An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

542. Elizabeth I’s Sorcerer: Angels and Demons in Renaissance Europe

February 24, 2025

Description

In Tudor England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, there lived in the very heart of her court a magician, alchemist and polymath, bent upon conversing with the angels of heaven and other...
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Books Referenced

All Souls Trilogy

Author: Deborah Harkness

Context:

Referenced as the book series that the TV drama 'A Discovery of Witches' is based on, which features Dr. John Dee as a character

The Arch Conjurer of England

Author: Glyn Parry

Context:

Described as 'probably the definitive biography of Dee' and quoted regarding Elizabeth's acceptance of Dee's suggestions about her cosmic destiny

Magic in Merlin's Realm: A History of Occult Politics in Britain

Author: Francis Young

Context:

Referenced when discussing the Protestant accusation that Catholic priests were conjurers, with Francis Young noted as a 'friend of the show' who appeared on the podcast

The Queen's Conjuror

Author: Benjamin Woolley

Context:

Described as a biography of Dee, quoted regarding how new cartography of the world would have been as startling to 16th century eyes as photographs of Earth from space

Fox's Book of Martyrs

Author: John Foxe

Context:

Referenced as 'the great volume recounting the Marian persecution of Protestants' in which Dee appears and is referred to as 'the great conjurer'

Holinshed's Chronicles

Author: Holinshed

Context:

Referenced as the historical accounts that 'inspire so many of Shakespeare's plays' when describing Count Lasky's famous beard

The Fairy Queen

Author: Edmund Spencer

Context:

Described as 'a great allegorical portrait of the Elizabethan period' containing what is 'almost certainly a portrait of Dr. Dee' as a wise wizard figure