The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

medicines. Amongst the collection of books bequeathed by Paddy upon his death in 1634
were five of Paracelsus‘ most influential works. 71
Cecil‘s choice of William Gilbert as a physician is also indicative of his opinion of
chemical medicine. Gilbert, who attended Cecil at his death, is best remembered for his
great work De Magnete (1600), a natural philosophical treatise on the Earth‘s magnetism. 72
While historians have traditionally placed Gilbert alongside Francis Bacon as a founding
figure of modern science, recent studies have tended to place him within the context of
renaissance magic. 73 Rejecting Aristotle‘s view of the universe, Gilbert appealed to the
authority of Zoroaster and Hermes Trismegistus. 74 His theory was in essence
complementary to alchemy as
Gilbert thought of attraction as a spiritual force, he held that the magnet
had a soul (superior to man‘s soul), and he understood the Earth as mater
communis in whose womb metals were formed 75
This alchemical view of the growth of metals was prevalent during the sixteenth century
and likely matched Cecil‘s own beliefs. 76
Gilbert built up a successful medical practice in London during the 1570s, and
served not only Cecil, but also the Earl of Leicester and other prominent figures at
Elizabeth‘s Court. 77 Thomas Fuller‘s report that Gilbert utilised chemical medicine, having
―addicted himself to chemistry, attaining to great exactness therein‖ is supported by the
alchemical notes and prescriptions of the Paracelsian apothecary Edward Barlow. 78 Over
the period from 1588-90, Barlow created a number of chemical medicines for Gilbert, and
it is reasonable to assume that Gilbert administered some of these as Cecil‘s physician. 79
71 Webster, ‗Alchemical and Paracelsian Medicine‘, p. 321.
72 Stephen Pumfrey, ‗Gilbert, William (1544?–1603)‘, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, Sept 2004;
online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10705].
73 Paolo Rossi, ‗The Scientist‘ in Rosario Villari (ed.) Baroque Personae, Chicago, 1995, pp. 267-68.
74 Ibid.
75 Ibid.
76 Pumfrey, ‗Gilbert, William‘.
77 Ibid.
78 Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London, 1662, p. 332.
79 Alain Besson, ‗Classification in Private Library Catalogues of the English Renaissance, 1500-1640‘,
Unpublished Phd Thesis, University College London, 1988, p 264; Charles Webster, ‗Alchemical and
Paracelsian Medicine‘, p. 323.
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