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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great pleasure in the workes <strong>of</strong> Nature & Arte [a common euphemism for alchemy]‖. 133<br />
Elizabeth Spiller argues that Whalley may have hoped to use alchemy to finance Somerset‘s<br />
restoration. 134 If so, it is remarkable that Whalley, a close associate <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>, would pin his<br />
political hopes to Eden‘s alchemical success. Inevitably however, within two years the pair<br />
had fallen out over the lack <strong>of</strong> progress. As alchemically multiplying metals without a<br />
licence was illegal, Eden confessed their activities to the authorities. 135 Whilst Whalley was<br />
imprisoned, the Privy Council, including <strong>Cecil</strong>, let Eden <strong>of</strong>f with a promise to refrain from<br />
unlicensed transmutation in the future. 136 <strong>The</strong> episode reveals an interest in philosophical<br />
and practical alchemy at the Edwardian Court not appreciated by previous historians.<br />
Surviving the failure <strong>of</strong> his alchemical schemes, Eden sought to strengthen his ties<br />
to the newly knighted <strong>Sir</strong> <strong>William</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>, becoming his private secretary in 1552. 137 Most<br />
have attributed Eden‘s appointment as an attempt to publicise the Earl <strong>of</strong><br />
Northumberland‘s planned voyages to America and the Far East. While the publication <strong>of</strong><br />
Eden‘s translation A Treatyse <strong>of</strong> the Newe India in 1553 suggests that <strong>Cecil</strong> valued Eden as a<br />
publicist for the developing imperial agenda <strong>of</strong> the period, Eden‘s intellectual and<br />
alchemical interests would have also appealed to the privy counsellor. 138 He certainly knew<br />
<strong>of</strong> Eden‘s experiments for Whalley. Eden probably ended his employment as private<br />
secretary sometime after 1554, as ―in the time <strong>of</strong> Queen Mary, he was again placed in the<br />
treasury <strong>of</strong> King Phillip, through the favour <strong>of</strong> certain Spanish nobles‖. 139 His fawning<br />
admiration for the Spanish empire in his translation <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> Decades <strong>of</strong> the Newe World or West<br />
India (1555) likely reflects this favour. However, coming under suspicion <strong>of</strong> heresy near the<br />
end <strong>of</strong> 1555, Eden was forced to surrender his <strong>of</strong>fice. 140<br />
133 Ibid.<br />
134 Elizabeth Spiller, Science, Reading, and Renaissance Literature: the Art <strong>of</strong> Making Knowledge, 1580-1670,<br />
Cambridge, 2004, p.187n.<br />
135 Kitching, ‗‗Alchemy in the Reign <strong>of</strong> Edward VI‘, p. 309.<br />
136 John Roche Dasent (ed.), APC, Volume IV: A.D. 1552–1554, London, 1892, p. 279.<br />
137 Hadfield, ‗Eden, Richard‘.<br />
138 Richard Eden, Treatise on the Newe World or West India, London, 1555.<br />
139 Eden, in Arber, <strong>The</strong> First Three English Books on America, p. 408.<br />
140 Ibid.<br />
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