Robert Poley

Robert Poley , also Pooly , Poolye , Pooley , Polie, etc. a. (born before 1588; died after 1601) was an English courier and spy of Queen Elizabeth , the Privy Council and the secret service chief Francis Walsingham .

activities

Poley originally worked in Philip Sidney's household and after his death with his widow, Lady Sidney (née Frances Walsingham), until he finally switched to her father Francis Walsingham's secret service . There he spied on English exiles like " Charles Paget " in France and made the acquaintance of Thomas Morgan , the agent of Maria Stuart in France. He is considered a courier, ambassador and agent (provocateur) of the court or the privy council . Poley's income and expenses as an accredited ambassador and courier for exchanging messages with British ambassadors, state agents and foreign courts can be traced from existing sources. The encrypted reports of his activities to his superiors were written in cipher. His name appears twenty-six times over a period of 13 years (from December 1588, three months after he was released from the Tower, until 1601), e.g. B. in connection with the recall from Holland, June 1593, on the occasion of his presence at the death of Marlowe.

Babington conspiracy

He was deeply involved in the Babington conspiracy as Francis Walsingham's secret agent . In July / August 1586 the innermost circle of conspirators met in London, including Poley as a "Catholic" informant who was always at Anthony Babington's side . His eight-page autograph account of the Babington conspiracy ( Confessions ... ) reveal an educated, competent, if cunningly cunning character who could completely deceive Babington and his friends like "John Savage". From preserved invoice documents for the Privy Council, z. B. recognize that Poley arranged and paid for a large meal at the "Castle Inn", where persons of the Babington conspiracy such as B. B. " John Ballard ", "John Phelippes", "Eykeres", "Dunn" and another witness to Marlowe's death, "Nicholas Skeres", and others. a. Pop up. Ballard was arrested on August 4, 1586 through Francis Walsingham's secret service in Robert Poley's apartment and taken to Compter Prison. A servant of Poley, Nicholaus Dalton (Dawleton), was arrested there on August 6 and released on November 30 on behalf of the Privy Council.

Poley himself was also taken to Tower Prison on August 23 (partly interpreted (?) As maintaining a "cover-up" for Poley as a secret service man). On September 25, 1586, Poley's name appeared on a list of prisoners ( Prisoners in ye Tower ... fitt to be firther examined ) along with that of Archbishop of Armagh Richard Creagh . Contemporary biographers attribute his death to being poisoned by Poley. After nearly two years in prison (until October 1588), Poley was released and stayed with Mrs. Yeomans. His detention must have been very casual. Mrs. Yeomans and William Golder were allowed to visit him and bring him letters from overseas (e.g. from his friend Christopher Blount). Poley boasted that he was set free by Francis Walsingham. He eventually jailed Ms. Yeomans for treason, a feud that dates back to 1585.

Christopher Marlowe and Robert Poley

Marlowe's acquaintance with Robert Poley must have come about through his friendship with Thomas and Francis Walsingham in the first half of the 1580s.

An incompletely clarified source shows an arrest and indictment in January 1592 in the English garrison town of Flushing (Vlissingen) against Christopher Marlowe for a capital crime of participating in a gold coinage. The governor there, Sir Robert Sidney , sent Marlowe a letter to Lord Treasurer Burghley regarding a request for further action . The incident of counterfeiting coins in connection with Pooley is mentioned again in the surviving later charges brought by the informant "Richard Baines" against Marlowe shortly before his death.

Along with “Nicholas Skeres” and “Ingram Frizer” (also servant of Sir Thomas Walsingham), he is one of the three people who were present in the house of Lord Burgley's cousin, “Eleonara Bull”, in Deptford when Christopher Marlowe died , and accordingly testified as a witness to the investigation report by William Danby, Coroner of the Queens Household, on June 2, 1593.

rating

Robert Poley can be considered one of the earliest, difficult-to-trace representatives of the world's evolving intelligence agency. His "scrupulous" methods often consisted of trying to convert someone to the Roman Catholic faith in order to develop charges for imprisonment. "EK Chambers" described him as "obscurely traceable in the spy business" (indistinctly traceable in the espionage business) from 1591 to 1595.

The End

After the death of Francis Walsingham in April 1590, Sir Thomas Heneage took over the secret service. One of Poley's subordinates must have been Michael Moody , who lived in Brussels (or Antwerp?) ( Rob.Pooley of Shoreditch who delivers him letters to and from Sir Tho.Heneage ). A letter from his superior Robert Cecil in the Hatfield Papers appears to indicate that he dismissed him in 1601. Messages brought can be traced for the last time in 1601, but he must have been alive in 1602.

literature

• Eugénie de Kalb: Robert Poley's Movements as a Messenger of the Court, 1588 to 1601. In: The Review of English Studies. 1933, pp. 13-18.
• Ethel Seaton: Marlowe, Robert Poley, and the Tippings. In: The Review of English Studies. 1929, pp. 273-287.
• Ethel Seaton: Robert Poley's Ciphers . In: The Review of English Studies. 1931, pp. 137-150.
• Leslie Hotson: Review of: Frederick Boas: Marlowe and His Circle. In: The Modern Language Review. 1930, pp. 201-203.
• Mark Eccles: Jonson and the Spies. In: The Review of English Studies. 1937, pp. 385-397.
• Austin K. Gray: Some Observations on Christopher Marlowe. Government Agent, by PMLA 1928.
• Andreas Höfele: The informer. Novel . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1997.

Notes, quotations and references

1. ↑ To Roberte Poolye upon a warrant signed by Mr vicechamberleyne dated at the Courte xijm ° die Junij 1593 for carryinge of lettres in poste for her Majesties special and secrete affaires of great ymportaunce from the Courte at Croyden the viijt1 of Maye 1593 into the Lowe Countryes to the towne of the Hage in Hollande, and for retourninge backe againe with lettres of aunswere to the Courte at Nonesuche the viijth of June 1593 beinge in her majesties service all the aforesaid tyme —xxx ". Ibid. f. 182b
2. ↑ Cal.Scot, Papers, VIII 592-902
3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of January 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Colm Lennon: 'A dangerous man to be among the Irish'. Archbishop Richard Creagh & the early Irish Counter-Reformation . In: History Ireland 3/2000, pp. 27-31
5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ That he had as good Right to Coine as the Queene of England, and that he was acquainted with one poole a prisoner in newgate who hath greate Skill in mixture of metals and hauing learned some things of him he ment through help of a Cunninge stamp maker to Coin French Crownes pistolets and English shillinges. THE 'BAINES NOTE' (BL Harley MS.6848 ff.185-6)
7. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from December 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )