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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and the patronage <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>. His appointment as Lancaster Herald in 1602, nearly four years<br />
after <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s death, reflected the prevalence <strong>of</strong> Thynne‘s broad range <strong>of</strong> interests in<br />
Elizabethan society. 197<br />
*<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong>‘s interest in alchemical philosophy demonstrates that not only did he believe<br />
in the feasibility <strong>of</strong> alchemical transmutation, but that this belief was an essential<br />
consequence <strong>of</strong> his understanding <strong>of</strong> the world. <strong>Alchemical</strong> theory, as it existed in the<br />
sixteenth century, was a conglomeration <strong>of</strong> various spiritual, magical, and metallurgical<br />
ideas. Whilst these concepts were <strong>of</strong>ten paradoxical, they had at their core a unified<br />
understanding <strong>of</strong> nature, based on the elemental theory <strong>of</strong> Aristotle. <strong>The</strong> unity <strong>of</strong> nature,<br />
as implied by the unity <strong>of</strong> creation, allowed for both the occult effects <strong>of</strong> the heavens and<br />
the alchemical transmutation <strong>of</strong> metals. <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s education, steeped in Aristotelian<br />
philosophy, therefore encouraged a worldview complementary alchemy. Further, the<br />
interests <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s tutors John Cheke and Thomas Smith suggest that explicitly alchemical<br />
and occult works were amongst those read un<strong>of</strong>ficially, through private study.<br />
Whilst John Dee‘s actions during Queen Mary‘s reign tainted his relationship with<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong>, their common education informed Dee‘s decision to appeal to <strong>Cecil</strong> using occult<br />
knowledge. Dee did not copy Steganographia for <strong>Cecil</strong> for its cryptographic secrets: these<br />
were not known at the time. Rather, Dee copied it because he thought <strong>Cecil</strong> would be<br />
interested in a rare and authoritative source <strong>of</strong> occult and alchemical knowledge. Richard<br />
Eden—after attending Cambridge with <strong>Cecil</strong> and acting as his secretary—appealed <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s<br />
intellectual curiosity and ―pleasure in the wonderfull woorke <strong>of</strong> arte and nature‖. 198 He<br />
knew that <strong>Cecil</strong> was fascinated by not only the practical applications <strong>of</strong> alchemy, but also in<br />
its philosophical implications. Francis Thynne‘s demonstrations <strong>of</strong> his knowledge <strong>of</strong> occult<br />
knowledge successfully played upon this fascination, gaining <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s patronage and relieving<br />
197 Knafla, ‗Thynne, Francis‘.<br />
198 Eden to <strong>Cecil</strong>, Lansdowne, Vol. 101, No. 5.<br />
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