Spies of the Sultan
Ottoman History Podcast
00:00
The Importance of Oral Encryption
In the 16th century, some documents like what the ambassador used to carry were very formulaic. This is an argument that was made for the first time by Nicola Watan in which they are like passports. Everything will be said by the ambassador. It's not like the detailed, it doesn't give any detail of what the ambassador is here to say. But if you're a diplomat in six different capitals, it means that every month you'll have like 23rd letters, each like five, six pages long. So this kind of information has to be and these couriers are very imperfect business. They go from animal lands. Of course you have to develop that. We do not know
Play episode from 48:17
Transcript
