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5 Death of the Hartlib Circle and Birth of the Royal Society (1658–67)
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Published:May 2021
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Abstract
Lady Ranelagh remained involved in the Hartlib Circle's correspondence on science until the end of the Commonwealth. Her transmutation history of famed alchemist Dr. Butler gained international circulation and reached John Winthrop Jr. in the American colonies. She expressed disappointment after Cromwell's death and advocated for educational reform. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, the Hartlib Circle dissolved. Though Boyle was a founding fellow of the new Royal Society, Ranelagh did not receive a nomination, in part because she was a woman. However, many other politically motivated members of the Hartlib Circle, such as Benjamin Worsley, John Dury, and Hartlib himself, also did not become fellows. Ranelagh turned her energies towards social improvement by advocating for nonconformists. Her old friend Edward Hyde became Earl of Clarendon under Charles II and enforced the Clarendon Code. Ranelagh worked with William Kiffin to appeal to Clarendon to free twelve Baptists who were imprisoned for dissent. Meanwhile, she also supported her brother Robert as he became more engaged in experimental philosophy. Boyle published some of Ranelagh's work, such as her chemical treatment for rickets using the ens veneris recipe, without using her name. Her life presents a contrast to Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle.
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