The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

attempted to deceive his patients with lies and tricks of the hand. According to Clowes, at
the trial only one man defended Russwurin, ―one other proud bragger or single souled
chirurgeon... a man of little skill, and lesse honestie‖. 51 Describing Russwurin as ―a wise
Alchymist‖, this man is identified by a sixteenth century marginal note in Clowes‘ work as
―John Hester Alchymist‖. 52 That Hester—one of London‘s most respected distillers and a
prolific author and translator of chemical medical texts—would support Russwurin,
undermines the impartiality of Clowes‘ account. 53 Neither Clowes, nor any other
contemporary source reports the outcome of the case.
It is clear from Russwurin‘s mastery of Paracelsian medical theory that he was more
than the ignorant charlatan portrayed by Clowes. Indeed Russwurin claimed that such
distinguished European medical figures as Pier Andrea Mattioli, Johann Weyer, and
Rembert Dodoens ―have learned and sene at my hands suche thinges as all thyr lyfe they
should never have found, neyther in Galene nor Avicenne‖. 54 Curiously none of these men
were well known for their Paracelsian sympathies. Weyer indeed described Paracelsus as an
―insane man‖ and his followers as
the special slaves of arrogance, self-love, and vainglory, who can accomplish
all things whatsoever by Stentorian cries, and by promises and
sesquipedalian words, in perfect imitation of their master. 55
While the reference was meant only to reassure Cecil, it at least demonstrates Russwurin‘s
opinion of his own abilities.
Russwurin was not the only chemical physician whom Cecil consulted. Cecil‘s links
to the Dutch astrologer, alchemist and physician, Eliseus Bomelius, are also intriguing.
Having received a medical degree from Cambridge University, Bomelius initially enjoyed
51 Ibid., pp. 12-13.
52 Quoted in Deborah Harkness, ‗―Strange‖ Ideas and ―English‖ Knowledge‘ in Pamela H. Smith, Paula
Findlen (eds.), Merchants & Marvels: Commerce, Science, and Art in Early Modern Europe, London, 2002, p. 146.
53 Webster, ‗Alchemical and Paracelsian Medicine‘, p. 326-27.
54 Russwurin to Cecil, Lansdowne Vol. 101, No. 4.
55 Johann Weyer, ‗De Praestigiis Daemonum‘, John Shea (trans.), in George More and Benhamin Kohl (eds.),
Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance, Birmingham, 1991, p. 153.
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