The secret face of empire : espionage, governance and the Habsburg archives under Charles V, 1525-1550

Abstract:In recent years, scholarship on espionage in the early modern world has received increasing attention. However, assessing the secret information-gathering practices within the Habsburg composite empire of Emperor Charles V remains a challenge, partly because they were often organised in a decentralised manner. This doctoral dissertation argues that the context in which state archives from this period emerged, their subsequent history, and the way in which records within these archives were arranged have profoundly influenced the historiography on the emperor. In particular, the archival context has contributed to a teleological interpretation of Charles’s reign, in which Spanish political influences on the emperor have been overstated. This has hindered historians from fully addressing issues of secrecy and information-gathering within the imperial decision-making process. Through a fresh analysis of the abundantly available primary sources from state secretaries and ministers – dispersed across archives throughout Europe (primarily in Vienna, Brussels, Simancas, Madrid, Paris, Besançon and Lille) – and by studying both what is lost and how this has shaped our understanding of the state system, the dissertation first demonstrates the crucial role played by Charles’s Burgundian ministers within his administration. The dominant influence of first councillor Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle in managing and analysing the vast flow of information reaching the court on a daily basis is re-evaluated. Subsequently, from a geopolitical perspective, the dissertation examines the respective involvement of the various Habsburg territories in the organisation of information exchange for the emperor. Special attention is given to the regional administration of the Burgundian Low Countries, as it not only served as a hub for collecting news and secret correspondence for the emperor but also played a central role in coordinating Habsburg espionage activities across large parts of Western Europe. In this context, the distinctive policies of governor-general Mary of Hungary in the Low Countries are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the dissertation includes several case studies on the role of postal networks and cryptographic practices in Habsburg decision-making, the secret networks in France led by Queen Eleanor of Austria (Charles V’s eldest sister), the group of informants working for the imperial ambassadors in France, the local espionage networks of the nobility in frontier provinces such as Artois, and the deployment of merchants and mercenaries for covert state operations. Finally, various counter-espionage measures are examined, revealing the limited extent of Habsburg control over enemy secret operations. These case studies highlight one of the dissertation’s core arguments: the enduring influence of the Burgundian legacy on imperial politics in the first half of the sixteenth century.

Publication year:2025

Accessibility:Closed