In London in 1583, the mathematician John Dee and the seer Edward Kelly began summoning up a succession of spirits, who instructed them in the secrets of the universe and warned them of imminent apocalyptic change. Attaching themselves to the visiting Polish Count Laski, they set off for Europe, taking with them a mysterious alchemical elixir discovered in the Cotswolds. When Laski went bankrupt, they sought out the Emperor Rudolph in Prague and King Stephen in Krakow. Expelled from the Empire for necromancy, they settled under the protection of Count Rozmberk in Southern Bohemia, successfully transmuted gold and, on instruction from the spirits, exchanged wives. Queen Elizabeth summoned them back to England to share their alchemical expertise and sent the poet Edward Dyer to collect them.