Francis Walsingham: Difference between revisions
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (New page: {{subpages}} '''Sir Francis Walsingham''' (1532-1590), an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, is generally accepted to be the head of the first intelligence agency in the West. He is cre...) |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
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| url =http://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/catalog/drake/drake-8-invincible.html | | url =http://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/catalog/drake/drake-8-invincible.html | ||
| year = 2006 | | year = 2006 | ||
| publisher = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> | | publisher = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> It was a diplomatic input to his broader program to provide intelligence of the [[Spanish Armada]]. <blockquote>He developed a comprehensive collection plan and employed a network of agents throughout Europe to gather information. He never blindly trusted any one source, using multiple agents against the same target. As the Armada preparations came to a head, Walsingham commissioned naval reconnaissance missions of key Spanish ports, and although his work provided strategic warning to the crown and the Royal Navy, contrary winds prevented tactical warning.<ref>{{citation | ||
| title = (book review) Budiansky, Stephen. Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage | | title = (book review) Budiansky, Stephen. Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage | ||
| journal = Naval War College Review | | journal = Naval War College Review | ||
Revision as of 20:30, 8 August 2010
Sir Francis Walsingham (1532-1590), an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, is generally accepted to be the head of the first intelligence agency in the West. He is credited with personally developing a number of aspects of tradecraft, such as invisible inks and clandestine mail opening.[1]
In 2006, a report from an English diplomat, Dr. Valentine Dale, to Walsingham was exhibited by the Library of Congress.[2] It was a diplomatic input to his broader program to provide intelligence of the Spanish Armada.
He developed a comprehensive collection plan and employed a network of agents throughout Europe to gather information. He never blindly trusted any one source, using multiple agents against the same target. As the Armada preparations came to a head, Walsingham commissioned naval reconnaissance missions of key Spanish ports, and although his work provided strategic warning to the crown and the Royal Navy, contrary winds prevented tactical warning.[3]
References
- ↑ David Kahn, The Codebreakers
- ↑ Hans P. Kraus (2006), Sir Francis Drake: A Pictorial Biography -- The Invincible Armada, Library of Congress
- ↑ John R. Arpin (Summer, 2006), "(book review) Budiansky, Stephen. Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage", Naval War College Review