Aphra Behn in Flanders

Abstract The Appendix adds historical and archival information to Chapter 4’s discussion of Aphra Behn’s activities in Flanders. After analysing English intelligence networks in the Low Countries in the 1660s, it argues that Behn’s overseas mission did not fail because of the young woman’s character or behaviour, but because of a concatenation of disastrous circumstances that were far out of her control. The Appendix concludes by offering evidence that Behn’s accusations against Thomas Corney, a rival agent, were taken very seriously in London and that they had more of an effect upon Corney’s position as an agent than his own accusations had upon her.