Alchemy and Cultures of Knowledge among Early Modern Women

• Published in: Early modern women Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 93 - 102
• Main Author: Hutton, Sarah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies 01.03.2021; The University of Chicago Press; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Causality; Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-1673); Early modern period; Knowledge; Philosophers; Philosophy; Women; Writing
• ISSN: 1933-0065; 2378-4776
• DOI: 10.1353/emw.2021.0029

In this essay, Hutton considers where alchemy sits in the spectrum of interests that make up women's knowledge in early modern Europe by considering evidence from a group of women whose work is not usually discussed in relation to alchemy: namely, philosophers. She shall examine the writings of Oliva Sabuco (b. 1562), Anne Conway (1631-1679), and Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) to discover what their philosophy reveals about their engagement with alchemy and other branches of knowledge, such as medicine and pharmacology. In so doing, she argues that women not only had practical knowledge in these areas, but also engaged with them at a theoretical level. In the remainder of this essay, I illustrate ways in which the philosophical writings of Oliva Sabuco, Margaret Cavendish, and Anne Conway testify to their knowledge of alchemical and medical theory. These were women who did think about causality in the natural world and who elaborated philosophical systems.