The follies of science at the court of Rudolph II : 1576-1612 / by Henry Carrington Bolton.

  • Bolton, Henry Carrington, 1843-1903.
Date:
1904
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The follies of science at the court of Rudolph II : 1576-1612 / by Henry Carrington Bolton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    polite attention to the learned Englishman was the Am- bassador of Spain, the crafty Octavius Spinola. He secured Dee’s confidence by inviting him to dinner, in the course of which he claimed to be a descendant of the noted alchemist Raymund Lully, one of the reputed possessors of the Philo- sophers’ stone, who late in life through religious convictions, went as a missionary to the Moors of North Africa, where he perished at their hands by stoning, —a Christian martyr. This interested Dee immensely and he besought his good friend to use his influence with Rudolph in his favor. Instead of so doing, however, the treacherous Spaniard told his Majesty that Dee was a bankrupt adventurer, a conjurer of infernal demons, who was practising magical arts against the Emperor’s person, and whose only object at Prague was to wheedle him out of silver and gold. Some of this Rudolph already knew, some of it was unfortunately true, but the slanderous accusation greatly prejudiced Dee’s position at court. A decree of banishment was issued, and Dee and Kelley fled with their families to Cracow where they still had a few friends. The finances of the Englishmen were now very low, and they were in sore straits to keep up the appearance of opulence so necessa^ to their pretentions as possessors of the secrets of Hermes. Fortune favored them, however, when they gained the ear of Stephen, King of Poland; in the royal presence Dee again consulted the invaluable “holy stone,” under Kelley’s excellent management as “skryer,” and the spirits announced that Rudolph would soon be assassinated and that Stephen himself would succeed to the imperial throne. This flattering prediction pleased the King, and for a time he furnished money for experiments in transmutation, a large part of which was devoted to the necessary expenses of the English families. But the King of Poland soon grew