ABSTRACT
Ambassadors and governments depend on information, either from the networks at foreign courts or at home, in order to succeed in the world of international negotiations. Francisco Pereira, Man, and their fellow ambassadors developed extensive intelligence networks at their host court, and provides them with valuable information in order to accomplish their tasks. Spanish ambassadors in England tried to gain access to documents at court, with varying rates of success. Basic security protocols involved restricting access to sensitive materials, especially dispatches and working papers. By capturing Don Guerau de Spes's correspondence, the Privy Council knew exactly what the ambassador had advised and what information he had sent to the Duke of Alba, then in the Low Countries with a massive army under his command. Usually, governments had the advantage over ambassadors: they had sources scattered across Europe providing information, and normally could adapt to changes in the availability of information.
