Espionage, identity and cross-dressing in the Middle Ages

2025-06-26

Sometimes, historical research can offer unexpected questions and avenues of exploration. That’s what happened when English Heritage’s Will Wyeth was digging through a medieval manuscript. References to a medieval woman spy dressed in men’s clothing were too tantalising to ignore, so he and Michael James got together to ask questions about the mysterious Margoth. They join Amy Matthews on the English Heritage Podcast this week to reveal not only how Margoth’s espionage changed the course of a war, but a...

Sometimes, historical research can offer unexpected questions and avenues of exploration. That’s what happened when English Heritage’s Will Wyeth was digging through a medieval manuscript.

References to a medieval woman spy dressed in men’s clothing were too tantalising to ignore, so he and Michael James got together to ask questions about the mysterious Margoth.

They join Amy Matthews on the English Heritage Podcast this week to reveal not only how Margoth’s espionage changed the course of a war, but also how references to cross-dressing can help us ask questions about identity in the past.

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