near
Duffield, where Kranich erected a
watermill for his lead mining operations in 1554 Kranich's surname is spelled variously in extant documents; contemporary spellings include Cranye, Cranach, Cranicke, Cranegh, Craneigh, Craneighe, Craunighe and Kranyke. He is also referred to in some documents as 'Burchard', as though it were his surname, and later as 'Doctor Burcot'. He is said to have been born in southern Germany, and according to Bennell his surname suggests that he came from
Kronach in upper
Franconia near the
Ore Mountains, a mining area. He came to England during the reign of
Mary I, and is first heard of in the State Papers on 3 June 1553 ('The suit of Burghard touching the mines'). According to Wallis he was perhaps a Catholic attempting to avoid the vicissitudes of the
Protestant Reformation on the continent. On 29 May 1554 he was given licence for twenty years to 'mine, break open ground, melt, divide (i.e. separate metals) and search for all manner of metals' in accordance with an indenture which he had entered into on 18 May of that year. The grant included a prohibition preventing others from making use of his methods for a six-year period. He initially worked at
Makeney in Derbyshire, where he erected a
watermill on the opposite bank to Milford, close to the current bridge, north of
Duffield, and built a
smeltmill, the first of its kind, to extract lead from ore obtained at Burrel Edge, that is Barrel Edge at
Wirksworth, where the Godbehere lead vein runs below Black Rocks and Barrel Edge, close to the Roman road which runs from
Wirksworth to Milford via the Chevin. Depositions taken in 1582 state that he left Derbyshire in 1554, having heard of better mining opportunities in
Cornwall and
Devon. In Cornwall he rented the former
Benedictine priory of St Cyric and St Juliett near
St Veep, and at a cost of £300 converted a 14th-century flour mill at nearby
Lerryn to a smelting house for silver-bearing ore. To finance the enterprise he was granted a loan by the
Duchy of Cornwall. In 1557 John Trelawny, John Tredeneck and Thomas Treffry were directed to take charge of the mines Kranich had discovered, and the
Duchy of Cornwall advanced a loan of £600 to finance the enterprise. Although considerable lead was produced, the anticipated production of copper and silver did not materialise. The lead was sent to Treffry, who died in 1563, at which time it passed into the hands of his son, John, who refused to deliver it to Carnsew and Tredeneck, who had taken over the mines and were responsible for repayment of the loan. The outcome of a
Chancery suit for recovery of the lead is not known. At some point Kranich is said to have been arrested for debt, and imprisoned in the
Marshalsea in London, perhaps in connection with this loan. During his years in Cornwall, Lewis credits Kranich with introducing useful innovations at
Sir Francis Godolphin's tin works, among them the
hydraulic stamp mill and improved methods of dressing ore, as well as the use of
charcoal as fuel for smelting instead of the traditional
peat. However Lewis also allows for the possibility that these innovations should be credited to Daniel Hoechstetter.
Richard Carew, on the other hand, mentions the 'rubble of certain mines and remains of a fining house' which demonstrate Kranich's 'vain endeavour in seeking of silver ore' in Cornwall. After Kranich had left Cornwall, a 16-page memorandum was prepared by
William Carnsew Among the matters covered in the memorandum were 'the many disputes and arguments Kranich had with his sponsors'. According to Wallis, Kranich's mining enterprises in the
West Country were ultimately a failure, and he moved to London. On 14 June 1561 Kranich was granted
denization by
Elizabeth I. In London he practised medicine, and became known as 'Dr Burcot'. His abilities as a physician were well thought of by some, including John Somers, who wrote from court to
Sir Nicholas Throckmorton on 29 August 1562 that
'My Lady Marquis' was seriously ill with
jaundice, and that although some physicians had despaired of her, 'Burcot, the Dutchman, at a pinch is like to do some good if he may be suffered'. In October 1562 the Queen was stricken with
smallpox, and several modern sources state that she was cured by Kranich. The story runs that Kranich was summoned when the Queen first fell ill on 10 October. Kranich diagnosed smallpox, whereupon she 'dismissed him as a fool'. However, by 16 October she was so grievously ill that she lapsed into unconsciousness, giving rise to alarmed talk among her councillors of the succession.
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, is said to have forced Kranich, 'some said at the point of a dagger', to resume his treatment of the Queen. Kranich ordered that she be given a potion he had devised, and be wrapped in red flannel and placed close to the fire. Within two hours the Queen is said to have regained consciousness. According to Foot, she rewarded Kranich with a grant which was stopped by
Sir William Cecil; however other sources note that in 1562 he was given 100 marks. Doubt has been cast on this story, however. Bennell terms the tale that Hundson threatened Kranich with a dagger 'a later invention', and Brooks notes that the ultimate source of the story of Kranich's cure of the Queen is the memoirs of
Sir Richard Carew, son of the author of
The Survey of Cornwall (1602). Carew, writing after 1628, recalled a dinner at his father's home in 1601 or thereabouts at which his father and three other kinsmen of his recounted stories about Kranich, including his treatment of the Queen's smallpox. But Erickson notes that there are 'major discrepancies' between Carew's account, written decades after the fact, and the Spanish ambassador
De Quadra's dispatches at the time; she concludes that while it is possible that Burcot treated the Queen for smallpox, Carew's narrative cannot be accepted as accurate. John Nettleton also recorded that Kranich was sent by the Queen to treat Elizabeth Plantagenet (d.1569), the daughter of
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, in her final illness. Kranich is said to have collaborated with
Christopher Schutz in developing the use of
calamine lotion in the treatment of burns from the furnaces used in smelting. On 22 June 1563 he was given license for twenty years to make engines 'for the draining of waters' according to a new design he had lately perfected. His licence was similar to an earlier grant to John Medley, but Kranich was given additional powers involving drainage in old and abandoned mines. ==Final years==