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The Queen's Agent: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England
Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth's Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. He ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men and 'turned' others. He encouraged Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels, with extreme brutality, and oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
402 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2011
160 people are currently reading
1304 people want to read
About the author
John P.D. Cooper
5 books11 followersJohn Philip Dominic Cooper is an English author and Tudor historian. He began his academic career at Merton College, Oxford. As a Thouron Fellow, he studied for his MA at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to Oxford to research his doctorate on Tudor royal propaganda and congruently working as a Teaching Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford. He currently teaches at the University of York.
John's first book, Propaganda and the Tudor State, explored the power of propaganda in Tudor England. He also worked on the Tudor desk at the Dictionary of National Biography. In 2009 he introduced and edited with Graeme Rimer and Thom Richardson, Henry VIII: Arms and the Man, the catalogue of the Henry VIII exhibition at the Tower of London. His published articles include: 'Governance and Politics: Centre and Localities'. In The Elizabethan World, 2011; 'The Tudor Monarchy', introductory essay to State Papers Online; 'Tudor Royal Propaganda and the Power of Prayer'. In Authority and Consent in Tudor England, 2002; 'Francis Walsingham: Elizabeth's Security Chief', BBC History Magazine, October 2011; BBC History Magazine podcast on Francis Walsingham, 16 September 2011; reviews for Times Literary Supplement.
John regularly gives public lectures on the Tudors and is an Honorary Historical Consultant for the Royal Armories Museum. John's latest project focuses on the 16th century Palace of Westminster.
John's first book, Propaganda and the Tudor State, explored the power of propaganda in Tudor England. He also worked on the Tudor desk at the Dictionary of National Biography. In 2009 he introduced and edited with Graeme Rimer and Thom Richardson, Henry VIII: Arms and the Man, the catalogue of the Henry VIII exhibition at the Tower of London. His published articles include: 'Governance and Politics: Centre and Localities'. In The Elizabethan World, 2011; 'The Tudor Monarchy', introductory essay to State Papers Online; 'Tudor Royal Propaganda and the Power of Prayer'. In Authority and Consent in Tudor England, 2002; 'Francis Walsingham: Elizabeth's Security Chief', BBC History Magazine, October 2011; BBC History Magazine podcast on Francis Walsingham, 16 September 2011; reviews for Times Literary Supplement.
John regularly gives public lectures on the Tudors and is an Honorary Historical Consultant for the Royal Armories Museum. John's latest project focuses on the 16th century Palace of Westminster.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
April 2, 2024
Rating: 3.5 stars
A serviceable, but uninspiring, biography of Queen Elizabeth I's principal secretary and spymaster. A devout protestant, Sir Francis Walsingham served as the English ambassador to France, where he witnessed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and provided temporary sanctuary to those in need. His experience of this carnage would influence his future dealings with Catholics. Walsingham was active in his support for the French Huguenots and other European Protestant groups. He rose to become one of the few people to direct and oversee the Elizabethan foreign, domestic and religious policy, including the exploration and colonization of North America and the plantation of Ireland. His spy network was extensive, including agents in mercantile communities and foreign courts, thus enabling him to disrupt plots against Queen Elizabeth I and threats against the state, including the planned Spanish invasion. Walsingham also had a hand in the entrapment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
This biography deals more with the affairs of state, the church and religious affairs, and espionage and how Francis Walsingham was involved in all of them, rather than a straight forward biography. Some of this was, no doubt, due to the lack of documentation, particularly relating to Walsingham's private life. The narrative of this book bounces around in time quite a bit, so I would suggest some familiarity with the history of Elizabethan England and concurrent occurrences on the continent before reading this book. A timeline would really have been useful. This is an interesting but lacklustre account of Francis Walsingham's role as Queen Elizabeth I's ambassador, principal secretary, and spymaster.
RESOURCE: Short Biography https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...
A serviceable, but uninspiring, biography of Queen Elizabeth I's principal secretary and spymaster. A devout protestant, Sir Francis Walsingham served as the English ambassador to France, where he witnessed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and provided temporary sanctuary to those in need. His experience of this carnage would influence his future dealings with Catholics. Walsingham was active in his support for the French Huguenots and other European Protestant groups. He rose to become one of the few people to direct and oversee the Elizabethan foreign, domestic and religious policy, including the exploration and colonization of North America and the plantation of Ireland. His spy network was extensive, including agents in mercantile communities and foreign courts, thus enabling him to disrupt plots against Queen Elizabeth I and threats against the state, including the planned Spanish invasion. Walsingham also had a hand in the entrapment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
This biography deals more with the affairs of state, the church and religious affairs, and espionage and how Francis Walsingham was involved in all of them, rather than a straight forward biography. Some of this was, no doubt, due to the lack of documentation, particularly relating to Walsingham's private life. The narrative of this book bounces around in time quite a bit, so I would suggest some familiarity with the history of Elizabethan England and concurrent occurrences on the continent before reading this book. A timeline would really have been useful. This is an interesting but lacklustre account of Francis Walsingham's role as Queen Elizabeth I's ambassador, principal secretary, and spymaster.
RESOURCE: Short Biography https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...
May 14, 2020
I didn't really consider this a biography of Francis Walsingham more like a history of the country,church and the spy system he masterminded.It details most if not all the conspiracies aimed at the queen during his term in office as secretary.I felt like the author tended to get a bit side tracked off the narrative going far into the lives of these perpetrators of these plots which took him even farther away from his true subject.However,I found myself really enjoying the account of the Spanish Armada and was happy to have some blanks filled in for me on that score.Perhaps though if your looking for something a bit more well rounded on him this wouldn't be for you but if your into a highly detailed version of intrigues against Elizabeth I it's worth a read.
December 10, 2013
I am very interested in Walsingham's life. This started strong, but started dragging. I forced myself to continue since I was on an airplane and had no other option. Too much jumping around in time. A lot of his files no longer exist, so the author had to do lots of what ifs. Maybe it's me, but I got the impression the author felt Elizabeth didn't run the show, but was just a puppet. I highly disagree. Overall, I learned some things about Walsingham, but wasn't in love with the book.
February 21, 2013
Driven by faith… 4 stars
The problem with Walsingham, as a subject for biography, is the shortage of documentation, particularly relating to his private life. As Cooper explains, his private papers were taken along with his public papers after his death for the benefit of future secretaries, but later most of the private papers were destroyed as they were considered unimportant. This means that Cooper has to work hard to fill in Walsingham’s early life and give us a flavour of the man. Although he succeeds to an extent, I didn’t feel that Walsingham came truly to life as a full, rounded personality in the book.
However, Cooper gives us a clear, well written and very readable account of the main political issues of Walsingham’s time as secretary, including of course his role in the torture and death of many English Catholics while stemming the threat of Catholic revolt, as well as the part he played in the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. He explains very clearly the religious and political upheavals across Europe and a chapter is devoted to the Spanish invasion that never was. He also describes Walsingham’s involvement in the settlement of Ireland, a problem that remained unresolved throughout his career; and relates the part Walsingham played in promoting the exploration and settlements in America and elsewhere that went on to become the beginnings of empire, which was something I hadn’t been aware of.
Much of the book, though, concentrates on what Walsingham is perhaps best remembered for: his role as spymaster and ruthless interrogator. Here Cooper has gathered a huge amount of detail about the murky and convoluted world that these double- and sometimes triple-agents were playing throughout the courts of Europe, and shows evidence of occasions when Walsingham was involved in what we would now think of as entrapment. Walsingham’s uneasy relationship with Elizabeth is well portrayed and Cooper shows that he often had to subsidise the expenses of his spies from his own pocket due to Elizabeth’s reluctance to pay. This gives weight to the picture Cooper paints of Walsingham as a man driven, not by hope of patronage or reward, but by his patriotism and above all by his faith.
Overall I found this a very interesting read, with Walsingham set well into his historical context, but though Cooper has shed a considerable amount of light on him, he remains a rather shadowy figure – which in the end seems quite appropriate. Recommended.
The problem with Walsingham, as a subject for biography, is the shortage of documentation, particularly relating to his private life. As Cooper explains, his private papers were taken along with his public papers after his death for the benefit of future secretaries, but later most of the private papers were destroyed as they were considered unimportant. This means that Cooper has to work hard to fill in Walsingham’s early life and give us a flavour of the man. Although he succeeds to an extent, I didn’t feel that Walsingham came truly to life as a full, rounded personality in the book.
However, Cooper gives us a clear, well written and very readable account of the main political issues of Walsingham’s time as secretary, including of course his role in the torture and death of many English Catholics while stemming the threat of Catholic revolt, as well as the part he played in the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. He explains very clearly the religious and political upheavals across Europe and a chapter is devoted to the Spanish invasion that never was. He also describes Walsingham’s involvement in the settlement of Ireland, a problem that remained unresolved throughout his career; and relates the part Walsingham played in promoting the exploration and settlements in America and elsewhere that went on to become the beginnings of empire, which was something I hadn’t been aware of.
Much of the book, though, concentrates on what Walsingham is perhaps best remembered for: his role as spymaster and ruthless interrogator. Here Cooper has gathered a huge amount of detail about the murky and convoluted world that these double- and sometimes triple-agents were playing throughout the courts of Europe, and shows evidence of occasions when Walsingham was involved in what we would now think of as entrapment. Walsingham’s uneasy relationship with Elizabeth is well portrayed and Cooper shows that he often had to subsidise the expenses of his spies from his own pocket due to Elizabeth’s reluctance to pay. This gives weight to the picture Cooper paints of Walsingham as a man driven, not by hope of patronage or reward, but by his patriotism and above all by his faith.
Overall I found this a very interesting read, with Walsingham set well into his historical context, but though Cooper has shed a considerable amount of light on him, he remains a rather shadowy figure – which in the end seems quite appropriate. Recommended.
June 26, 2013
I can definitely understand the critique that some readers have that the narrative skips around quite a bit. While writing about a very interesting subject matter, that of the role of Francis Walsingham, personal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, at the English court and abroad during the Reformation and how he and others fought against foreign invasion. I feel like perhaps Cooper (who is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter) had blinders on while writing and just wasn't aware of how much his narrative jumped around. Because of this, I don't think that any reader who isn't very familiar with what was happening in early modern England/Europe will be able to follow along with this book.
May 5, 2018
Excellent scholarship. A complex story, only to be expected when dealing with Elizabeth's spymaster, compelling told.
June 9, 2018
I didn't take issue with anything that I can remember. This wasn't a fantastic biography, but it was decently written and covered the subject matter without showing too much bias. I think there should have been more detail, since every chapter I finished left me feeling like I was still missing something.
November 4, 2017
Nice biography on Sir Francis Walsingham - focusing on the religious wars of the time and Walsingham's spy network.
Edit: I went out a bought a copy for my own personal library.
Edit: I went out a bought a copy for my own personal library.
May 9, 2014
Recently, I tuned into ESPN’s Mike and Mike on the radio. They had Mike Lupica on the line and they were discussing his new book. The first thing Mike Lupica said about his book was “It was so much fun to write that character,” referring to the protagonist. In my opinion (which you should never listen to), that should be every writer’s point of view. They start with a character they find interesting, someone whose journey they want to chronicle. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to translate that point of view into non-fiction, which brings me to today’s review of the book “The Queen’s Agent.”
“The Queen’s Agent” follows the exploits of Queen Elizabeth I’s principal secretary, Francis Walsingham, during the Elizabeth’s reign in England during the latter half of the 1500s
The reign of Queen Elizabeth I, beginning in 1558, was fraught with political upheavals and rebellions. She was surrounded by plots and under constant threat from the European powerhouses of France and Spain, and, notably, the Catholic Church and the Pope. Many of the plots against her centered around the fight between Protestantism and Catholicism. Elizabeth, a Protestant, had deposed Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, who before her had deposed Lady Jane Grey. Each change to the throne brought with it a rending of the Church in England. Elizabeth established control, but she could not stop wars of religion and persecution in her own country, and sometimes she helped to facilitate it. For her defense, Elizabeth surrounded herself with protestant allies. One of these was Francis Walsingham, a devoted Protestant and staunch defender of the Queen. In his position as principal secretary, Walsingham developed a network of agents and informers in England and the courts of France and Spain and used them to fight against threats both homegrown and overseas.
Though the author goes to great lengths to state that the book is not specifically about religious conflict, The Queen’s Agent is nevertheless a fascinating look at the perils of the state enforcing religious beliefs and, maybe more importantly, religious practices, on its own people. Almost every attack or threat of attack on the queen and England that the author recounts are directly rooted in the Catholic church’s attempts to regain a foothold on Protestant England, whether through direct and open rebellion, or more elaborate plots, such as trying to free Mary, Queen of Scots, from her ongoing house arrest. The crown’s response, under the direction of Walsingham and the Queen’s privy council escalates in brutality (especially in Ireland). These actions were mirrored in France and Spain as well, though often with Catholicism holding the upper hand. And when the heads of state in England and Europe aren’t directly responsible, the people in the streets have no problem picking up the slack and tearing each other apart.
If this subject matter interests you at all, you should find this book to be an enjoyable read. The author moves through events at a pretty good clip. It’s never boring, but it also never lacks for detail. You receive an in-depth picture of the times and the players.
However, the book is not without its faults. The author, John Cooper, once taught history at Oxford, and his story reads like a master-class you take after completing his course. He rattles off names and dates like you are already familiar with them and can fill on some of the gaps yourself. The events, while technically presented in a linear fashion, flip back and forth through time on every page, leading, at least to this reader, to quite a bit of confusion early on. The author might be discussing a particular plot against the queen, then bring up a new player in the plot. Suddenly he’s jumping several years into the future to talk further about the new player and what else they were involved in down the road, introducing us to those plots and even more new characters. Then the author jumps back to the original matter at hand as if none of that extra information deluge ever happened. The first few times he did this I couldn’t understand what story I was supposed to be following and who was actually important to it and I had to go back re-read.
The other problem is Sir Francis Walsingham himself. Even non-fiction needs to give a reader some kind of a through-line to latch on to. Given the title and the way the book begins, it’s easy to assume it’s Francis Walsingham. But he doesn’t figure into the stories nearly as much as you might expect, and there isn’t a lot of information about him in particular (granted, because much is lost to history). There are some writings of his that the author is able to present to us and quote, and that gives the reader some insight. But the story is not nearly as much about the man as I had hoped.
Still, it’s a very intriguing book.
“The Queen’s Agent” follows the exploits of Queen Elizabeth I’s principal secretary, Francis Walsingham, during the Elizabeth’s reign in England during the latter half of the 1500s
The reign of Queen Elizabeth I, beginning in 1558, was fraught with political upheavals and rebellions. She was surrounded by plots and under constant threat from the European powerhouses of France and Spain, and, notably, the Catholic Church and the Pope. Many of the plots against her centered around the fight between Protestantism and Catholicism. Elizabeth, a Protestant, had deposed Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, who before her had deposed Lady Jane Grey. Each change to the throne brought with it a rending of the Church in England. Elizabeth established control, but she could not stop wars of religion and persecution in her own country, and sometimes she helped to facilitate it. For her defense, Elizabeth surrounded herself with protestant allies. One of these was Francis Walsingham, a devoted Protestant and staunch defender of the Queen. In his position as principal secretary, Walsingham developed a network of agents and informers in England and the courts of France and Spain and used them to fight against threats both homegrown and overseas.
Though the author goes to great lengths to state that the book is not specifically about religious conflict, The Queen’s Agent is nevertheless a fascinating look at the perils of the state enforcing religious beliefs and, maybe more importantly, religious practices, on its own people. Almost every attack or threat of attack on the queen and England that the author recounts are directly rooted in the Catholic church’s attempts to regain a foothold on Protestant England, whether through direct and open rebellion, or more elaborate plots, such as trying to free Mary, Queen of Scots, from her ongoing house arrest. The crown’s response, under the direction of Walsingham and the Queen’s privy council escalates in brutality (especially in Ireland). These actions were mirrored in France and Spain as well, though often with Catholicism holding the upper hand. And when the heads of state in England and Europe aren’t directly responsible, the people in the streets have no problem picking up the slack and tearing each other apart.
If this subject matter interests you at all, you should find this book to be an enjoyable read. The author moves through events at a pretty good clip. It’s never boring, but it also never lacks for detail. You receive an in-depth picture of the times and the players.
However, the book is not without its faults. The author, John Cooper, once taught history at Oxford, and his story reads like a master-class you take after completing his course. He rattles off names and dates like you are already familiar with them and can fill on some of the gaps yourself. The events, while technically presented in a linear fashion, flip back and forth through time on every page, leading, at least to this reader, to quite a bit of confusion early on. The author might be discussing a particular plot against the queen, then bring up a new player in the plot. Suddenly he’s jumping several years into the future to talk further about the new player and what else they were involved in down the road, introducing us to those plots and even more new characters. Then the author jumps back to the original matter at hand as if none of that extra information deluge ever happened. The first few times he did this I couldn’t understand what story I was supposed to be following and who was actually important to it and I had to go back re-read.
The other problem is Sir Francis Walsingham himself. Even non-fiction needs to give a reader some kind of a through-line to latch on to. Given the title and the way the book begins, it’s easy to assume it’s Francis Walsingham. But he doesn’t figure into the stories nearly as much as you might expect, and there isn’t a lot of information about him in particular (granted, because much is lost to history). There are some writings of his that the author is able to present to us and quote, and that gives the reader some insight. But the story is not nearly as much about the man as I had hoped.
Still, it’s a very intriguing book.
April 17, 2022
Having read through Rory Clements’ Tom Wilde series I was keen to read about one of the historical figures who interested and influenced Professor Wilde most.
Francis Walsingham was Elizabeth I’s spymaster and someone, more than anyone else who kept the Queen on her throne for forty five years. Through cunning and brilliant organisation, he foiled several plots to replace Elizabeth on the throne with her cousin Mary Queen of Scots and played s significant role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. He was England’s first great spymaster.
John Cooper’s book is brilliantly written and superbly researched and takes the reader back four hundred and fifty years to a time when monarchs would do anything either to hang on to their crown or grab someone else’s for themselves. The causes of conflict were predominantly about religion, Protestant or catholic, unlike today’s wars which are about empire and agrandissement, dictatorship and democracy.
A fine book.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of ‘39, all published by Sacristy Press.
Francis Walsingham was Elizabeth I’s spymaster and someone, more than anyone else who kept the Queen on her throne for forty five years. Through cunning and brilliant organisation, he foiled several plots to replace Elizabeth on the throne with her cousin Mary Queen of Scots and played s significant role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. He was England’s first great spymaster.
John Cooper’s book is brilliantly written and superbly researched and takes the reader back four hundred and fifty years to a time when monarchs would do anything either to hang on to their crown or grab someone else’s for themselves. The causes of conflict were predominantly about religion, Protestant or catholic, unlike today’s wars which are about empire and agrandissement, dictatorship and democracy.
A fine book.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of ‘39, all published by Sacristy Press.
July 8, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this book on Walsingham, and interestingly this author continually compares him to his contemporaries, including Cecil and Cromwell, as well as highlighting how his security services differ from those of the modern day.
March 6, 2014
fradio
history
biography
tudors
R4
3*
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Reader: Hugh Bonneville
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
blurb - Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth's Secretary, Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her and the reformed religion to which he was devoted.
As a young man he had witnessed the massacres in Paris on St Bartholomew's Day, when French Protestants were attacked by Catholic mobs. He was determined to save England from a similar fate.
Walsingham ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men and 'turned' others. He encouraged Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels, with extreme brutality, and oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
Episode 1:
-----------
In 1558, Queen Mary, childless and ravaged by fever, names Elizabeth as her successor. And Francis Walsingham, newly returned from exile, is elected to parliament.
Episode 2:
-----------
Walsingham, principal secretary and spymaster to Elizabeth I, is focussed on a royal wedding, to settle the question of succession and the threat from Catholic dissidents.
Episode 3:
-----------
England faces the threat of invasion from overseas and a potential Catholic rebellion. Walsingham is dealing with intelligence pouring into his office from his network of spies.
Episode 4:
-----------
Walsingham searches for proof that Mary Queen of Scots is guilty of treason against Queen Elizabeth I, and encourages the new wave of exploration to America and the New World.
Episode 5:
-----------
Through his network of spies, Walsingham prepares the country for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It would be the last triumph of his career.
history
biography
tudors
R4
3*
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Reader: Hugh Bonneville
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
blurb - Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth's Secretary, Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her and the reformed religion to which he was devoted.
As a young man he had witnessed the massacres in Paris on St Bartholomew's Day, when French Protestants were attacked by Catholic mobs. He was determined to save England from a similar fate.
Walsingham ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men and 'turned' others. He encouraged Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels, with extreme brutality, and oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
Episode 1:
-----------
In 1558, Queen Mary, childless and ravaged by fever, names Elizabeth as her successor. And Francis Walsingham, newly returned from exile, is elected to parliament.
Episode 2:
-----------
Walsingham, principal secretary and spymaster to Elizabeth I, is focussed on a royal wedding, to settle the question of succession and the threat from Catholic dissidents.
Episode 3:
-----------
England faces the threat of invasion from overseas and a potential Catholic rebellion. Walsingham is dealing with intelligence pouring into his office from his network of spies.
Episode 4:
-----------
Walsingham searches for proof that Mary Queen of Scots is guilty of treason against Queen Elizabeth I, and encourages the new wave of exploration to America and the New World.
Episode 5:
-----------
Through his network of spies, Walsingham prepares the country for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It would be the last triumph of his career.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2021
I have encountered Francis Walsingham in so many books about Elizabeth I I've read that I felt I knew him. Though he gave the Queen good service I've never liked him. I decided to read this book by scholar John Cooper to see if I could get a better understanding of a man I consider to be cruel and cold and see if I was wrong.
Though not nobility Walsingham's family was well connected. They became landed gentry in the 15th century. His father was a barrister who was appointed by Henry VIII to conduct reports on Cardinal Wolsey's possessions after his fall from grace. He became under-sheriff for London in 1532; the highest post for a lawyer. His uncle was the lieutenant of the Tower of London when Sir Thomas More was imprisoned and was know for his harsh treatment. Walsingham's mother was a Denny. Her brother, Sir Anthony Denny, was an intimate friend of Henry VIII and was Keeper of the Privy Purse, and a Groom of the Stool, which put him in everyday contact with Henry. When the king was dying it was Denny who told him to prepare for death. As a devoted Protestant he went on to hold positions in King Edward VI's court including guardian when the Seymours were away from Court. When Walsingham's father died his mother was only 27 and she married Sir John Carey, brother of William Carey, Mary Boleyn's husband. All three of the royal children visited their Carey cousins and Francis was there as well. So you can see that he grew up in an atmosphere of service to the Crown.
When Walsingham was at Cambridge he was surrounded by prominent Protestants including Roger Ascham and John Checke, both tutors to the royal children. Through Checke who married William Cecil Lord Burghley's daughter, he had another connection. By the time Elizabeth ascended the throne Walsingham was well known to Cecil and probably got his first post on his recommendation. Walsingham was a devoted, almost radical Protestant with connections and therefore trusted. Elizabeth even gave him a nickname which she only did with her favorites. She called him her "Moor", probably because he only wore black clothing.
It was in her service that he became well known enough that we have good records of his life. As principal secretary of Elizabeth's Privy Council, he helped squelch the French marriage bids of the cross-dressing Duke of Anjou, who publicly declared he would never have children, and his much younger brother the Duke of Alencon, both because they were Catholic. It was that wholesale fanatical Protestantism that drove him to out-and-out war with the English Catholics, and the hundreds of priests he tortured and martyred. He was personally responsible for the execution of Mary, Queen if Scots. Torture was banned, by law, in England but Walsingham used it horrifically and liberally when it came to Catholics; and what would become the centuries long national, institutional hatred and prejudice against them can be laid directly at Walsingham's feet.
But was he justified? He was Elizabeth's Senior Principal Secretary of the Privy Council, secretary at that time meant the keeper of secrets. She knighted him and trusted him. Add to that the Pope began the English Mission, sending ordained English priests, and Jesuits secretly to England to shore up the many nobility who were still Catholics and to try to convert others. A double dangerous thing because the still Catholic shires of Cornwall and Devon were southern coastal gateways for possible invasion. The Spanish Armada targeted that area.
Elizabeth was the target of so many conspiracies to remove her from the throne that Walsingham began his spy network, and what a network it was. He had agents and double agents everywhere in Europe, even in the Vatican itself. He made spies and turned spies, and paid them, mostly from his own pocket because Elizabeth was notoriously frugal with her purse! One of his spies was Christopher Marlowe, famous poet and playwright. He and fellow poet Thomas Watson were recruited while at Cambridge. Marlowe was perfect, he knew languages and needed money. He was sent to the hotbed of Catholic activity Rheims, where an English seminary was set up. He was there for a year and came back flush with money. He went on at least one other mission that is known. Though Marlowe never finished his degree, Cambridge awarded him his MA at the urging of the Queen's Privy Council. Walsingham also was behind the formation of the Queen's Men, the famous acting company used by Marlowe and Shakespeare to perform plays, which at that time had many political overtones. It has been posited that the tavern brawl in which Marlowe was famously killed was not over the settling of a bill, but over his spy activities. Watson was there and tried to save Marlowe even to the point of killing a man, for which he spent time in Newgate for manslaughter. Walsingham was already dead and could not help him. I think this chapter is the most interesting in the book.
Walsingham wrapped politics and religion into a tight package and considered every English Catholic as a traitor. He was relentless in his hatred of Mary, Queen of Scots and he first entrapped her then was responsible for her execution, for which there was no legal standing as she was a foreign Sovereign and therefore not a citizen of England who could commit treason, nor could she be tried under the law. He and Cecil badgered Elizabeth until she reluctantly signed Mary's death warrant with strict instructions not to perform the execution without her express permission. Then rushed the signed warrant to Fotheringhey with instructions to speedily carry it out. Although Elizabeth was at first furious she eventually forgave her Moor, but I'm not so fickle. I hold him accountable.
This book isn't very long in page numbers, at around 325, but it's so packed with information that it takes a while to read and absorb. In the end Walsingham was a very complex man. He was a ruthless zealot and a devoted family man. He spent his personal fortune to protect the Protestant Queen he served to the point of indebtedness. He served on the Privy Council even when he became chronically ill with persistent problems the nature of which has been speculated as recurring severe urinary infections, diabetes, or testicular cancer. He broke many laws to uphold the law. He hounded a Queen to her death, and institutionalized the national hatred and prejudice of English citizens to the point were they couldn't serve in government for centuries, just because of their Catholicism. I haven't changed my mind about Walsingham. I still don't like him, as a person or political figure, but now I have better reasons for that opinion as I know much more about him. And I can see why Elizabeth honored him.
Albeit that I don't like him, I certainly recommend this book if you are at all interested in the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth's reign in particular. It is very well done and thorough.
Though not nobility Walsingham's family was well connected. They became landed gentry in the 15th century. His father was a barrister who was appointed by Henry VIII to conduct reports on Cardinal Wolsey's possessions after his fall from grace. He became under-sheriff for London in 1532; the highest post for a lawyer. His uncle was the lieutenant of the Tower of London when Sir Thomas More was imprisoned and was know for his harsh treatment. Walsingham's mother was a Denny. Her brother, Sir Anthony Denny, was an intimate friend of Henry VIII and was Keeper of the Privy Purse, and a Groom of the Stool, which put him in everyday contact with Henry. When the king was dying it was Denny who told him to prepare for death. As a devoted Protestant he went on to hold positions in King Edward VI's court including guardian when the Seymours were away from Court. When Walsingham's father died his mother was only 27 and she married Sir John Carey, brother of William Carey, Mary Boleyn's husband. All three of the royal children visited their Carey cousins and Francis was there as well. So you can see that he grew up in an atmosphere of service to the Crown.
When Walsingham was at Cambridge he was surrounded by prominent Protestants including Roger Ascham and John Checke, both tutors to the royal children. Through Checke who married William Cecil Lord Burghley's daughter, he had another connection. By the time Elizabeth ascended the throne Walsingham was well known to Cecil and probably got his first post on his recommendation. Walsingham was a devoted, almost radical Protestant with connections and therefore trusted. Elizabeth even gave him a nickname which she only did with her favorites. She called him her "Moor", probably because he only wore black clothing.
It was in her service that he became well known enough that we have good records of his life. As principal secretary of Elizabeth's Privy Council, he helped squelch the French marriage bids of the cross-dressing Duke of Anjou, who publicly declared he would never have children, and his much younger brother the Duke of Alencon, both because they were Catholic. It was that wholesale fanatical Protestantism that drove him to out-and-out war with the English Catholics, and the hundreds of priests he tortured and martyred. He was personally responsible for the execution of Mary, Queen if Scots. Torture was banned, by law, in England but Walsingham used it horrifically and liberally when it came to Catholics; and what would become the centuries long national, institutional hatred and prejudice against them can be laid directly at Walsingham's feet.
But was he justified? He was Elizabeth's Senior Principal Secretary of the Privy Council, secretary at that time meant the keeper of secrets. She knighted him and trusted him. Add to that the Pope began the English Mission, sending ordained English priests, and Jesuits secretly to England to shore up the many nobility who were still Catholics and to try to convert others. A double dangerous thing because the still Catholic shires of Cornwall and Devon were southern coastal gateways for possible invasion. The Spanish Armada targeted that area.
Elizabeth was the target of so many conspiracies to remove her from the throne that Walsingham began his spy network, and what a network it was. He had agents and double agents everywhere in Europe, even in the Vatican itself. He made spies and turned spies, and paid them, mostly from his own pocket because Elizabeth was notoriously frugal with her purse! One of his spies was Christopher Marlowe, famous poet and playwright. He and fellow poet Thomas Watson were recruited while at Cambridge. Marlowe was perfect, he knew languages and needed money. He was sent to the hotbed of Catholic activity Rheims, where an English seminary was set up. He was there for a year and came back flush with money. He went on at least one other mission that is known. Though Marlowe never finished his degree, Cambridge awarded him his MA at the urging of the Queen's Privy Council. Walsingham also was behind the formation of the Queen's Men, the famous acting company used by Marlowe and Shakespeare to perform plays, which at that time had many political overtones. It has been posited that the tavern brawl in which Marlowe was famously killed was not over the settling of a bill, but over his spy activities. Watson was there and tried to save Marlowe even to the point of killing a man, for which he spent time in Newgate for manslaughter. Walsingham was already dead and could not help him. I think this chapter is the most interesting in the book.
Walsingham wrapped politics and religion into a tight package and considered every English Catholic as a traitor. He was relentless in his hatred of Mary, Queen of Scots and he first entrapped her then was responsible for her execution, for which there was no legal standing as she was a foreign Sovereign and therefore not a citizen of England who could commit treason, nor could she be tried under the law. He and Cecil badgered Elizabeth until she reluctantly signed Mary's death warrant with strict instructions not to perform the execution without her express permission. Then rushed the signed warrant to Fotheringhey with instructions to speedily carry it out. Although Elizabeth was at first furious she eventually forgave her Moor, but I'm not so fickle. I hold him accountable.
This book isn't very long in page numbers, at around 325, but it's so packed with information that it takes a while to read and absorb. In the end Walsingham was a very complex man. He was a ruthless zealot and a devoted family man. He spent his personal fortune to protect the Protestant Queen he served to the point of indebtedness. He served on the Privy Council even when he became chronically ill with persistent problems the nature of which has been speculated as recurring severe urinary infections, diabetes, or testicular cancer. He broke many laws to uphold the law. He hounded a Queen to her death, and institutionalized the national hatred and prejudice of English citizens to the point were they couldn't serve in government for centuries, just because of their Catholicism. I haven't changed my mind about Walsingham. I still don't like him, as a person or political figure, but now I have better reasons for that opinion as I know much more about him. And I can see why Elizabeth honored him.
Albeit that I don't like him, I certainly recommend this book if you are at all interested in the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth's reign in particular. It is very well done and thorough.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2013
Anyone who knows even a little British history knows about Queen Elizabeth I, and most people know who her "spymaster" was: Sir Francis Walsingham. I felt very intellectual reading this biography, though sometimes it seemed that however deeply the author did his research, only guesses could be presented. We will probably never fully know Walsingham's motivations; too much of his correspondence is lost and the primary sources are influenced by the politics of the time. But the author makes a credible attempt at showing the true Walsingham, using the evidence available. Little is known of Walsingham's early life, so at the beginning we are treated to a section on what noble life in the 1500s was like. It is once Walsingham begins working for the queen that the intrigue begins--sometimes this seems more like a history of Queen Elizabeth, since you have to know about the one to know the other. There are a few times when the narrative skips in time: one chapter will detail a certain political movement and trace it to its end, then the next section starts with the movement again. Sometimes keeping track of the dates is difficult when this happens. A detailed bibliography is included for those interested in more history. It's funny to realize that even though we know what happened--it's history, after all, it's in the books--we don't really know what the reasons behind what happened are, as much as people try to write about it.
June 29, 2020
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3411011.html
It's an interesting survey of Walsingham's career, starting with how his views of Catholicism vs Protestantism were hardened by the experience of being the English ambassador in France at the time of the St Bartholomew's Eve Massacre (see also Christopher Marlowe, and Doctor Who). And in particular, Cooper conveys very effectively the fragility of the Elizabethan regime as directly experienced by those who were running it. One of the biggest mental adjustments I've had to make as I get into the period is to realise that the people living through it had no idea that Elizabeth would live to 1603 - crowned heads were tumbling at the drop of a hat across Europe, and the heir to Elizabeth's throne was literally imprisoned in England and actively plotting against her. It's also clearly and sympathetically put that Walsingham and Cecil were more hardline in their religion than the queen was; and they saw their job as preserving the realm even against her whims if the latter should be potentially destructive. Ireland doesn't loom as large here as I had expected it might; perhaps the informal demarcation of responsibilities between Walsingham and Cecil left it more in the latter's domain. But there is lots of useful stuff, helping me to form a better picture of the complex environment of the time.
It's an interesting survey of Walsingham's career, starting with how his views of Catholicism vs Protestantism were hardened by the experience of being the English ambassador in France at the time of the St Bartholomew's Eve Massacre (see also Christopher Marlowe, and Doctor Who). And in particular, Cooper conveys very effectively the fragility of the Elizabethan regime as directly experienced by those who were running it. One of the biggest mental adjustments I've had to make as I get into the period is to realise that the people living through it had no idea that Elizabeth would live to 1603 - crowned heads were tumbling at the drop of a hat across Europe, and the heir to Elizabeth's throne was literally imprisoned in England and actively plotting against her. It's also clearly and sympathetically put that Walsingham and Cecil were more hardline in their religion than the queen was; and they saw their job as preserving the realm even against her whims if the latter should be potentially destructive. Ireland doesn't loom as large here as I had expected it might; perhaps the informal demarcation of responsibilities between Walsingham and Cecil left it more in the latter's domain. But there is lots of useful stuff, helping me to form a better picture of the complex environment of the time.
February 12, 2013
John Cooper has crafted a well-documented tale of Sir Francis Walsingham's life in the service of Protestantism, England and Queen Elizabeth. The title is a bit misleading in that more time is spent upon his work as principal secretary and ambassador to France then designing a spy agency. Did he employ agents, double-agents, and counter-agents? of course, but not in an organized fashion (according to the evidence presented and documented). Instead, he was the spider pulling on all the threads and he had to recognize the worth of any message before it could be acted upon. In all, a solid, readable biography concentrating less on personal details and more on organizational service.
March 23, 2018
Deeply disappointed by this book. It was promoted as a biography of Walsingham 'the spymaster and cryptographer'. Granted Walsingham was not the 'master cryptographer' of his network I expected to read more of that aspect of his work. It was sadly lacking.
It also felt very much that Walsingham was a secondary character in his own biography. I learned far more about many other people than I did about him. I came away feeling that this was a well researched and, to be fair, well written book that told me very little about the principal character and a lot about the people around him. It certainly did not live up to the PR.
It also felt very much that Walsingham was a secondary character in his own biography. I learned far more about many other people than I did about him. I came away feeling that this was a well researched and, to be fair, well written book that told me very little about the principal character and a lot about the people around him. It certainly did not live up to the PR.
July 19, 2023
This is an excellent biography of Walsingham, far more comprehensive than Her Majesty's Spymaster, though also a good deal denser to read.
Cooper provides much more information on Walsingham's early life and also more coverage of the foreign affairs he covered in his work as secretary. The chapter that delves into his role in the planting of Ireland and connects it with early attempts at settlement in North America is rather chilling.
Cooper provides much more information on Walsingham's early life and also more coverage of the foreign affairs he covered in his work as secretary. The chapter that delves into his role in the planting of Ireland and connects it with early attempts at settlement in North America is rather chilling.
September 30, 2011
The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
October 15, 2015
Interesting account of Walsingham's life, but it felt padded, particularly toward the end when the author goes into colonization during Elizabethan England. The role Walsingham played in deterring Catholic Europe from removing Elizabeth from the throne is good, but a little muddled.
February 8, 2019
When we think about spies, we often think of modern examples like the ones we see in movies. However, spies and their spymasters have been working hard to protect their countries and their rulers for centuries. For Queen Elizabeth I, the only man she could trust to be her spymaster was Sir Francis Walsingham. But is it fair to call Walsingham as only Elizabeth’s “spymaster”? That is the question that John Cooper tries to answer in his book “The Queen’s Agent: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England”. Who was Sir Francis Walsingham and what did he do to help his queen and his country?
First and foremost, Walsingham was a Protestant. This is very important to understand because in this time, your religion determined where you stood on certain political and international issues. Walsingham would flee to universities in other countries while Mary I was queen, he would help Huguenots in France during the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, and helped Elizabeth navigate through her marriage prospects. In the religious quagmire that was Europe at this time, it was Walsingham and Elizabeth who stood by their Protestant faith and would help the Reformation on.
As Secretary of State, it was Walsingham who helped set up the national defenses against the invading Spanish Armada and helped crack the code of the Babington plot that tried to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne of England. Walsingham would also help solve the “Irish issue” and help make colonization in America possible. Walsingham and Queen Elizabeth I would often butt heads on issues, but in the end, they would come to a compromise that would benefit the entire country. Through all of this were men that Walsingham could trust, and some he thought he could but they turned out to be double agents for other countries. Walsingham had to navigate it all to protect his beloved queen and country.
John Cooper navigates the complex web of Walsingham’s life and his spy system to seek the truth about the man who became a legendary spymaster. There was a lot of information, but Cooper was able to organize the book in such a way that it was not overwhelming. This book had many twists and turns, as any good book about espionage would, however, the one thing that I wish Cooper would have included was a list of names and what they were known for. For me, it would have made the web a little less complex.
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable. Before this book, I did not know a lot about Walsingham or what he did for Elizabethan England. Walsingham was not just a spymaster, he was so much more and Protestant Elizabethan England would have been lost without him and his actions. If you want to learn more about Sir Francis Walsingham, the complex Europe world with Protestants versus Catholics, or espionage in Elizabethan England, this is the book for you.
First and foremost, Walsingham was a Protestant. This is very important to understand because in this time, your religion determined where you stood on certain political and international issues. Walsingham would flee to universities in other countries while Mary I was queen, he would help Huguenots in France during the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, and helped Elizabeth navigate through her marriage prospects. In the religious quagmire that was Europe at this time, it was Walsingham and Elizabeth who stood by their Protestant faith and would help the Reformation on.
As Secretary of State, it was Walsingham who helped set up the national defenses against the invading Spanish Armada and helped crack the code of the Babington plot that tried to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne of England. Walsingham would also help solve the “Irish issue” and help make colonization in America possible. Walsingham and Queen Elizabeth I would often butt heads on issues, but in the end, they would come to a compromise that would benefit the entire country. Through all of this were men that Walsingham could trust, and some he thought he could but they turned out to be double agents for other countries. Walsingham had to navigate it all to protect his beloved queen and country.
John Cooper navigates the complex web of Walsingham’s life and his spy system to seek the truth about the man who became a legendary spymaster. There was a lot of information, but Cooper was able to organize the book in such a way that it was not overwhelming. This book had many twists and turns, as any good book about espionage would, however, the one thing that I wish Cooper would have included was a list of names and what they were known for. For me, it would have made the web a little less complex.
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable. Before this book, I did not know a lot about Walsingham or what he did for Elizabethan England. Walsingham was not just a spymaster, he was so much more and Protestant Elizabethan England would have been lost without him and his actions. If you want to learn more about Sir Francis Walsingham, the complex Europe world with Protestants versus Catholics, or espionage in Elizabethan England, this is the book for you.
December 23, 2019
The thing that I had to remember throughout the book was the position of secretary is NOT the same as it is in today's modern world. Secretary meant 'keeper of secrets' and that is exactly what Sir Francis Walsingham was - the principal secretary for his queen, Elizabeth I of England.
Of course, the author gives us some in-depth views - or as in-depth as possible since most of Walsingham's personal records were destroyed in a fire in 1619 or otherwise lost over the centuries - into his early life. Surviving the political maneuvering during Mary 's reign - he fled to Italy and Switzerland - as well as Elizabeth's potential marriage to a variety of French or Spanish nobility.
He was in Paris during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants by French Catholics and watched - likely in horror - as the citizenry and mercenaries murdered Huguenot French nobility and any other Protestants they could find. The king eventually projected the story that it was all due to countering a plot against the throne but it was just one more example of the violent relations between the two religions at the time.
Walsingham eventually rose to the position of trust in Elizabeth's court and it was during his time that saw some of the tumultuous threats to the Tudor throne. Not only assassination attempts; attempts at deposing Elizabeth in favor of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; various uprisings mostly in attempts to force the return of Catholicism; the troubles and rebellions in Ireland; but the external threat of her brother-in-law, Philip II of Spain, with the backing of the Vatican which culminates - at least in this book - with the aftermath of the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada.
In order to preserve Elizabeth's government, Walsingham managed to create a web of relationships - translate that to informants and spies - all through Europe and its courts as well as within English noble households. He knew that it only took one attempt to succeed in killing or overthrowing Elizabeth so he had to counter all of them. And he managed to do an excellent job - especially when you consider that communications took weeks if not months to travel from one place to another if they even ever arrived.
Cooper manages to infuse this historic biography with the intrigue of an adventure novel by Clancy, Forsyth or le Carre which makes it all the more interesting.
2019-185
Of course, the author gives us some in-depth views - or as in-depth as possible since most of Walsingham's personal records were destroyed in a fire in 1619 or otherwise lost over the centuries - into his early life. Surviving the political maneuvering during Mary 's reign - he fled to Italy and Switzerland - as well as Elizabeth's potential marriage to a variety of French or Spanish nobility.
He was in Paris during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants by French Catholics and watched - likely in horror - as the citizenry and mercenaries murdered Huguenot French nobility and any other Protestants they could find. The king eventually projected the story that it was all due to countering a plot against the throne but it was just one more example of the violent relations between the two religions at the time.
Walsingham eventually rose to the position of trust in Elizabeth's court and it was during his time that saw some of the tumultuous threats to the Tudor throne. Not only assassination attempts; attempts at deposing Elizabeth in favor of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; various uprisings mostly in attempts to force the return of Catholicism; the troubles and rebellions in Ireland; but the external threat of her brother-in-law, Philip II of Spain, with the backing of the Vatican which culminates - at least in this book - with the aftermath of the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada.
In order to preserve Elizabeth's government, Walsingham managed to create a web of relationships - translate that to informants and spies - all through Europe and its courts as well as within English noble households. He knew that it only took one attempt to succeed in killing or overthrowing Elizabeth so he had to counter all of them. And he managed to do an excellent job - especially when you consider that communications took weeks if not months to travel from one place to another if they even ever arrived.
Cooper manages to infuse this historic biography with the intrigue of an adventure novel by Clancy, Forsyth or le Carre which makes it all the more interesting.
2019-185
April 11, 2021
This was a really interesting book. It's the first book I've read with Francis Walsingham at the centre, though I do also have the biography of Francis Walsingham by Robert Hutchinson. If you're interested in the secret life of Elizabethan England and how the fairly new idea of a spy network came into being and developed, then this is the book for you.
This book is also very good at discussing Walsingham's involvement in the downfall and execution of Mary Queen of Scots. There is a huge variety of both primary and secondary sources used, given full credit in the notes and bibliography, which means that it is fairly easy to track the sources down if you want to investigate further. The one thing that I will say is that the primary sources themselves could be discussed more within the text, as I find it useful to see the wider context of the sources and the events they describe.
The index is also quite comprehensive so if you're looking for something in particular within the book it's simple to look and find it. There is a good selection of images in a book plate at the centre, with portraits, sketches, maps, paintings, places and artefacts. These are all clearly captioned as to what they are, but the sources of the images could do with more information otherwise it's difficult to research them further or verify their antecedents.
It's the first real book I've read in researching my own book, and the section on the Babington plot in particular is fantastic, though I could have done with more detail about the Ridolfi and Throckmorton plots as they aren't as well described, though perhaps that's due to lack of sources and information. I'm not sure.
This book is also very good at discussing Walsingham's involvement in the downfall and execution of Mary Queen of Scots. There is a huge variety of both primary and secondary sources used, given full credit in the notes and bibliography, which means that it is fairly easy to track the sources down if you want to investigate further. The one thing that I will say is that the primary sources themselves could be discussed more within the text, as I find it useful to see the wider context of the sources and the events they describe.
The index is also quite comprehensive so if you're looking for something in particular within the book it's simple to look and find it. There is a good selection of images in a book plate at the centre, with portraits, sketches, maps, paintings, places and artefacts. These are all clearly captioned as to what they are, but the sources of the images could do with more information otherwise it's difficult to research them further or verify their antecedents.
It's the first real book I've read in researching my own book, and the section on the Babington plot in particular is fantastic, though I could have done with more detail about the Ridolfi and Throckmorton plots as they aren't as well described, though perhaps that's due to lack of sources and information. I'm not sure.
July 1, 2018
A good book, but not a great one. There is much here that is really interesting. One of the benefits of biography is that it gives you a prism through which to observe an age, and reading this book gives you a really great canter through Elizabethan foreign policy and Catholic recusancy. But it stays, to some extent, a briefing, and you are left with the sense that Cooper is writing for more a knowledgable audience than the layperson.
Part of the reason for that is that Wallsingham is destined to remain in the shadows he so clearly courted when in power- historians are left with only his state papers rather than his personal ones, and some secrets likely never reached paper and so remain subject to conjecture. Aspects of his faith, personality and politics are clear, but the rest is simply unknown.
This indistinctness, though, is followed through to some areas of authorial choice. The difference in views of Wallsingham’s brutal treatment of Catholic missionaries, for instance, is signposted as something we still disagree about today, but no particular effort is made to add to that conversation. And no conclusion is reached about how Wallsingham engaged with the Queen.
A chapter about Elizabethan American colonies is interesting and clear, and helps flesh out a man who was not all secrets and spies, but is overlong and could profitably have been split out from a section on Ireland.
Finishing the book, one is left with a sense of Wallsingham as a black shape at the centre of known facts. He would probably like that, but it makes for an ultimately incomplete history.
Part of the reason for that is that Wallsingham is destined to remain in the shadows he so clearly courted when in power- historians are left with only his state papers rather than his personal ones, and some secrets likely never reached paper and so remain subject to conjecture. Aspects of his faith, personality and politics are clear, but the rest is simply unknown.
This indistinctness, though, is followed through to some areas of authorial choice. The difference in views of Wallsingham’s brutal treatment of Catholic missionaries, for instance, is signposted as something we still disagree about today, but no particular effort is made to add to that conversation. And no conclusion is reached about how Wallsingham engaged with the Queen.
A chapter about Elizabethan American colonies is interesting and clear, and helps flesh out a man who was not all secrets and spies, but is overlong and could profitably have been split out from a section on Ireland.
Finishing the book, one is left with a sense of Wallsingham as a black shape at the centre of known facts. He would probably like that, but it makes for an ultimately incomplete history.
May 9, 2022
Shoutout to footnotes, more than usual. There's a lot of speculation in The Queen's Agent, which is I guess a reasonable response to the story of Francis Walsingham and the gaps our imagination has to fill. Cooper's characterization of Queen Elizabeth I as a capricious girl is suspect, but I'm not expert enough to take it to task. Chapter by chapter and within, the narrative is prone to analepsis and digression, also a reasonable response given there's a lot of balls in the air at the time, politically speaking, but it can sometimes make it tough to track what's going on, to see the significance of the fact at the fore. A trees book, not a forest book.
Takeaway:
"Investing in Marlowe may have paid Walsingham a dividend of a different kind. A London playhouse was one of very few venues where politics could be publicly discussed, and consequently the crown took an interest in what was put on. For Walsingham Marlowe may have represented a man on the inside, a literary equivalent of Richard Baines in the seminary at Rheims. A parallel strategy was to offer protection to the actors themselves. In 1583 Walsingham instructed Master of the Revels Edmund Tilney to form the company of Queen's Men. Whatever his motives, Walsingham's patronage of plays and players forces us to refine the received image of a relentlessly dour Puritan."
Takeaway:
"Investing in Marlowe may have paid Walsingham a dividend of a different kind. A London playhouse was one of very few venues where politics could be publicly discussed, and consequently the crown took an interest in what was put on. For Walsingham Marlowe may have represented a man on the inside, a literary equivalent of Richard Baines in the seminary at Rheims. A parallel strategy was to offer protection to the actors themselves. In 1583 Walsingham instructed Master of the Revels Edmund Tilney to form the company of Queen's Men. Whatever his motives, Walsingham's patronage of plays and players forces us to refine the received image of a relentlessly dour Puritan."
January 19, 2024
Francis Walsingham was one of the ten most senior people in the Elizabethan state; he was ambassador to France, principal secretary to the queen, member of the privy council, etc. He was an angry committed Puritan, who dressed all in black and supervised much of the clandestine activity of the state. He was the chief agent in proving the conspiracies around Mary, queen of Scots.
This is nominally a biography of Walsingham. Unfortunately, there are pretty few sources and so the author has to instead talk more generally about his milieu. We hear a lot about the wars of religion, the state of Catholics in England, all this stuff, but rather little about who was Walsingham.
The author is at pains to show that the Elizabethan secret service was less an institution and more a set of personal relationships. Walsingham had friends and retainers and agents, in England and throughout Europe. Some were paid, some were ideological, some had personal loyalties. Lots of reports came in, Walsingham read it and issued instructions. He had a small crew of actual spooks, with codebreakers and forgers and so forth. But these were more nearly his personal servants than government employees. And this is typical of how Tudor England worked. It was not a very formalist place.
This is nominally a biography of Walsingham. Unfortunately, there are pretty few sources and so the author has to instead talk more generally about his milieu. We hear a lot about the wars of religion, the state of Catholics in England, all this stuff, but rather little about who was Walsingham.
The author is at pains to show that the Elizabethan secret service was less an institution and more a set of personal relationships. Walsingham had friends and retainers and agents, in England and throughout Europe. Some were paid, some were ideological, some had personal loyalties. Lots of reports came in, Walsingham read it and issued instructions. He had a small crew of actual spooks, with codebreakers and forgers and so forth. But these were more nearly his personal servants than government employees. And this is typical of how Tudor England worked. It was not a very formalist place.
December 9, 2023
I read this to find out more about espionage in Elizabethan England and it delivered fairly well on that account, although if you are similarly motivated I might recommend starting about a third to halfway through as the beginning is biographical background unrelated to spying. The book does a nice job of catching the reader up on the incredibly complex web of relationships and rivalries between nations and leaders at that time, and it made that interesting enough that I will probably pursue more European history as a result. As far as espionage itself, the author admits that it was largely informal, relying mostly on Walsingham’s friendships and on information that today would just be regarded as news. The exception is the fascinating conspiracy to free Mary Stuart and kill Elizabeth I, which Walsingham detected and thwarted. I loved the details about Mary’s cryptographic communications with her conspirators, relying on a complex homophonic substitution cipher peppered with symbols to add noise. It was a fitting climax that Walsingham’s death so closely followed the first Spanish Armada in 1588, which added a great deal of “intelligencer” action just before the conclusion.
April 1, 2024
It's an interesting read, focusing on a player who is usually referenced in pieces from the period but rarely gets the spot light.
However in the grand scheme of things the book seems a bit of a light touch and avoids doing any real deep dives into who the man was. The book seems more interested in giving a high level social overview of Britain during the Elizabethan era. Don't get me wrong, interesting but perhaps a bit samey. There's a LOT of books about Elizabethan England and this one seems to sacrifice detail to instead focus on Walsingham but at the same time not focusing on him enough. I appreciate the book probably struggled because so much of his correspondences have been lost but then again I'd make the argument that hasn't stopped many other historians. The game is trying to fill in the blanks whilst making it an interesting tale to read and really this book doesn't really reach the level where I'd re-read it. I'd rather just pick up another book from the same period to see if that has any more luck in filling in the blanks.
However in the grand scheme of things the book seems a bit of a light touch and avoids doing any real deep dives into who the man was. The book seems more interested in giving a high level social overview of Britain during the Elizabethan era. Don't get me wrong, interesting but perhaps a bit samey. There's a LOT of books about Elizabethan England and this one seems to sacrifice detail to instead focus on Walsingham but at the same time not focusing on him enough. I appreciate the book probably struggled because so much of his correspondences have been lost but then again I'd make the argument that hasn't stopped many other historians. The game is trying to fill in the blanks whilst making it an interesting tale to read and really this book doesn't really reach the level where I'd re-read it. I'd rather just pick up another book from the same period to see if that has any more luck in filling in the blanks.
March 28, 2019
A solid if somewhat dry biography of Walsingham and his role in developing an intelligence network across Europe during the reign of Elizabeth I. Cooper fills in the unknown periods of Walsingham's life with detailed history of 16th century England and it's struggles against the Catholic League and Catholic recusancy within its own borders. It was these threats that lead Walsingham to develop intelligence contacts at home and abroad. The picture of Walsingham that emerges from these pages is very different from the interesting character portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in the Elizabeth movies. Rush's Walsingham is a quiet, pithy Machiavelli, but the historical Walsingham was a devoted Protestant, which heavily informed his policy advice for Elizabeth on matters of state. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in this period of English history.
November 22, 2025
Francis Walsingham is known among Queen Elizabeth's advisors as the spymaster. But before he rose to prominence, Walsingham experienced exile during Mary I's reign, and then served as English ambassador to France during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre before coming back to England to become secretary to the queen. From this role, Walsingham managed a network of agents who kept him informed on events across the European continent and often moved in lockstep with Elizabeth's most trusted advisor William Cecil. This biography provides an excellent overview of Walsingham's life, work, and the events in which he played a significant role (Elizabeth's marriage negotiations, Mary Queen of Scots' execution, imperial ambitions in Ireland and North America, and the Spanish Armada). A good introduction to Walsingham and highly recommended for fans of Tudor history.
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