The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

the New Art and the Frobisher voyages. Queen Elizabeth‘s involvement in these schemes
is also apparent. Going as far as visiting de Lannoy in Somerset House and writing a
number of letters to Edward Kelley, her fascination with alchemy is evident. However, by
the end of Elizabeth‘s reign, the interests and priorities of the Court seem to have shifted.
Late Elizabethan courtiers were often more religiously and philosophically conservative—
and hence had further reservations about the authenticity of alchemical claims.
More generally, this thesis has contributed to the broader historiography of
patronage in early modern Europe. While Francis Dawbarn and Stephen Pumfrey‘s
hypothesis of Cecil as a utilitarian patron of science may largely be valid, alchemy clearly
held a place in this patronage that they did not acknowledge. Cecil saw no contradiction in
employing alchemists to support the development of the English economy, to aid Crown
finances, or even to treat his debilitating gout. This thesis has demonstrated Cecil‘s
alchemical patronage to parallel that of the Protestant German princes examined by Bruce
Moran and Tara Nummedal. Whilst their patronage of alchemy usually served a practical
purpose, this did not imply
that such princes were any less intellectually committed to the reality of
spiritual forces and the truth of a vitalist world view. 4
Like the German Landgraf Moritz of Hesse-Kassel, Cecil believed that ―in the occult arts
could be found technical solutions to political problems.‖ 5 Whilst these solutions took a
number of forms, from medical tinctures to transmutation, they were based on the same
understanding of nature that justified ostentatious occult patronage by rulers such as
Emperor Rudolf II.
Further research is required to reveal the full importance of alchemy within the
Elizabethan Court. Whether Cecil‘s belief in, and patronage of, astrology reinforced his
4 Moran, The Alchemical World, p. 174.
5 Ibid.
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