Abstract:
This thesis explores the advent of gentlewomen's chymical activities in Elizabethan
England. In the sixteenth century, chymistry gained widespread currency under Queen
Elizabeth I. This thesis argues that the queen's significant chymical interests contributed
to her iconography, thereby bridging England's previously discrete chymical and female
realms. It shows that Elizabeth's influence and fundamental societal changes enabled
women, beginning with the gentry, to acquire and apply chymical knowledge. Four case
studies highlight the queen's impact on her female subjects through an examination of
primary manuscript and printed sources. The Protestant gentlewomen Grace Mildmay,
Mary Sidney Herbert, Margaret Hoby and Margaret Clifford may first have encountered
chymistry in the manifestation of their religious beliefs through charitable healing, but they
developed their knowledge in very different ways. Evidence of their engagement with
chymical practitioners and writings provides context for their activities. Shared
motivations led to divergent practices, indicating that chymistry in Elizabethan England
took as many forms as there were practitioners. This thesis asserts the crucial importance
of community to early modern chymists, noting courtly links and overlapping social
circles. It contributes to limited historiography on Elizabethan alchemy as well as female
alchemists.
