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CHAPTER 2 | 1600s–1800s

34

SPYING IN

THE ENGLISH

CIVIL WAR

During the English Civil War (1642–1649), Oliver

Cromwell’s Parliamentary forces held the military

advantage over the Royalists under Charles I.

Unlike Charles, Cromwell understood the

importance of good intelligence, employing the

best spies to undermine the efforts of his enemies.

The Parliamentarians were able to call upon the services of

John Wallis, a scholar at Cambridge University. Like many

other cryptographers, Wallis was a brilliant mathematician (he

also developed infinitesimal calculus). For him, codebreaking

was an amusing intellectual diversion, and he had little

difficulty untangling the codes used by the Royalists.

THE KING’S LETTERS

In 1645, Wallis deciphered the coded correspondence of

Charles I to his wife in exile in France, as well as plans to

encourage support from Catholics in Ireland and continental

Europe. These letters were an invaluable propaganda coup

for Parliament, who published their contents in order to

discredit Charles. Firstly, they portrayed him as a king ruled

by his wife, and secondly, they showed that a supposedly

Protestant king was engaging in deals with foreign Catholics.

Wallis later worked for Thomas Scot, Oliver Cromwell’s

first intelligence chief. Appointed in 1647, Scot developed

a spy network that infiltrated the Royal court-in-exile on the

outskirts of Paris. One of his secret agents, Robert Werden,

provided juicy details of the affairs of the royal princes Charles

and James, much to the consternation of the straitlaced Scot.

“REALLY IT IS A WONDER THAT YOU CAN PICK

AS MANY LOCKS LEADING INTO THE HEARTS

OF THE WICKED MEN AS YOU DO, AND IT IS A

MERCY THAT GOD HAS MADE YOUR LABORS

THEREIN SO SUCCESSFUL.”

Henry Cromwell (son of Oliver), writing to John Thurloe

Right:

Oliver Cromwell

Above: Charles I and his wife

Henrietta Maria of France