Spying is one of the most fundamental activities by which political entities obtain and maintain their positions in times of peace, and especially during periods of crisis. Gathering, creating, exploiting and protecting intelligence and information enables leaders seek to reduce risks, to mitigate threats, to influence others, and to create and use opportunities to win and preserve what they see as their interests.

We seek proposals for a strand of papers to be proposed to the 2024 Leeds International Medieval Congress on the topic of espionage and intelligence in the Middle Ages. We encourage papers that discuss espionage both within and beyond Europe. Accepted papers may be considered for inclusion in a future edited collection of essays.

Topics may include:

• Selection and identity of spies
• Role of women, children, minorities
• Means of intelligence gathering
• Codes, ciphers and secret signs
• Counterintelligence measures
• Case studies or comparative examples
• Espionage and crisis
• Consequences of discovery
• Documentary traces of espionage

Address any queries, and 200 word abstracts to kathleen.neal@monash.edu by 10 September 2023.

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