I must first acknowledge my debt to past and present scholars in the field of inquiry. The study has its origin in the provocative and inspirational work of Dame Frances Yates and could not have been carried out without the invaluable English translation of the Hermetica by Professor Brian Copenhaver. I am also grateful to Professor Wouter Hanegraaff for alerting me to the fact that Bishop Foix de Candale’s translation and commentary on Pymander is available in digitized form from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
I have been particularly grateful for the opportunity to audit lectures on Reformation Theology at the Adelaide College of Divinity and to present at conferences – such as ANZAMEMS in Wellington, New Zealand, and ESSWE in Erfurt, Germany – where the responses and suggestions of other delegates were always appreciated. Closer to home I have valued the interest, support and encouragement of friends over several years. I am especially grateful to my son Michael for technical help and for always making time to read and discuss the latest chapter. And my special thanks to Dr Helen Payne whose knowledge of Elizabethan and Stuart court life saved me from blunders, and to Dr David Hilliard for his knowledge of the period generally, and not least for his enthusiasm. Thanks are also due to Associate Professor Lucy Potter and to Professor Stephen Muecke. My greatest debt however is to the late Dr Heather Beviss Kerr whose positive approach and gift for asking penetrating questions helped shape the study in its early days. As a Shakespeare scholar, her knowledge of the field was invaluable. The loss of her scholarship, her insights, her warm encouragement and her wise advice generously and kindly given, is incalculable. Nevertheless, I acknowledge that whatever flaws remain in this monograph can only be laid at my door.
Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.