Her Majesty's Spymaster Read online

  Table of Contents

  A PLUME BOOK

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  1572: Murder in Paris

  Chapter 1 - AN ILL-FITTING SHOE

  Chapter 2 - LESS PERIL AS ENEMIES

  1532-72: Making of a Spymaster

  Chapter 3 - A PARTICULAR KIND OF GENTLEMAN

  Chapter 4 - THE QUEEN’S PERILOUS COURSE

  Chapter 5 - A MOST UNWELCOME GUEST

  1573-83: Mr. Secretary

  Chapter 6 - INTELLIGENCERS AND SCOUNDRELS

  Chapter 7 - ADVERSARIES AND MOLES

  1583-87: The Bosom Serpent

  Chapter 8 - THE THROCKMORTON PLOT

  Chapter 9 - LETTERS IN CIPHER

  Chapter 10 - THE FINAL ACT

  1584-90: War, at Last

  Chapter 11 - OLD FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

  Chapter 12 - A TRAITOR IN PARIS

  Chapter 13 - FOREARMED

  CHRONOLOGY

  NOTES ON SOURCES

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  A PLUME BOOK

  HER MAJESTY’S SPYMASTER

  STEPHEN BUDIANSKY, journalist and military historian, is the author of nine books about history, science, and nature. He publishes frequently in the New York Times and the Washington Post and currently serves as a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly.

  “Fascinating and superbly written. I know just the man who could revivify and unite our country’s floundering, sundered intelligence services. Unfortunately, he has been dead for 415 years. Walsingham was ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, William Casey, and James Angleton, not to mention the fictional George Smiley of MI6. We can learn from Walsingham, even if we cannot hire him.” —The Wall Street Journal

  “Does this bring to mind a certain masterful, discreet White House policy advisor, dubbed ‘the Architect’ by Bush? In this time of war, terrorism, and administration leaks, CIA-related and otherwise, it’s hard not to relate Tudor-era struggles over faith and empire to contemporary goings-on.” —Los Angeles Times

  “Racy. Tells the tale of Walsingham and his spies with all the bravura of a historical novelist. [Budiansky’s] accounts of events and personalities associated with Elizabethan espionage are full of suspense and melodrama.” —The Washington Post

  “Illuminates a new route to appreciating the distinct personality of England’s Elizabeth I and the exciting climate found at her court. In this vivid account, Walsingham emerges full-blown as a ‘strange and powerful combination’ of both Puritan and Renaissance man.”

  —Booklist (starred review)

  “Riveting. A satisfying and shrewd portrait of a key historical and very human figure. A historical study that makes us wish for more like it on subjects too often only glanced at.” —Kirkus Reviews

  A fresh look at the Virgin Queen’s reign. Even readers already well-versed in Elizabeth’s reign will find Budiansky’s new angles on a much-examined era enlightening.” —Publishers Weekly

  “I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Budiansky’s Her Majesty’s Spymaster, the incredible account of how Sir Francis Walsingham, the ruthlessly efficient spymaster for Queen Elizabeth I, put the intelligence industry on the modern map. Walsingham, the spiritual godfather of secret services around the globe, practically invented the indispensable trade-craft tools used today: covert operations, double agents, the theory and practice of disinformation, and code breaking. Must reading for amateurs of espionage fiction, not to mention the professional spooks themselves.” —Robert Littell, author of The Company

  OTHER BOOKS BY STEPHEN BUDIANSKY

  HISTORY

  Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas That Revolutionized War from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II

  Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II

  NATURAL HISTORY

  The Character of Cats

  The Truth About Dogs

  The Nature of Horses

  If a Lion Could Talk

  Nature’s Keepers

  The Covenant of the Wild

  FOR CHILDREN

  The World According to Horses

  PLUME

  Published by Penguin Group

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  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a Viking

  edition.

  First Plume Printing, July 2006

  Copyright © Stephen Budiansky, 2005

  All rights reserved

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  The Library of Congress has catalogued the Viking edition as follows:

  Budiansky, Stephen.

  Her majesty’s spymaster : Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the birth of modern

  espionage / Stephen Budiansky.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references.

  eISBN : 978-0-452-28747-1

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  To David Alvarez

  LIST OF NAMES

  Alençon, Francis, Duke of; Elizabeth’s suitor, later Duke of Anjou

  Allen, Dr. William, Cardinal; head of English Catholic seminary at Douai and Rheims

  Alva, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of; Spanish governor of Netherlands, 1567-1573

  Anjou, Henry, Duke of; suitor to Elizabeth, later Henry III, King of France

  Arran, James Stewart, Earl of; powerful courtier of James VI

  Babington, Anthony; Catholic conspirator, executed 1586

  Baillie, Charles; Mary’s courier, arrested at Dover 1571

  Beale, Robert; Walsingham’s secretary

  Berden, Nicholas; alias of Thomas Rogers, prison informer and spy

  Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of; third husband of Mary Queen of Scots

  Bruno, Giordano; lapsed Dominican friar, philosopher, possible spy

  Bu
rghley, William Cecil, 1st Baron; Privy Councilor, Principal Secretary, 1558-72, Lord Treasurer, 1572-98

  Camden, William; chronicler of Elizabeth’s reign

  Campion, Edmund; Jesuit missionary priest, executed 1581

  Catlyn, Maliverny; prison informer

  Cecil, Robert; son of William Cecil, named Principal Secretary 1596

  Charles IX; King of France, 1560-1574

  Châteauneuf, Claude de l’Aubespine, baron de; French Ambassador to England, 1585-1589

  Chérelles, Jean Arnault de; secretary to Mauvissière and later the French Council

  Cockyn, Henry; London bookseller, arrested for aiding Mary

  Coligny, Gaspard de, seigneur de Châtillon; Admiral of France, Huguenot leader, assassinated 1572

  Courcelles, Claude de; a secretary to Mauvissière

  Creighton, William; Scottish Jesuit and conspirator, arrested 1584

  Darnley, Henry Stuart, Earl of; second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, murdered 1567

  Davison, William; Walsingham’s assistant

  Drake, Sir Francis; voyager, vice-admiral against the Armada

  Edward VI; Elizabeth’s half-brother, King of England, 1547-1553

  Elizabeth; Queen of England, 1558-1603

  Essex, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of; Walsingham’s son-in-law, executed for treason 1601

  Fagot, Henry; pseudonymous informer in the French embassy

  Faunt, Nicholas; Walsingham’s secretary

  Feron, Laurent; secretary, and possible mole, in the French embassy

  Fowler, William; Scottish poet, unsuccessful spy on French embassy

  Gifford, Gilbert; agent provocateur, carrier of messages to Mary

  Glasgow, James Beaton, Archbishop of; Mary’s ambassador in Paris

  Gregory XIII; Pope, 1572-1585

  Gregory, Arthur; Walsingham’s expert seal-lifter

  Guise, Henri of Lorraine, 3rd Duke of; leader of French Catholic faction, uncle of Mary Queen of Scots, plotter against Elizabeth

  Heneage, Sir Thomas; Vice-Chamberlain, friend of Walsingham’s

  Henry III; King of France, 1574-1589

  Henry VIII; Elizabeth’s father, King of England, 1509-1547

  Howard of Effingham, Charles, 2nd baron; Lord Admiral, commander against the Armada

  Howard, Lord Henry; Catholic nobleman, brother of Norfolk

  James VI; King of Scotland, 1567-1625, James I of England, 1603-1625

  John of Austria, Don; Spanish governor of Netherlands, 1576-1578

  Leicester, Robert Dudley, Earl of; courtier and Privy Councilor, leader of Puritan faction

  Lennox, Esmé Stuart, seigneur d’Aubigny, Earl of; influential Catholic courtier of James of Scotland, ousted 1582

  Lorraine, Charles, Cardinal of; brother of Duke of Guise, uncle of Mary Queen of Scots

  Manucci, Jacobo (also sometimes Jacomo or Giacomo); servant and confidential agent of Walsingham

  Mary; Queen of Scots, 1561-1567

  Mary Tudor; Elizabeth’s half-sister, Queen of England, 1553-1558

  Mauvissière, Michel de Castelnau, seigneur de; French Ambassador to England, 1575-1585

  Médicis, Catherine de; Queen Mother of France

  Medina-Sidonia, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of; commander of Spanish Armada

  Mendoza, Bernardino de; Spanish Ambassador to England, 1578-1584

  Moray, James Stewart, Earl of; Mary’s half-brother, Regent of Scotland, 1567-1570

  Morgan, Thomas; English Catholic exile and conspirator, Mary’s agent in Paris

  Navarre, Henry of; French Protestant prince, later King Henry IV

  Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of; ineffectual conspirator, executed 1572

  Ousley, Nicholas; English spy in Spain

  Oxford, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of; courtier

  Paget, Charles; English Catholic exile, Mary’s agent in Paris

  Paget, Thomas, 3rd Baron; Catholic refugee

  Parma, Alexander Farnese, Prince of; Spanish governor of Netherlands

  Parry, Dr. William; spy and possible Catholic conspirator, executed 1585

  Paulet, Sir Amias; ambassador to France 1576-1579, last keeper of Mary Queen of Scots

  Phelippes, Thomas; Walsingham’s confidential agent and expert decipherer

  Philip II; King of Spain, 1556-1598

  Pius V; Pope, 1566-1572

  Poley, Robert; spy and agent provocateur

  Quadra, Álvarez de, Bishop of Aquila; Spanish Ambassador to England, 1559-1563

  Ridolfi, Roberto; Florentine banker, papal agent in 1571 invasion plot

  Ross, John Leslie, Bishop of; Mary’s ambassador in London

  Sainte-Aldegonde, Philip van Marnix, baron de; Flemish Protestant nobleman and decipherer

  Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of; Spanish admiral

  Seymour, Lord Henry; vice-admiral in Armada battle

  Sheffield, Lady Douglas; cast-off mistress of Leicester, Catholic-leaning wife of Sir Edward Stafford

  Shrewsbury, George Talbot, 6th Earl of; keeper of Mary Queen of Scots

  Sidney, Sir Philip; poet, courtier, soldier, Walsingham’s son-in-law

  Silva, Guzmán de; Spanish Ambassador to England, 1564-1568

  Sixtus V; Pope, 1585-1590

  Smith, Sir Thomas; Principal Secretary, 1572-1577

  Somers, John; Walsingham’s secretary

  Spes, Guerau de; Spanish Ambassador to England, 1568-1572

  Stafford, Sir Edward; English Ambassador to France, 1583-89

  Standen, Anthony; English spy in Florence and Spain

  Throckmorton, Francis; Catholic conspirator against Elizabeth, executed 1584

  Topcliffe, Richard; torturer

  Walsingham, Anne Carleill; first wife of Walsingham

  Walsingham, Frances; daughter of Walsingham, wife of Sir Philip Sidney, the Earl of Essex, and the Earl of Calnricarde

  Walsingham, Sir Francis; ambassador to France, 1570-1573, Principal Secretary, 1573-1590

  Walsingham, Ursula St. Barbe; second wife of Walsingham

  William; Prince of Orange, leader of Dutch rebellion

  Williams, Walter; prison informer and Walsingham factotum

  Winchester, John White, Bishop of; officiator at Mary Tudor’s funeral

  A NOTE ON LANGUAGE, MONEY, AND DATES

  In the sixteenth century, the English language was undergoing a rapid transformation from the spoken dialect of provincials to a written medium of serious literature, official transactions, and even the occasional scholarly treatise. The rise of the printing trade had meanwhile begun the evolution toward standardized spelling, but this was a much slower process. Clearly, most writers of English of this period still thought of words as sounds rather than unique written forms: it was not at all unusual for educated writers to spell the same word two different ways in the course of a single letter, or even to spell their own names differently on different occasions.

  To a modern reader, such irregular spelling looks irredeemably quaint, if not bizarre. Of course, it did not seem so to a contemporary. I have chosen to modernize the spelling of quoted documents for the most part; though at first blush paradoxical, I think doing so brings us closer to the men and women who wrote these words, by stripping away the haze of picturesque quaintness that the passage of time has artificially interposed, and allowing us to receive their words more as a contemporary would have.

  The language itself can still be a challenge, however, as many words have changed their meaning over time, some radically. A few explanations may be in order: although intelligence begins to appear at this time in its modern sense, advertisement is frequently used to the same general effect, with the particular meaning of information or warning; entertain can mean to employ or pay; a practice is a scheme or deception; a plat is a dramatic scenario and thus by extension a stratagem or plan; jealous connotes simple suspicion; discover means to reveal or expose; family usually refers to one’s immediate household, including servants.

>   Equating the value of money between two very different eras is strictly speaking impossible, since along with overall inflation the relative worth of different items alters considerably from one era to another: In sixteenth-century England, for example, a printed book like Foxe’s Acts and Monuments could cost as much as a good horse. But as a very rough guide, an Elizabethan pound can be taken to be the equivalent of £250 or $400 in modern terms.

  Perhaps a better sense of how the Elizabethans themselves gauged the value of money may be had by reference to a few contemporary benchmarks. A farm laborer earned £5 a year; a school headmaster or a shipmaster £20; a large landholding lord, or a lawyer at the pinnacle of his profession, £1,000. A pound would buy a cow, a plain cloth coat, or a gun; £150 kept the young Earl of Oxford, an extravagant fop, supplied with clothing for a year; £10,000 bought a great London mansion.

  A crown was an English silver coin worth a quarter of a pound; more loosely, the term could refer to any of a number of similar continental coins, such as the French écu, that all had about the same value as an English crown.

  A mark was a unit of account equal to two-thirds of a pound.

  In late 1582 (October in Spain, December in France), most of the Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar. England retained the “Old Style” or Julian calendar. From that point on (until England finally rejoined the rest of the world in 1752), dates in England and the rest of Europe differed by ten days: January 1 in England was January 11 on the Continent. Since my focus is England, I have used Old Style dates throughout. The English calendar had another peculiarity at this time—namely, that for official purposes the new year was deemed to begin not on January 1 but, rather, not until Lady Day, March 25. To avoid confusion, I have followed the modern convention in rendering dates that fall between January 1 and March 25; thus a date that a contemporary might have denoted 10 February 1569 (or, sometimes, 10 February) is given as 10 February 1570.

  1572: Murder in Paris

  1

  AN ILL-FITTING SHOE

  Afterward, when the Seine flowed with corpses and thousands were dead, there were some who said that if only the assassin had not bungled his job in the first place all of the subsequent trouble might have been avoided.