English scholar/
mystic/
conman (1527-1608). As a
student at
St. John's College,
Cambridge, Dee was a
talented student, easily
learning a number of diverse subjects, including
classical languages,
mathematics, and
astronomy. While at
Cambridge, he gained a
reputation as a
magician because of the
special effects that he devised for a
play. At the age of 20, he began traveling in
Europe, studying and teaching at various universities. He began to call himself "
Doctor" John Dee, though no one knows if he really earned the
title.
After returning to
England in 1551, he spent the next 30 years as a
tutor to members of the
aristocracy. He became
wealthy and
famous, and began writing and consulting on a variety of topics:
astronomy,
navigation,
cryptography,
calendar reform,
antiquarianism, and England's
historical claims to an
empire (in fact, he
coined the terms "the
British Empire" and "
Britannia").
Dee's reputation as a
sorceror grew. He studied
astrology,
Gnosticism, and the
metaphysics of
Hermes Trismegistus. He was
consulted when a
witch's
poppet of
Queen Elizabeth was discovered. He tried to call up
angels, with the assistance of
Edmund Kelley, a
medium. Kelley would hold
seances and relay
angelic conversations in a language called "
Enochian," which Dee believed was the
ancient language of the
angels. Dee and Kelley went to
Krakow in the service of a
pretender to the
Polish throne, but soon enough, Kelley revealed himself as a
fraud and
hoaxer, and Dee returned to
England alone. Upon reaching England, Dee was
heartbroken to discover that his
home and
library had been
looted by a
mob.
Dee continued to seek
profitable positions with the
aristocracy, but after
James I, a man who greatly
feared
witchcraft and
magic, came to the throne, Dee fell out of
favor and ended his days in
genteel poverty.
It is still not known for sure if Dee was a
conman or just
gullible (or, if you listen to some
occultists, right on the money). At any rate, his
influence was fairly
profound: he promoted
mathematical education, he virtually
invented
British Imperialism, and
William Shakespeare used him as the
model for
Prospero in "
The Tempest."
Research from GURPS Who's Who, compiled by Phil Masters, "John Dee" by Michael Cule, pp. 68-69.Additional Info from
Grzcyrgba:
Your bio of John Dee is interesting, though it seems a wee bit biased toward his occult leanings. What we could now consider "occult" and what we could consider "science" were freely interchangeable back then (even Newton was a devoted alchemist). I'm
reading Dee's bio at St. Andrews' website (www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathem aticians/dee.html) and they make the hilarious/frightening note that performing mathematics was actually a crime in England at the time -- it was considered sorcery! A humble suggestion for one tidbit you might add: Dee edited the first English translation of Euclid's Elements, in 1570, and wrote the introduction which is probably his most famous work.