FRIAS Kolloquium - Jenny Benham

‘Winning the information war. Spies and espionage at the medieval court’

Winning the information war was essential for the very survival of all rulers and their political entities in the competitive medieval world. Careless gossiping at court, identifying potential assassins in a household, or reporting on the military movements of enemies, all relied on effective means of acquiring and sharing information. This is clearly highlighted in the metaphorical ‘little birds’ – e.g. ravens, jackdaws, starlings – found in European literature 700-1200, denoting men, women, and children engaging in spying activities. By supplementing this literary evidence with documentary records, the historian can build up a more diverse picture of espionage that goes beyond the common focus on military contexts and revises our understanding of how politics worked in the earlier Middle Ages.