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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Medley ―by commaundement mencyoned in a special warrant in wryttinge, under the<br />
handes <strong>of</strong> the right honourable Erles <strong>of</strong> Warwick and Leycester, for what cause we do not<br />
knowe‖. 140 <strong>Cecil</strong>, however, had clearly not given up on the alchemical abilities <strong>of</strong> his<br />
kinsman, and requested Medley‘s bail in order to discuss the project with him further. <strong>The</strong><br />
sheriffs replied that unfortunately this would not be possible due to ―another specyall<br />
warrant signed by their honors to kepe the said Meadley more closer prisoner‖. 141 This<br />
personal intervention by Leicester and Warwick challenges historians‘ assumptions that<br />
Medley was imprisoned for debt arising from the Society‘s operation. <strong>Cecil</strong>, not in a strong<br />
position, and likely not particularly pleased with Medley himself, decided not to antagonise<br />
the powerful Dudleys, and dropped the matter.<br />
While Medley may have brought Leicester‘s fury on himself, evidence also suggests<br />
that his loss <strong>of</strong> patronage made him vulnerable to one <strong>of</strong> the campaigns <strong>of</strong> slander, forgery<br />
and intrigue which plagued Elizabethan politics. It may be that Medley‘s monopoly <strong>of</strong><br />
alchemical patronage antagonised others who relied on alchemical promises. A letter from<br />
Lady Mary Sydney to <strong>Cecil</strong> exposes the identity <strong>of</strong> Medley‘s adversary. 142 Lady Sydney, wife<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Sir</strong> Henry Sydney and sister <strong>of</strong> Leicester and Warwick, had developed a friendship with<br />
Medley during her husband and brothers‘ involvement in the alchemical project. Strype<br />
presumed that <strong>Cecil</strong> ignored her opinion, ―knowing better than she what kind <strong>of</strong> man he<br />
[Medley] was‖. 143 Lady Sydney‘s letters, however, reveal that Medley‘s imprisonment<br />
resulted from the<br />
contineulle mallisius persecutinge the same, by [John] Prestall, [Thomas]<br />
Curtes, and souche other, who wer but envyuys only to Med[ley] upon<br />
some old grudge amoungth them. 144<br />
John Prestall, a Catholic gentleman and conspirator who spent his life in and out <strong>of</strong> prison<br />
on treason charges, would have resented Medley‘s monopoly on alchemical patronage.<br />
140 Edward Osborne and Wolstan Dixie to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 12 September1576, Hatfield House, <strong>Cecil</strong> Papers, M485/42.<br />
141 Ibid.<br />
142 Mary Sidney to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 29 September 1576, BL, Lansdowne Vol. 23, No. 81.<br />
143 Strype, <strong>The</strong> Life <strong>of</strong> the Learned <strong>Sir</strong> Thomas Smith, p. 105.<br />
144 Sidney to <strong>Cecil</strong>, Lansdowne Vol. 23, No. 81.<br />
143