Edward Kelley

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Edward Kelley

Edward Kelley or Kelly , alias Edward Talbot (born August 1, 1555 in Worcester ( England ), † probably 1597 in an unknown location), was an English alchemist and spiritualist . He is best known from his time with the scholar and alchemist John Dee , whom he served as a medium .

His assessment is mostly that of John Ferguson , who thought Kelley was a skilled but unscrupulous adventurer or con man.

Life

Statue of Kelley in the courtyard of the castle in Most (Czech Republic)

Little is known of his past prior to meeting John Dee in 1582. He is said to have been an assistant to the village pharmacist Anthony Gray and later a parish clerk in his English place of birth, Worcester, and his ears are said to have been cut off by the hangman for forging documents ; but they are probably just legends. There are also reports that he worked as a lawyer at times. Then he turned to alchemy and magic, where he was probably in contact with Dee as early as 1576.

In November 1582 he visited John Dee, who had a great reputation as an astrologer, mathematician, alchemist and scholar at the court of Queen Elizabeth I , at his country estate in Mortlake. He succeeded in impressing Dee, who had been looking for a spiritualist medium for a long time, and both traveled with their families to Poland in 1583 at the invitation of the Polish nobleman Albrecht Laski and from there to Bohemia to see Rudolph II in Prague , a promoter of alchemy and occult teachings. After a few months, at the request of the papal ambassador, who wanted to accuse them of heresy and witchcraft, they were expelled from Prague and went to Cracow via Erfurt and Kassel. They were only temporarily accepted by the Polish King Stephan and moved back to Bohemia to the castle of Wilhelm von Rosenberg , a promoter of alchemy, in Wittingau .

Kelley was successful at the court of Rosenberg, who paid him well and employed him as an alchemist, assisted by the Paracelsus follower and doctor Karl Widemann from Augsburg. He received from Rosenberg festivals Hradek and Libeř and the farm Nová Libeň . Queen Elizabeth I of England began to be interested in him and in 1588 sent Edward Dyer († 1607) to Wittingau ( Třeboň Castle ), where he experimented alchemically with Kelley.

In 1589 Kelley and Dee separated after tensions had already developed. Kelley was after Dee's young wife and wanted to persuade Dee in a seance that the angel Uriel was demanding a wife swap. Dee left Wittingau shortly afterwards. Kelley herself did not want to return to England, despite the efforts of the Queen.

On the recommendation of Rosenberg, Kelley was invited back to Prague by Rudolph II, who was initially suspicious of him, and tried his hand at being an alchemical gold maker, but failed, as did all the predecessors with whom the emperor had tried. On May 2, 1591, the Kaiser issued an arrest warrant against Kelley for allegedly killing Georg Hunkler in a dispute. He was probably imprisoned at Pürglitz Castle until October 1593 ; his further fate is unclear. The case attracted international attention; there was speculation about the "real" reasons for imprisonment, and Rosenberg and Elisabeth I spoke out on his behalf. According to some sources, he died of a broken leg while attempting to escape; according to others, he continued his career at court for a while, but was imprisoned again. His wife, who was involved in the seances, survived him in Prague. The alchemist Sendivogius is said to have bought her estate near Prague in 1597.

He is said to have been the originator of the Enochian language as a medium with Dee , but Dee was inspired to conceptualize it from older models. There are records by John Dee of his time with Dee, including a diary that has also been published.

There is a memorial in Brüx , where he is said to have died.

He was the stepfather of the poet Elisabeth Johanna von Weston .

Fonts

  • In the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum , 1652:
    • Sir Edward Kelle's Work;
    • Sir Ed: Kelly concerning the Philosophers Stone written to his especiall good Freind, GS Gent.
  • In Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum , Volume 3, 1732:
    • Edovardi Kellæi, Book of the Philosopher's Stone. To the Roman emperor Rudolphum II. ANNO MDXCVI. Written in Latin; Afterwards translated into German
    • Fragmenta quædam Edov. Kellæi ex ipsius Epistolis excerpta
    • Edovardi Kellæi, Via Humida, sive Discursus de Menstruo Vegetabili Saturni
  • Tractatus duo egregii, de Lapide Philosophorum, Hamburg, Amsterdam 1676 (editor WJ Lange)
  • A detailed treatise attributed to the Emperor Rudolpho, in BN Petraeus: Drey excellent and never before printed chemistry books, Hamburg 1670, new edition 1691

literature

See also literature in the article John Dee .

Fiction

  • František Marek: Alchymista. Román o životě Edwarda Kelleyho, Prague 1981 (novel)
  • Gustav Meyrink : The angel from the western window. Novel. An engraving by John Dee. Grethlein & Co., Leipzig 1927.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Ferguson: Bibliotheca Chemica, Volume 1, p. 454, an unscrupulous adventurer not to say a thorough-going scoundrel
  2. ^ Julian Paulius: Edward Kelley. In Priesner, Figala: Lexikon der Alchemie, p. 192
  3. ↑ Ferguson, loc. cit.
  4. ^ A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 9, by Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, Thomas Wright . books.google.de. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
  5. ↑ Also after John Ferguson, loc. cit., he died in 1595 of injuries sustained while attempting to abseil out of prison.
  6. ^ According to John Ferguson translations from the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Kelley, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Talbot, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English alchemist
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1555
PLACE OF BIRTH Worcester
DATE OF DEATH 1597