Master Benedict

Early Life Born in 1610, Benedict Blackthorn was the apprentice to Allen Wade, who was once the apprentice to the famous John Parkinson, King James I's apothecary and the founder of the London Apothecary Guild. Blackthorn kept several journals throughout his life, dating back to when he was a fourteen year-old apprentice himself in 1624.

As an apothecary, Blackthorn is not only familiar with ingredients and recipes, but also codes. As said by Christopher Rowe, he hides 'puzzles inside of puzzles', 'codes within codes', and 'secrets within secrets'. Master Benedict is fond of books and he often passes on that knowledge to his apprentice. He was also fond of puzzles, codes, and ciphers, making his apprentices and himself very good at solving them.

Apprenticeships

After becoming a master near 1636, Blackthorn kept four apprentices throughout his life-a boy named George Staple, who later died from plague, Hugh Coggshall, who later became his friend; Peter Hyde, who was rumoured to have a 'descent into darkness'; and Christopher Rowe, his last and favourite apprentice.

The Blackthorn Key

Master Benedict is a kind and gentle man, unlike other masters that hit and punish their apprentices. He was fascinated by the sawdust Christopher used to clean up the mess and later uses that to stabilize the Archangel's Fire. He hit Christopher once to throw Wat off his tracks. He later uses lemon juice to write a secret message for Christopher, which basically told him where the secret lab was. Christopher, when made aware of that fact, rigged the room with traps, which successfully killed many members of the Cult of the Archangel.

Puzzle Cube

Master Benedict gave Christopher a box that required mercury, a.k.a quicksilver, to unlock it, Christopher used that general idea later to unlock the secret workshop.

Master Benedict is fond of books and he often passes on that knowledge to his apprentice. He was also fond of puzzles, codes, and ciphers, making his apprentices and himself very good at solving them.

Personality

Master Benedict was characterized by great kindness and helpfulness, always believing that these qualities should be present in a pharmacist. He combined his kindness with incredible patience, for it is very difficult to have such an explosive pupil as Christopher, and to strike him only once (and that not out of anger, but out of necessity), while trying to instill good in him by example. Honesty is one of Benedict's key qualities, and he has survived many plague outbreaks, but unlike his colleague Nathaniel Stubb, he has never peddled false goods.

Benedict Blackthorne is an incredibly religious man. He has devoted his entire life to the study of nature, “without burdening his family with a man who would not be around all the time,” which suggests that he is perpetually lonely and introverted by nature. He is modest and does not like politics. He so had a narrow circle of friends.He devoted himself to uncovering the hidden secrets and was able to sacrifice himself by dying for them (poisoning himself with maddaple so as not to give away anything about the Archangel Fire).

Benedict's positive and at the same time negative trait is his integrity. He was not afraid to say everything to a person of any status in person and because of this it is likely that he could make enemies in the face of the nobility, even foreign ones.

Christopher Rowe

Benedict's favourite apprentice is Christopher, who he's kept for 3 years from the age of 11. Even though Christopher is inquisitive and occasionally explosive, Benedict was very patient with him and never scolded or hit him (with the exception of once). Unlike Peter, Christopher was very kind-hearted and understanding. So even though he had vowed not to take on any apprentices after Peter, he took Christopher on. He trusted him from the beginning.