Edward Stafford († 1605) came from a famous family and was a relative of Elizabeth I. In 1583 he replaced Sir Henry Cobham as ambassador in Paris. Francis Walsingham distrusted Stafford from the beginning. He put a man named Nicholas Berden, alias Rogers, on to him, who soon confirmed that Stafford was trying to extract important information from the Spanish allies, but that he was also too well connected to Mary Stuart’s agents in Paris and to the Duke of Guise. As Stafford lived a lavish lifestyle and was a passionate gambler, the Spanish offered him financial help. Walsingham was well informed about this. He often toyed with the idea of removing the ambassador and prosecuting him in England. Instead, he provided him with false information, which was then passed on to Spain. Stafford’s activities as a double agent were never made public during his lifetime and he died highly honoured in his native country.1
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Piekalkiewicz (1988)↩︎