The Reality of MEDIEVAL ESPIONAGE
333Who hasn't remembered Varys and Littlefinger, two masters of plotting and exploiting espionage in Game of Thrones? But what did espionage really consist of in the Middle Ages?
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Sources and insights:
Bećir A., Exploratores, spies and cursores in late medieval Dalmatian towns, 2025
Edgington S., Espionage and Military Intelligence during the First Crusade, 1095-99, 2014
Keagan J., Intelligence in War, 2003
Lerner A. W., Espionage and Intelligence, Early Historical Foundations, June 16, 2025
Sumption J., Inside the world of medieval espionage, 16 January 2025
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Was it worth being a spy?
07:40 Military Spies
11:18 Ecclesiastical Spies
13:40 Informants
22:47 Linguistic Spies
24:38 Court Spies
30:31 Espionage between Byzantines and Muslims
36:25 Espionage in the Hundred Years' War
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Background Music:
"Lord of the Land" and "Folk Round" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Unsafe Roads" by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Desert Caravan" by Aaron Kenny