The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
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essays Meta Incognita: A Discourse <strong>of</strong> Discovery: Martin Frobisher's Arctic Expedition (1999), has<br />
focussed on Frobisher‘s voyages, with only a passing reference to the metallurgical work<br />
carried out in England. 3 James McDermott‘s otherwise comprehensive biography <strong>of</strong><br />
Frobisher makes no mention <strong>of</strong> any <strong>of</strong> the assayer‘s alchemical interests, referring to<br />
Agnello only as a goldsmith and Kranich as a physician. 4 Others, notably the geologist D.<br />
D. Hogarth, have examined the voyages primarily from a scientific viewpoint, examining<br />
both the ore remaining in England and the mining sites in Canada. 5 Through an<br />
examination <strong>of</strong> the related manuscripts, details <strong>of</strong> the processes used by the assayers have<br />
also been revealed. 6 Whilst these studies, especially D. D. Hogarth, P. W. Boreham and J.<br />
G. Mitchell‘s Martin Frobisher’s Northwest Venture, 1576–1581: Mines, Minerals & Metallurgy<br />
(1994), give some historical background and a clear description <strong>of</strong> the actions <strong>of</strong> those<br />
involved, their analysis <strong>of</strong> the project‘s historical significance is limited, and they fail to<br />
appreciate the importance <strong>of</strong> alchemy for the scheme. 7<br />
To date, Deborah Harkness‘ <strong>The</strong> Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific<br />
Revolution (2007) is the only work that puts the Frobisher Voyages in the context <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s<br />
penchant for alchemical patronage. For Harkness, the project was one <strong>of</strong> many<br />
demonstrating <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s use <strong>of</strong> London‘s proto-scientific community for large scale industrial<br />
projects. However, in forming her argument she utilised some dubious evidence. Much <strong>of</strong><br />
Harkness‘ argument hinged on her identification <strong>of</strong> an Italian, Giovanni Battista da Trento,<br />
as Giovanni Baptista Angello. A state paper written in Italian and signed by <strong>Cecil</strong> on 15<br />
January 1577, records that da Trento met <strong>Cecil</strong> and <strong>of</strong>fered to reveal many important<br />
secrets. 8 Harkness interprets this meeting, immediately after Agnello‘ first alchemical assay<br />
3 Thomas Symons (ed.), Meta Incognita: a Discourse <strong>of</strong> Discovery: Martin Frobisher's Arctic Expedition, Hull (PQ),<br />
1999.<br />
4 James McDermott, Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer, New Haven, 2001, pp. 153-154, 199.<br />
5 D. D. Hogarth, P. W. Boreham and J. G. Mitchell, Mines, Minerals & Metallurgy: Martin Frobisher’s Northwest<br />
Venture, 1576-1581, Hull (PQ), 1994; D. D. Hogarth and John Loop, ‗Precious Metals in Martin Frobisher‘s<br />
―Black Ores‖ From Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories‘, Canadian Mineralogist, Vol. 24, 1986.<br />
6 Hogarth, Boreham and Mitchell, Mines, Minerals & Metallurgy, 1994, pp. 73-100.<br />
7 Ibid.<br />
8 Harkness, <strong>The</strong> Jewel House, pp. 143, 282n.<br />
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