The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

ecause their appeals aimed ―at understanding how to manipulate nature in order to make
it more prolific‖. 197 Medley, like his German counterparts, isolated his alchemical process
from its theoretical background, presenting it simply as a process based on an
understanding of nature assumed by all involved. Likewise Cecil‘s patronage of Medley can
be seen as analogous to the central European princes who understood alchemy to be ―a
solution to the financial and mining crises afflicting their territories‖. 198
Bred up under Cecil, Medley anticipated that the Lord Treasurer‘s alchemical view
of nature and desire to improve England‘s economic security would induce him to back his
process. When threatened by controversy and intrigue, Medley would repeatedly turn to
his relative, with generally successful results. In the same way, Medley‘s rapid demise after
Cecil‘s death in 1598 had nothing to do with his alchemical reputation and everything to do
with his dependence on his relative for the maintenance of his position and status.
It is difficult to establish exactly how Medley served Cecil during his later life, but it
seems likely that his chemical proficiency encouraged Cecil‘s continued patronage.
Morrison argues that while Cecil received a variety of requests for favour from his ‗greater
kin‘, ―Burghley‘s political practicality precluded his advancing the career of anyone who
claimed as his primary qualification the fact that he was a kinsman‖. 199 Medley needed to
prove useful to the Lord Treasurer in order to justify his continued ―favour and
patronage‖. 200 No doubt he did so to some extent as a qualified and practising magistrate,
but his previous service and hints of a continued chemical interest suggest he also provided
alchemical expertise.
*
The Frobisher voyages and the Society of the New Art were not the only attempts
to apply alchemical knowledge for the benefit of economic projects. There is some
evidence that the Company of Mines Royal, a major copper mining project in which Cecil
197 Nummedal, ‗Practical Alchemy and Commercial Exchange‘, p. 211.
198 Ibid., p. 210.
199 Ibid., p. 97.
200 Weston, Caraman (ed.), William Weston, p. 192.
152