The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

and Leicester. 56 De Lannoy promised that with a month‘s respite he would fulfill all of his
former promises. 57 Cecil, however, had found further evidence of the alchemist‘s duplicity.
According to Waad, de Lannoy had attempted to deceive Cecil and the Queen by omitting
―that passage in her majestys book toward the end wher mention is made of the mercuries
of gold and silver‖ in order to disguise the progress of the work. 58
Charging de Lannoy with having therefore ―greatly abused her majesty‖, Waad
demanded to see the original copy of the book, so they could learn the extent of his
omissions. 59 The alchemist explained that he had brought no such book with him and he
had written the Queen‘s copy from memory. Calling de Lannoy‘s bluff, Waad insisted that
he ―shuld perform the same by memory doubting not but that he could doo yt nowe aswell
as then‖. 60 Presumably he failed to do so, as Waad suggested to Cecil that de Lannoy‘s wife
be allowed to leave England, so that ―Cor[nelius] would then think his case disperat and
would conclud the sooner one way or an other‖. 61
By August 1566 neither Cecil nor the Queen trusted the Dutch alchemist. They
were sure that he would attempt to escape with the profits of the Queen‘s investments but
still did not doubt the legitimacy of his process. After leaving the distressed alchemist to
stew for over a month, on 23 August Cecil wrote to Waad and Sir Francis Jobson (the
Lieutenant of the Tower), ordering him to arrange the immediate resumption of de
Lannoy‘s alchemical operations, this time from within the secure confines of the Tower. 62
Waad reported that a small sum of money would be required for provisions, which was
promptly provided. 63
From this point onwards there are few records of de Lannoy‘s activities. It appears
that he continued to deceive Cecil and the Queen, and that by early 1567 even Cecil‘s
56 Armigil Waad to Cecil and Leicester, 15 July 1566, TNA, SP 12/40/28.
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Armigil Waad and Sir Francis Jobson to Cecil, 26 August 1566, TNA SP 12/40/53.
63 Ibid.
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