[shatnersbassoon]

Thomas Cromwell was the most prominent spymaster of Tudor times and letters to him feature heavily here. So not all of it is bulk surveillance, some of it seems to be old-fashioned human intelligence gathering.

[DylanSp]

How much intelligence/espionage work did Cromwell do? I'm more familiar with hearing about Francis Walsingham (worked for Elizabeth I) in that area.