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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certainly the practical expert, who Smith insisted, ―in the hand work is one <strong>of</strong> the best that<br />
I have seen‖. 91<br />
According to both Medley and Smith the demonstrations were extremely<br />
successful. However, the high price <strong>of</strong> vitriol, a European import, made the process<br />
economically unfeasible. Medley, perhaps pushing his chemical skills a step too far,<br />
claimed that with the right ores, water and fuel he could create the vitriol needed to make<br />
his method economical. 92 Seven weeks spent experimenting at Winchelsey, where plenty <strong>of</strong><br />
wood was available for fuel, convinced Medley that while the creation <strong>of</strong> vitriol was indeed<br />
possible, a location with better ‗earths‘ to make acid was needed. 93<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong>, Smith and Gilbert, now clearly convinced that Medley could make ―nature<br />
ripe by art in the earthe‖, a common euphemism for alchemy, arranged for a full scale<br />
demonstration <strong>of</strong> Medley‘s alchemical process at the more suitable location <strong>of</strong> Poole,<br />
Dorset, where <strong>Lord</strong> Mountjoy had begun manufacturing copperas (ferrous sulphate) and<br />
alum (hydrated aluminium potassium sulphate). 94 Gilbert and <strong>Cecil</strong> arranged a lease <strong>of</strong> one<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mountjoy‘s copperas ‗houses‘ for Medley to work in. However, Medley discovered his<br />
name had been left <strong>of</strong>f the lease <strong>of</strong> the Poole ‗house‘, and refused to work until this was<br />
rectified, delaying the work until September. Medley then learned that their patent for the<br />
process had been stayed by the Queen, and halted the work once more, ―for fear my <strong>Lord</strong>e<br />
Montjoy [would] get knowledge <strong>of</strong> the secrettes ther<strong>of</strong> which to do he & his fryndes go<br />
veray inderecttly aboutt‖. 95 Without the protection <strong>of</strong> a patent for his copper process<br />
Medley began making copperas and alum in an attempt to cover his expenses. 96 This<br />
would have appealed to <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s long term goal <strong>of</strong> limiting imports from Catholic Europe,<br />
for the Papacy monopolised the alum trade.<br />
91 Thomas Smith to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 8 February 1572, TNA, SP70/146 f.20r.<br />
92 Thomas Smith to <strong>Cecil</strong> and Leicester, 15 December 1574, BL, Lansdowne Vol. 19, No. 45.<br />
93 Ibid.<br />
94 <strong>William</strong> Medley to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 19 April 1572, TNA, SP12/86/14.<br />
95 Ibid.<br />
96 Ibid.<br />
135