John Stacy (alchemist)

John Stacy (d. 1477) was a prominent 15th-century alchemist,[1] alleged astronomer and magnus necromanticus, or great sorcerer. In his time, it was believed he had successfully predicted the death of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk. He was later implicated in a conspiracy against Edward IV, the king of England, and executed for treason.

Prediction of the death of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk

Contemporaries suspected him of practising the dark arts,[2] and it was known he had predicted the death of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk.[2] Stacy had warned Suffolk to beware of "the tower".[3] Writing to John Paston in 1450, William Lomner reported how Stacy had advised Suffolk that "if he might escape the danger of the Tower, he should be safe".[4] Suffolk, impeached in 1450 was therefore relieved that, instead of being sent to the Tower, he was exiled. But when he sailed from England, his ship was boarded by a privateer; he was murdered and his body dumped near Dover. The name of the ship that had attacked his own was Nicholas of the Tower.[5][4]

Accused of treason and executed

Stacy was implicated in a treasonable conspiracy against Edward IV of England in 1477. Under acerrimum examen, literally, 'severe examination' (i.e., torture)[6][7]—he implicated Thomas Burdet of Arowe,[8] a retainer of George, Duke of Clarence household.[9] Following Stacy's confession, Burdet and another Oxford clerk, Thomas Blake, were arrested. The commission condemned all three.[8] In what the historian Charles Ross has called a "staged political trial",[10] and what his wife has called a "justly conducted, if political, trial", on 10 May 1477[11] they were found guilty of "'imagining and compassing' the king's death".[12] This was high treason.[13] Blake was reprieved after a petition from the Bishop of Norwich,[14] but Burdet and Stacy, still protesting their innocence, were taken to Tyburn the following day and hanged, drawn and quartered.[15][11]

The medical historian Jonathan Hughes argues that Stacy's involvement in the events of 1477 indicate how "infiltration of black magic into the affairs of state" was unprecedented.[16]

References

1. Hughes 2002, p. 289.
2. Saunders 2010, p. 76.
3. Kittredge 1929, p. 139.
4. Gairdner 2010, p. 147.
5. Bartlett 2020, pp. 346–347.
6. Kelly 2001, p. 231.
7. Kittredge 1929, p. 138.
8. Scofield 1967, p. 188.
9. Cook 2014, p. 40.
10. Ross 1974, p. 241.
11. Scofield 1967, p. 189.
12. Given-Wilson et al. 2005.
13. Crawford 2007, p. 100.
14. Young 2022, p. 133.
15. Lander 1967, p. 6.
16. Hughes 2002, p. 290.

Bibliography

• Bartlett, R. (2020). Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-10849-067-2.
• Cook, D. R. (2014). Lancastrians and Yorkists: The Wars of the Roses (repr. ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31788-097-4.
• Crawford, A. (2007). The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty. London: Hambledon. ISBN 978-1-84725-197-8.
• Gairdner, J. (2010) [1904]. The Paston Letters: 1422-1509. Vol. II (New Library (repr.) ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-51171-648-5.
• Given-Wilson, C.; Brand, P.; Phillips, S.; Ormrod, M.; Martin, G.; Curry, A.; Horrox, R., eds. (2005). "Introduction: Edward IV: January 1478". British History Online. Parliament Rolls of Medieval England. Woodbridge. Archived from the original on 11 January 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
• Hughes, J. (2002). Arthurian Myths and Alchemy: The Kingship of Edward IV. Stroud: Sutton. ISBN 978-0-75091-994-4.
• Kelly, H. A. (2001). Inquisitions and Other Trial Procedures in the Medieval West. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-04024-281-0.
• Kittredge, G. L. (1929). Witchcraft in Old and New England. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. OCLC 1544433.
• Lander, J. R. (1967). "The Treason and Death of the Duke of Clarence: A Re-Interpretation". Canadian Journal of History. 2 (2): 1–28. doi:10.3138/cjh.2 (inactive 24 January 2025).
• Ross, C. D. (1974). Edward IV. Berkeley: University of California Press. OCLC 1259845.
• Saunders, C. J. (2010). Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-221-7.
• Scofield, C. L. (1967). The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth, King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland. Vol. II (New impr. ed.). London: Cass. OCLC 310646653.
• Young, F. (2022). Magic in Merlin's Realm: A History of Occult Politics in Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-31651-240-1.