Today we mark the death in 1590 of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s private secretary, and the man who developed her extensive spy network, catching Catholics, and anyone suspected of having loyalties to anyone other than Elizabeth (this includes Mary Queen of Scots).
Walsingham was born into a Protestant family, and had to flee to Switzerland during the reign of Mary I, returning after Elizabeth became Queen. He was elected to Parliament, and served in the Parliament that confirmed Henry’s break with Rome, and created the Religious Settlement.
He was deeply affected by the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France when Protestants were killed throughout the country in a weeks-long spree by Catholics. He worked for Cecil, and together the two men worked to bring down anyone who had suspected loyalties.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com, where there is an episode on Walsingham.
Suggested links:
Episode 103: Tudor Times on Francis Walsingham
Episode 027: Francis Walsingham
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.