Elizabethan England's Multilingual Spying on Migrant Churches Uncovered

New research reveals how the state monitored and controlled gossip in multiple languages within 'Stranger Churches' in 16th-century London.

Dr. John Gallagher's study shows that the English state employed spies to monitor Protestant migrant communities speaking French, Dutch, Flemish, Italian, and Spanish.
Stranger Churches, formed by migrants fleeing religious persecution, became targets for state espionage to control gossip and maintain order.
Church elders themselves engaged in counter-espionage, monitoring scandals and rumors to protect their communities' reputations.
London's Royal Exchange played a crucial role in spreading multilingual news and gossip, functioning like a 16th-century social media network.
The findings highlight the vibrant multilingual culture of Elizabethan London, where even the illiterate encountered and engaged with multiple languages daily.