p-espionage-msg - 2/1/02

Information on period espionage.

NOTE: See also the files: cryptography-msg, poisons-art, poisons-msg, med-law-art.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 00:24:19 -0800
From: Brett and Karen Williams <brettwi at ix.netcom.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Espionage

Sean Winchell wrote:
> I am currently searching for information on period espionage. I am unable to
> locate any outside of what I already have. Does anybody out there have any I
> dea where i can get my hands on period material, without having to write the
> CIA.

Sir Francis Walsingham had an extensive espionage network he funded out
of his own pocket-- nigh to bankruptcy-- to serve Elizabeth I. He was
the ringleader of the scheme that set up the fall of Mary, Queen of
Scots.

How many languages do you read? ;)

There is a relatively recent book out on the murder/possible
politically-motivated espionage assassination of Christopher Marlowe in
the 1590's.  While this is very late period, the bibliography of this
book would be a very valuable resource to hunt for information on this
subject.

The Reckoning : The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
                            by Charles Nicholl
                            Paperback, 413 pages
                            Published by Univ of Chicago Pr (Trd)
                            Publication date: August 1995
                            ISBN: 0226580245

I have read this one, and it was fascinating.

You might also want to try:

A Dead Man in Deptford
                            by Anthony Burgess
                            Paperback, 288 pages
                            Published by Carroll & Graf
                            ISBN: 0786703210

which either seems to be considered either fascinating or deadly dull,
no middle ground, or:

Entered from the Sun : The Murder of Marlowe
                            by George P. Garrett
                            Reprint Edition
                            Paperback, 349 pages
                            Published by Harcourt Brace
                            ISBN: 0156287951

The Slicing Edge of Death
                            by Judith Cook
                            Published by St Martins Pr (Trade)
                            Publication date: October 1993
                            ISBN: 0312100116

Incidentally, the latter three are historical fiction, the first is
biography with quite a bit of plausible speculation. I have only read
the first so I cannot comment on the possibility of a bibliography or
critical thought on the latter three.

ciorstan


Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 05:53:33 -0600 (CST)
From: "J. Patrick Hughes" <jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
To: sca-arts at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Espionage

You might look into Elizabeathan spying practice as she was notorious for
her network of spies and informants.  Slightly out of period is Father
Joseph who was the spy master for Richilue (sp). By the end of period most
of the great powers and many of the minor ones were using spies.

Charles O'Connor


From: clevin at ripco.com (Craig Levin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Medieval Spies
Date: 16 Sep 1999 15:53:51 GMT
Organization: Ripco Internet, Chicago

Camber  <nono at none.com> wrote:
>Can any of you out there direct me to any sources on medieval spies and
>espionage during period.

Have you tried Mattingly's _Renaissance_ _Diplomacy_?

By and large, espionage wouldn't have worked as well as it does
in today's world of centralized governments and swift
communications, methinks. In a world in which it was possible for
the greater vassals of a king to conduct their affairs as if they
were independent powers (and I don't just mean in the Holy Roman
Empire-consider, during the Hundred Years War, the behavior of
the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany) and in which military forces
of a considerable size could be beholden to nobody but the
Almighty Florin (for example, the condottieri in northern Italy
or the ecorcheurs in France), espionage has got to be really
spread out and spread thin, operating on a theater level (as a
hypothetical example, a commander answerable to the king of
England might have a few people in the camp of his counterpart
answerable to the king of France on his payroll).

On the other hand, certain people would have done pretty well in
that sort of situation. I believe somebody has mentioned peddlers
as possible spies. Also, heralds, in many of their official
capacities, would have picked up plenty of useful information,
which they could then relay to their patrons.

Dom Pedro de Alcazar
Barony of Storvik, Atlantia
Drakkar Pursuivant
Argent a tower purpure between 3 bunches of grapes proper

<the end>
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