The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

perform counter magic and to divine the identity of the perpetrators. 157 Seizing the
opportunity to vilify his own long time enemy, Dee implicated Prestall in creating the
images as part of a Catholic plot. 158 In fact, the images had been created by Thomas Elkes,
whose ritual magic was aimed at the husband of an entirely different Elizabeth. 159
Nevertheless, Prestall and his associates were arrested and under torture confessed their
roles in the imaginary conspiracy. 160 With Prestall imprisoned for treason, and his
allegations against Medley discredited, Medley regained his freedom.
Medley‘s re-established reputation, previously overlooked by historians, allowed
him to survive another alchemical scandal in August 1580. Cecil suspected that Richard
Stanihurst, an Irish Catholic alchemist, was creating alchemical gold to fund Catholic plans
for rebellion in Ireland. During a search of Stanihurst‘s house, Robert Beale, clerk of the
Privy Council and one of Cecil‘s trusted informants, found that Medley and Stanihurst had
been exchanging letters on alchemical matters. 161 Stanihurst clearly shared an interest in the
same elements of alchemy as Medley. His Toque De Alchimia (1593), dedicated to the
Spanish King Phillip II, would profess his expertise in both alchemical medicine and the
alchemical transformation of copper. 162 Stanihurst claimed to have witnessed the
transmutation of copper into silver in London in 1578, and although Medley‘s role remains
unclear, it was certainly within his field of expertise. 163 So convincing was the
demonstration that, as Stanihurst recalled, it ―convinced me of what I had until then
thought impossible and led me to apply myself to the practice of this secret science‖. 164
After confronting Medley with the evidence of collusion, Cecil accepted his assurances that
while he had been discussing ―mineral matters‖ with Stanihurst, ―he denieth there was any
157 Ibid.
158 Ibid.
159 Ibid.
160 Ibid.
161 Robert Beale to Cecil, 28 August 1580, TNA, SP 12/141/43.
162 Richard Stanihurst, ‗Toque de Alchimia‘, BNM MS. 2058, trans. in David C. Goodman, Power and Penury:
Government, Technology and Science in Philip II’s Spain, Cambridge, 2002, p. 43.
163 Ibid.
164 Ibid.
146