This chapter provides brief conclusions drawing together the threads of the story and its wider analysis, the political and religious context, its transnational significance and the insights a single document and event have provided. Returning to some of the themes raised in the introduction, reflects on the role of truth and secrecy amid the practicalities for ministers of upholding an ideological cause.

Chapter 6 focuses on fears of espionage and treachery, but also the extensive use of information and intelligence-gathering by all sides, and the fine distinctions between these. The close connection with ambassadors and their contacts is discussed, alongside how spies and spying were viewed by contemporaries, through correspondence and judicial records. Explores extensive fears of plots and foreign intervention and how this affected diplomatic and confessional relations; the execution of experienced courier, Jean Abraham, secretary to the prince of Condé, exemplifies this. Looks in detail at contemporary English concerns about a Franco-Scottish alliance in support of Mary Queen of Scots, making links from these concerns to the activities of Norris, cardinal Châtillon and to the network exposed by the letters carried by Tivinat. Attention is given to the role of female agents and especially to double agents, such as Edmund Mather, whose career and connections to Norris, Regnard/Changy and the wider network are explored in detail.

Chapter 5 explores the importance of the communication of news and information through correspondence, but also the problems of its interception and betrayal. Couriers faced the risk of violence and incarceration, particularly at times of diplomatic tension, and strategies of concealment could be quite sophisticated to counter this, such as the use of ciphers, pseudonyms and other methods. Nevertheless, the dangers to which Tivinat and other couriers were exposed was considerable, their detention was a frequent occurrence, as was that of Huguenots carrying books and papers, as shown in cases drawn from the Conciergerie in Paris. Consideration is given to the importance of correspondence as a source for both contemporaries and historians. The news content of the letters carried by Tivinat is discussed in detail, revealing concerns with events both international and domestic. Connections between the letters and those found in other circumstances, such as on the body of the prince of Condé and in the English State Papers, are made, identifying Regnard/Changy as their author and the complexity of the network in which he operated.

This chapter introduces the interrogation document and associated letters around which the book is based and summarises the structure of the book and the content of its chapters. Emphasises the European-wide context of the Huguenot network that is revealed as well as the circumstances of the French religious wars c. 1567–1571. Engages with the relevant historiographical themes, including studies of correspondence and communication, diplomacy, intelligence-gathering and espionage, and confessional and transnational connections. Addresses the sub-themes of truth and secrecy and how these provide the backdrop for the clandestine confessional activities to be explored, particularly through the participation of Huguenot ministers. Investigates what we are able to reconstruct about the man, Jean Tivinat, who was arrested for and interrogated about his role in carrying the correspondence and the circumstances of his incarceration at the château of Dieppe.

Chapter 3 explores in detail the households between which Tivinat was carrying the correspondence: of Henry Norris, the English ambassador, in the suburbs of Paris and of Odet de Coligny, the cardinal of Châtillon, in the outskirts of London. Discusses Norris’s experience as ambassador and the challenges of this role, not least the interception of couriers, as well as the difficulty of negotiating between the French and English courts at a time of turbulent diplomatic relations. Establishes the importance of his household as a hub of Protestant activity. Châtillon’s life and career are examined as context for his experience of exile in England and his role as diplomat at Elizabeth’s court from 1568 to 1571. Establishes the importance of his contribution as Huguenot representative, facilitating a Protestant network of ministers and agents across Europe, as well as the links of this network with the two households and the correspondence carried by Tivinat. The role of other prominent figures in exile with Châtillon are also explored.

Chapter 1 provides a detailed analysis of the interrogation document and what it reveals to us about, and as far as possible what can be verified regarding, Tivinat’s activities as a merchant and courier operating between France and England. The process of interrogation and the interests of the interrogator are also explored. In particular, examines Tivinat’s relationship with the household of the cardinal of Châtillon and identifies those to whom and from whom the letters were sent and the clandestine world in which these contacts were made. Other contemporary examples of similar interceptions are discussed to establish how typical or otherwise this case is and what they collectively tell us about the frequency and precarity of such communication. Above all, the necessity of identifying Tivinat’s supplier, Changy, is emphasised and undertaken at length, establishing that he was Hugues de Regnard, a Huguenot minister with well-established and widespread transnational connections with Calvinist church and noble leaders in several countries.

This chapter focuses on Poland and France to discuss examples of the emergence of Jewish armed resistance. It stresses different forms of resistance over time and the shift it took when Jewish activists became aware of mass murder. In the east, the creation of ghettos and the mass shootings and deportations of Jews to extermination camps led the Jewish underground and many individual Jews to engage in armed resistance. In the west, armed resistance emerged in response to mass roundups. Jewish resistance in both eastern and western contexts relied, in part, on longstanding personal networks within Jewish organizations and communities, which transcended linguistic, political, and intra-communal divides.

Lamberto dell’Antella’s confession and the execution of five leading Florentines in August 1497 marked a watershed in Piero’s years of exile. Before that, Piero’s friends met in Florence to discuss plans to bring him back to Florence, with Lamberto as a go-between carrying messages to and fro. In the early years of his exile, Piero had described himself in letters to the government and to his cousins as a good citizen who only wanted to be treated fairly and allowed to return home. But after 1497 everyone was afraid of contagion and we have to rely on the reports of ambassadors, merchants and spies to discover his movements. They show how high the stakes were in a conflict that pitted the leading families of Florence against each other.