The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

understanding of nature. John Dee, Richard Eden and Francis Thynne appealed to this
understanding, seeking Cecil‘s patronage principally through demonstrations of alchemical
and occult theory. Dee had a decidedly mixed relationship with Cecil, as his actions during
the reign of Queen Mary made him religiously unreliable. Eden, however, shared the same
circle of friends from Cambridge and had been Cecil‘s secretary. Throughout their
correspondence Eden made particular reference to their mutual interest in alchemy,
fostered by their common education. Thynne, well known to Cecil through personal and
Court connections, used demonstrations of overtly occult knowledge to gain his freedom
from prison. These examples demonstrate that Cecil‘s interest in alchemy lay, not only in
its practical implications, but also its philosophical basis.
Cecil suffered from frequent and severe attacks of gout and was thus one of
England‘s premier medical patrons. He lived at a time of radical change in medical
practice, as Paracelsian theory, steeped in alchemical concepts, began to challenge
traditional Galenic medical practice. The evidence examined in Chapter two suggests that
Cecil was at the forefront of this change. He patronised a broad range of medical
practitioners, from immigrants condemned by the College of Physicians, to doctors highly
esteemed within the medical establishment. The common thread between these
practitioners was their acceptance of the validity of chemical medicines. Appeals to Cecil
offering chemical cures for his ailments suggest his predilection was well known. The
alchemists Humfrey Lock and Samuel Norton judged alchemical medical theory of
sufficient concern to Cecil to write him lengthy treatises on the matter.
Despite Cecil‘s fascination with alchemical philosophy, he never devoted significant
resources to the kinds of theoretical and spiritual alchemy popular in some European
courts, such as that of Emperor Rudolf II. Unlike the Catholic position in the Holy
Roman Empire, the situation of Elizabeth‘s Protestant regime was decidedly uneasy.
Rather than displays of ostentatious knowledge, the Elizabethan government favoured
utilitarian alchemical patronage. Cecil‘s belief in the possibility of alchemical transmutation
155