Sea power session 1-the armada

Sea Power1588-1782

How Western Nations Shaped

the Modern World

Sea PowerSession i

The Origins of Modern Maritime Power

Not Guns, Germs, and Steel. Rather oceanic commerce and the ships which have guarded it. That’s the factor to explain the amazing rise of the English-speaking peoples. Their naval campaigns underlie this history.

jbp

MARITIME SUPREMACY is the key which unlocks most, if not all, large questions of modern history, certainly the puzzle of how and why we—the Western Democracies—are as we are. We are the heirs of maritime supremacy. Our civilization…our beliefs, our dominance are products not of superior minds or bravery, cunning, greed, or ruthlessness—common attributes of mankind—still less of the Christian religion, the ‘Protestant work ethic’ or blind chance, but of the particular configuration of seas and land masses that has given the advantage to powers able to use and command the seas. It has been an evolutionary process. In the unrelenting struggle of peoples, those ascendant at sea have, at least in the modern era, proved consistently successful either singly or in alliance against those with a territorial power base; hence it is the system of beliefs and of government associated with supreme maritime power that has prevailed.

Peter Padfield. Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind. Woodstock, N.Y. : The Overlook Press., 2000. p. 1

Introduction

Spain’s Golden Age

Sea Beggars

English-Spanish Tensions

The Armada

Epilogue

IntroductionEarly Navies

pirogue on the Niger R.

split log fishing canoe—India

When man ceased to look upon streams, rivers and seas as barriers and learned to use them as highways, he made a giant stride toward civilization. The waterways of the world provided a new mobility—to man himself, later to the products of his toil and skill, and at all times to his ideas.

toil and skill, and at all times to his ideas. The mobility provided by rivers and seas both enriched and enlightened their users. River-faring and sea-faring people could barter their products with other peoples far and near, trading those goods which they were best equipped to produce in exchange for agricultural and industrial specialties of other lands. They could act as carriers or middle-men, exchanging the produce of one region for that of another….In the process they also brought home in their heads an invisible cargo of information….

When man ceased to look upon streams, rivers and seas as barriers and learned to use them as highways, he made a giant stride toward civilization. The waterways of the world provided a new mobility—to man himself, later to the products of his toil and skill, and at all times to his ideas. The mobility provided by rivers and seas both enriched and enlightened their users. River-faring and sea-faring people could barter their products with other peoples far and near, trading those goods which they were best equipped to produce in exchange for agricultural and industrial specialties of other lands. They could act as carriers or middle-men, exchanging the produce of one region for that of another….In the process they also brought home in their heads an invisible cargo of information…. The prosperity of sea-using nations gave them leisure to foster the arts and sciences, and power to make their influence felt in distant places. In every epoch the sea powers have been beacons of enlightenment, spreaders of civilization, explorers of distant coasts, and founders of colonial empires. It was the seafaring Phoenicians who disseminated the alphabet and who carried civilization into the western Mediterranean and beyond….

Potter, E.B. and Chester W. Nimitz, eds. Sea Power; A Naval History. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1960. p. 1.

Phoenician and Greek Colonies, ca. 500 BC

western Mediterranean and beyond. It was the seafaring Greeks who developed and gave to the world patterns of thought and expression which are basic to our Western Civilization. It was the seafaring Romans who evolved and spread enduring concepts of law, order, and justice, and it was within the Roman Empire that Christianity was first propagated. It was seafaring Portugal that first joined Europe and the Orient, seafaring Spain that permanently joined the New World to the Old, seafaring [Britain] that was most instrumental in launching the Industrial Revolution and spreading the concept of representative government. All were founders of overseas empires…. Most of the basic institutions of our Western culture had their origins in the ferment of ideas that exercised the Mediterranean peoples within a few centuries before and after the advent of the Christian era. If we look for the cause of this productive ferment…we must consider the peculiar conditions of the area. The Med basin has been a principal area of contact, whether for trade or conquest, among the vigorous civilizations of Asia, Europe, and Africa. At the period of the great ferment of ideas, all the major centers of culture impinging [there] had reached such a state of development that each had something of value to offer. Hence each, chiefly through overseas contacts, had a civilizing effect upon the others.

Ibid.

The appearance of wealth on the seas in the form of trade goods inevitably produced piracy, and increase of overseas commerce led to clashes between rival trade interests.* The first battles afloat were merely unorganized skirmishes between traders and predatory seafarers out to capture booty. Because merchant vessels loaded with goods and manned by their regular crews were ill prepared to defend themselves, organized communities early set aside certain vessels carrying marines (soldiers assigned to sea duty) to patrol and guard the commercial ships at sea. Specialization of function soon led to specialization of type, as marine architects devised craft especially designed for fighting•….Thus navies came into being to protect sea commerce, and the history of sea power is to a great extent the story of rivalries among nations resulting from their conflicting commercial interests.

op. cit, p. 2

Early Navies

_________ * for a very readable account, David Abulafia, The Great Sea; A Human History of the Mediterranean. (2011).

Greek Vessels

trading

fighting

The appearance of wealth on the seas in the form of trade goods inevitably produced piracy, and increase of overseas commerce led to clashes between rival trade interests.* The first battles afloat were merely unorganized skirmishes between traders and predatory seafarers out to capture booty. Because merchant vessels loaded with goods and manned by their regular crews were ill prepared to defend themselves, organized communities early set aside certain vessels carrying marines (soldiers assigned to sea duty) to patrol and guard the commercial ships at sea. Specialization of function soon led to specialization of type, as marine architects devised craft especially designed for fighting….Thus navies came into being to protect sea commerce, and the history of sea power is to a great extent the story of rivalries among nations resulting from their conflicting commercial interests.

op. cit, p. 2

Early Navies

_________ * for a very readable account, David Abulafia, The Great Sea; A Human History of the Mediterranean. (2011).

op. cit, pp. 2-3

Early Navies

Even when conflict between nations came about from other causes, warships retained as their principal function the task of patrolling and escorting to protect their own shipping and to attack the enemy’s. To put it a little differently, the primary task of navies, especially in war, has been to safeguard their own shipping and to deny the enemy the use of the sea. To the extent that a fleet has achieved this goal in any given area, it is said to have command (or control) of the sea in that area. The whole complex of routes and transport is called communications. The primary function of navies, then, has been to control sea communications, that is, to defend one’s own and to disrupt the enemy’s. Such control is generally attained by destruction of enemy sea forces; and often has been achieved by a single decisive naval battle, in which one fleet by shattering the opposing fleet secured command of the sea at a stroke.• Securing command of the sea underlies and provides the means whereby navies have been able to perform their other wartime functions: defending the state against seaborne attack, isolating the enemy, and carrying the attack across the sea to the enemy.…

op. cit, pp. 2-3

Early Navies

Even when conflict between nations came about from other causes, warships retained as their principal function the task of patrolling and escorting to protect their own shipping and to attack the enemy’s. To put it a little differently, the primary task of navies, especially in war, has been to safeguard their own shipping and to deny the enemy the use of the sea. To the extent that a fleet has achieved this goal in any given area, it is said to have command (or control) of the sea in that area. The whole complex of routes and transport is called communications. The primary function of navies, then, has been to control sea communications, that is, to defend one’s own and to disrupt the enemy’s. Such control is generally attained by destruction of enemy sea forces; and often has been achieved by a single decisive naval battle, in which one fleet by shattering the opposing fleet secured command of the sea at a stroke. Securing command of the sea underlies and provides the means whereby navies have been able to perform their other wartime functions: defending the state against seaborne attack, isolating the enemy, and carrying the attack across the sea to the enemy.…

Early Navies By the 5th century BC, when the naval history of the Med came to be recorded with some degree of accuracy, the leading nations in that area had long since outgrown the mere piratical raiding that characterized the dawn of sea power. They had, in fact, mastered the basic elements of warfare as we know them today. They knew that the foundation for the successful conduct of war is what we call logistics, the science of supply, transportation and maintenance. They had a firm grasp of the large-scale planning, deciding what forces to use and where to use them, that the early Greeks called strategia, or generalship, and we call strategy. And on land and sea they had developed systems of tactics, that is, organized handling of forces in battle.

Sea Power, p. 2

op. cit, p. 3

op. cit, p. 21

The Rise of English Sea Power

“….Toward the end of the medieval period, Europeans dwelling on the Atlantic front began to consider old legends and quasi-historical accounts of unbroken water routes to the Orient. The invention of printing made widely available ancient ideas of a spherical world, so that thinkers and explorers dreamed of reaching the Far East either around Africa or across the mysterious Atlantic. “Such distant voyages had at last become possible. The ancient, relatively frail cargo carrier with one mast and one sail.…”

op. cit, p. 21


“….Toward the end of the medieval period, Europeans dwelling on the Atlantic front began to consider old legends and quasi-historical accounts of unbroken water routes to the Orient. The invention of printing made widely available ancient ideas of a spherical world, so that thinkers and explorers dreamed of reaching the Far East either around Africa or across the mysterious Atlantic. “Such distant voyages had at last become possible. The ancient, relatively frail cargo carrier with one mast and one sail evolved in the 15th century into a full-rigged ship with three or four masts, a bowsprit, and five or more sails—a vessel at last strong enough to cope with Atlantic gales and swift and seaworthy enough to cross vast stretches of ocean without replenishment or repair.…”

op. cit, pp. 22, 24


“Europe was already in ferment. The vague internationalism of the feudal system was giving way to national feudalisms with a dominant monarch. National monarchs were abetted in the increase of their power by a rising merchant class that wanted domestic peace, uniform coinage, and a centralized government favorable to commerce and industry. The Church, for centuries a unifying influence, was itself beginning to break asunder in the Protestant Reformation. The new maritime discoveries hastened the breakup of medieval unity by shifting European interests from the East, so long the focus of trade and the source of recurrent threats of conquest, to the West, where nationalism had made its greatest advances. With loss of trade, the Ottoman Empire gradually weakened and the commercial cities of Italy and Germany went into a decline. The inland seas of Europe and the Middle East, from the Baltic to the Red Sea and from the Med to the Persian Gulf, became backwaters. The major states of Europe’s Atlantic seaboard—Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and England—began to rise as rival oceanic powers.”

Black Gold

New World Slavery

Padfield, p. 8.

“….A principal motive for both Spanish and Portuguese oceanic enterprise was to find sea routes to the East to outflank the traditional trade routes converging on Alexandria and other ports in the Levant lost [following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople]. “In the event the Portuguese succeeded remarkably: imposing themselves on the traders of the Indian Ocean, whose vessels could not stand up to Western broadside artillery, they not only established trading bases (factories) and brought home spices and Eastern luxuries by the sea route around the Cape….

Sea Power, p. 23

New World Slavery

Padfield, p. 8.

“In the event the Portuguese succeeded remarkably: imposing themselves on the traders of the Indian Ocean, whose vessels could not stand up to Western broadside artillery, they not only established trading bases (factories) and brought home spices and Eastern luxuries by the sea route around the Cape…. From the 1530s they also established sugar plantations along the western coast of Brazil, supplying the colonists with slaves from West Africa, where they built fortified trading and collecting stations in Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Angola.There was nothing remarkable about the comparatively small beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade. Slavery was an established institution. A trans-Saharan slave trade had long supplied African workers for sugar plantations around the Med and for the islands colonized during Portuguese voyages in the south Atlantic….Nevertheless the oceanic transshipment now begun was to evolve with the growth of the New World economies into the greatest transfer of population and probably the most callous systematic reduction of human beings into commodities in recorded history.”

Modern European History

Modern European History

• 15th century—High Renaissance in Italy • 1450s—invention of moveable type printing • 1453—fall of Constantinople to the Turks • 1485—end of the Wars of the Roses, beginning of the Tudor dynasty • 1492—end of the Reconquista, Columbus’ voyage • 1500—birth of Charles V • 1517—beginning of the Protestant Reformation

There are two years which are customary for beginning this period of history. The earlier, 1500, is surrounded by a constellation of pivotal events:

The later beginning date for Modern Europe is 1789, the year when France placed the capstone on the Age of the Democratic Revolution.

We shall look at the maritime events during Early Modern Europe, beginning with the rise of the New World Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, and sovereign of the Spanish half of the world. We shall conclude on the eve of the French Revolution.

Spain’s Golden AgeSiglo de Oro

The Height of Imperial Spain From 1580-1640, Spain also ruled Portugal and her vast overseas

possessions

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

Padfield, p. 9.

“The Spanish, meanwhile, conquered much of Central and South America down the Pacific coast and large islands of the Caribbean: Hispaniola and Cuba. Like the Portuguese, they began to cultivate sugar, and, since they decimated the native peoples by conquest and imported disease, they bought slaves from the Portuguese to work the plantations. The comparatively modest freights of sugar and agricultural products sent home were transformed from the 1540s by the discovery of huge deposits of silver ore in the viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. Thereafter two silver streams—united at Havana, Cuba, and thence carried through the Florida Strait and north-easterly on the trade winds past the Azores to Seville—swelled the income of the king of Spain.…”


Padfield, p. 9.

“The Spanish, meanwhile, conquered much of Central and South America down the Pacific coast and large islands of the Caribbean: Hispaniola and Cuba. Like the Portuguese, they began to cultivate sugar, and, since they decimated the native peoples by conquest and imported disease, they bought slaves from the Portuguese to work the plantations. The comparatively modest freights of sugar and agricultural products sent home were transformed from the 1540s by the discovery of huge deposits of silver ore in the viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. Thereafter two silver streams—united at Havana, Cuba, and thence carried through the Florida Strait and north-easterly on the trade winds past the Azores to Seville—swelled the income of the king of Spain and provided him with almost boundless credit from merchant bankers, mightily augmenting his power. The treasure also proved an irresistible target for his enemies. Of greater importance, since this target proved elusive, silver primed the entire Western trading system.


Padfield, p. 9.

“The Spanish, meanwhile, conquered much of Central and South America down the Pacific coast and large islands of the Caribbean: Hispaniola and Cuba. Like the Portuguese, they began to cultivate sugar, and, since they decimated the native peoples by conquest and imported disease, they bought slaves from the Portuguese to work the plantations. The comparatively modest freights of sugar and agricultural products sent home were transformed from the 1540s by the discovery of huge deposits of silver ore in the viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. Thereafter two silver streams—united at Havana, Cuba, and thence carried through the Florida Strait and north-easterly on the trade winds past the Azores to Seville—swelled the income of the king of Spain and provided him with almost boundless credit from merchant bankers, mightily augmenting his power. The treasure also proved an irresistible target for his enemies. Of greater importance, since this target proved elusive, silver primed the entire Western trading system.

The Spanish Netherlands

Ibid.

“Hitherto the [trading] system had centered on a cluster of north-Italian city states, principally Venice and Genoa. With the rapid growth of oceanic trading systems outside the middle sea, primacy passed to the Spanish Netherlands—an area comprising approximately modern Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg—which enjoyed a position between the Atlantic and the Baltic and across the mouth of the Rhine, with access to the inland markets served by that great trading river.…”

Rhine


Ibid.

“…and the Baltic and across the mouth of the Rhine, with access to the inland markets served by that great trading river. Amsterdam and the ports of Holland had engrossed the bulk trades grain, timber, masts, spars and naval stores from the Baltic and the herring fisheries of the North Sea; the Flanders port of Antwerp had become the entrepôt for high-value Eastern wares from the Portuguese and Spanish empires. Refining, finishing and manufacturing industries had grown up alongside warehouses, drawing workers; farming methods in the surrounding countryside had been revolutionized to supply the growing populations. By the mid sixteenth century the coastal and river regions of the Low Countries, nourished by trade, had grown into the most advanced industrial area in Europe, with the highest urban density—some twenty-three walled cities of over 10,000 inhabitants, against just four in England at that time. Antwerp, with a population of over 50,000, replaced the Italian city states as the commercial and financial capital of the Western world.”


Ibid.

“…and the Baltic and across the mouth of the Rhine, with access to the inland markets served by that great trading river. Amsterdam and the ports of Holland had engrossed the bulk trades grain, timber, masts, spars and naval stores from the Baltic and the herring fisheries of the North Sea; the Flanders port of Antwerp had become the entrepôt for high-value Eastern wares from the Portuguese and Spanish empires. Refining, finishing and manufacturing industries had grown up alongside warehouses, drawing workers; farming methods in the surrounding countryside had been revolutionized to supply the growing populations. By the mid sixteenth century the coastal and river regions of the Low Countries, nourished by trade, had grown into the most advanced industrial area in Europe, with the highest urban density—some twenty-three walled cities of over 10,000 inhabitants, against just four in England at that time. Antwerp, with a population of over 50,000, replaced the Italian city states as the commercial and financial capital of the Western world.”

The Mouth of the

Scheldt

The three-legged stool of British Foreign Policy

1 Maintain the Balance of Power

in Europe

2 Keep the mouth of Scheldt (the Netherlands) in weak/friendly

hands

3 Sea Power

1

3

2


op. cit., pp. 9, 12..

“Part of this astonishing rise was due to the political affiliation of the Netherlands with Spain. Both

were Habsburg possessions, acquired with a vast collection of other separated territories through the

dynastic marriages of the Austrian Habsburgs. Much of the silver mined in Spain’s New World empire

was drawn to Antwerp, whence it flowed through world trade. On the deficit side of the ledger, the

Netherlands were embroiled in a Habsburg struggle for Continental hegemony against their territorial

rivals: Ottoman Turkey in the east, Valois France in the west. In the early years of the century the

struggle with France was fought out in northern Italy, but from the 1540s the land war shifted to the

Netherlands, which became the strategic base of the Habsburg emperor, Charles V….”


op. cit., pp. 9, 12..

“Part of this astonishing rise was due to the political affiliation of the Netherlands with Spain. Both

were Habsburg possessions, acquired with a vast collection of other separated territories through the

dynastic marriages of the Austrian Habsburgs. Much of the silver mined in Spain’s New World empire

was drawn to Antwerp, whence it flowed through world trade. On the deficit side of the ledger, the

Netherlands were embroiled in a Habsburg struggle for Continental hegemony against their territorial

rivals: Ottoman Turkey in the east, Valois France in the west. In the early years of the century the

struggle with France was fought out in northern Italy, but from the 1540s the land war shifted to the

Netherlands, which became the strategic base of the Habsburg emperor, Charles V. Secure behind rivers,

dykes, canals, walled cities and fortresses against the French border, he could provision and supply his

forces from the most abundant markets in Europe, using the most efficient water transport, equip his

siege-trains with the most advanced cast-bronze artillery from the districts about Antwerp and Malines or

freighted down the Rhine from Nuremberg or Frankfurt, and threaten Valois power at its heart in Paris.”

Sea Power, p. 24


“The new situation imposed unprecedented problems. The influx of precious metal from Spanish America debased the value of European currencies. At the same time raw materials from East and West came into competition with European farm products. As a result, income from agriculture declined relative to the costs of services and manufactured articles. The shift worked to the advantage of the city commercial classes but tended to undermine the land-owning aristocracy. The Age of Discovery thus set in motion economic forces that were to transfer the wealth, and hence the power, from the nobility to the bourgeoisie and change Europe from a feudal to a capitalist society.”

feudal nobility

capitalist middle class

Ibid.


“To account for the changes they saw but could not explain, Europeans developed the economic theory of ‘mercantilism’ which measures national wealth in terms of bullion. Since precious metal was limited in amount, it apparently followed that available wealth was limited and that a nation could grow richer only in proportion that it made some other nation poorer through capture of part of its trade or possessions. This remorseless logic accounts as much as anything else for the post-medieval division of Europe into competing states. It accounts for the trade and colonial wars which, along with other causes, kept the rivals in almost continuous conflict from the beginning of the modern age until after 1800. “To a late 16th century ‘mercantilist,’ Spain seemed strong beyond rivalry and the Spanish king, Philip II, incontestably the world’s most powerful monarch.…”

Ibid.


“To account for the changes they saw but could not explain, Europeans developed the economic theory of ‘mercantilism’ which measures national wealth in terms of bullion. Since precious metal was limited in amount, it apparently followed that available wealth was limited and that a nation could grow richer only in proportion that it made some other nation poorer through capture of part of its trade or possessions. This remorseless logic accounts as much as anything else for the post-medieval division of Europe into competing states. It accounts for the trade and colonial wars which, along with other causes, kept the rivals in almost continuous conflict from the beginning of the modern age until after 1800. “To a late 16th century ‘mercantilist,’ Spain seemed strong beyond rivalry and the Spanish king, Philip II, incontestably the world’s most powerful monarch….”

Ibid.

“…Spanish king, Philip II, incontestably the world’s most powerful monarch. In addition to Spain, Philip had inherited the Netherlands, Franche Comte (Eastern France), Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, Spanish North Africa, and all of Spain’s far flung transoceanic possessions.…”

Ibid.


“…Spanish king, Philip II, incontestably the world’s most powerful monarch. In addition to Spain, Philip had inherited the Netherlands, Franche Comte (Eastern France), Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, Spanish North Africa, and all of Spain’s far flung transoceanic possessions. In addition to these in 1580 he added Portugal and all of Portugal’s overseas empire, thereby acquiring a claim, with Papal blessing, to the entire heathen world. American gold and silver continued to pour into his coffers. His fleet had defeated the Turks [at Lepanto, 1571] and his army and fleet had chastened the French. His infantrymen were justly reputed the best in the world.”

Ibid.


“Yet Philip, in the midst of his power and grandeur, was growing steadily poorer. His mistakes and the mistakes of his predecessors were beginning to make themselves felt. The expulsion of the Jews and the Moslems had injured Spain’s commerce and ruined her industry.…”

Ibid.


“Yet Philip, in the midst of his power and grandeur, was growing steadily poorer. His mistakes and the mistakes of his predecessors were beginning to make themselves felt. The expulsion of the Jews and the Moslems had injured Spain’s commerce and ruined her industry. Conquering Spanish America and maintaining Spanish dominance in Europe had been too costly in men and treasure. American silver and gold had proved a curse: the influx of bullion had set off uncontrollable inflation in Spain; diversion of her ships from carrying trade goods to transporting precious metal had so nearly extinguished her merchant marine that she had to rely on Dutch merchantmen to handle her overseas commerce. This led to a curious situation when Philip’s Netherlands subjects revolted against his bloody drive to suppress Dutch Protestantism. Because he had no alternative, Philip still permitted Spanish trade to be carried in Dutch bottoms. He was thus in the paradoxical position of helping finance rebellion against himself.”

op. cit., pp. 24-25.


“Philip was no less deceived than the rest of the world regarding the condition of Spain. he took very seriously his role as leading Roman Catholic monarch and champion of the Church of Rome. [He responded to Pope Pius V’s proclamation of 1570 against the Moslems and participated in the Holy League, a multi-state naval force which defeated them decisively in the Battle of Lepanto, October, 1571] In 1570 also, the Pope, despairing of reclaiming Protestant England, excommunicated England’s Queen Elizabeth I, branded her a heretic and usurper, and called on Philip to launch a crusade against her as well as the Turks. To the Spanish monarch, northern Europe’s heretical Protestantism was every bit as detestable as infidel Islam; but against Elizabeth he was not prepared to move. For the moment he had his hands full with the war against the Turks and with the Dutch revolt.…”

Sea BeggarsLeo Belgicus, A map of the Low Countries in the shape of a lion, 1583

Michael Eitzinger

Reformation & Wars of Religion

jbp

The Protestant Reformation was the culmination of earlier medieval attempts at reform; or, as the Church styled them, heresies. The end of the unity of Christendom stemmed from many causes and yielded many results. Central to our story is its impact on the Dutch Revolt wherein the commercial financial heart of Europe shook off the political hand of Habsburg Spain and the religious authority of Rome. The new Dutch colonial empire would challenge the demarcation by the Spanish Borgia pope Alexander VI in 1493, as settled in the Treaty of Tordesillas the following year.…”


jbp


jbp

“…of Tordesillas the following year. Europe would be convulsed for a century and a quarter in wars where religion would be one of the organizing principles if not the underlying cause. During these wars the seven northern provinces of the seventeen Low Countries would win independence from Spain and strive for maritime supremacy.

Credo in…unam, sanctam, catholicam ecclesiam…

Basilca Sancti Petri in Vaticano 1506-1626

Renaissance Humanism

“Man, the measure of all things.” Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1490-

Vitruvian man

portrait ofLeonardo by Francisco Melzi

Hier stand ich, Gott hilfe mich, ich kann nicht anders!

The Diet of Worms 1521

Charles V Martin Luther

25 May 1521- Charles V issues the Edict of Worms

“…we forbid anyone from this time forward to dare, either by words or by deeds, to receive, defend, sustain, or favour the said Martin Luther. On the contrary, we want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic,…”

the German princes were divided and the edict was never enforced there

however, the Low Countries were under the direct reign of Charles and his appointed regent Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (and Charles’ aunt)

December 1521- the Augustinian monastery in Antwerp was closed and its monks handed over to the Spanish Dominican inquisition. Most chose to recant their support for Luther

Esch and Voes refused and became the first martyrs of the Protestant Reformation

+johann esch und heinrich voes+ burned at the stake, 1 July 1523 in Brussels

I. conflicts immediately connected with the Reformation of the 1520s to 1540s

A. the German Peasants’ War (1524-1525)

B. the Schmalkaldic War (1546-1547) in the Holy Roman Empire

II. the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) in the Low Countries

III. the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)

IV. the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), affecting the Holy Roman Empire including Habsburg Austria, Bohemia, France, Denmark and Sweden

V. the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639-1651), affecting England, Scotland and Ireland

A. Scottish Reformation and Civil Wars

B. English Reformation and Civil War

C. Irish Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland

European Wars of Religion

classification according to Wikipedia

The Dutch Revolt Begins

Padfield, p. 12

“…from the 1540s [Charles’] land war shifted to the Netherlands… “Charles made increasing demands from this most prosperous region of this empire to finance his campaigns. The seventeen provinces of the Netherlands complied on a quota basis by levying taxes on wealth and excise duties on consumables….The ever-growing economy seemed able to bear the burden, but beneath the surface disaffection spread—especially in Holland, Zeeland and the northern provinces, whose peoples were more than usually independent. Much of their low coastal and estuarial land had been wrested from the salt or river marsh over the past three centuries with extensive systems of dykes, dams, drainage works and canals,…”


Padfield, p. 12

“…from the 1540s [Charles’] land war shifted to the Netherlands… “Charles made increasing demands from this most prosperous region of this empire to finance his campaigns. The seventeen provinces of the Netherlands complied on a quota basis by levying taxes on wealth and excise duties on consumables….The ever-growing economy seemed able to bear the burden, but beneath the surface disaffection spread—especially in Holland, Zeeland and the northern provinces, whose peoples were more than usually independent. Much of their low coastal and estuarial land had been wrested from the salt or river marsh over the past three centuries with extensive systems of dykes, dams, drainage works and canals. Their forbears had been enticed to settle the reclaimed wetlands by grants of tenure for simple money rents with few if any feudal ties, and, since the growth of urban markets for agricultural produce, some 45% of the land in the coastal provinces had come into possession of free peasant farmers….Sailors, fishermen, river and coastal boatmen, and urban craftsmen and artisans were by their occupations equally free from [feudalism]. The landowning nobility retained its grip on the inland provinces, but the peoples of the thriving coastal belt, nourished by trade, served the market economy and ultimately the merchants who dominated it.”


op. cit., pp. 12-13

“…dominated it. “Despite prosperity, they remained, like their forbears, frontier peoples, bound together by danger from the waters which they confronted.…floods remained an ever-present threat. Traditionally, each community elected a local board of water guardians to oversee the maintenance…of the sea and river defenses, and paid local taxes for this essential work. But Charles, regarding the multiplicity of authorities as wasteful, imposed regional dyke and drainage boards responsible to the central administration in Brussels, site of the viceregal court, where French, not Dutch, was spoken…It seems to have been these attacks on local autonomy, together with the remoteness of the superior institutions and Habsburg officials, that provoked resentment as much as the extra duties levied for distant wars unrelated to the real concerns of the people. “Bitterness at interference with ancient liberties was joined to and expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]


op. cit., pp. 13-14

“… expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]. Christian humanism—stressing the importance of an individual’s relationship to God and inner spiritual life, as against the outer rituals of formal religion—had developed in the northern Netherlands late in the fourteenth century; in the early sixteenth century it had spread to all provinces through the works of its most luminous scholar, Erasmus.


op. cit., pp. 13-14

“… expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]. Christian humanism—stressing the importance of an individual’s relationship to God and inner spiritual life, as against the outer rituals of formal religion—had developed in the northern Netherlands late in the fourteenth century; in the early sixteenth century it had spread to all provinces through the works of its most luminous scholar, Erasmus.


op. cit., pp. 13-14

“… expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]. Christian humanism—stressing the importance of an individual’s relationship to God and inner spiritual life, as against the outer rituals of formal religion—had developed in the northern Netherlands late in the fourteenth century; in the early sixteenth century it had spread to all provinces through the works of its most luminous scholar, Erasmus. •The more rigid doctrines of Lutheranism had also been imported, in the main from the north German trading cities, and then Calvinism, further undermining the established Roman Catholic Church. Charles had responded by setting up the Inquisition in Antwerp. The first two martyrs, friars of Luther’s Augustinian order, had been burned in the great market square at Brussels in 1523.•


op. cit., pp. 13-14

“… expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]. Christian humanism—stressing the importance of an individual’s relationship to God and inner spiritual life, as against the outer rituals of formal religion—had developed in the northern Netherlands late in the fourteenth century; in the early sixteenth century it had spread to all provinces through the works of its most luminous scholar, Erasmus. • The more rigid doctrines of Lutheranism had also been imported, in the main from the north German trading cities, and then Calvinism, further undermining the established Roman Catholic Church. Charles had responded by setting up the Inquisition in Antwerp. The first two martyrs, friars of Luther’s Augustinian order, had been burned in the great market square at Brussels in 1523.• “By 1555 Charles had been overwhelmed by the costs of his campaigns against France and the defense of his possessions in south-eastern Europe, in the Med and the Spanish Caribbean, which was infested with pirates and privateers from the ports of western France. Laterly he had been forced to pay almost 50%, in some cases up to 75%, interest on loans. He abdicated, leaving his Austro-Hungarian possessions and his claim to the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire to his brother Ferdinand.


op. cit., pp. 13-14

“… expressed through religious dissent….” [emphasis added, jbp]. Christian humanism—stressing the importance of an individual’s relationship to God and inner spiritual life, as against the outer rituals of formal religion—had developed in the northern Netherlands late in the fourteenth century; in the early sixteenth century it had spread to all provinces through the works of its most luminous scholar, Erasmus. • The more rigid doctrines of Lutheranism had also been imported, in the main from the north German trading cities, and then Calvinism, further undermining the established Roman Catholic Church. Charles had responded by setting up the Inquisition in Antwerp. The first two martyrs, friars of Luther’s Augustinian order, had been burned in the great market square at Brussels in 1523.• “By 1555 Charles had been overwhelmed by the costs of his campaigns against France and the defense of his possessions in south-eastern Europe, in the Med and the Spanish Caribbean, which was infested with pirates and privateers from the ports of western France. Laterly he had been forced to pay almost 50%, in some cases up to 75%, interest on loans. He abdicated,• leaving his Austro-Hungarian possessions and his claim to the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire to his brother Ferdinand. The rest of his dominions—which included the Duchy of Milan, the south Italian kingdom of Naples, Sicily, islands in the western Med, Franche-Comté, Burgundy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain, with its transatlantic and trans-Pacific possessions, were left to his son, who from age sixteen had represented him at Madrid and now became Philip II of Spain.”

Nascent Nationalism

jbp

Nascent Nationalism

jbp

Conventionally, historians consider ‘nationalism’ to be a 19th century phenomenon along with other “isms,” such as capitalism, socialism and communism. But what was happening here in the 16th century—as the unity of Christendom was breaking up, as printing was spreading literacy and modern vernaculars (such as Spanish, English, French, and Dutch), as strong western monarchies were consolidating nation states and reducing feudal factionalism—was the beginning of nationalism. The Dutch-speaking northern provinces of the Netherlands, with their frontier spirit of independent self-sufficiency came to resent the “foreign” Spanish- and French-speaking bureaucrats of Brussels. So cultural forces joined with economic ones to produce the political result of the Dutch Revolt, the Eighty Years’ War and the “would-be” nation state of the United Provinces. When victory came in 1648 the Dutch Republic was recognizable as the country we call the Netherlands. The remaining ten provinces of the Spanish Netherlands would revert to Austria in 1714, be fought over in the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon (1792-1815), be awarded to the Dutch in the Vienna settlement, and finally win independence as the nation state of Belgium in 1831.

Amsterdam; Commercial Heart of the United Provinces

jbp

This bird’s eye view woodcut shows the city circa 1544. The f la t , eas i ly f looded terrain of the Netherlands was ideal for defensive purposes. As the Dutch naval power rose at Spain’s expense, Amsterdam would become the hub of world trade by the mid-seventeenth century.


op. cit., p. 14

“…Philip II of Spain. Magnificent as Philip’s empire appeared, the centerpiece, Spain had been bankrupted by Charles’ wars, and the most prosperous region, the N e t h e r l a n d s , s e e t h e d w i t h resentment at religious and fiscal oppression. “Philip II was a man of high moral seriousness• who regarded it as a sacred trust to preserve his inheritance in the True Faith—a task at which he was to labor diligently for the rest of his life.


op. cit., p. 14

“… life. The idea of easing religious tensions with a policy of toleration would have been as personally inconceivable as it was politically unrealistic: people thought in religious terms; the Church was in consequence the most powerful instrument of social control and imperial cohesion. “In 1566 the underground resentment in the Ne the r l ands bo i l ed ove r i n Ca lv in i s t demonstrations and the systematic stripping of images, paintings and furnishings from Catholic churches. Philip dispatched an army of 10,000 Spanish, Neapolitan and German troops under the Duke of Alva• to restore order…. ”


op. cit., p. 14

“…Philip II of Spain. Magnificent as Philip’s empire appeared, the centerpiece, Spain had been bankrupted by Charles’ wars, and the most prosperous region, the Netherlands, seethed with resentment at religious and fiscal oppression. “Philip II was a man of high moral seriousness• who regarded it as a sacred trust to preserve his inheritance in the True Faith—a task at which he was to labor diligently for the rest of his life. The idea of easing religious tensions with a policy of toleration would have been as personally inconceivable as it was politically unrealistic: people thought in religious terms; the Church was in consequence the most powerful instrument of social control and imperial cohesion. “In 1566 the underground resentment in the Netherlands boiled over in Calvinist demonstrations and the systematic stripping of images, paintings and furnishings from Catholic churches. Philip dispatched an army of 10,000 Spanish, Neapolitan and German troops under the Duke of Alva• to restore order. The threat was sufficient to quell the rising, and many of the leaders of the revolt, including Philip’s stadt-holder, or governor general, in Holland, Prince William of Orange,• chose exile in Germany before Alva arrived. Despite this, the grim and zealous old warrior imposed a reign of terror designed to deter future risings; almost 9,000 people were examined for complicity in the rebellions—prompting a further exodus from the country—and over 1,000 were executed…. ”


op. cit., pp. 14-15.

“… country—and over 1,000 were executed. But the savage measures failed to root out dissent.’Reformed’ Protestant congregations continued to worship in secret throughout the land…. “The rebels in exile—adopting the dismissive epithet gueux or ‘beggars’ bestowed on them by Philip’s half-sister governing for him in Brussels—rallied under William of Orange and made incursions designed to provoke major uprisings, but without success. A rebel flotilla of heavily armed vessels adapted from the coasting and river traders known as hoys• .…”


op. cit., pp. 14-15.

“… country—and over 1,000 were executed. But the savage measures failed to root out dissent.’Reformed’ Protestant congregations continued to worship in secret throughout the land…. “The rebels in exile—adopting the dismissive epithet gueux or ‘beggars’ bestowed on them by Philip’s half-sister governing for him in Brussels—rallied under William of Orange and made incursions designed to provoke major uprisings, but without success. A rebel flotilla of heavily armed vessels adapted from the coasting and river traders known as hoys• and operating from the river Ems on the northern border had greater effect. These ‘Sea Beggars’ preyed on Spanish and Portuguese shipping in the Channel and the approaches to the river Schelde and Antwerp, forming a loose alliance with French Protestant (Huguenot) privateers and with English privateers and pirates, using French, English, and southern Irish ports as convenient to provision and to dispose of booty.”

Geuzen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Sea Beggars)

Geuzen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣøːzə(n)]; French: Les Gueux, English: the Beggars) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋaːtərˌɣøːzə(n)]; French: Gueux de mer, English: Sea Beggars). In the Eighty Years' War, the Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen in 1572 provided the first foothold on land for the rebels, who would conquer the northern Netherlands and establish an independent Dutch Republic. They can be considered either as privateers or pirates, depending on the circumstances or motivations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands

The symbol, top center, is a light source labelled JHWJ, the Hebrew characters signifying God. We’ll encounter it again—jbp

De la Marck led the expedition which captured Brielle—jbp

op. cit., p. 15.

“…dispose of booty. “Hitherto England had been in the Spanish orbit, sending her principal export of unfinished woolen cloth to Antwerp for finishing and marketing, and trading from Bristol, Plymouth and other western ports with the Spanish Canary Islands and Seville. France had then been the closer and more dangerous of the two great Continental Powers. Now France, ruined by the wars with Spain had collapsed in civil and religious conflict, and Philip, with his New World treasure and anti-Protestant crusade in the Netherlands, appeared the nearer and greater threat to England’s independence. “English policy shifted accordingly. The Queen, Elizabeth I,•

The Prehistory of Modern Maritime Power

op. cit., p. 15.

“…dispose of booty. “Hitherto England had been in the Spanish orbit, sending her principal export of unfinished woolen cloth to Antwerp for finishing and marketing, and trading from Bristol, Plymouth and other western ports with the Spanish Canary Islands and Seville. France had then been the closer and more dangerous of the two great Continental Powers. Now France, ruined by the wars with Spain had collapsed in civil and religious conflict, and Philip, with his New World treasure and anti-Protestant crusade in the Netherlands, appeared the nearer and greater threat to England’s independence. “English policy shifted accordingly. The Queen, Elizabeth I,•


op. cit., p. 15.

“…dispose of booty. “Hitherto England had been in the Spanish orbit, sending her principal export of unfinished woolen cloth to Antwerp for finishing and marketing, and trading from Bristol, Plymouth and other western ports with the Spanish Canary Islands and Seville. France had then been the closer and more dangerous of the two great Continental Powers. Now France, ruined by the wars with Spain had collapsed in civil and religious conflict, and Philip, with his New World treasure and anti-Protestant crusade in the Netherlands, appeared the nearer and greater threat to England’s independence. “English policy shifted accordingly. The Queen, Elizabeth I,• and the Huguenot leader, the Bourbon Prince of Condé,• whose power base was in the southwest and western coastal regions of France,…”


op. cit., p. 15.

“…dispose of booty. “Hitherto England had been in the Spanish orbit, sending her principal export of unfinished woolen cloth to Antwerp for finishing and marketing, and trading from Bristol, Plymouth and other western ports with the Spanish Canary Islands and Seville. France had then been the closer and more dangerous of the two great Continental Powers. Now France, ruined by the wars with Spain had collapsed in civil and religious conflict, and Philip, with his New World treasure and anti-Protestant crusade in the Netherlands, appeared the nearer and greater threat to England’s independence. “English policy shifted accordingly. The Queen, Elizabeth I,• and the Huguenot leader, the Bourbon Prince of Condé,• whose power base was in the southwest and western coastal regions of France, signed a treaty whereby Elizabeth supplied the principal Huguenot port, La Rochelle, with arms, money and English sailors; and she encouraged English captains to join the Huguenot privateer assault in the Spanish Caribbean. From the galaxy of gallants and adventurers rekindling havoc in the New World, Francis Drake• emerged as the most successful and feared, acquiring in the Spanish imagination a superhuman aura.”


op. cit., pp. 15-16.

“…Spanish imagination a superhuman aura. “Meanwhile the Protestant onslaught on Catholic shipping in the Channel and its approaches sparked the decisive step in the Netherlands’ revolt. The dislocation of trade and the counter-action against Protestant ships had rebounded on English merchants—particularly those from London exporting to Antwerp—and by 1572 their distress was such that Elizabeth felt obliged to reduce the mayhem. One measure she took was to ban the Sea Beggars from the English ports. A large detachment then in Dover was obliged to leave, and after cruising for some weeks the Beggars put in to the port of Brille….There they found the garrison had been withdrawn by Alva to strengthen the southern borders…and it was decided to hold the town….This inspired the citizens of Flushing,•…”


op. cit., pp. 15-16.

“…Spanish imagination a superhuman aura. “Meanwhile the Protestant onslaught on Catholic shipping in the Channel and its approaches sparked the decisive step in the Netherlands’ revolt. The dislocation of trade and the counter-action against Protestant ships had rebounded on English merchants—particularly those from London exporting to Antwerp—and by 1572 their distress was such that Elizabeth felt obliged to reduce the mayhem. One measure she took was to ban the Sea Beggars from the English ports. A large detachment then in Dover was obliged to leave, and after cruising for some weeks the Beggars put in to the port of Brille….There they found the garrison had been withdrawn by Alva to strengthen the southern borders…and it was decided to hold the town….This inspired the citizens of Flushing,• whose citadel was not yet complete, to rise against their garrison and invite the Beggars in. With this important port, commanding the mouth of the Schelde, the rebels were able to sever Antwerp completely from the sea.”


• “Other ports in Zeeland • followed Flushing’s example, and were joined through that early summer of 1572 by many Dutch towns,



• “with the notable exception of the great cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam,and Delft.




• “Despite their absence, on 19 July a rebel states of Holland was convened in Dordrecht, and William of Orange• was proclaimed stadt-holder and captain-general …




• “Despite their absence, on 19 July a rebel states of Holland was convened in Dordrecht, and William of Orange• was proclaimed stadt-holder and captain-general of the three provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht• and Protector of the Netherlands as a whole.

• “So began a war for control of the Netherlands which was to last with only brief remission for eighty years.”—op. cit. p. 16.


op. cit., p. 16.

“…eighty years. “The Huguenot leaders on whom William counted for support were massacred on St. Bartholomew’s day, 23 August, by the French Catholic faction.…”


op. cit., p. 16.

“…eighty years. “The Huguenot leaders on whom William counted for support were massacred on St. Bartholomew’s day, 23 August, by the French Catholic faction.• Nonetheless. William went ahead with the invasion of the south Netherlands. The army he had gathered proved no match for Alva’s veterans, but when Alva moved north to subdue Holland and the provinces above the Rhine and the Maas he found very different conditions. Whereas the firm, open ground of the south—roughly modern Belgium—suited his professional Spanish infantry, in the north the web of rivers, canals and low lands which the rebels flooded served both as natural barriers to his advance and as supply and reinforcement networks for the Beggars who controlled the waterways. In May 1573 he wrote that he had never in his life found more difficulties waging war than in Holland….Moreover, with the sea route through the English Channel denied him by the Sea Beggars and other Protestant privateers, reinforcements had to make the long overland march to reach the rebel provinces.”


op. cit., pp. 16-17.

“…the long overland march to reach the rebel provinces. “It can be said, therefore, that at this turning point in the struggle between the Protestant fringes of western Europe and the great territorial power centers—in conventional historiography, between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation—there was no true maritime power in the sense of a nation reliant on and driven by trade to possess a supreme navy. Indeed there had not been a true maritime power in this sense since the beginning of the century. Venice and the north-Italian city states had fulfilled such a role within the Med but had been outflanked by oceanic trade, and no power had yet arisen to control the global system.” [emphasis added, jbp]


Spanish Weaknesses

1. “Spain possessed a galley fleet for the Med but virtually no ocean-going sailing navy or naval establishment outside the galley service.

Spanish Weaknesses


2. “Philip was persuaded to build and arm specialized war galleons for the defense of the Indies, but these were used as available to escort treasure fleets; they were never formed into battle squadrons.

Spanish Weaknesses

Spanish Weaknesses



3. “Nor had Spain developed advanced industries or financial institutions; both these prerequisites for supreme maritime power had blossomed in the Netherlands, centered on Antwerp—within the Spanish empire but outside the territorial power base.

Spanish Weaknesses



3. “Nor had Spain developed advanced industries or financial institutions; both these prerequisites for supreme maritime power had blossomed in the Netherlands, centered on Antwerp—within the Spanish empire but outside the territorial power base.

4. “Lack of substantial gun-founding capacity was a critical symptom of Spain’s situation. Able to purchase all the high-quality guns she needed from her Netherlands or Italian possessions, she had failed to support the three home foundries of Medina del Campo, Málaga and Barcelona. Now the Netherlands had been cut off by sea, she was finding it increasingly difficult to procure guns.”—op. cit. p. 17.

Spanish Weaknesses

op. cit., pp. 16-17.

“…guns. “Portugal [after 1580 ruled by Philip-jbp] was in a similar situation. She possessed fighting galleons, but these seemed to have been employed chiefly to secure her dominion in the Eastern seas; they were managed by the same department of the royal administration that presided over Eastern cargo carriers. Trade was run not as a merchant enterprise, but as a royal monopoly. Besides inherent corruption, prices were kept artificially high at Lisbon and Antwerp to meet the costs of the empire. And by using Antwerp as her north-European market for spices and other high-value Eastern wares, Portugal had contributed to the phenomenal industrial and financial growth of this region outside her control. “As for the other states, France had a considerable royal navy and Med galley fleet in the first half of the sixteenth century, but abandoned both during the civil wars at the beginning of the 1560s; by the early 1570s the only French forces at sea were Huguenot privateers. “Across the Channel England had retained the substantial royal navy built to counter the French navy of the first half of the century,•.…


op. cit., pp. 16-17.


op. cit., pp. 16-17.

“…guns. “Portugal [after 1580 ruled by Philip-jbp] was in a similar situation. She possessed fighting galleons, but these seemed to have been employed chiefly to secure her dominion in the Eastern seas; they were managed by the same department of the royal administration that presided over Eastern cargo carriers. Trade was run not as a merchant enterprise, but as a royal monopoly. Besides inherent corruption, prices were kept artificially high at Lisbon and Antwerp to meet the costs of the empire. And by using Antwerp as her north-European market for spices and other high-value Eastern wares, Portugal had contributed to the phenomenal industrial and financial growth of this region outside her control. “As for the other states, France had a considerable royal navy and Med galley fleet in the first half of the sixteenth century, but abandoned both during the civil wars at the beginning of the 1560s; by the early 1570s the only French forces at sea were Huguenot privateers. “Across the Channel England had retained the substantial royal navy built to counter the French navy of the first half of the century,• together with a highly efficient central administration and the priceless asset of cheap good-quality cast-iron guns manufactured within the kingdom [emph. added, jbp].…


Two culverins and two demi-cannons from the Mary Rose on display at the Mary Rose Museum—Wikipedia

op. cit., pp. 17-19.

“… [emphasis added—jbp] However, the great ships which headed the fleet were high floating castles, more suitable for harbor defense or for fighting on calm days in the Channel than for oceanic warfare.•,…”


op. cit., pp. 17-19.

“… [emphasis added—jbp] However, the great ships which headed the fleet were high floating castles, more suitable for harbor defense or for fighting on calm days in the Channel than for oceanic warfare”


op. cit., pp. 17-19.

“… [emphasis added—jbp] However, the great ships which headed the fleet were high floating castles, more suitable for harbor defense or for fighting on calm days in the Channel than for oceanic warfare.• Besides this, England entirely lacked the industrial or financial base required for supreme maritime power. “To the east, the two Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark-Norway and Sweden both had substantial navies almost as large as England’s.…Neither, however, exerted any influence on the oceanic system outside the Baltic, and both were essentially undeveloped. neither was therefore a true maritime power in the sense defined here. “The only region with the mercantile, industrial and financial strength to exert supreme power at sea was the Spanish Netherlands, yet it was not a sovereign state and possessed no navy. It had the largest merchant fleet in Europe—perhaps 1,800 seagoing vessels by the 1560s, of which some 500 were based in Amsterdam [emph. added, jbp]….But apart from the rebel Sea Beggars’ heavily armed ‘cromsters’ and ‘flyboats’, both of which were coastal or river craft and engaged chiefly in offensive war,•,…”


op. cit., p. 19.

“… engaged chiefly in offensive war, neither the Dutch nor the wealthier merchants of Antwerp had a permanent naval force to protect their huge merchant fleets. “Moreover the country was split in civil war. probably no contemporary observer could have predicted that from this embattled cockpit of religious and centrifugal struggle the smaller, humbler northern half, styling itself the United Provinces of the Netherlands—often called the Dutch Republic—would emerge as the first true maritime power of the modern age and progenitor of the Western democratic state.”


Netherlands Declaration

of Independence

1581

The Act of Abjuration or Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, signed on 26 July 1581 in The Hague and confirming the decision made by the States General of the Netherlands in Antwerp on 22 July 1581, formally declared all magistrates in the provinces which united in the Union of Utrecht absolved of their oath of allegiance to their overlord, Philip II of Spain. It stated that by oppressing and violating the ancient rights of his subjects, Philip was considered to have vacated his thrones in the Low Countries. As such, it was the formal declaration of independence of the Low Countries (the Dutch Republic).—Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antwerp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic

English-Spanish Tensions

English-Spanish TensionsWealth, Power, Religion, Duty, Survival, Intrigue

Sea Power, p. 25


“Battle in the earliest days of sailing warfare was mere bunched confusion, every ship for itself. Fighting consisted mostly of grappling and boarding,…”

The English Navy

Sea Power, p. 25


“Battle in the earliest days of sailing warfare was mere bunched confusion, every ship for itself. Fighting consisted mostly of grappling and boarding,• and action ended when crews of captured vessels were tossed over the side. Fleet tactics under sail began to emerge when some observant sailor noticed that getting upwind of the enemy conferred enormous advantages. A naval force having the weather gage could stand off out of reach of its leeward adversary, for the cumbersome Round Ship…”

The English Navy

Sea Power, p. 25


“Battle in the earliest days of sailing warfare was mere bunched confusion, every ship for itself. Fighting consisted mostly of grappling and boarding,• and action ended when crews of captured vessels were tossed over the side. Fleet tactics under sail began to emerge when some observant sailor noticed that getting upwind of the enemy conferred enormous advantages. A naval force having the weather gage could stand off out of reach of its leeward adversary, for the cumbersome Round Ship could sail only down wind. From the windward position, a fleet could send fireships drifting down upon the enemy. At a moment of its own choosing it could attack, overwhelming the enemy’s weather most ships, which his leeward ships were helpless to succor. The windward fleet thus had the initiative. It could apply tactical concentration, bringing its main attack against part of the enemy’s fleet, while the rest of his fleet was held in check by the wind.…”

The English Navy

Sea Power, p. 25


“Battle in the earliest days of sailing warfare was mere bunched confusion, every ship for itself. Fighting consisted mostly of grappling and boarding,• and action ended when crews of captured vessels were tossed over the side. Fleet tactics under sail began to emerge when some observant sailor noticed that getting upwind of the enemy conferred enormous advantages. A naval force having the weather gage could stand off out of reach of its leeward adversary, for the cumbersome Round Ship could sail only down wind. From the windward position, a fleet could send fireships drifting down upon the enemy. At a moment of its own choosing it could attack, overwhelming the enemy’s weather most ships, which his leeward ships were helpless to succor. The windward fleet thus had the initiative. It could apply tactical concentration, bringing its main attack against part of the enemy’s fleet, while the rest of his fleet was held in check by the wind.…”

The English Navy


“the wind. The introduction of naval gunfire conferred additional advantages on the possessor of the weather gage. The windward fleet could choose the ranges and black smoke from its guns drifted into the enemy’s eyes. Despite these clear benefits, not every commander wanted the weather gage. If his force were clearly inferior, he might deliberately accept the lee gage in order to keep open a line of retreat down wind. In general, however, engagements between fleets of anything like equal strength began with maneuvers to ‘get the wind’ of the adversary.

The English Navy

Ibid.

“The first structural refinement in men-of-war under sail was the addition of temporary towers fore and aft, called forecastles and aftercastles. When the enemy succeeded in boarding, the defenders retreated into these towers and rained down stones, arrows, hot pitch, and, later, shot upon the intruders in the waist of the ship. From the towers too, missiles could be fired and stones dropped upon the enemy in ships alongside. The towers, or castles, proved so useful that the merchant owners at length had them built permanently into new construction, for one never knew when he might have to deal with pirates….”

op. cit, pp. 25-26


“…with pirates…. This is only one of many structural changes resulting from the occasional use of cargo carriers as men-of-war…. “The introduction of the gun brought about considerable strengthening and enlargement of the castles. The guns were originally placed here because, like all earlier weapons, they were aimed at men and not at ships—indeed, the early naval guns were too small and feeble to do serious damage to ships even at close range…. [by the end of the 15th century cannons were improved and became ship killers—jbp] “When peace was restored at last following the Hundred Years’ War [1337-1453] and the long-drawn-out Wars of the Roses [1455-1487], the nation began to prosper to the extent that King Henry VIII was able to build a few ships of his own, intended exclusively for fighting. His first battleships were huge, high-towered Great Ships such as the Henry Grâce a Dieu or, as she was generally called, the Great Harry.• …”

The English Navy

op. cit, pp. 25-26


“…with pirates…. This is only one of many structural changes resulting from the occasional use of cargo carriers as men-of-war…. “The introduction of the gun brought about considerable strengthening and enlargement of the castles. The guns were originally placed here because, like all earlier weapons, they were aimed at men and not at ships—indeed, the early naval guns were too small and feeble to do serious damage to ships even at close range…. [by the end of the 15th century cannons were improved and became ship killers—jbp] “When peace was restored at last following the Hundred Years’ War [1337-1453] and the long-drawn-out Wars of the Roses [1455-1487], the nation began to prosper to the extent that King Henry VIII was able to build a few ships of his own, intended exclusively for fighting. His first battleships were huge, high-towered Great Ships such as the Henry Grâce a Dieu or, as she was generally called, the Great Harry.• But the Harry was already obsolescent when she was built, for the big guns…made ships top-heavy when they were mounted in the castles. Puzzling over the problem, King Henry’s carpenters cut gunports in the sides and mounted most of the guns on the “cargo deck. Thus the first broadsides came into being….”

The English Navy

op. cit, p. 26


“…came into being…. When Lord Lyly, after an action off Shoreham in 1545 reported to Henry that the broadsides had proved ship destroyers and not man killers only, he was announcing a new kind of warfare. ‘Off fighting’ had become possible; ships no longer had to close, grapple and board in order to engage. “With the introduction of guns in broadside and King Henry’s decision that he would have a fighting fleet apart from the merchant marine, England began to forge ahead of all other nations in warship design….The English ships built or rebuilt during the twenty years preceding the Spanish attack reflecting the influence and experience of the privateers and semi-pirates that the Queen had turned loose against the Spanish colonies and shipping. Foremost among these were John Hawkins and his cousin and protégé Francis Drake….”

The English Navy

op. cit, p. 26


“…came into being…. When Lord Lyly, after an action off Shoreham in 1545 reported to Henry that the broadsides had proved ship destroyers and not man killers only, he was announcing a new kind of warfare. ‘Off fighting’ had become possible; ships no longer had to close, grapple and board in order to engage. “With the introduction of guns in broadside and King Henry’s decision that he would have a fighting fleet apart from the merchant marine, England began to forge ahead of all other nations in warship design….The English ships built or rebuilt during the twenty years preceding the Spanish attack reflecting the influence and experience of the privateers and semi-pirates that the Queen had turned loose against the Spanish colonies and shipping. Foremost among these were John Hawkins • and his cousin and protégé Francis Drake.• “Hawkins’ position as chief sea commander of England made his opinions respected long before he was appointed Treasurer and Controller of the Navy in 1577. A prosperous merchant shipowner of Plymouth, he had interspersed peaceful business pursuits with periods of free-booting and slave-running in Spanish American waters, sometimes with royal connivance and profit….”

The English Navy

op cit, pp. 26-27.


“…profit.… His experience at sea, which included some hot fighting, had imbued him with a dislike for boarding tactics and an unshakable respect for guns and maneuver. By his advice and, later, under his stewardship, royal combat vessels became floating gun platforms emphasizing speed and mobility. The lofty fore- and aftercastles were cut down,1keels were deepened, and length was increased relative to beam [width—jbp]. Though a certain proportion of Great Ships were built, to overawe the enemy and for close work when it could not be avoided, the flush-decked…, low free-boarded [freeboard=height above the waterline—jbp] of three or more beam’s length became standard in the Queen’s navy….• “One priceless advantage that Elizabeth possessed was her seamen. They had little opportunity to develop tactical niceties, but their freebooting excursions had endowed them with an incomparable knowledge of ships and the sea. If Philip of Spain could boast that he had the finest infantrymen in the world,• Elizabeth could assert with equal justice that her sailors were without equal.•”

The English Navy

_________ 1 A vestige of the after castle was retained or restored as the raised quarterdeck, useful for observation and command.

op cit, pp. 26-27.


“…profit.… His experience at sea, which included some hot fighting, had imbued him with a dislike for boarding tactics and an unshakable respect for guns and maneuver. By his advice and, later, under his stewardship, royal combat vessels became floating gun platforms emphasizing speed and mobility. The lofty fore- and aftercastles were cut down,1keels were deepened, and length was increased relative to beam [width—jbp]. Though a certain proportion of Great Ships were built, to overawe the enemy and for close work when it could not be avoided, the flush-decked…, low free-boarded [freeboard=height above the waterline—jbp] of three or more beam’s length became standard in the Queen’s navy….• “One priceless advantage that Elizabeth possessed was her seamen. They had little opportunity to develop tactical niceties, but their freebooting excursions had endowed them with an incomparable knowledge of ships and the sea. If Philip of Spain could boast that he had the finest infantrymen in the world,•

The English Navy


op cit, pp. 26-27.


“…profit.… His experience at sea, which included some hot fighting, had imbued him with a dislike for boarding tactics and an unshakable respect for guns and maneuver. By his advice and, later, under his stewardship, royal combat vessels became floating gun platforms emphasizing speed and mobility. The lofty fore- and aftercastles were cut down,1keels were deepened, and length was increased relative to beam [width—jbp]. Though a certain proportion of Great Ships were built, to overawe the enemy and for close work when it could not be avoided, the flush-decked…, low free-boarded [freeboard=height above the waterline—jbp] of three or more beam’s length became standard in the Queen’s navy….• “One priceless advantage that Elizabeth possessed was her seamen. They had little opportunity to develop tactical niceties, but their freebooting excursions had endowed them with an incomparable knowledge of ships and the sea. If Philip of Spain could boast that he had the finest infantrymen in the world,•

The English Navy


op cit, pp. 26-27.


“…profit.… His experience at sea, which included some hot fighting, had imbued him with a dislike for boarding tactics and an unshakable respect for guns and maneuver. By his advice and, later, under his stewardship, royal combat vessels became floating gun platforms emphasizing speed and mobility. The lofty fore- and aftercastles were cut down,1keels were deepened, and length was increased relative to beam [width—jbp]. Though a certain proportion of Great Ships were built, to overawe the enemy and for close work when it could not be avoided, the flush-decked…, low free-boarded [freeboard=height above the waterline—jbp] of three or more beam’s length became standard in the Queen’s navy….• “One priceless advantage that Elizabeth possessed was her seamen. They had little opportunity to develop tactical niceties, but their freebooting excursions had endowed them with an incomparable knowledge of ships and the sea. If Philip of Spain could boast that he had the finest infantrymen in the world,• Elizabeth could assert with equal justice that her sailors were without equal.•”

The English Navy


Padfield, p. 20.

“PHILIP’S MORE ABLE advisors told him that the key to the defense of the Caribbean was command of the English Channel, whence privateers sailed to attack his dominions; the key to the reconquest of the Netherlands was England itself. The Pope tried to persuade him to lead a Holy League invasion of England to return her to the True Faith.Yet up to the summer of 1588 Philip was resolved to reassert his authority in the Netherlands first, then perhaps deal with the ‘heretic woman’, Elizabeth I. “She, for her part, cautious by nature and necessity—her normal revenue being barely a tenth of Philip’s—continued a flexible policy of aiding his enemies, the Huguenots and the Beggars, to keep them in the field while supporting joint royal-merchant ventures to attack his New World possessions, but never the Spanish homeland, taking care not to precipitate an irreparable breach..”

The Spanish Armada, 1588

op. cit., pp. 20-21.

“From 1578 onwards, however, circumstances combined so favorably for Philip that she was pushed towards open hostilities. Outside the area, Ottoman Turkey had turned against Persia, relieving pressure on Spain in the Med and allowing Philip to concentrate resources against the rebel United Provinces. Appointing as his governor-general in Brussels Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma,•…”

The Armada

op. cit., pp. 20-21.

“From 1578 onwards, however, circumstances combined so favorably for Philip that she was pushed towards open hostilities. Outside the area, Ottoman Turkey had turned against Persia, relieving pressure on Spain in the Med and allowing Philip to concentrate resources against the rebel United Provinces. Appointing as his governor-general in Brussels Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma,

The Armada

op. cit., pp. 20-21.

“From 1578 onwards, however, circumstances combined so favorably for Philip that she was pushed towards open hostilities. Outside the area, Ottoman Turkey had turned against Persia, relieving pressure on Spain in the Med and allowing Philip to concentrate resources against the rebel United Provinces. Appointing as his governor-general in Brussels Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma,• the finest exponent of siege warfare of the age, he built up the Netherlands army to formidable size—some 61,000 troops by 1582. At the same time the quantities of silver from his New World mines increased dramatically.… While this did not cover the expenses of defending his worldwide dominions, it heartened the bankers on whom he relied for loans. Meanwhile the King of Portugal died without heir, allowing Philip to add that nation with its important West African, Brazilian and East Indian possessions, its shipping and fighting galleons,to his already vast empire. In the 1580s he bestrode the world.”

The Armada

op. cit., p. 21.

“…the world. ”In 1584 William of Orange was shot and mortally wounded by a fanatic inspired by Spanish propaganda.•

The Armada

op. cit., p. 21.

“…the world. ”In 1584 William of Orange was shot and mortally wounded by a fanatic inspired by Spanish propaganda.•

The Armada

op. cit., p. 21.

“…the world. ”In 1584 William of Orange was shot and mortally wounded by a fanatic inspired by Spanish propaganda.• Leadership of the United Provinces devolved upon Holland.…By this time the rebel position was precarious. Parma had reduced the southern provinces except for the major cities, which he had surrounded. In desperation the States General at the Hague appealed to Henri III of France, offering him sovereignty in return for support. He refused, and they turned to Elizabeth of England. “Her most cautious chief minister, Lord Burleigh, advised her the time had now come to throw in her lot openly with the Dutch, before Philip completed his conquest of the Netherlands:

The Armada

”whereby he shall be so provoked with pride, solicited by the Pope and tempted by the Queen’s own [Catholic] subjects, shall be so strong by sea and so free from all other actions and quarrels, yea shall be so formidable to all the rest of Christendom, as that her Majesty shall in no wise be able with her own power, nor with the aid of any other, neither by sea nor land, to withstand his attempts.

Ibid.

“…attempts. ”It is interesting to see such an early exposition of the continental balance-of-power policy Great Britain was to pursue in her days as a great power. In fact English statesmen since the 1520s had been guided by the same concept of trying to prevent one power gaining hegemony • in western Europe and control of the Channel coast.

The Armada

Ibid.

“…attempts. ”It is interesting to see such an early exposition of the continental balance-of-power policy Great Britain was to pursue in her days as a great power. In fact English statesmen since the 1520s had been guided by the same concept of trying to prevent one power gaining hegemony • in western Europe and control of the Channel coast.

The Armada

12

Sea Power, p. 27.


“Nothing infuriated Philip II more than the raiding of Spanish bases and shipping by English privateers, .…The most famous of such expeditions was that of Drake’s Golden Hind,• which entered the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan in 1578 and raided Spanish cities and shipping up and down the west coast of South America.…”

The Challenge of Spain

Sea Power, p. 27.


“Nothing infuriated Philip II more than the raiding of Spanish bases and shipping by English privateers, .…The most famous of such expeditions was that of Drake’s Golden Hind,• which entered the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan in 1578 and raided Spanish cities and shipping up and down the west coast of South America. Drake returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in 1581 with gold, silver and jewels valued at half a million pounds sterling. Queen Elizabeth openly acquiesced in the enterprise by sequestering the bulk of the treasure and knighting Drake on his own quarterdeck….”


Sea Power, p. 27.


“Nothing infuriated Philip II more than the raiding of Spanish bases and shipping by English privateers, .…The most famous of such expeditions was that of Drake’s Golden Hind,• which entered the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan in 1578 and raided Spanish cities and shipping up and down the west coast of South America. Drake returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in 1581 with gold, silver and jewels valued at half a million pounds sterling. Queen Elizabeth openly acquiesced in the enterprise by sequestering the bulk of the treasure and knighting Drake on his own quarterdeck.• Though Philip raged, he was not yet prepared to risk open warfare. Instead he began secretly conspiring with the large Roman Catholic faction in England to assassinate Elizabeth. Her death would vacate the throne in favor of her Catholic cousin,• Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots,…”


Sea Power, p. 27.


“Nothing infuriated Philip II more than the raiding of Spanish bases and shipping by English privateers, .…The most famous of such expeditions was that of Drake’s Golden Hind,• which entered the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan in 1578 and raided Spanish cities and shipping up and down the west coast of South America. Drake returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in 1581 with gold, silver and jewels valued at half a million pounds sterling. Queen Elizabeth openly acquiesced in the enterprise by sequestering the bulk of the treasure and knighting Drake on his own quarterdeck.• Though Philip raged, he was not yet prepared to risk open warfare. Instead he began secretly conspiring with the large Roman Catholic faction in England to assassinate Elizabeth. Her death would vacate the throne in favor of her Catholic cousin,• Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had held captive since 1568, when Mary had been driven out of Scotland by the Calvinist hierarchy….”


Ibid.


“…hierarchy. “[The two aforementioned events of 1584—jbp] at length brought this clandestine warfare into the open….The war in France destroyed the effectiveness of the Anglo-French alliance that had restrained Philip for twelve years. The assassination of the Stadholder paved the way for Spanish subjugation of the Netherlands, which would undoubtedly be followed by an invasion of England. Philip now began seizing English merchantmen peacefully trading in his ports. Elizabeth promptly retaliated. To cut down still further the flow of precious metal to Spain, she sent Drake with a fleet of 19 ships to raid the Spanish Indies. She formed an alliance [in lieu of the offered sovereignty—jbp] with Philip’s rebellious Dutch subjects and dispatched an army to Holland. If there was to be war, she considered it was better to fight on foreign soil with an ally than alone in her own realm. The Spanish king now stepped up his campaign for the assassination of Elizabeth. To remove the focus for such plots, Elizabeth early in 1587 reluctantly signed the death warrant of Mary Stuart. [She had been tried and found guilty of corresponding with the plotters—jbp]….”


Babington Plot Cipher

execution


“…plotters—jbp].… “Philip proposed nothing less than a descent upon England out of the ports of Spain with an army carried and supported by a great naval armada. In the end he had to compromise by drawing most of his invasion troops from those engaged in Flanders against the Dutch, but his general concept remained. If he had any hope of conquering the English fleet with the weapons he had used in 1571 against the Turks, he was presently disabused, for in April 1587 Drake sailed boldly into the Spanish port of Cadiz with 23 ships, easily thrust aside the defending galleys, and destroyed some 18 cargo vessels. [Most importantly, the seasoned water casks they contained—jbp]. The vaunted galleys were clearly no match for England’s sailing fleet with its long-range broadside battery.…”


Sea Power, pp. 27-28.


“…plotters—jbp].… “Philip proposed nothing less than a descent upon England out of the ports of Spain with an army carried and supported by a great naval armada. In the end he had to compromise by drawing most of his invasion troops from those engaged in Flanders against the Dutch, but his general concept remained. If he had any hope of conquering the English fleet with the weapons he had used in 1571 against the Turks, he was presently disabused, for in April 1587 Drake sailed boldly into the Spanish port of Cadiz with 23 ships, easily thrust aside the defending galleys, and destroyed some 18 cargo vessels. [Most importantly, the seasoned water casks they contained—jbp]. The vaunted galleys were clearly no match for England’s sailing fleet with its long-range broadside battery.• “Luckily for Philip, he now had at his disposal the warships and armed merchantmen of Portugal and the services of Portuguese marine constructors, men well acquainted with Atlantic shipbuilding practices. He adopted the sailing man-of-war and the broadside, reluctantly we may assume, for he could not forget Lepanto. Once more, as at Lepanto, he would rely on his famous infantry for victory at sea. To give his soldiers the advantage of height, he impaired the sailing qualities of his warships…”


Sea Power, pp. 27-28.


“…warships…by specifying lofty fore- and aftercastles, and he cut into their operational efficiency by cluttering their decks with troops….”


Sea Power, p. 28.


“…warships…by specifying lofty fore- and aftercastles, and he cut into their operational efficiency by cluttering their decks with troops.• To cripple the English ships so that they could not maneuver out of reach of his boarders, he armed his vessels with the biggest naval guns he could find, including cannon firing 50 pound shot. “The Grand Armada, as finally assembled and dispatched against England in July, 1588, consisted of 124 vessels carrying 1,100 guns and 27,000 men more than half of whom were soldiers. In command was the Duke of Medina-Sidonia…•”


Sea Power, p. 28.


“…warships…by specifying lofty fore- and aftercastles, and he cut into their operational efficiency by cluttering their decks with troops.• To cripple the English ships so that they could not maneuver out of reach of his boarders, he armed his vessels with the biggest naval guns he could find, including cannon firing 50 pound shot. “The Grand Armada, as finally assembled and dispatched against England in July, 1588, consisted of 124 vessels carrying 1,100 guns and 27,000 men more than half of whom were soldiers. In command was the Duke of Medina-Sidonia…•”


Sea Power, p. 28.

Padfield, pp. 27-28.

“For Philip, after his latest humiliation [the ‘singed beard’ of Apr-May, ’87—jbp] from ‘El Draque’ (“the Dragon,” Sp.), it was a question of face, and intimately bound up with face, finance. In the first nine months of 1587 he had spent over 10 million ducats (£2.75 million) assembling and fitting out the armada. Each month that passed cost him further 700,000 ducats, besides losses from the disruption to trade caused by the requisitioning of so many ships. “In January 1588 he sent an emissary to Lisbon to report back on the state of the fleet and why Santa Cruz [then commander—jbp] was still unprepared to sail. He learned that things were worse than could be imagined. Contractors, unpaid, were providing inferior victuals or none at all; sailors were dying of hunger; disease was sweeping their squalid quarters between leaking decks. Even Santa Cruz had caught typhus and lay dying. “Philip immediately cast about for a successor. Rather than an admiral or a general, he needed an able administrator who could pull the sickly and demoralized force together and take it to sea in the shortest time. The choice was not hard. The Duke of Medina Sidonia had taken a leading part in the decisions and preparations for the armada from the start…”

The Armada

op. cit., p. 28.

“from the start…, and in 1586 those in the know had tipped him as the likely commander should the expedition sail against England. He was the first grandee of Seville, and his status ensured his authority over the naval and military officers. At thirty-eight years old, he was in the prime of life. And he was also probably the wealthiest noble in Spain—a vital, even perhaps the vital, consideration in that age when leaders were expected to oil the wheels of supply with their own funds, particularly so at this time when the unpaid bills on Philip’s treasury were being exchanged at discounts of up to 30%.. “As hereditary war leader in Andalusia, a major recruiting area for soldiers, Medina Sidonia was better able than anyone to raise levies and harness the other vital resources of the region, most importantly grain and shipping. He also had personal qualities of diligence, trustworthiness and administrative ability. All he appeared to lack was seagoing experience; yet, with seasoned staff and divisional commanders, this was of less significance than his high position, wealth and name—especially if Philip’s real purpose was to send the fleet into the Channel to threaten, overawe and bring Elizabeth to terms without a major invasion. Parma had already opened negotiations, and believed her so alarmed by her expenses that she desired peace….”

The Armada

op. cit., p. 30.

“peace…. ”Whatever his personal misgivings, his activity once he reached Lisbon confirmed Philip’s judgement. Besides inadequate supplies of victuals and wine, he was confronted by a shortage of soldiers and sailors, due in large part to illness and desertion. and by insufficient heavy guns and ammunition. Gathering a small expert staff, he tackled each problem with energy and personally visited and inspected each ship [emph. added—jbp] a sturdy, pale-faced figure of middling height, high forehead and thoughtful eyes, who impressed everyone with his energy and purpose.… “Despite his forceful direction, however, he was not able to procure as many experienced seamen as he required…. Medina Sidonia was also unable to remedy the equally serious shortage of heavy guns. Despite sending officers to scour the country for ordnance, and buying pieces from foreign ships in Lisbon, he could not make up for Spain’s deficiencies in gun foundries. He was eventually able to add 200 or so pieces, but they were a light and heterogenous collection. Of the 2,411 on his final muster list, it is probable that fewer than 120 were real ship-damaging weapons throwing balls of 15 lb or over….”

The Armada

Ibid.

“15 lb or over…. ”He was aware of this potentially fatal weakness. From intimate acquaintance with the Indies fleets., he knew of the Protestant interloper tactics of standing off and battering with artillery instead of boarding; he had warned Philip the previous year that this was how the English would fight….On 25 April the voyage was dedicated and the royal standard consecrated at Lisbon Cathedral; however, it was not until the second week in May that the first ships began dropping down to the mouth of the Tagus, and adverse winds prevented them from sailing until the end of the month. “For spectators ashore the departure was an unparalleled spectacle….Ballooning sails displayed the red cross of crusade….”

The Armada

The ArmadaArmada and English ships, August, 1588

English school, sixteenth century


“Like the Armada, the Queen’s fleet was officially headed by an aristocrat, Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord Admiral of England.….”


Sea Power, p. 28.


“Like the Armada, the Queen’s fleet was officially headed by an aristocrat, Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord Admiral of England.• An intelligent administrator, Lord Howard had the good sense to take the advice of his subordinates, old sea dogs Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher. At crucial moments in the campaign, Drake virtually exercised command. At government insistence, over Drake’s protests, the fleet was divided. The main body took station at Plymouth to cover Ireland and the SW coast, while a detached force under Lord Henry Seymour watched Parma from Dover….”


Sea Power, p. 28.

“The SW wind that brought the Spanish fleet into the Channel caused Howard considerable embarrassment in beating out of Plymouth Sound.

Sea Power, p. 29Sea Power, p. 28.


“Had Medina Sidonia attacked then the result might have been disastrous for England.

“Instead, he sailed majestically past Plymouth, and Howard fell in behind, seizing the weather gage and blocking his line of retreat back to Spain.

“For a week the Armada moved slowly up the Channel while the English fired at its weather most ships and forced three general engagements.

“…the Spaniards drew defensively together, first into a crescent….



“Had Medina Sidonia attacked then the result might have been disastrous for England.

“Instead, he sailed majestically past Plymouth, and Howard fell in behind, seizing the weather gage and blocking his line of retreat back to Spain.

“For a week the Armada moved slowly up the Channel while the English fired at its weather most ships and forced three general engagements.

“…the Spaniards drew defensively together, first into a crescent….

“…the English…in four squadrons, under Howard, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher.”


“The sheer mass of vessels and their good order inspired awe in the English.

“[Howard] took some time gathering his fleet, then at about nine o’clock he led down towards the center of the enemy crescent….

“…the Ark Royal fired bow guns,, then hauled round, allowing his broadside gunners to fire as they came on target, finally luffing up to give the enemy his stern chasers. …the rest of his squadron in rough line ahead repeated the performance….

“The Spanish returned fire , but the distance was so great that little damage was done on either side.

“Meanwhile Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher and ships attached to them bore down on the vice admiral, Recalde,• in the San Juan at the extreme tip of the northern horn…”

Padfield, p. 39.Padfield, pp. 38, 40.

Padfield, p. 40.

“…of the northern horn, again following one another into the attack, firing the bow pieces, rounding up to fire the broadside, then the stern chasers, falling away, and tacking to come in again with the other broadside after the others had done, so keeping up a continuous group fire, although each ship might not fire her guns more than once an hour or so. Recalde, being to leeward, could do little after discharging a broadside but listen to their shot whine through his rigging as his guns’ crews went through the slow process of hauling in their pieces, swabbing the bores and worming out unburnt powder, recharging, hauling them out through the ports, laying and aiming….

The Armada

Guns raised from Henry VIII’s Mary Rose (sunk 1545) cast bronze culverin (front) and wrought iron port piece mounted on modern reproductions of their crude carriages.—Wikipedia

Ibid.

“…aiming…. “Recalde’s flagship had suffered fifteen dead and many more wounded from flying splinters, and was so cut up aloft that she was crippled… “Spanish accounts stress the rapidity of English fire [sic!] and the speed and maneuverability of the English ships;….The English were equally impressed by the strength of the Spanish and the order maintained….”

The Armada

“The two fleets drifted slowly up the Channel, some five miles separating them, and reached Portland Bill that night…

“Next morning 2 Aug, the wind sprang up from the NE, giving Medina Sidonia the weather gage for the first time

Padfield, p. 44. op. cit., pp. 42-43.



Medina Sidonia bore down, the English withdrew, but as the wind veered to S, then SW they returned to engage


“Engage the Enemy more closely” Signal 16

Padfield, p. 43.

“During this northerly run Howard sent a pinnace through the fleet with instructions to the captains ‘to go within musket shot of the enemy before they should discharge any one piece of ordnance’. This was a historic order: the first example of what was to become the standard in all English and British fighting instructions in the age of sail—to bear down until so close that they could not miss the target….”

“Engage the Enemy more closely” Signal 16



Medina Sidonia bore down, the English withdrew, but as the wind veered to S, then SW they returned to engage

“…the damage was inconsiderable on both sides….All the Spanish ships together lost only fifty killed that day. English casualties…far fewer; …the English gunners were more expert and fired three times to the Spanish once.

“Towards evening the English, exhausted and wishing to preserve their powder, hauled off. Medina Sidonia re-formed his fleet and, leading away downwind…


Padfield, p. 48.

“At a council held that afternoon aboard [Howard’s flagship—jbp] it had been agreed that the only possible strategy against such a mighty force was to follow and harry to prevent the Spaniards anchoring, and if they attempted a landing to use the smaller ships to cut out the boats carrying troops ashore: as Howard expressed it in a letter, ‘We mean so to course the enemy as that they shall have no leisure to land.’….”

Medina Sidonia:’The important thing for us is to proceed on our voyage, for these people [English] do not mean fighting but only to delay our progress.’

“…by dawn next day he was some distance south of the Isle of Wight….


Medina Sidonia:’The important thing for us is to proceed on our voyage, for these people [English] do not mean fighting but only to delay our progress.’

“…by dawn next day he was some distance south of the Isle of Wight….

“…the following morning, 4 Aug…two large Spanish vessels were seen out of station astern of their main body….the wind came up…permitting another short action like that off Portland…

“the San Martin again took the force of Howard’s squadron and on the northern wing Frobisher’s Triumph again looked like she would be trapped….

“But the wind rose and Frobisher drew away safely.

“Despite an enormous amount of shot thrown by both sides again no serious damage resulted….”


Padfield, p. 46.

“Despite an enormous amount of shot thrown by both sides again no serious damage resulted. The Spanish suffered fifty killed, seventy wounded, bringing their casualty list to over 400. Nevertheless, it was probably an important action in denying Medina Sidonia an anchorage to the E of the Isle of Wight [emphasis added—jbp]…. Medina Sidonia fired a gun to collect his ships and continued up-Channel towards Flanders. That afternoon he sent another urgent letter to Parma by dispatch vessel:

the enemy has resolutely avoided coming to close quarters with our ships although I have tried my hardest to make him do so. I have given him so many opportunities….; but all to no purpose as his ships are light, and mine are very heavy.

“He asked Parma to send him without delay gunpowder and shot…, and asked him to make ready to put out with his army to meet him—‘because, by God’s grace, if the wind serves, I expect to be on the Flemish coast soon.’

Padfield, p. 47.

“Here was the insoluble dilemma at the heart of the plan for the Enterprise of England. For Parma could no more come out from the shallows of the Flemish coast than Medina Sidonia could put in to join him [emph. added—jbp] Parma’s few light warships were blockaded in the Schelde by the Sea Beggars in Flushing; the hundreds of canal barges and coastal craft he had assembled at Sluis, Nieuwpoort and Dunkirk for the transport of his army were under blockade from other Sea Beggar craft, usually lying over the horizon to entice him out, when, as he knew, they would fall upon and destroy him. Parma had warned Philip of this from the beginning, and had reiterated his anxiety as late as 22 June. Philip had made a marginal note on this letter, ‘God grant that no embarrassment may come from this’, but he had not told Medina Sidonia of Parma’s apprehensions….”

Padfield, p. 48.

“Whatever Philip’s and Parma’s true aims, they had been frustrated by Howard’s strategy of ‘coursing’ the armada up-Channel, allowing Medina Sidonia neither chance of victory nor even a breathing space to secure an anchorage. So he had been forced into this position off Calais where he could not remain long and Parma could never join him….”

four days after their last engagement, the two fleets arrived at Calais, the scene of the decisive event

Padfield, p. 44. op. cit., pp. 49, 52.


“The moon had been full the night before; the tides were strong, and the wind had freshened from the W…

shortly after midnight eight English fireships caused the Spanish to slip cables and sail frantically from their moorings





the next morning the Spanish restored order and a third engagement was fought off the small Flemish harbor of Gravelines





the next morning the Spanish restored order and a third engagement was fought off the small Flemish harbor of Gravelines

“The Spanish lost 600 killed and 800 wounded on this day alone, according to a report from the San Martin, which had taken 107 direct hits on her hull, masts and sails….”


Padfield, p. 52.

“Apart from the disparity in damage and casualties—the result of the English having heavier long guns, more skillful gunners and more weatherly ships using the advantage of the windward position—the English had won decisively in strategic terms, having forced Medina Sidonia into the North Sea beyond Dunkirk, where his pilots, for good reason, had not wished to go. The wind had risen, and while it remained in the W he could neither join Parma nor return to Calais roads or Margate where Philip had instructed him to anchor. [emphases added—jbp] Drake wrote soon after the battle,•….”

Padfield, p. 52.

“Apart from the disparity in damage and casualties—the result of the English having heavier long guns, more skillful gunners and more weatherly ships using the advantage of the windward position—the English had won decisively in strategic terms, having forced Medina Sidonia into the North Sea beyond Dunkirk, where his pilots, for good reason, had not wished to go. The wind had risen, and while it remained in the W he could neither join Parma nor return to Calais roads or Margate where Philip had instructed him to anchor. [emphases added—jbp] Drake wrote soon after the battle,• ‘God hath given us so good a day in forcing the enemy to leeward as I hope in God the Prince of Parma and the Duke of Sidonia shall not shake hands in this few days.’….”

Padfield, pp. 52-53.

“For Medina Sidonia it was the hardest day of the campaign. His remaining fighting ships were too low in ammunition to sustain another long action; his casked provisions were rotting and his water was foul; and, in addition to the wounded from engagements, sickness had brought down hundreds….Moreover, his pilots warned him that if the wind remained in the NW none of the ships could weather the shoals off Zeeland…. “The English, following closely, were unaware of the Spanish anxieties….It is evident from [Howard’s] letters and those of Drake, Hawkins and others that the English, deceived by the outward appearance of the great ships of the enemy and the good order that they still preserved, had no idea they had won a historic victory….”

“Fortunately for England, the Spaniards were already on the run. With the wind against them and the English behind them, they were convinced they had no choice but to retreat into the North Sea

“Howard plowed the Spanish wake for a few days, spurring the fugitives northward…

“But the Grand Armada was already en route back to Spain—the long way, N and W of the British Isles

“In the Atlantic, hunger and thirst completed Spanish demoralization. Storms and inept navigation scattered the Spanish ships

“Some 35 or 40 foundered at sea; at least a score were wrecked upon the rocky shores of Scotland and Ireland

“God blew and scattered them,’ so went the inscription on the Dutch victory medal….”

Sea Power, p. 30.

beginning at 9 o’clock: (in Latin and Hebrew)

he blows*JHWH*and* they*have been dissipated

Epilogue

Contrasting kingdoms The court art of Philip II and Elizabeth I, as

shown in the first two images of this gallery, displays the contrast between the kingdoms of Spain and Britain at the time of the Armada. Philip ruled the richest, most educated, most sophisticated, most technically advanced monarchy in Europe. England, by contrast, was regarded at the time as a backwater, a realm of lightly gilded savagery.

Whereas Philip had Titian to paint him, Elizabeth had to rely on barely competent locals, working in an old-fashioned style.

Philip II (1527-98), King of Spain (1556-98) offers his son or Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto, 1571; By Titian

(Tiziano Vecellio) (1487-1576) - Museo del Prado Madrid

Armada GalleryBy Felipe Fernandez-Armesto Last updated 2011-02-17

The BBC History web page



Whereas Philip had Titian to paint him, Elizabeth had to rely on barely competent locals, working in an old-fashioned style.• Philip had an heir - the glory of a king and the hope of a kingdom. Elizabeth was childless. Whereas Elizabeth is depicted iconically, hieratically, without motion and almost without bodily solidity, Philip is confident enough to appear as a flesh-and-blood human being. Elizabeth's face is masked in make-up, while Philip is portrayed realistically, with the features recognizable.•

Philip II (1527-98), King of Spain (1556-98) offers his son or Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto, 1571; By Titian

(Tiziano Vecellio) (1487-1576) - Museo del Prado Madrid





Whereas Philip had Titian to paint him, Elizabeth had to rely on barely competent locals, working in an old-fashioned style.• Philip had an heir - the glory of a king and the hope of a kingdom. Elizabeth was childless. Whereas Elizabeth is depicted iconically, hieratically, without motion and almost without bodily solidity, Philip is confident enough to appear as a flesh-and-blood human being. Elizabeth's face is masked in make-up, while Philip is portrayed realistically, with the features recognizable.• Thus, wherever Philip's portraits went as diplomatic gifts they were reminders of his power - especially with his characteristic jutting jawline, evidence of his membership of the divinely elected Habsburg dynasty.Philip II (1527-98), King of Spain (1556-98) offers his

son or Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto, 1571; By Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (1487-1576) - Museo del Prado

Madrid





Whereas Philip had Titian to paint him, Elizabeth had to rely on barely competent locals, working in an old-fashioned style.• Philip had an heir - the glory of a king and the hope of a kingdom. Elizabeth was childless. Whereas Elizabeth is depicted iconically, hieratically, without motion and almost without bodily solidity, Philip is confident enough to appear as a flesh-and-blood human being. Elizabeth's face is masked in make-up, while Philip is portrayed realistically, with the features recognizable.• Thus, wherever Philip's portraits went as diplomatic gifts they were reminders of his power - especially with his characteristic jutting jawline, evidence of his membership of the divinely elected Habsburg dynasty.• Elizabeth, by contrast, suffered from two disqualifications for kingship, she was a woman in a patriarchal world, and a royal bastard whose claim to the throne was dubious.



Propaganda wars The paintings of Philip and Elizabeth share propaganda devices:

both have backgrounds of battle; both allude to spoils - a gilded figurehead behind the queen,•

Elizabeth I, Armada Portrait, c.1588 - Woburn Abbey




both have backgrounds of battle; both allude to spoils - a gilded figurehead behind the queen,• the Turkish captive and weaponry at Philip's feet; both sketch past glories and make promises for the future.

Philip's painting promises continuity of achievement: the birth of a prince, the solidity of the imperial columns that uphold the edifice, the angel's palm of victory.•





Philip's painting promises continuity of achievement: the birth of a prince, the solidity of the imperial columns that uphold the edifice, the angel's palm of victory.• Elizabeth stands alongside a 'crown imperial' and rests a hand on a globe, in allusion to the attempt - canvassed by some of her courtiers - to found an English empire overseas. The differences of propaganda are fascinating.•

Elizabeth I, Armada Portrait, c.1588 - Woburn Abbey





Philip's painting promises continuity of achievement: the birth of a prince, the solidity of the imperial columns that uphold the edifice, the angel's palm of victory.• Elizabeth stands alongside a 'crown imperial' and rests a hand on a globe, in allusion to the attempt - canvassed by some of her courtiers - to found an English empire overseas. The differences of propaganda are fascinating.• Philip's message is religious - an angel descends amid heavenly rays. The enemy is an infidel.•





Philip's painting promises continuity of achievement: the birth of a prince, the solidity of the imperial columns that uphold the edifice, the angel's palm of victory.• Elizabeth stands alongside a 'crown imperial' and rests a hand on a globe, in allusion to the attempt - canvassed by some of her courtiers - to found an English empire overseas. The differences of propaganda are fascinating.• Philip's message is religious - an angel descends amid heavenly rays. The enemy is an infidel.• Elizabeth's message is almost entirely secular - the only hint of God is in the storm depicted at top right of her portrait - for war and the sea were God's arenas, and storms were His weapons. Whereas Philip makes much of his subordination to God and his role as God's servant and supplicant, Elizabeth divinizes herself, almost to the point of blasphemy. She becomes - at least in appearance - a bejeweled idol, the 'Virgin Queen' rivaling the Virgin Mary. Philip could project himself as the sword of the Church (although in reality dynastic and Spanish interests dominated his policy). Elizabeth, who had abjured the Catholic faith, and ruled a religiously divided realm, had to seek other ways of legitimating her authority.

Both paintings are essays in 16th-century spin-doctoring. Interestingly, however, the English painter does not attempt to spin England's encounter with the Armada into a victory. No engagement between the rival fleets is shown. In the left-hand cartouche, English ships in the foreground have the Spanish fleet under observation. The famous, formidable Spanish crescent-shaped convoy formation is clearly visible. So is the approach of the fireships that broke that formation when the Armada was at anchor outside Calais harbor. The wreckage of Spanish vessels on rocky coasts, shown in the right-hand cartouche, happened long after the fleets had disengaged, and the English had nothing to do with it. By contrast, in the background of Titian's painting of Philip,…• Elizabeth I, Armada Portrait, c.1588 - Woburn Abbey






Both paintings are essays in 16th-century spin-doctoring. Interestingly, however, the English painter does not attempt to spin England's encounter with the Armada into a victory. No engagement between the rival fleets is shown. In the left-hand cartouche, English ships in the foreground have the Spanish fleet under observation. The famous, formidable Spanish crescent-shaped convoy formation is clearly visible. So is the approach of the fireships that broke that formation when the Armada was at anchor outside Calais harbor. The wreckage of Spanish vessels on rocky coasts, shown in the right-hand cartouche, happened long after the fleets had disengaged, and the English had nothing to do with it. By contrast, in the background of Titian's painting of Philip,• the Battle of Lepanto of 7 October 1571 can be seen. This battle really was a decisive encounter. In it, the Spaniards, with their Italian allies, captured or destroyed 250 Turkish ships, whereas…






Both paintings are essays in 16th-century spin-doctoring. Interestingly, however, the English painter does not attempt to spin England's encounter with the Armada into a victory. No engagement between the rival fleets is shown. In the left-hand cartouche, English ships in the foreground have the Spanish fleet under observation. The famous, formidable Spanish crescent-shaped convoy formation is clearly visible. So is the approach of the fireships that broke that formation when the Armada was at anchor outside Calais harbor. The wreckage of Spanish vessels on rocky coasts, shown in the right-hand cartouche, happened long after the fleets had disengaged, and the English had nothing to do with it. By contrast, in the background of Titian's painting of Philip,• the Battle of Lepanto of 7 October 1571 can be seen. This battle really was a decisive encounter. In it, the Spaniards, with their Italian allies, captured or destroyed 250 Turkish ships, whereas• the English never really defeated the Armada, sinking only one vessel in combat, capturing another (which was disabled by a collision), and seeing two grounded as a result of the fireship attack. In the absence of an English victory, the solution of Elizabeth's spin-doctors was to depict the Armada's dispersal by storms as a victory for God.



Notice how throughout the Spaniard Fernandez-Armesto minimizes the English

military accomplishment!

Ship design Matthew Baker (c.1530-1613) - author of the design illustrated here - was one of three master-shipwrights responsible for

building English royal vessels. At the time of the Armada, England had only 34 purpose-built fighting ships: the rest of the fleet consisted of about 200 commandeered merchant vessels. The royal ships, however, were mostly in good condition, and 22 had been built or extensively re-built in the previous ten years - some 13 of them under Baker's personal supervision. They performed admirably, generally outmanoeuvring Spanish ships and sustaining remarkably little damage.

The key features of successful design were traditional - robust construction and manoeuvrability in battle. But English shipwrights concentrated on developing features that proved important in confronting the Armada, giving ships a low profile for speed and manoeuvrability, and cutting down the space traditionally reserved on the superstructure for large numbers of soldiers. Baker, in particular, favoured what came to be known as the 'race-built' hull - relatively long and narrow. The Armada had no more than 19 fighting vessels that were as well suited to Atlantic waters as the English ships, while 16 converted merchantmen, or vessels designed for Mediterranean warfare, made up the rest of the core squadron. The remainder of the 151 ships were transports. Essentially, the Armada was a troop-carrying convoy, and the fighting ships were there to guard it, not to invite combat. Gunnery played an increasing role in naval warfare; so the size and siting of ordnance became a major consideration. At the battle of Terceira in 1583, the Spanish navy had shown that it was possible to disable and even to sink ships by well-directed firepower. The English tried to turn this tactic against the Spaniards, keeping their distance to avoid boarding, while pounding the enemy with their cannon. But they enjoyed little success: only one Spanish ship was sunk in combat.

From Fragments of Ancient English Shipwrighty, by Matthew Baker and others (1586)



Orders and preparations

The Duke of Medina Sidonia took command of the Spanish Armada after the death of the king's first choice, the Marquess of Santa Cruz, for the job in February 1588. The duke had just the right background to overcome the main task - getting the fleet to sea. This demanded a huge logistical effort, of the kind the duke had previously managed well, in kitting out fleets for the New World trade, and for local defence on the coasts of Andalusia.

He was also one of the richest men in Spain and contributed handsomely to the costs of the campaign - as Spanish nobles, in pursuit of a strong ethos of service to the crown, customarily did. Logistically, indeed, the Armada's preparations were a triumph - far superior to anything the English could manage. It was better supplied with foodstuffs, munitions, hospital facilities and cash - even though it was operating far from home. The English, by contrast, were in home waters, and had far fewer men to keep provisioned at sea. Medina Sidonia's orders reflected the effective way he organized the fleet for its voyage, in squadrons, with the transports protected by fighting vessels in the vanguard, rear and wings. They also contained a summons to confession and contrition before sailing, and injunctions against swearing, blaspheming, whoring, brawling and gambling. The Spaniards were well aware that they were undertaking a risky voyage, unlikely to succeed without divine favour. Spanish preparations, however, contained a fatal weakness: strategy was still undecided when the Armada put to sea. If the opportunity arose, would it attempt to land the forces it carried on English soil? Would it hold back until it had met up with the Spanish troops that awaited it in the Netherlands? And if so, how would it effect a junction with those troops? On these critical questions, the Armada's commanders were uncertain and divided. Frontispiece of an English

translation of Medina-Sidonia's orders, 28 May 1588



Battle of Gravelines On the night of 7 August, English fireships broke the

Spanish formation, and Medina Sidonia's ships 'scattered in a thousand directions'. Until then, the English had not dared to properly engage with the Armada. Even now, they hesitated long enough before opening fire for the Spaniards to form a fighting rearguard, in the teeth of a strong current that claimed two ships and threatened to drive the rest onto the shore.

The ensuing battle, depicted here, is traditionally seen by English historians as a great English victory. In fact, the English failed to press their advantage. Sir Francis Drake's squadron led the attack, but Drake himself quickly slipped away from the fighting, presumably in search of prizes, drawing charges of 'cowardice or knavery' from fellow-commanders. The English continued to use the wind, which remained in their favour, as it had been throughout almost the entire campaign, to hold off, much to the anger of the Spaniards, who would have been able to make use of their superior manpower had the English tried to board their vessels. Although overall the Armada had abundant stocks of shot, most of the front-line Spanish ships ran out of heavy ammunition before the English closed the range. As a result, the English suffered almost no damage at Gravelines, and the Spanish relatively little. Towards seven o'clock in the evening, the English broke off the fight, probably because of the worsening weather and the apparently inexorable drift of the Armada towards the shoals. The following day, however, said the official Spanish account, 'From this desperate peril we were saved by God's mercy.' The wind shifted. The Armada escaped northwards, essentially intact and effectively undefeated, scotched but not killed, bloodied but unbowed. The English commander thought he had 'plucked its feathers'. The Spaniards, though apprehensive about how long their fleet could remain battleworthy, were willing to renew the fight.

The Battle of Gravelines, 1588, Hilliard, Nicholas (1547-1619) - Society of Apothecaries



Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada; the Apothecaries painting,[sometimes attributed to Nicholas Hilliard.[ A stylized depiction of key elements of the Armada story: the alarm beacons•, Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury•, and the sea battle at Gravelines.—Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Society_of_Apothecaries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Hilliard

Homeward bound On 9 August, Medina Sidonia held a Council of War to

discuss whether to return to the Channel 'or sail home to Spain by the North Sea'. The wind settled the issue, as the fleet was driven ever further north. To get home in safety, the Armada needed to stay together, as supplies were not evenly distributed among the ships. Fair weather was therefore essential.

It was important, moreover, to sail deep into the Atlantic after rounding the north coast of Scotland, to exploit the prevailing westerlies and avoid rocky coasts. The fleet therefore followed the course illustrated in commemorative maps made shortly afterwards by Augustine Ryther. As late as 21 August, all was still well. The Armada had rounded Scotland and was homeward bound. The letters home of that day evince confidence and self-congratulation. Indeed, had the weather continued to hold, the outcome would have been hailed as a Spanish triumph - especially as the English defensive effort had almost collapsed under the strain, with naval supplies exhausted, while hastily mobilized manpower perished of disease and want. But the wind veered and quickened. The Armada was delayed, then dispersed. Between 11 and 24 September, the fleet endured some of the worst weather ever recorded in the region, culminating in a veritable hurricane that seemed, reported one witness, 'that it would overwhelm and destroy the whole world'. At least 21 ships came to grief on Scottish and Irish shores. In one wreck - the Girona, lost while trying to leave Ireland after emergency repairs - the flower of Spanish chivalry died. Surviving ships arrived home severely storm-damaged, with thousands of sick soldiers and crew. Medina Sidonia declared he would rather lose his head than return to sea. An English squadron commander, Sir Martin Frobisher agreed stating: 'let me be hailed to the stake before I come abroad again.'

Map showing the route of the Armada fleet round Scotland and Ireland, by Augustine

Ryther, 1588



Truth versus fiction Propaganda rapidly turned the Armada into a subject of

myth. Both sides represented the fight as holy - a terrestrial arena of celestial conflict, on which divine attention is focused and divine power concentrated. Little evidence survives of how widely ordinary people accepted these messages, but in a Lincolnshire parish, a rustic painter - who emblazoned his effort with his own name - echoed the official line.•

Painted on a piece of ship's board, and displayed in the parish church, the work represents the Armada's crescent formation as a dragon - a beast recognizable to everyone at the time as diabolic. The verses (detail below) compare the Spaniards to pharaoh's hosts: English propaganda frequently likened the English to the Israelites, and Elizabeth to Old Testament judges and prophet. Spaine's proud Armado with great strength and power Great Britain's state came gapeing to devour, This Dragon's guts, like Pharaos scattered hoast, Lay splitt and drowned upon the Irish coast. For of eight score save too ships sent from Spaine But twenty-five scarce sound return'd again. Despite the inaccuracies of the painter's geography, the work is a reliable guide to the origins of some false conceptions. Here it demonises the enemy, and displays some of the misrepresentations that English tradition came to treat as fact. Also, the size of the Armada is exaggerated, and the Armada's losses wildly over-estimated. In reality, only 21 ships are known to have been lost on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Even allowing for undocumented losses, a high proportion of the ships of the Armada - up to five-sixths of them - returned home. Most of the principal fighting ships escaped. In some ways, the outcome of the campaign left Spain stronger than before - the prodigious resources and shipbuilding capacity of the monarchy ensured that within a few years the lost ships had been replaced by better, stronger models, and much of the 'Spanish main' was refortified. After the Armada, Spain's record of victories at sea continued, and was not seriously reversed until the 1630s. English successes at sea, by contrast, became rare. Spain even launched more Armadas (in 1596 and 1597); but the weather continued to protect Britain against them.



Allegory of the Armada's defeat by Robert Stephenson

Treasure of the 'Girona' The Girona was a galleass •- an oared fighting ship,

designed for Mediterranean warfare. But she performed extraordinarily well in northern waters, and survived the coast of Ireland with need of only slight repairs. In it, Don Alonso de Leiva - one of the most dashing youths aboard the Armada, whom his admirers regarded as the great hope for Spain's future - collected about 1,300 survivors from various wrecks.

On 26 October 1588, they set out to make their escape from Ireland in the crammed vessel. Packed into a space barely sufficient for 500 men, they could not hope to get far, but dashed for Scotland, where more shipping was available. They set sail with a fair wind, but the apparently implacable weather turned against them at the last. They were in sight of safety when the wind veered, and blew them back onto the rocks of Ulster. Few men survived. Don Alonso's companions included Spain's gilded young generation of aristocratic warriors. Their loss was irreparable - comparable to the extinction of Scotland's 'Flowers of the Forest' at the Battle of Flodden, or the immolation of a generation of England's potential leaders in World War One. When Robert Sténuit excavated the wreck-site in 1968, the ship's timbers had been ground to smithereens, but a rich haul of treasure - pathetic gold and jewelled trinkets, badges of rank, religious charms, tenderly inscribed love-tokens, money chains and nearly 1,200 gold and silver coins - showed where the offspring of Spain's 'best' families perished. The cross of Santiago, of gold enamelled in red, could have belonged to Alonso de Leiva himself. He was a member of the Order of Chivalry of Santiago. The gold salamander, set with rubies, is particularly poignant. It was a talisman favoured by soldiers because the mythical salamander could live in fire. This one survived water, too.



Treasure of the 'Girona' The Girona was a galleass •- an oared fighting ship,

designed for Mediterranean warfare. But she performed extraordinarily well in northern waters, and survived the coast of Ireland with need of only slight repairs. In it, Don Alonso de Leiva - one of the most dashing youths aboard the Armada, whom his admirers regarded as the great hope for Spain's future - collected about 1,300 survivors from various wrecks.

On 26 October 1588, they set out to make their escape from Ireland in the crammed vessel. Packed into a space barely sufficient for 500 men, they could not hope to get far, but dashed for Scotland, where more shipping was available. They set sail with a fair wind, but the apparently implacable weather turned against them at the last. They were in sight of safety when the wind veered, and blew them back onto the rocks of Ulster. Few men survived. Don Alonso's companions included Spain's gilded young generation of aristocratic warriors. Their loss was irreparable - comparable to the extinction of Scotland's 'Flowers of the Forest' at the Battle of Flodden, or the immolation of a generation of England's potential leaders in World War One. When Robert Sténuit excavated the wreck-site in 1968, the ship's timbers had been ground to smithereens, but a rich haul of treasure - pathetic gold and jewelled trinkets, badges of rank, religious charms, tenderly inscribed love-tokens, money chains and nearly 1,200 gold and silver coins - showed where the offspring of Spain's 'best' families perished. The cross of Santiago, of gold enamelled in red, could have belonged to Alonso de Leiva himself. He was a member of the Order of Chivalry of Santiago. The gold salamander, set with rubies, is particularly poignant. It was a talisman favoured by soldiers because the mythical salamander could live in fire. This one survived water, too.

Treasure recovered from the wreck of the 'Girona'



The Spanish Golden AgeThe Wheel of Fortune

This cross-shaped mandala shows the progress of a king, first climbing toward his throne (regnabo);• next, upon his throne (regno);• then, cast down (regnavi) ; finally, prostrate (sum sine regno).• At center, the Roman goddess Fortuna, Lady Fortune. Some thought Spain’s turn at the top, her Siglo de Oro, must last forever. The defeat of the great armada, later seen as the beginning of her downfall, was not seen so at the time. Fortune had an amazing reversal in store for her. But that’s another story…

The Spanish Golden Age

jbp

The Wheel of Fortune

Regnabo

Regno

Regnavi

sum sine regno

This cross-shaped mandala shows the progress of a king, first climbing toward his throne (regnabo);• next, upon his throne (regno);• then, cast down (regnavi) ; finally, prostrate (sum sine regno).• At center, the Roman goddess Fortuna, Lady Fortune.

Some thought Spain’s turn at the top, her Siglo de Oro, must last forever. The defeat of the great armada, later seen as the beginning of her downfall, was not seen so at the time. Fortune had an amazing reversal in store for her.

But that’s another story…

The Spanish Golden Age

jbp

The Wheel of Fortune

Education

Sea power session 1-the armada