Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story [Paperback]

Professor John Bossy (Author), John Bossy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nota Bene | Publication Date: August 1, 2002

In the latter part of the 16th century, Elizabethan London was uneasy: was it France's intent to side with Protestant England or with the hostile Catholic powers of Europe? This volume describes the espionage operation that was devised to find the answer. John Bossy speculates on the identity of the mole in the French ambassador's household and tells the details of the arrests, escapes, crises and deals surrounding the affair.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sequel to Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair, which plotted the course of espionage in Salisbury House (the French embassy in London) in the 1580s, sniffs out a mole in the house. Someone was leaking letters, including potentially incriminating correspondence between the ambassador and Mary, Queen of Scots, to England's spymaster (officially, secretary of state), Francis Walsingham. The letters revealed alarmingly rapid progress in plans for a marriage between the Duke of Anjou, once a suitor of Elizabeth's, and a Spanish princess, which threatened to bring a closing of Catholic ranks against Elizabethan England. Mary herself suspected the existence of a mole. This individual would also be instrumental in uncovering the "treachery" of Francis Throckmorton, a young Catholic gentleman who had compiled for the benefit of the Spanish a list of those who might be expected to support a Spanish invasion. But who was this insider whose significance to England's future in this turbulent time, Bossy argues, was very real? Was it Claude de Courcelles, the ambassador's secretary, who had been orchestrating contacts with a variety of Catholic sympathizers? Courcelles appears to have been devout in his faith, but he was also melancholic, frustrated and ambitious. Or was it the clerk, Laurent Feron, who lived suspiciously close to one of Walsingham's agents? Since France had not confirmed its allegiance either to Spain or to England, what was the role of its ambassador in London? Bossy, professor emeritus of history at the University of York, explores the intricate web of possibilities with the single-minded focus of a chess player, reflecting like Poirot on the difficulties of detective work. While intriguing to Anglophiles, the game requires strict concentration from the reader proof, if any were needed, of the cryptic sophistication of Elizabethan secret intelligence. Illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this sequel to his award-winning Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair, Bossy (emeritus, history, Univ. of York) continues his meticulous and carefully argued investigation into espionage operations in Elizabethan London, where Protestants (represented by Elizabeth) vie with Catholics (whose exiled leader was Mary, Queen of Scots). The common topic of both studies, Bossy notes, is "the defense of the realm by the acquisition of intelligence about subversion and potential invasion." The present work recounts how an informant (or "mole," in modern parlance) in the household of Michel de Castelnau (the French ambassador in London) passed on information about France's likely position should hostilities break out between Protestant England and the Catholic powers of Europe. It is also the story of how Bossy discovered the identity of the mole, what items of intelligence were leaked and to whom, and how the English government reacted. Both scholarly and witty, this work suggests that intrigue, corruption, fanaticism, and pursuit of self and national interest have always been closely linked to "the defense of the realm." Recommended for academic and larger public libraries. Robert C. Jones, Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300094507
• ISBN-13: 978-0300094503
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Diplomatic intrigue ......, April 11, 2006

By 

D. Bowen (Crawford, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story (Paperback)

This is a fairly scholarly work. Although it is not overly long, and it does allow a reader that is less well informed on the Elizabethan period to get a feel for the politics of the period, the book is not so dramatic as to be compelling to the average reader, and would be better suited to large institutional collections and those with a particular interest in Elizabethan England.

Bossy writes in an erudite style, and appears to have attempted a more novelistic style for the structure of the book, but the nature of the book remains unchanged, and unfortunately, the literary gymnastics seem to reduce clarity in the account.

Still a good book for interested parties.

4.0 out of 5 stars A focussed look at an incident in Elizabethan intelligence work, December 1, 2011

By 

Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story (Paperback)

In the 1580's, Walsingham's spy operations somehow gained access to the correspondence of the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, Seigneur de Mauvissière. In this book and its earlier companion to Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair, Bossy has attempted to determine the identities of the agents involved.

I liked this book much better than the earlier one. It is still a very scholarly work, with copies of original documents appended, but the writing is much clearer and livelier. In addition, Bossy has translated foreign language quotes. I am also more convinced of his conclusions. Bossy seems to really sympathize with Michel de Castelnau, Seigneur de Mauvissière, who seems very likable and took the fall for the leaks in his embassy.

Bossy also revisits the vexed issue of William Parry, who was at one time claimed to be working for the English, and at another time executed for plotting against them. I felt that he handled it very poorly in his other book, but it was much better explained here. It is still not entirely clear, but that apparently isn't for lack of digging by Bossy.

He seems to have backed off a little on his identification of 'Fagot' as Giordano Bruno, and he is also less harsh towards the English, especially the intelligence community. Whether the reader finds these improvements or not is best left to them.

I would recommend this to people interested in Elizabethan intelligence work, especially in Walsingham. Readers may be interested to know that the two books form part of the basis for the thriller Prophecy by S. J. Parris (i.e. Stephanie Merritt)