The first book to explore the importance of alchemy and its links to the occult in the period between 1320 and 1400. Alchemists didn't just try to turn metals into gold: they studied planetary influences on metals and people, refined plants and minerals in the search for medicines. This book illustrates how this branch of thought became more popular as the practical and theoretical knowledge of alchemists spread throughout England.

Jonathan Hughes has taught at the University of East Anglia, University of Roehampton and the Oxford Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He is a guest lecturer at the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism. His books include Pastors and Visionaries: Religion and Secular Life in Late Medieval Yorkshire; The Religious Life of Richard III and Arthurian Myths and Alchemy: the Kingship of Edward IV .