John Dee: Her Majesty's Sorcerer (Part I)

John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an Anglo-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and occult philosopher, and an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He spent much time on alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. He also advocated turning England's imperial expansion into a "British Empire", a term he is generally credited with coining.

Science and sorcery

To 21st-century eyes, Dee's activities straddle the worlds of magic and modern science, but the distinction would have meant nothing to him. He was invited to lecture on Euclidean geometry at the University of Paris while still in his early twenties. He was an ardent promoter of mathematics, a respected astronomer and a leading expert in navigation, who trained many who would conduct England's voyages of discovery.

Meanwhile he immersed himself in sorcery, astrology and Hermetic philosophy. Much effort in his last 30 years went into trying to commune with angels, so as to learn the universal language of creation and achieve a pre-apocalyptic unity of mankind.  A student of the Renaissance Neo-Platonism of Marsilio Ficino, he drew no distinctions between his mathematical research and his investigations of hermetic magic, angel summoning and divination: all his activities were facets of the quest for a transcendent understanding of the divine forms underlying the visible world, Dee's "pure verities".

Dee amassed one of the biggest libraries in England. His scholarly status also took him into Elizabethan politics as an adviser and tutor to Elizabeth I and through relations with her ministers Francis Walsingham and William Cecil. He tutored and had patronage relations with Sir Philip Sidney, his uncle Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Edward Dyer, and Sir Christopher Hatton.

Biography

Early life

Dee was born in Tower Ward, London, to Rowland Dee, of Welsh descent, and Johanna Wild. His surname "Dee" derived from the Welsh du (black); his grandfather was Bedo Ddu of Nant-y-groes, Pilleth, Radnorshire, and John retained his connection with the locality. His father Roland was a mercer and gentleman courtier to Henry VIII. John Dee claimed to be a descendant of Rhodri the Great, Prince of Wales and constructed a pedigree showing his descent from Rhodri. Dee's family arrived in London in the wake of Henry Tudor's coronation as Henry VII.   Jane Dee was the daughter of William Wild.

Dee attended the Chelmsford Chantry School (now King Edward VI Grammar School) from 1535 to 1542.  He entered St John's College, Cambridge, in November 1542, aged 15, graduating BA in 1545 or early 1546.  His abilities recognised, he became an original fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, on its founding by Henry VIII in 1546.  At Trinity, the clever stage effects he produced for a production of Aristophanes' Peace procured him the reputation of being a magician that clung to him through life. In the late 1540s and early 1550s, he traveled in Europe, studying at Louvain (1548) and Brussels and lecturing in Paris on Euclid. He studied with Gemma Frisius and became a close friend of the cartographer Gerardus Mercator and cartographer Abraham Ortelius. Dee also travelled extensively throughout Europe meeting and working with as well as learning from other leading continental mathematicians such as Federico Commandino in Italy.  He returned to England with an important collection of mathematical and astronomical instruments. In 1552, he met Gerolamo Cardano in London: during their acquaintance they investigated a purported perpetual motion machine, as well as a gem supposed to have magical properties.

Rector at Upton-upon-Severn from 1553, Dee was offered a readership in mathematics at Oxford University in 1554, which he declined, citing English universities' emphasis on rhetoric and grammar (which, together with logic, formed the academic trivium) over philosophy and science (the more advanced quadrivium, composed of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy), as offensive. He was occupied with writing and perhaps hoped for a better position at court.  In 1555, Dee became a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, as his father had, through the company's system of patrimony.

That same year, 1555, he was arrested and charged with "calculating" for having cast horoscopes of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth; the charges were expanded to treason against Mary.  Dee appeared in the Star Chamber and exonerated himself, but was turned over to the Catholic Bishop Bonner for religious examination. His strong and lifelong penchant for secrecy perhaps worsening matters, this entire episode was only the most dramatic in a series of attacks and slanders that would dog Dee throughout his life. Clearing his name yet again, he soon became a close associate of Bonner.

Dee presented Queen Mary with a visionary plan for the preservation of old books, manuscripts and records and the founding of a national library, in 1556, but his proposal was not taken up.  Instead, he expanded his personal library at his house in Mortlake, tirelessly acquiring books and manuscripts in England and on the European Continent. Dee's library, a centre of learning outside the universities, became the greatest in England and attracted many scholars.

When Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, Dee became her trusted advisor on astrological and scientific matters, choosing Elizabeth's coronation date himself.  From the 1550s through the 1570s, he served as an advisor to England's voyages of discovery, providing technical assistance in navigation and ideological backing in the creation of a "British Empire", a term that he was the first to use.  Dee wrote a letter to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, in October 1574 seeking patronage. He claimed to have occult knowledge of treasure in the Welsh Marches, and of valuable ancient manuscripts kept at Wigmore Castle, knowing that the Lord Treasurer's ancestors came from this area.  In 1577, Dee published General and Rare Memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation, a work that set out his vision of a maritime empire and asserted English territorial claims on the New World. Dee was acquainted with Humphrey Gilbert and was close to Sir Philip Sidney and his circle.

In 1564, Dee wrote the Hermetic work Monas Hieroglyphica ("The Hieroglyphic Monad"), an exhaustive Cabalistic interpretation of a glyph of his own design, meant to express the mystical unity of all creation. Having dedicated it to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor in an effort to gain patronage, Dee attempted to present it to him during the time of his ascension to the throne of Hungary. This work was esteemed by many of Dee's contemporaries, but the work cannot be interpreted today without the secret oral tradition from that era.

He published a "Mathematical Preface" to Henry Billingsley's English translation of Euclid's Elements in 1570, arguing the central importance of mathematics and outlining mathematics' influence on the other arts and sciences.  Intended for an audience outside the universities, it proved to be Dee's most widely influential and frequently reprinted work.

One of the important early products of the English School was the first English translation of the Elements of Euclid. This translation was carried out by The Lord Mayor of London Sir Henry Billingsley and not from a Latin translation but direct from the Greek. Published in 1570 this mathematical milestone contained a preface as well as copious notes and supplementary material from John Dee and this preface is considered to be one of Dee's most important mathematical works.

Later life

By the early 1580s, Dee was growing dissatisfied with his progress in learning the secrets of nature as well as his failing influence and recognition in court circles. Failure of his proposed calendar revision, imperial recommendations and ambivalent results from exploration of North America had nearly brought his hopes of political patronage to an end. As a result, he began a more energetic turn towards the supernatural as a means to acquire knowledge. Specifically, he sought to contact spirits through the use of a "scryer" or crystal-gazer, which would act as an intermediary between Dee and the angels.

Dee's first attempts with several scryers were not satisfactory, but in 1582 he met Edward Kelley (then going under the name of Edward Talbot to disguise his conviction for "coining" or forgery), who impressed him greatly with his abilities.  Dee took Kelley into his service and began to devote all his energies to his supernatural pursuits.  These "spiritual conferences" or "actions" were conducted with an air of intense Christian piety, always after periods of purification, prayer and fasting.  Dee was convinced of the benefits they could bring to mankind. (The character of Kelley is harder to assess: some have concluded that he acted with complete cynicism, but delusion or self-deception is not out of the question.  Kelley's "output" is remarkable for its sheer volume, its intricacy and its vividness). Dee maintained that the angels laboriously dictated several books to him this way, through Kelley, some in a special angelic or Enochian language.

Edward Kelley

In 1583, Dee met the visiting impoverished yet popular Polish nobleman Albert Łaski who, after overstaying his welcome at court, invited Dee to accompany him on his return to Poland.  With some prompting by the "angels" (again through Kelley) and his worsening status at court, Dee was persuaded to go. Dee, Kelley and their families left for the Continent in September 1583, but Łaski proved to be bankrupt and out of favour in his own country.  Dee and Kelley began a nomadic life in Central Europe, meanwhile continuing their spiritual conferences, which Dee recorded meticulously in his diaries and almanacs.  They had audiences with Emperor Rudolf II in Prague Castle and King Stefan Batory of Poland whom they attempted to convince of the importance of angelic communication. The meeting with the Polish King, Stefan Batory, took place at the royal castle at Niepołomice (near Kraków, then the capital of Poland) and was later widely analyzed by Polish historians (Ryszard Zieliński, Roman Żelewski, Roman Bugaj) and writers (Waldemar Łysiak).  While generally Dee was accepted as a man of wide and deep

knowledge, they mistrusted his connection with the English monarch, Elizabeth I. They could not be sure that their meetings were without political ramifications. Some thought (and still do) that Dee was in fact a spy for the English monarch. Nevertheless, the Polish king, a devout Catholic and very cautious of supernatural media, began their meeting(s) with the affirmation that any prophetic revelations must be in keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ, the mission of the Holy Catholic Church, and the approval of the Pope.

In 1587, during a spiritual conference in Bohemia, Kelley informed Dee that the angel Uriel had ordered the men to share all their possessions, including their wives. By this time, Kelley had gained some renown as an alchemist and in fact was more sought-after than Dee in this regard: this was a line of work that had prospects for serious and long-term financial gain, especially among the royal families of central Europe. Dee, on the other hand, was more interested in communicating with the angels who he believed would help him solve the mysteries of the heavens through mathematics, optics, astrology, science and navigation. It may be that Kelley in fact wished to end Dee's dependence on him as a scryer for their increasingly lengthy and frequent spiritual conferences.  The order for wife-sharing caused Dee great anguish, but he apparently did not doubt its genuineness. They apparently did share wives. However, Dee broke off the conferences immediately afterwards. Dee returned to England in 1589: Kelley went on to be the alchemist for Emperor Rudolf II.  Nine months later, on 28 February 1588, a son was born to Dee's wife, whom Dee baptised Theodorus Trebonianus Dee and raised as his own. It is possible that this child was Kelley's; Dee was 60 at the time, Edward Kelley was 32.

Final years

Dee returned to Mortlake after six years abroad to find his home vandalized, his library ruined and many of his prized books and instruments stolen.  Furthermore, Dee found that increasing criticism of occult practices had made England even more inhospitable to his magical practices and natural philosophy. Dee sought support from Elizabeth, who hoped he could persuade Kelley to return and ease England's economic burdens through alchemy.  She finally appointed Dee Warden of Christ's College, Manchester, in 1595.  This former College of Priests had been re-established as a Protestant institution by a Royal Charter of 1578.

However, he could not exert much control over the Fellows of that College, who despised or cheated him.  Early in his tenure, he was consulted on the demonic possession of seven children, but took little interest in the matter, although he did allow those involved to consult his still extensive library.

He left Manchester in 1605 to return to London.  However, he remained Warden until his death.  By that time, Elizabeth was dead, and James I provided no support. Dee spent his final years in poverty at Mortlake, forced to sell off various of his possessions to support himself and his daughter, Katherine, who cared for him until the end.  He died in Mortlake late in 1608 or early 1609 aged 81. There are no extant records of the exact date as both the parish registers and Dee's gravestone are missing.  In 2013 a memorial plaque to Dee was placed on the south wall of the present church.

Personal life

Dee was married three times and had eight children. He first married Katherine Constable in 1565; she died in 1574 and their union resulted in no children. His second (also childless) marriage to an unknown woman lasted only a year until her death in 1576.  From 1577 to 1601, Dee kept a sporadic diary (also referred to as his "almanac") from which most of what we know about his life during that time has been gleaned.  In 1578 he married the 23-year-old Jane Fromond: Dee was 51 at the time. Jane had her own connections to the Elizabethan court: she was a lady in waiting to Elizabeth FitzGerald, Countess of Lincoln, a position she gave up when she married Dee. When in 1587, Kelley informed Dee of the angel's wish that they share wives; Jane Dee (née Fromond) was the wife Dee shared with him. Although Dee complied with the angel's supposed request for a while, he was apparently distressed by the arrangement and it was one reason why the two men parted company not long thereafter. Some believe that Dee's son Theodore, born nine months later, could have been Kelley's son, not Dee's.

Jane died in Manchester of the bubonic plague and was buried in the Manchester Cathedral burial grounds in March 1604.  Michael, born in Prague, died on his father's birthday in 1594. Theodore, born in Třeboň, died in Manchester in 1601. His sons Arthur Dee and Rowland survived him, as did his daughter Katherine "who was his companion to the end".  No records exist for his youngest daughters Madinia (sometimes Madima), Frances and Margaret after 1604, so it is widely assumed they died in the same epidemic that took their mother. (Dee had by this time ceased keeping his diary).

While Arthur was a student at the Westminster School, Dee wrote a letter to his headmaster echoing the normal worries of boarding school parents. Arthur was an apprentice in much of his father's alchemical and scientific work, and was in fact often his scryer until Kelley came along. Arthur went on to become an alchemist and hermetic author, whose works were published by Elias Ashmole.

As regards Dee's physical appearance, the antiquary John Aubrey gives the following description: "He was tall and slender. He wore a gown like an artist's gown, with hanging sleeves, and a slit.... A very fair, clear sanguine complexion... a long beard as white as milk. A very handsome man."