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History Rewritten: Myths Busted & New Truths Uncovered

What an amazing coincidence, dreeness!
Only yesterday, I was looking at this very subject (shieldmaidens).
I had the idea it would make for a great film.
 
I caught a bit of Yes Minister this afternoon. For a show that went out in the early 80s it still seems fairly modern in many ways. In this episode Sir Humphrey and Bernard have a bet on something the minister would say when next they meet. What would people in their position bet? £10, £20, £50...? No, the bet was for £1!

And when it was settled, a pound note was handed over! (The pound coin was introduced in 1983.)


I also learned, from Wiki,

There is apparent convergence of opinion regarding the origin of the term "pound sterling", toward its derivation from the name of a small Norman silver coin,[11] and away from its association with Easterlings (Germanic traders) or other etymologies.[12][13] Hence, the Oxford English Dictionary (and sources derived therefrom)[14][15] state that the "most plausible" etymology is derivation from the Old English steorra for "star" with the added diminutive suffix "-ling", to mean "little star" and to refer to a silver penny of the English Normans.[11] As another established source notes,[16] the compound expression was then derived:
silver coins known as "sterlings" were issued in the Saxon kingdoms, 240 of them being minted from a pound of silver... Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in "pounds of sterlings," a phrase later shortened...
Encyclopædia Britannica, entry "pound sterling"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_currency#Names
 
Brain surgery saved Russian general who helped defeat Napoleon: Scientists 'rewrite' history books
Date:
July 29, 2015
Source:
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
Summary:
After more than two-years of international investigation, scientists have concluded that Napoleon likely would have conquered Russia in 1812 if not for the life-saving brain surgery performed on Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov by the French surgeon Jean Massot, who operated on Kutuzov after bullets twice passed through his head.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150729102101.htm
 
I caught a bit of Yes Minister this afternoon. For a show that went out in the early 80s it still seems fairly modern in many ways. In this episode Sir Humphrey and Bernard have a bet on something the minister would say when next they meet. What would people in their position bet? £10, £20, £50...? No, the bet was for £1!

And when it was settled, a pound note was handed over! (The pound coin was introduced in 1983.)


I also learned, from Wiki,

There is apparent convergence of opinion regarding the origin of the term "pound sterling", toward its derivation from the name of a small Norman silver coin,[11] and away from its association with Easterlings (Germanic traders) or other etymologies.[12][13] Hence, the Oxford English Dictionary (and sources derived therefrom)[14][15] state that the "most plausible" etymology is derivation from the Old English steorra for "star" with the added diminutive suffix "-ling", to mean "little star" and to refer to a silver penny of the English Normans.[11] As another established source notes,[16] the compound expression was then derived:
silver coins known as "sterlings" were issued in the Saxon kingdoms, 240 of them being minted from a pound of silver... Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in "pounds of sterlings," a phrase later shortened...
Encyclopædia Britannica, entry "pound sterling"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_currency#Names
For real 80's and 90's period oddness, and convergence with modernity, watch Yes Minister at the same time your public station is running both Yes. . . and House of Cards. But I'm afraid I can't possibly comment . . .
 
Ex-President Warren Harding's love child confirmed
By Ashley Gold BBC News, Washington
13 August 2015

It turns out the rumours were always true - America's 29th president had a love child.
New genetic tests reveal Warren Harding fathered a child with Nan Britton during his presidency.
The tests show that Harding, who was married, was indeed the father of Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, the late Britton's daughter.

Harding's immediate family and the public had rejected the claims and shamed Britton, calling her a liar.
Dr Peter Harding, one of the former president's grand-nephews who spearheaded getting the DNA tests done, told the BBC he is "totally jubilant" to finally know the truth about Blaesing's father.

"This has been a family mystery since I became aware of it," Mr Harding said. "There was no way to really resolve it. Back in the 1920s, there was only whether someone looked like someone else."
He thinks advanced DNA testing was definitely conclusive. Mr Harding and his cousin Abigail Harding pursued the tests with James Blaesing, a grandson of Britton.

etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33915102
 
First Great Western unveils rebranded Great Western Railway trains
21 September 2015

Rebranded Great Western Railway (GWR) trains have been unveiled by the firm formerly known as First Great Western.
By re-adopting the historical name, the company hopes to "rediscover the pioneering spirit" of the service that first ran on the line.
Three of its trains have been decked out in green and start running later.
Managing director Mark Hopwood said the rebrand was a "historic milestone", to recall what Isambard Kingdom Brunel first achieved in 1833.

The new-look company said it had no plans to increase its fares, but the changes have resulted in staff union disputes.
"It is the perfect opportunity to launch the Great Western Railway once again," said Mr Hopwood.
"It's a new dawn for our railway and we're excited to be at the helm."

Tim O'Toole, chief executive of FirstGroup, the operator of GWR, called it a "railway steeped in years of tradition".
"The franchise will see new or refurbished trains on every part of the network, resulting in more frequent and faster journeys and an increase in the number of seats, keeping people moving and communities prospering."

It is estimated it will take until 2018 to repaint all of the company's trains.
The rebrand is part of a £7.5bn programme, which involves the electrification of tracks, the modernisation of stations and the introduction of the trains.

Plans to make changes to staffing and on-board catering facilities on the trains have led to disputes with the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which fears guards and buffet cars will be disposed of.
However, GWR has insisted it will increase the number of on-board staff across the company by 100.

The service operates around south west England, south Wales, London, and the Thames Valley.
The original Great Western Railway linked London to Bristol for the first time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34292550

A cunning move? God's Wonderful Railway is still remembered with great affection in the SW. First have a tough act to follow.
 


A cunning move? God's Wonderful Railway is still remembered with great affection in the SW. First have a tough act to follow.

In times past, there was counter-acronym-play on the part of proponents of the rival route between London and the West Country: the London & South Western Railway. For a very long while, the LSWR ran a relatively "beeline" route between London and Exeter, via Basingstoke and Salisbury. The Great Western took a very considerably longer route, London -- Swindon -- Bristol -- Taunton -- Exeter: causing it to be acronymically lampooned by those in the rival camp, as the "Great Way Round". At last in 1906, by dint of some final joining-up and cut-off-creating, the Great Western established its new direct main line between Reading and Taunton; which made more or less equal, the rival rail companies' distances re their routes to the south-west.
 
I have suffered at the hands of First Great Western. For two and half long years.

B'stads!

They're a shit service with tiny trains delayed everyday and feeble excuses. Their drivers joined a Facepuke page and trolled it out of existence.

Rebrand all you want FGW...your service is utter shite.
 
This is more of a history still being written post ..

HEROINE MOTHER PROTECTS HER DAUGHTER 73 YEARS AFTER HER DEATH ..

I've posted about the WW2 French/English resistance fighter Violette Szabo before in this post, my parents became good friends with her daughter last year. Violette never got to know her daughter, in fact, she sadly died in the Auschwitz concentration camp a few days before it was liberated.

Her daughter was presented with her Mother's medals when she was five years old by King George ... she says that all she remembers was a very tall man giving them to her. Unfortunately, her cottage in Wales burned down not long ago and she wasn't insured although she did manage to rescue Violette's medals including her Mum's George Cross and some replicas ..

She's staying at my Mum and Dads this week because a road is being named in her Mum's honour in Limoges, she'll be wearing the replicas though because she's just sold the originals to Lord 'David Cameron piggygate' Ashcroft for £400,000 for his museum :) ... I'm not making this up, honestly !

She'll be using the money to get herself re housed, possibly back to the same area that her Mum kicked Nazi arse so hard all those years ago and hopefully near to my parents because I know they'll make a fuss of her (although she's pretty sprightly apparently!).

I think it's great that her hero Mum's medals are keeping her safe now :cool:

VZ ... as beautiful as she was dangerous

VZ.png
 
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Several space pioneers shared their experiences this month regarding the Cold War Air Force program: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory.

In the 1960s, the U.S. Air Force initiated a human spaceflight program to carry out experiments in space in a laboratory orbiting the Earth for an extended period of time. The Manned Orbiting Laboratory, or MOL, was to use USAF-modified NASA Gemini spacecraft to put two crewmen in a space station.

MOL provided a platform for a highly secret program to gain Cold War intelligence on the Soviet Union and other adversaries.

Four former MOL crew members — 17 astronauts were chosen for the program — were scheduled to take part in a presentation "The Dorian Files Revealed: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory Crew Members' Secret Mission in Space." A National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Keyhole -10 camera was codenamed "Dorian."

The free event occurred on Thursday (Oct. 22) at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

http://www.space.com/30897-air-force-manned-orbiting-lab-astronauts.html?cmpid=514648
 
They actually did the MOL programme?
Whatever happened to it? Do we know whether it burned up in re-entry?
 
They actually did the MOL programme?
Whatever happened to it? Do we know whether it burned up in re-entry?

Doesn't seem to have been unclassified yet.

Its also known that there were Military Shuttle missions. Don't know who the astronauts were* or what exactly the missions were about.

*Its likely though that experienced Shuttle pilots participated in these missions.
 
A veteran CIA agent claims to have proof Hitler faked his own death in his bunker at the end of the Second World War.

The team have used a collection of never-before-seen documents to develop the theory that Hitler did not actually kill himself and instead fled to the Canary Islands.

Veteran CIA agent Bob Baer said: "The narrative the government gives us is a lie. if you look at the FBI files it throws open the investigation.

"What we are doing is re-examining history, history that we thought was settled that Hitler died in the bunker but the deeper we get into it, it's clear to me we don't have any facts for it."

Mr Baer's team have access to 700 pages of newly declassified information.

The team claim Hitler 'easily' faked his own death through the use of a double, as the corpse found by Russians was said to be five inches shorter than Hitler and with a smaller skull.

In a series on The History Channel, Ex-United Nations war crimes investigator John Cencich interviews an alleged witness to Hitler's escape.

The Greek former construction worker tells Mr Cencich: "In 1945 I was building a secret construction inside the monastery in Samos."

"I had to build secret tunnels and compartments for Germans," he continued. "Yes, the Germans were Nazis and one of these guys was Adolf Hitler.

"He was right there, he wasn't wearing a moustache or anything. this was May 1945. I realised it was really Hitler because of the airplane.

"I went to work in another town. The first thing I saw in this town was a German airplane. It had landed in an old potato field. the farmer told me there were five people who landed, they were German."

Mr Cencich said: "The accepted truth that he committed suicide is ambiguous."

When the war came to an end many Nazis made an exodus to South America to begin a new life away from Europe.

It is claimed Hitler traveled by U-Boat to Argentina from the Canary Islands to be reunited with his comrades.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/adolf-hitler-faked-death-fled-7138333
 
...The team claim Hitler 'easily' faked his own death through the use of a double, as the corpse found by Russians was said to be five inches shorter than Hitler and with a smaller skull...

Hold on...five inches shorter. Is that not a bit like someone trying to cover up Margaret Thatcher's demise by using Wee Jimmie Krankie's corpse?

Why is it so many supposedly fiendishly clever world-cheating conspiracies seem to be perpetrated by people capable of such massive fails?

Oh, and if yer man was building secret German constructions on Samos in May 1945, then he was doing so something like eight months after it was liberated from German occupation by SAS trained Greek special forces. Must have been very secret.
 
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Hold on...five inches shorter. Is that not a bit like someone trying to cover up Margaret Thatcher's demise by using Wee Jimmie Krankie's corpse?
I must say, the similarities were amazing.
 
Not rewriting history but it's good ..

 
Following Columbus: The team trying to rewrite the explorer's route
By Gemma Handy Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus made his first fateful landfall in the New World, modern day adventurers from Turks and Caicos are retracing his route on a quest to rewrite history.

The Italian explorer's momentous transatlantic voyage in 1492 saw the meeting of two hemispheres for the first time since the Vikings - a feat that would change the course of history forever.
But precisely where he initially set foot has been disputed for centuries, with as many as 10 islands across the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (TCI) claiming the accolade.

Now a team of sailors and a historian have made it their mission through a series of maritime expeditions to prove that Columbus' arrival in the Americas was on Grand Turk, TCI's capital isle.
While their theory may not be popular among Bahamians who have long claimed San Salvador as the historic site, they say they want to "set the history books straight".
If successful, it could also be an enormous tourism boost to the tiny British territory.

Historian and long-time TCI resident Josiah Marvel has spent three decades scrutinising age-old texts detailing Columbus' voyage in libraries across the globe.
He has even created his own translations of Columbus' diary, accounting for mediaeval grammar and nautical phraseology.

Mr Marvel claims other modern translations have "too many flaws" to justify the long-held assertion that San Salvador, known as Watlings Island until 1926, was the landfall spot.
Among them is the failure to allow for magnetic variation - causing misreadings in Columbus' compasses - and the apparent impossibility of various moorings.

Additionally, Columbus' diary gives latitudes indicating the difference between the landfall island and Hispaniola to be 90 nautical miles.
"Almost the precise distance between Grand Turk and Hispaniola," Mr Marvel said.

To test the theory, he joined forces with two professional sea captains to sail an alternative route from Grand Turk to Ragged Island - Columbus' final stop in the Bahamas - via Mayaguana and the Inagua Islands.
[Map showing alternative routes]

The trio's first trip aboard catamaran Destiny II, which they say has speeds equivalent to Columbus' Santa Maria, set sail in November 2014.

Captaining the voyage was veteran Bahamian sailor Dave Calvert, who helped set a transatlantic crossing record in 2001.
"After becoming acquainted with Josiah's work, I do believe his theory is the most accurate," Mr Calvert told the BBC.

Expedition leader Tim Ainley said "clues" in Columbus' diary create a "fascinating puzzle which has enthralled historians and mariners for centuries".
"The text is vague because in those days they didn't have GPS, they didn't know how to calculate longitude and Columbus' fleet was completely lost - they thought they were heading for Japan," Mr Ainley explained.

Mr Ainley, who has 30 years' experience sailing the region's waters, continued: "Everybody agrees Columbus was a consummate mariner. His ships could not sail towards the wind so they would have been very careful about how they were going to sail back out of somewhere before they sailed in.
"Neither did they have anchor chains, so would have needed a clear sandy bottom to drop a rope-secured anchor in. This very much limits the anchorages.
"Also, magnetic variation meant Columbus thought he was heading west but in fact was heading further south than he realised. This ties in perfectly with Grand Turk which is the southernmost island of all the possible landfall places."

The last leg of the 2014 expedition was plagued by calm weather, prompting a follow-up trip last December.
After completing their route, the team is convinced it aligns precisely with the diary's clues.

This time the members were joined by US archaeologist Shaun Sullivan to search for evidence of a Lucayan settlement on Mayaguana, where the crew believe Columbus was when he reported being surrounded by Lucayans in canoes.
"It's absolutely clear that Columbus landed somewhere in the south-eastern Bahamas or Turks and Caicos - but exactly where remains an open question," Dr Sullivan said, adding that resolving the issue would require "a long, scholarly process" and the accumulation of additional physical evidence.

The men are now gearing up for a third voyage this autumn re-enacting Columbus' commonly accepted route from San Salvador to Ragged Island - with the explorer's logbook in hand - in an effort to prove the distances and directions do not fit the text as accurately as a departure from Grand Turk.

"I want to set the history books straight and prove once and for all that we know he landed in Grand Turk.
"To our knowledge, no other historian has ever sailed the various alternative routes through the southern Bahamas and TCI," Mr Ainley added.
"Personally, I find it fascinating. It gives me goose bumps to think I am literally sailing in the wake of Columbus' fleet from all those years ago."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-36884261

Fascinating stuff! Especially to me, as I called in briefly to the Turks and Caicos islands for fuel, in 1989.
 
I'm not sure if this counts as history rewritten, it's more of an anecdote but I hope it's true ..

I recently met a chap who served in the first gulf war, Steve was part of the first wave of UK ground attack troops on Kuwait. According to him, one of his lot phoned ahead to Hotel Baghdad with the classic "Hello .. is this Hotel Baghdad .. have you got 600 rooms available because we're on our way" .. :) .. Steve says the bloke got a MASSIVE bollocking for doing that.
 
Ancient Roman coins found buried under ruins of Japanese castle leave archaeologists baffled
The rare coins are thought to date back to around 400AD

Archaeologists were left baffled by the "strange" discovery of ancient Roman coins buried in the ruins of a castle in Japan.

The four copper coins were retrieved from soil beneath Katsuren Castle on Okinawa Island, and were originally thought to be a hoax before their true provenance was revealed.

The designs on the coins are difficult to decifer as they have been eroded over time, but x-ray analysis revealed several of the relics bore the image of Emperor Constantine I.

Since excavation on the site began in 2013, researchers have also found a further six coins which may be dated back to the Ottoman Empire in the late 17th century.

Continued with video at link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...okinawa-buried-ancient-currency-a7332901.html
 
Is the Mosquito the greatest warplane of all?
The Spitfire is more famous but, discovers Jasper Copping, the de Havilland Mosquito can claim to be the plane that won the war
[video]
By Jasper Copping
7:00AM BST 21 Jul 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/worl ... f-all.html

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the- ... ritain/4od

I saw the documentary last night, and although I thought I was fairly familiar with the mozzie, the fact that it could be fitted with a sub-busting gun was new to me, as was the fact that it could land on aircraft carriers! 8)
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plane-that-saved-britain/on-demand/57221-001

This documentary is still available - I'm watching it now!
 
Anne Frank may have been discovered by chance, new study says

World-famous wartime diarist Anne Frank may have been discovered by chance and not because her hiding place was betrayed, a new theory suggests.
The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam believes the address could have been raided over ration fraud.
Researchers say the police who found the secret annexe may not have been looking for the eight Jews there.
The raid on Prinsengracht 263 saw all of those in hiding transported to the Auschwitz death camps.

Summarising its findings, the Anne Frank House said: "The question has always been: Who betrayed Anne Frank and the others in hiding? This explicit focus on betrayal, however, limits the perspective on the arrest."

Shortly before the raid, an anonymous caller supposedly revealed details of the secret annexe to the Sicherheitsdienst or SD (German Security Service) - but the study's authors have questioned this account.

Using Anne's diary entries from March 1944, researchers found that ration coupon fraud and illegal working activities may have triggered the fateful raid.
From 10 March 1944, Anne repeatedly wrote about the arrest of two men who dealt in illegal ration cards. She called the pair "B" and "D" - which stood for Martin Brouwer and Pieter Daatzelaar.
The pair were salesmen for a firm based at Prinsengracht 263, where Anne's father Otto Frank also had his business - and where the family went into hiding.

Anne writes on March 14: "B and D have been caught, so we have no coupons..."
This shows that the Frank family got at least some of their food coupons clandestinely from these salesmen.

Analysing police reports and judicial documents, the researchers also found that the police who discovered Anne and her companions were not generally employed to hunt down Jews in hiding.
Instead, they had worked on cases involving cash, securities and jewellery.
The study also notes that the police spent over two hours at the property - longer than it should have taken to arrest those cornered in the annexe.

Other evidence shows that people linked to Prinsengracht 263 had been punished by the Netherlands' Nazi occupiers for evading work.
"A company where people were working illegally and two sales representatives were arrested for dealing in ration coupons obviously ran the risk of attracting the attention of the authorities," the researchers wrote.

No firm conclusions have ever been drawn about who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis.
The young writer ultimately died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, aged 15, just weeks before its liberation. Her father Otto was the only one of the annexe's eight occupants to survive World War Two.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38349353
 
Anne Frank may have been discovered by chance, new study says

World-famous wartime diarist Anne Frank may have been discovered by chance and not because her hiding place was betrayed, a new theory suggests.
The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam believes the address could have been raided over ration fraud.
Researchers say the police who found the secret annexe may not have been looking for the eight Jews there.
The raid on Prinsengracht 263 saw all of those in hiding transported to the Auschwitz death camps.

Summarising its findings, the Anne Frank House said: "The question has always been: Who betrayed Anne Frank and the others in hiding? This explicit focus on betrayal, however, limits the perspective on the arrest."

Shortly before the raid, an anonymous caller supposedly revealed details of the secret annexe to the Sicherheitsdienst or SD (German Security Service) - but the study's authors have questioned this account.

Using Anne's diary entries from March 1944, researchers found that ration coupon fraud and illegal working activities may have triggered the fateful raid.
From 10 March 1944, Anne repeatedly wrote about the arrest of two men who dealt in illegal ration cards. She called the pair "B" and "D" - which stood for Martin Brouwer and Pieter Daatzelaar.
The pair were salesmen for a firm based at Prinsengracht 263, where Anne's father Otto Frank also had his business - and where the family went into hiding.

Anne writes on March 14: "B and D have been caught, so we have no coupons..."
This shows that the Frank family got at least some of their food coupons clandestinely from these salesmen.

Analysing police reports and judicial documents, the researchers also found that the police who discovered Anne and her companions were not generally employed to hunt down Jews in hiding.
Instead, they had worked on cases involving cash, securities and jewellery.
The study also notes that the police spent over two hours at the property - longer than it should have taken to arrest those cornered in the annexe.

Other evidence shows that people linked to Prinsengracht 263 had been punished by the Netherlands' Nazi occupiers for evading work.
"A company where people were working illegally and two sales representatives were arrested for dealing in ration coupons obviously ran the risk of attracting the attention of the authorities," the researchers wrote.

No firm conclusions have ever been drawn about who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis.
The young writer ultimately died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, aged 15, just weeks before its liberation. Her father Otto was the only one of the annexe's eight occupants to survive World War Two.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38349353


So she wasn't caught by Nazi jew hunters but by Nazi benefit-fraud hunters?
 
Another figure from that period, Herschel Grynszpan, who assassinated von Rath, triggering Kristallnacht, is now believed to have survived until at least 1946.

The evidence is a street photograph, which face-recognition software declares a 95% match.

Grynszpan's act inspired a famous oratorio of the war years.

That piece universalizes the theme of suffering by incorporating spirituals in the manner of Bach's chorales, though it is sometimes said that Tippett was fascinated by the disputed homosexual background to the murder.

The haunted face of the younger Greenszpan has become such an iconic image that his grown-up appearance may seem relatively ordinary.
 
Cambridge student discovers hidden life of Renaissance spy
Believed for years to be a garden designer, new research into Constantino de’ Servi suggests covert activity

The garden design it is believed Constantino used as cover to act as matchmaker and spy. Photograph: By kind permission of the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo
Something odd emerged as a Cambridge student began to research the work of a Renaissance garden designer: although the 16th century Italian artist, sculptor and designer Costantino de’ Servi travelled constantly and never seemed to be short of a bob, he seemed to have completed very few gardens - or any other kind of work.

Wherever there was trouble in Europe, however, be it wars rumbling, alliances being forged, or regime change threatened, de’ Servi seemed to pop up. Then the historian discovered that wherever the supposed gardener travelled and whoever he was nominally working for – and he got as far west as the court of James I in London, and as far east as Persia – he remained on the payroll of one of the richest and most powerful families in Europe, the Medici of Florence. Like any good modern spy who keeps a low profile, there is no known portrait of him.

“In the beginning as I trawled through his correspondence in the archives in Florence, expecting to find evidence of many wonderful Renaissance gardens he had worked on, and found nothing, I was very disappointed. Then as I followed the paper trail, I began to wonder if there was something more interesting going on,” said Davide Martino, a history student at St John’s College, Cambridge.

“I’m not sure you could precisely call him a spy in modern terms,” Martino said. “But his role meant that he could go anywhere and gain intimate access, in any court in Europe, and I think it’s reasonable to assume that he was constantly feeding useful information back to his paymasters in Florence.” ...

https://www.theguardian.com/educati...covers-hidden-life-renaissance-spy?CMP=twt_gu

One of the few pieces of work that de’ Servi definitely completed was a garden design for Henry, Prince of Wales, son and heir of James I – and far more popular than his father. The project came, as so often in de’ Servi’s career, at a politically sensitive time: the Medici were trying to arrange a marriage between the prince and one of their family, Caterina.
 
Cambridge student discovers hidden life of Renaissance spy
Believed for years to be a garden designer, new research into Constantino de’ Servi suggests covert activity

The garden design it is believed Constantino used as cover to act as matchmaker and spy. Photograph: By kind permission of the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo
Something odd emerged as a Cambridge student began to research the work of a Renaissance garden designer: although the 16th century Italian artist, sculptor and designer Costantino de’ Servi travelled constantly and never seemed to be short of a bob, he seemed to have completed very few gardens - or any other kind of work.

Wherever there was trouble in Europe, however, be it wars rumbling, alliances being forged, or regime change threatened, de’ Servi seemed to pop up. Then the historian discovered that wherever the supposed gardener travelled and whoever he was nominally working for – and he got as far west as the court of James I in London, and as far east as Persia – he remained on the payroll of one of the richest and most powerful families in Europe, the Medici of Florence. Like any good modern spy who keeps a low profile, there is no known portrait of him.

“In the beginning as I trawled through his correspondence in the archives in Florence, expecting to find evidence of many wonderful Renaissance gardens he had worked on, and found nothing, I was very disappointed. Then as I followed the paper trail, I began to wonder if there was something more interesting going on,” said Davide Martino, a history student at St John’s College, Cambridge.

“I’m not sure you could precisely call him a spy in modern terms,” Martino said. “But his role meant that he could go anywhere and gain intimate access, in any court in Europe, and I think it’s reasonable to assume that he was constantly feeding useful information back to his paymasters in Florence.” ...

https://www.theguardian.com/educati...covers-hidden-life-renaissance-spy?CMP=twt_gu

One of the few pieces of work that de’ Servi definitely completed was a garden design for Henry, Prince of Wales, son and heir of James I – and far more popular than his father. The project came, as so often in de’ Servi’s career, at a politically sensitive time: the Medici were trying to arrange a marriage between the prince and one of their family, Caterina.

Well, that's Titchmarsh's cover blown.
 
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