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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After the 1572 St. Bartholomew‘s Day massacre <strong>of</strong> French Protestants, from which<br />
the Vidame and Eden barely escaped, Eden returned to England. In 1573 the Vidame<br />
petitioned the Queen, to admit her former servant as a Poor Knight <strong>of</strong> Windsor, an order<br />
set up to maintain impoverished military veterans. 167 An attached autobiography was<br />
evidently intended to support this application, asserting that Eden had made much<br />
progress in unlocking the secrets <strong>of</strong> nature. 168 Assuming the Queen‘s interest in alchemy,<br />
Eden complained that one could not ―compound the admirable medicaments <strong>of</strong> Paracelsus<br />
from metals and minerals ... without immediately incurring from ignorant calumniators the<br />
infamy and peril <strong>of</strong> practising alchemy‖. 169 <strong>The</strong>refore he also requested a royal licence<br />
exempting him from the ban on the multiplication <strong>of</strong> metals, since in England many<br />
―foreigners freely practise [alchemy]; that the same will, with more justice, be granted to me<br />
by the royal authority‖. 170 Elizabeth never granted any such authority, and Eden died<br />
shortly after, in 1576. Late in his life Eden continued to maintain an interest in alchemy<br />
and believed his alchemical knowledge to be <strong>of</strong> as much value as his translation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
―several books useful to the State‖ that have formed his posthumous reputation. 171<br />
Eden‘s historical importance has always been tied to his role as propagandist for a<br />
new British empire, rather than his alchemical interests. However, the various pursuits <strong>of</strong><br />
his private, intellectual career reflected the mentality <strong>of</strong> Elizabethan intellectuals. Eden‘s<br />
letters, if not his published works, show an ongoing fascination with both the practical<br />
challenge and philosophical implications <strong>of</strong> alchemy. Not only was a serious interest in the<br />
occult sciences compatible with the imperial outlook so <strong>of</strong>ten assigned to Elizabethans, for<br />
men like Eden it embodied the humanist attempt at recovering a unified understanding <strong>of</strong><br />
nature. Eden believed <strong>Cecil</strong>, whom he had known for decades, shared this fascination. His<br />
167 Arber (ed.), <strong>The</strong> First Three English Books on America, pp xlv.<br />
168 Ibid., pp. xlv–xlvi.<br />
169 Ibid., pp xlvi.<br />
170 Ibid.<br />
171 Ibid.<br />
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