursory exami
Page 15 and 16:
otherwise. The dull, elderly, burea
Page 17 and 18:
y such prolific authors as A. E. Wa
Page 19 and 20:
marginalised the importance of alch
Page 21 and 22:
Many of the distortions in the hist
Page 23 and 24:
difficult to access with microfilm
Page 25 and 26:
Chapter 1: Cecil and Alchemical Phi
Page 27 and 28:
other aspects of medieval knowledge
Page 29 and 30:
explain why alchemy made sense in t
Page 31 and 32:
accuracy of the Aristotelian texts.
Page 33 and 34:
short-sighted match. 44 There is ev
Page 35 and 36:
University in the period. 56 A high
Page 37 and 38:
some tentative conclusions about Ce
Page 39 and 40:
Cecil tended to favour more practic
Page 41 and 42:
Actes and Monuments (1563), ―fata
Page 43 and 44:
Dee and Cecil‘s relationship over
Page 45 and 46:
symbolism, seems tenuous. It ignore
Page 47 and 48:
great pleasure in the workes of Nat
Page 49 and 50:
demonstrated the divine spirit of l
Page 51 and 52:
alchemical knowledge than his geogr
Page 53 and 54:
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 and 106: Cecil and the Queen‘s demands tha
Page 107 and 108: love and honor vertue and knolledge
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: a number of attempts to convince Ke
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
Page 157 and 158: and to have received through his fa
Page 159 and 160: again imprisoned, this time almost
Page 161 and 162: was a key investor, attempted to ut
Page 163 and 164: understanding of nature. John Dee,
Page 165 and 166: promised ―an ounce or so of powde
Page 167 and 168:
conviction regarding the reality of
Page 169 and 170:
———, Calendar of Patent Rolls
Page 171 and 172:
Bennet, Henry, A Famous and Godly H
Page 173 and 174:
Szulakowska, Urszula, ‗The Pseudo
Page 175 and 176:
Fiddler, Paul A., and Thomas J. May
Page 177 and 178:
Matthews, John, (ed.), The Rosicruc
Page 179 and 180:
———, The Life of the Learned
show all

The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?