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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the patronage <strong>of</strong> James Blount, <strong>Lord</strong> Mountjoy. 56 As Mountjoy is known to have been<br />
obsessed with alchemy, spending the family fortune searching for the philosopher‘s stone,<br />
Bomelius likely served Mountjoy in some alchemical capacity. 57 By 1567 Bomelius had set<br />
up a successful London medical practice and gained prominence as both a Paracelsian<br />
physician and an astrologer. 58 Archbishop Matthew Parker noted that ―many have a<br />
wonderful confidence in hym and in his magicke‖ and the Protestant reformer Philip<br />
Melanchthon ―hath in familiar letters praysed [him] highly for erudition and godlynes‖. 59<br />
His success, however, brought him to the attention <strong>of</strong> the London College <strong>of</strong><br />
Physicians, and in 1567 he was imprisoned for practicing medicine without a license. 60<br />
During his incarceration, Bomelius repeatedly appealed to <strong>Cecil</strong> for help, assuring him that<br />
<strong>Sir</strong> Thomas Smith considered his alchemical practice legitimate. 61 <strong>Cecil</strong> wrote repeatedly to<br />
the College <strong>of</strong> Physicians on Bomelius‘ behalf. 62 Why <strong>Cecil</strong> favoured Bomelius is unclear.<br />
According to Strype, Bomelius was the author <strong>of</strong> the astrological prediction about<br />
Elizabeth‘s marriage negotiations, dating from around this period, which survives in <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s<br />
papers. 63<br />
After having consulted with both <strong>Cecil</strong> and the Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Canterbury<br />
regarding his astrological predictions <strong>of</strong> great upheaval in England, in late April 1570<br />
Bomelius wrote to <strong>Cecil</strong> informing him that in<br />
about a month hence I shall be enabled through your magnificence to<br />
devote my services and assistance to Her Royal Majesty, and point out a<br />
56 John Bennell, ‗Bomelius, Eliseus (d. 1579)‘, Oxford Dictionary <strong>of</strong> National Biography, Oxford, 2004<br />
[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2811].<br />
57 Robert Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia or Observations on the Late Queen Elizabeth, Her Times and Favourites,<br />
London, 1641, p. 37.<br />
58 Bennell, ‗Bomelius, Eliseus‘ (d. 1579)‘.<br />
59 Archbishop Matthew Parker to <strong>William</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>, 3 April 1570, BL, Lansdowne Vol. 12. No. 79; Henry<br />
Bennet, A Famous and Godly History Contaynyng the Lyves and Actes <strong>of</strong> Three Renowned Reformers <strong>of</strong> the Christian<br />
Church, London, 1561, p. vi.<br />
60 Eliseus Bomelius to <strong>Cecil</strong>, May 27 1567, TNA, SP 12/42/69.<br />
61 Bomelius to <strong>Cecil</strong>, SP 12/42/69; Eliseus Bomelius to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 1567, TNA, SP 12/44/73; Eliseus Bomelius to<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong>, February 1568, TNA, SP 12/46/43.<br />
62 Margaret Pelling and Francis White (eds.), 'BOMELIUS, Elisaeus &c.', Physicians and Irregular Medical<br />
Practitioners in London 1550-1640: Database, 2004, [http://www.britishhistory.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=17251].<br />
63 Strype, Annals <strong>of</strong> the Reformation, Vol. 2, p. 23.<br />
61