You're listening to the fourth and final part of Unexplained, Season seven, episode eighteen, A Dance with Mister d John d stood by the barge's rail as it drifted slowly around a bend in the River Thames, soaking up a last lingering view of his beloved Mortlake House and library. It was late September fifteen eighty three, and Dee, along with his wife Jane and their children, and his scrier Edward Kelly and his wife Joanna, was on his way
to Europe. It was hard to leave his home, and it wasn't just the books, rare artifacts and laboratory equipment he had to leave behind. The home contained significant and treasured memories. It was where his children were born, the Queen had visited him there, and it was where his mother had died. But more important than any of that, it was where he and Edward Kelly communed with angels,
and they were on a roll. Stopping now risked ruining all hope of completing his investigation of the angels and Nokian language and unlocking the secrets of the universe. For all he knew, leaving Mortlake could mean severing all contact with the other side, but In the end, D felt he had no choice, and Kelly was quick to reassure him that all would be well. Only a few months before, D and Kelly delivered news from the angels to post Prince Albert Laski that he would soon be crowned King
of Poland. Shortly after that, D received the dire warning from the spirit child Madimi that his life was in immediate danger. After telling Prince Laski all about it, the Prince, still glowing from his own more optimistic prophecy, proposed a solution. D should return with him to Poland, where he would look after him for the foreseeable future. And so one night, under cover of darkness, D and the rest of his
group took off from Mortlake with the Prince. They sailed through all of London, past its many mullioned windows, the Tower of London, and under the narrow arches of London Bridge, piled high with houses. The smell of smoke from chimneys drifted over the river, and sounds of laughter spilled from taverns before fading as the boat slipped away downstream. As night blended into dawn and a dull red sun rose
up over the horizon, they arrived at the coast. From there, the travelers boarded a faster vessel and set off in light winds towards the low countries of Europe, but the gentle weather didn't hold. By midnight, it had become so stormy their boat was driven back to England. Forced to abandon ship, Dee slipped and fell into the deep, stinking estuarine mud as he and the others made their way
to shore. Like the players in an ill fated Shakespearean drama, they waited four days for the storm to die down before reboarding the ship. On September twenty eighth, they finally reached mainland Europe, where they promptly hired wagons and set off for Poland. All safe and sound for now. John D's traveling party, minus Prince Laski, who had business to attend to elsewhere, made tortuously slow progress across Europe, but D was happy despite leaving England. The communications with the
angels continued unabated most nights. As they trekked deeper into the continent, D and Kelly consulted the spiritual beings. Some of Kelly's apparent visions were disturbing, however, including predictions that D's Mortlake home would burn to the ground, and that D's wife Jane would die horribly. Back in Mortlake, around the same time, a group of scholars broke into D's house.
They didn't burn it down, but they did ransack his library, taking hundreds of his most treasured books and other possessions. It didn't bode well for Jane, but Kelly also delivered to D what he described as the Kabbala of Nature, a long stream of so called divine data. D was ecstatic. It felt as though they were only months away from
discovering God's own blueprint for the universe. Day after day, the traveler's temporary lodging rooms were filled with the feverish scratchings of D's quill, racing to record Kelly's supposed transmissions. D would then spend more long hours collating them with his notes from previous seances in an attempt to assemble what he now saw as an apparent cosmic code that was coming from the Garden of Eden and written in the language of Adam, just one remove from God themself.
After five grueling months of travel, encountering floods, blizzards, and storms along the way, D's party arrived in Krakoff, the then capital city of Poland. For the while, Kelly continued to pour forth alleged angelic formulas, but then in mid April, Kelly announced he would cease communicating with the angels altogether. He became suddenly despondent and even discredited some of his own visions, claiming that malicious spirits were playing tricks on him.
One night, whilst crying with Kelly and Prince Laski, D received angelic instructions that he should go and see the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph the Second in Prague, but D was reluctant. All around him in Poland, violence had erupted in the streets when Polish military commander Samuel Sparrowsky, a popular member of the Polish nobility and affiliate of Prince Laski's, was executed. Barovsky had been accused of plotting to kill
the King of Poland, Stephan Barttori. D was beginning to wander if his own association with Prince Laski, who had ambitions to take the throne, put him and his family's lives in danger. Then D's son Rowland, fell gravely ill and almost died a few days later, as D and Kelly conducted another seance, Kelly claimed to receive an angry message from the angels. They said that D's son's illness was a punishment for not heeding their original command, and so on the first of August fifteen eighty, D and
Kelly set out for Prague. On arrival in Prague, the capital of what was then Bohemia and the larger Holy Roman Empire, its medieval streets intrigued D and Kelly. It was a city bursting with classic Bohemian charm, the buildings covered with mysterious stone carvings, their walls painted with strange dioramas. Taverns with names like the Unicorn, the Blue Star, and
the Vulture lined the endless labyrinthine alleyways. They soon found lodgings with the Emperor Rudolph's physician, the Dais Hyak, who also happened to be Central Europe's foremost astronomer. D hit it off with Hyek immediately, who invited him and Kelly to use his study to continue their scrying. Those seances produced a series of intense apocalyptic visions. The spirit Medimi appeared once more with another dire warning for D. Satan himself was intent on destroying him and his family if
they didn't relocate to Prague immediately. She also told him that he must tell the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph the Second that an angel of the Lord had rebuked him for his sins. Doing such a thing would risk the wrath and outrage of one of the most powerful people in the world, but with the recent near fatal illness of his son still fresh in his mind, D felt he had no choice but to oblige or else risk further retribution from the angels, and so after some careful
worded letters, D secured an audience with the emperor. After being met by his chamberlain, a nervous and trembling D was led through the twists and turns of the emperor's elaborate palace. Much like Kublai Khan's stately pleasuredome, it was a place of wonders, full of curiosities, including narwal bones, a mandrake root in the shape of a man, the dried remains of a dragon, along with works of fine art,
and an extensive library. The emperor even had an African lion that he kept outside, whose roars echoed across the palace precincts all day long. Finally, D was led into the Emperor's inner sanctum, where he found Rudolph waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, he delivered the unpalatable message. Just as the angels had demanded my grace, the angel of the Lord Hath appeared to me and rebuked you for
your sins. He said, if you'll forsake your wickedness and turn into him, your seat shall be the greatest that ever was. The entire court was stunned by his impertinence. The Emperor stared at Dee in silence as D's forehead began to beat with sweat. Rudolph was a stout man who looked even larger in his padded doublet and pantaloons. Though D didn't know this, it was said that he had a succession of mistresses, several illegitimate children, affairs with
his head butler, and several of his valets. Perhaps it was all that that played on his mind during those endless seconds of silence, for rather than get angry, he agreed that on balance, the rebuke was probably deserved and that atonement was needed. D was enthusiastically accepted into the Emperor's court circle, and the Emperor offered to do whatever he could to support him financially. After a few months in Prague, D and Kelly returned to Krakoff, where they
resumed their seances with the Angels. Germanico Maluspina, an ambassador for the Pope, arrived in the city about the same time. Malaspina saw D and Kelly at best as inconvenient foreigners, but at worst a dangerous influence on the Holy Roman Emperor's court. In May fifteen eighty five, D learned that Malaspina had presented Emperor Rudolph with evidence that D had been involved in necromancy and other prohibited arts. The following day, D received a decree he'd been banished by Rudolph from
all of Bohemia. Luckily, the banishment didn't last long. After four months hauled up in Germany, D and Kelly were permitted to return to Bohemia, after which they were invited to stay at Trebonne Castle, one hundred miles south of Prague, home of Villam Rosenberg, Bohemia's most powerful and wealthy nobleman and one of Europe's most enthusiastic patrons of al chemical research.
The Renaissance style castle boasted tall white walls, numerous towers and turrets, and sat in the middle of lush meadows and fish ponds. And from the back of it, thick plumes of black smoke rose up into the air, come from several silver mines that Rosenburg had opened after vast quantities of the precious metal were discovered on his land. The mines were making Rosenburg rich, but he wanted more.
With the help of John d Edward Kelly, and the supposed angels, Rosenburg embarked on a systematic alchemical quest to turn base metals into gold. Rosenburg built a laboratory for the two men, who spent the next few years pursuing this quest. For months, d and Kelly worked together, experimenting with all manner of formulations, involving combinations of salts, rare earths,
horse manure, and even menstrual blood. At some point, Kelly revealed to D that, with the help of the angels, he'd finally cracked the secret of the Philosopher's He called D over to his station so he could witness it for himself. D watched as Kelly took a small pinch of an unidentified red powder, supposedly a portion of the Philosopher's stone, then dropped it into a crucible containing one
and a quarter ounces of mercury. D watched wide eyed as the elements began to melt and fuse together, until a dull yellow substance began to form liquid gold. From that day forward, everything had changed. Rumors of Kelly's alchemical prowess spread fast. By the time this story had reached the English court, it was said that one ounce of Kelly's magic powder could produce almost two hundred and eighty thousand ounces of gold. Edward Kelly acted fast on capitalizing
on his apparent alchemical skills. His wealth and fame began to grow, while his reliance on John d began to diminish. In early fifteen eighty seven, Kelly told D that he'd received word from the angels that his scrying powers were no longer needed, and that they'd passed them on to
D's seven year old son, Arthur instead. A little confused by the sudden turn of events, D nonetheless persevered with Arthur, but after two weeks it was clear that his young son hadn't been endowed with any kind of supernatural talent. At all. D pleaded for Kelly to return, much to his delight, two weeks later he did. It was only a few days after that that D and Kelly were once more gathered around a crystal ball under candlelight. After a series of incantations, Kelly claimed to see the young
child figure of Medemi appear again in the glass. The girl was wearing a cloak he sat, and she was pulling it to one side, revealing a naked body underneath. Then she began to speak. D hurriedly wrote it down as Kelly relayed her message, he who commits adultery because of me, let him be blessed for eternity and receive the heavenly prize. Kelly appeared repulsed by the instruction and
what had it meant exactly anyway? Adultery with whom D and Kelly agreed to forget it, But as the seances continued, the supposed Medeemi he continue to deliver the same message in varying formats. In a later session, Kelly claimed to see the heads of himself and his wife Joanna, and D and his wife Jane on some kind of pillar while Medemi performed a ceremony involving the grafting of tree branches together. He told D that this indicated that the
four of them were to be similarly united. D nodded cautiously, Perhaps, he wondered it meant they were to be united in a godly Christian sense, but Kelly was adamant Medeemi was in fact suggesting that they have sex with each other's wives. With his complete trust in Edward Kelly and the words of the Angels, John D relayed this latest instruction to his wife. Jane was utterly appalled and flat out refused,
believing that something must have been lost in translation. Later that night, while D and Kelly conducted another seance, Kelly once again made contact with Medemi. His mouth dropped in horror. What is it, asked D. Kelly turned to D and explained sombrely that Medemi had just informed him that both England and Queen Elizabeth would be destroyed, and that D would be pursued by the Catholic Church for heresy if
they didn't carry out the adulterous ceremony as instructed. It was some time around two in the morning when John D broke the news to Jane. Jane shook uncontrollably and wept loudly, berating her husband for his unconscionable demand. Meanwhile, in Kelly's bedchamber, his wife, Joanna was similarly outraged. Kelly had married Joanna Cooper during the early days of his tenure in D's Mortlake house. Around the spring of fifteen
eighty three. There was speculation that Kelly had been paid to marry her to legitimize her two children, which had been borne out of wedlock as the result of an affair with an aristocrat. Joanna was repulsed by what was being asked of her. In the early hours of that morning, Jane did as she was asked, turning to D before leaving her bedroom to say, I trust that God will absolve me of any shame or inconvenience, and so Jane and Kelly a lot with D and Joanna at sex
in their separate chambers. A few days later, Kelly and D summoned the spirits once more. This time, according to Kelly, a number of figures appeared on horseback. Kelly said that one of the figures wanted confirmation that he had indeed slept with D's wife as requested, was thy brother's wife obedient and humble to thee they asked. Kelly turned to D. Yes, yes she was. This would be the last recorded scrying
session that D and Kelly would ever conduct. Unsurprisingly, a rift developed between the two men, which only deepened when nine months later, Jane gave birth to a baby boy. D raised the sun as his own and ever once mentioned the child's paternity in his writings, though many suspect the boy was not his. In February fifteen eighty nine, the pair agreed to part ways without Kelly. D search for the truths of the universe ground to an immediate halt.
A distraught D and his family left Bohemia and returned to England, arriving back at Mortlake in November of that year, it was a sad homecoming. D arrived to find his house in disarray, with many of his most cherished possessions,
from books to precious artifacts stolen. In the meantime, Edward Kelly made his way to Prague within a year, Capitalizing on his alleged ability to transmute base metals into gold, he acquired lands with a castle and nine villages, as well as two houses in Prague and became a baron In the process, he even reputedly turned part of a bedpan into gold as a present for Queen Elizabeth the First.
Anxious to secure Kelly's apparent talents for the English crown, the Queen's key adviser, William Cecil, implored him to return to England with promises of money and lands as a lure, but Kelly declined the offer. By May fifteen ninety one, doubts were starting to circulate about the veracity of Kelly's self proclaimed abilities. At the end of April, Bohemia's Secretary of State called at Kelly's house in Prague to arrest him, but Kelly, having seen him coming, climbed out of a
back window and escaped. The Emperor Rudolph was incensed and sent out troops to apprehend him. He was eventually captured and imprisoned before being released in the autumn of fifteen ninety three. Back in England, D once again petitioned Queen Elizabeth for a role in her court. Much to his relief, she offered him one, but only if it was approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England. Given D's sinister reputation for dabbling in the occult,
the archbishop refused. Instead, keen to get d away from London and the Queen, the archbishop set him up with a job in Manchester, where he was installed as the warden or head of Christ College Church known today as Manchester Cathedral. D was not a good fit for Christ's College, jarring immediately with the faculty, who took a dim view of his occult practices. However, this didn't stop several priests
asking De for his help. When in early fifteen ninety five, a report was received regarding the unusual behavior of two children near Tildesley in Lancashire. The children were thought to be possessed. A man called Edmund Hartley, who some believed was a witch, was asked to assist with the matter. With the use of some herbs and Catholic charms, Hartley had apparently cured the children, only for their strange affliction to return again soon after when the children's father, a
wealthy landowner, asked Hartley to intervene again. Hartley asked for more money and some land in return, but the father refused. When the children's condition were soon after, Hartley was accused of somehow being responsible. Now as a representative of the Church of England who were trying to suppress exorcists. John D wisely declined the offer to get involved. Hartley was
accused of being a conjurer and execute it. You can learn more about this story in Unexplained Season five, episode fourteen, The Devil's Kiss. Over the next few years, D became increasingly miserable. The world was changing once more and fast, leaving him behind. A new age was dawning as the English Crown sought to expand its reach, first through colonizing island and then with the establishing of its first colony
in the New World on the island of Roanoke. With the defeat of the Spanish Armada in fifteen eighty eight, England's global power and influence would be assured for centuries to come. And though D, with his predictions and assurances to Queen Elizabeth not to mention his genuine talent for maths and cartography, had in some ways contributed to all that,
it was clear he was no longer needed. Not only that many of the Old Guard, including his friends and supporters, were dead or soon to die, And in sixteen oh three, perhaps his most fervent Queen Elizabeth the First also died. It isn't known exactly what happened to Edward Kelly in the last few years of his life. Some said he found renewed favour with Emperor Rudolph in Bohemia, Others that he fought against the Ottoman Empire for Villain Rosenberg's brother.
Another story was that Kelly was imprisoned again after a dispute with an influential alchemist, Having then apparently attempted to escape his cell by tying bed sheets together, he fell from a great height, breaking both his legs. No one is sure when or how Kelly eventually died, only that the last reliable report of him alive was in fifteen ninety eight, living somewhere in what is now the Czech Republic, while Polish Prince ol Brachtlaski never did become King of Poland.
In sixteen o five, John d was still in Manchester when the city was hit by the plague, as apparently foretold by the Angels or those years before. Dee's wife Jane, and several of their children were infected and died horribly Soon after, d and his surviving children returned to his home at Mortlake on the River Thames, where he spent
his final years in relative obscurity. In March sixteen o seven, nearly ten years since his last sessions with Edward Kelly, D made one final attempt to recapture some of the angelic visions of old and finally learned the knowledge he'd spent most of his life searching for. He used his former servant Bartholomew Hickman as a schrier, but the visions they obtained were only pale imitations of what D had
once experienced. However, the angel Raphael did apparently reassure D that he would soon finally achieve a perfect understanding of God's hidden knowledge. A few years at the age of eighty one, John D died. Perhaps only then did he finally find what he was looking for. John D was buried beneath the chancel in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin at Mortlake. The headstone is long gone, but in twenty thirteen a memorial plaque was installed inside the church.
It reads, Near this place lie the remains of John D. Clark in Holy Orders, astronomer, geographer, mathematician and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. There is no mention of magic, alchemy and astrology, or all his years spent trying does some believe,
with some success, to commune with angels. There are unsubstantiated rumors that towards the end of his life I D put some of his most precious books and notes of angelic code in a chest and buried it in his garden, in the hope that they might one day be discovered and finally decoded. Some say these books were found, others that they have long been lost to time, and some
say they never existed at all. However, many of D's treasured books, astrological charts, and perhaps more intriguingly, recordings of the apparent Andnochian language of the angels can still be found to this day in places such as the British Library and the Royal College of Physicians in London. A number of his artifacts, including a crystal ball and an obsidian scrying mirror with which he and Edward Kelly are said to have once communicated with angels and spirits, can
also be found at the British Museum. This episode was written by Diane Hope and Richard McLain Smith. Unexplained is an Avy club Productions podcast created by Richard McClain smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook with the stories never before featured on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon,
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