The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

creature of his time, sceptical of magic, but ready to exploit it for all that it might be
worth.‖ 20 While Cecil was always careful and pragmatic, he certainly never showed signs of
scepticism about the possibility of alchemical transmutation.
Whilst there have been a number of subsequent biographies of Cecil, none of them
provide any substantive analysis of Cecil‘s alchemical patronage. B. W. Beckingsale‘s
Burghley: Tudor Statesman, 1520–1598 (1967) attempted to create a more fully-rounded view
of Cecil by dividing his study into two parts: the first outlined Cecil‘s political career; while
the second dealt with his character, patronage and policy achievements. Beckingsale briefly
acknowledged that Cecil‘s Cambridge mentors‘ scientific interests encouraged his
alchemical patronage, and that his hopes of successful transmutation were ―no more
sanguine than those of the leading alchemists of the day.‖ 21 However, Beckingsale neither
provided any detail about this patronage nor any analysis of how alchemy corresponded
with Cecil‘s worldview. Although Michael Graves‘ slim 1998 biography of Cecil identifies
many of the issues facing any comprehensive study of Cecil‘s life, it is too insubstantial to
provide much more than a cursory overview of his career, overlooking any examples of
alchemical patronage. 22 Popular histories such as David Loades‘ The Cecils: Privilege and Power
behind the Throne (2007) tend to omit entirely any mention of Cecil‘s interest in alchemy. 23
Cecil‘s most prominent recent biography, Stephen Alford‘s Burghley: William Cecil at
the Court of Elizabeth I (2008) continued this trend. 24 Whilst providing an eminently readable
account of Cecil‘s life, Alford brings little in the way of new information or interpretation
to bear on his subject. He may have succeeded in removing Cecil‘s reputation as a grey,
conservative, bureaucrat, instead depicting him as ―brilliant, controlled and to his enemies
terrifying‖. 25 However, no one familiar with Elizabethan Court history would argue
20 Read, Lord Burghley, p 476.
21 B. W. Beckingsale, Burghley: Tudor Statesman, 1520–1598, London, 1967, pp. 258, 261.
22 Michael Graves, Burghley: William Cecil, Lord Burghley, London, 1998.
23 David Loades, The Cecil’s: Privilege and Power behind the Throne, Richmond, 2007.
24 Stephen Alford, Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I, New Haven, 2008.
25 Ibid., p. xi.
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