In this letter, partly in code, Standen reports that he has found out from Figliazzi, the Tuscan ambassador, that four Genoese galleys have been sent to Spain. Standen also notes that Walsingham mentioned his ‘desire [of] diligence in intelligence of Spanish matters’ in a previous letter.

Standen realised that he could get even closer than this to Spanish sources and in the final paragraph he writes that he has borrowed 100 crowns to send an unnamed Flemish man to Lisbon. There the Fleming, ‘a proper fellow’ who ‘writeth well’, will make contact with his brother, a secretary to the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the Spanish Grand Admiral, and send back more information about the Armada.

Through Standen, this spy sent vital intelligence to England about the coming Armada for the next two years. For example, he was almost certainly the source of a list of all the ships, men and supplies in the Spanish navy, which came into Walsingham’s hands sometime in 1587. This information proved that the Armada would not, as England had feared, be ready to sail that year.