ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of ciphered and coded letters, through their creation, their transmission, and their discovery—those which represent the state's interests and those which represent individual interests. It focuses on the attempts in the play to devalue the trustworthiness of written evidence, particularly letters, offered at a time when the early modern courts emphasized the reliability of such evidence, and demonstrates how interpersonal communications intervene as vital legal vehicles within this society. It builds upon a broad array of scholarship on early modern letter writing in England. On September 1, Babington was presented with the cipher that he had used in his letter to Mary Queen of Scots and with an opportunity by Walsingham to confess to his unlawful conspiracy. John Somers, a cryptologist, served as a secretary under Francis Walsingham; by 1578, Thomas Phelippes's tenure began with Walsingham, and would later lead to the ultimate exposure of the Babington Plot.
