ELIZABETH I’S ALCHEMIST
Arguably one of the most enigmatic men of Elizabethan England, John Dee has been simultaneously celebrated as a genius and lambasted for his interest in the occult. Facing accusations of sorcery and necromancy throughout his life, Dee still remains a questionable figure to this day – so what is the true story behind the queen’s ‘dark’ conjurer?
From a young age, Dee proved that he had a strong aptitude for academic learning. In 1542, when he was just 15 years old, Dee joined St John’s College, Cambridge, where he studied for the next three years. In his diary, Dee admitted that he was ‘vehemently bent to studie’ and dedicated 18 hours to learning every day, leaving only two hours for food and drink and the remaining four hours for sleep.
When Trinity College was founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Dee was elected as one of the original fellows and during this time he became involved with a production of Peace by Aristophanes, for which he created a flying machine for the stage effects. However, the machine worked so well it sparked the accusations of sorcery that would plague Dee for the rest of his life.
While at Trinity College, Dee made his first visit to Europe in May 1547 and he travelled to Antwerp to meet a group of learned mathematicians and cosmographers, including Gerard Mercator and Gemma Frisius, and
