Elizabethan Spy Network As a Protestant Queen, Elizabeth was forced to live with the threat of assassination from Catholics throughout her reign. But there was an army of men working in secret to protect the Queen. These were her spies, her secret service, and they were overseen by the most ruthless spy master of them all: Francis Walsingham. Intelligence work also involved learning how to break the different codes used by plotters in their correspondence. Often, letters of the alphabet were shuffled in a certain sequence and, once the key was worked out, the message could be read and understood. Alternatively individual letters could be substituted with numbers, symbols or signs of the zodiac. But spies had to learn not only how to decipher code but also how to write it themselves. This was frustrating and time-consuming work, paid off only by the satisfaction of finally cracking a difficult code. The quoted material is from, Elizabeth's Spy Network, By Alexandra Briscoe, and can be found on the BBC website. ~ Mission Elizabethan ~ Ye have been assigned a task worthy of noble heroes. Ye must unravel a code that will unlock secret pages 'pon the ether-net. To do so requires upmost cunning & a clever mynde. Firstly, read the translated lines that have been deliver'd to ye. Study wisely the words to unlock the code. Secondly, use your spy code-craft to untwist the words of the message sent. Then ye shall find the password needed for thy mission. But wait ! You must demonstrate your skill, lest Mysterious not grant ye the code-name ranking. |
Elizabethan Spy Network As a Protestant Queen, Elizabeth was forced to live with the threat of assassination from Catholics throughout her reign. But there was an army of men working in secret to protect the Queen. These were her spies, her secret service, and they were overseen by the most ruthless spy master of them all: Francis Walsingham. Intelligence work also involved learning how to break the different codes used by plotters in their correspondence. Often, letters of the alphabet were shuffled in a certain sequence and, once the key was worked out, the message could be read and understood. Alternatively individual letters could be substituted with numbers, symbols or signs of the zodiac. But spies had to learn not only how to decipher code but also how to write it themselves. This was frustrating and time-consuming work, paid off only by the satisfaction of finally cracking a difficult code. The quoted material is from, Elizabeth's Spy Network, By Alexandra Briscoe, and can be found on the BBC website. ~ Mission Elizabethan ~ Ye have been assigned a task worthy of noble heroes. Ye must unravel a code that will unlock secret pages 'pon the ether-net. To do so requires upmost cunning & a clever mynde. Firstly, read the translated lines that have been deliver'd to ye. Study wisely the words to unlock the code. Secondly, use your spy code-craft to untwist the words of the message sent. Then ye shall find the password needed for thy mission. But wait ! You must demonstrate your skill, lest Mysterious not grant ye the code-name ranking. |
