The
Spanish Armada
Background.
King Philip II of Spain was the
most powerful and (seemingly)
wealthy man in Europe in the
latter half of the 16th century.
His territories in the New World
brought him enormous wealth,
though the expense of
administering that far-flung
empire meant that Spain was
heavily in debt to foreign
bankers.
England, by comparison, was a
relatively small nation, and not
a particularly powerful or
wealthy one. Why then would
Philip spend the money to
assemble the largest - and most
expensive - naval force ever
seen against his island foe?
The answer has many parts. In
his youth, Philip was married to
his fellow Catholic, Mary, Queen
of England. He was not king,
indeed the only way the English
Parliament would countenance the
marriage was if Philip was
expressly forbidden from ruling.
He was, rather, Mary's consort,
a duty he fulfilled with
underwhelming enthusiasm. Philip
never cared for Mary, indeed, he
said while on his way to his
marriage, "I am going to a
crusade, not to a marriage feast".
He was fueled by a religious
desire to father a Catholic heir
who would keep England within
the Roman Catholic sphere. Mary,
by now a middle-aged spinster,
certainly did care for her new
husband, and even managed to
convince herself that she was
pregnant at one point, but it
was not to be.
When Mary died in 1558 her very
Protestant sister Elizabeth came
to the throne. Philip was
unwilling to let his precarious
grasp on England slip away
completely; he proposed marriage
to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was a master at
procrastination, and playing the
game of politics. She kept
communication open with Philip,
and protested her friendship,
all the while encouraging
English pirates like Hawkins and
Drake to seize Spanish ships and
goods in the West Indies. Drake
was dubbed by the Spanish "the
Master Thief of the Unknown
World".
In the 1560s Elizabeth also
earned Spanish wrath by
supporting Protestants in the
Netherlands in their revolt
against Spanish occupation.
Spain also believed, or at least
found it useful to believe, that
Elizabeth was illegitimate.
Under Catholic principles
Elizabeth's father Henry VIII
had no right to divorce his
first wife, Katherine of Aragon,
to marry Elizabeth's mother,
Anne Boleyne. Therefore
Elizabeth was born out of proper
wedlock, and thus had no right
to the throne.
More importantly for the
fervently Catholic Philip, he
believed that it was his duty to
lead Protestant England back to
the Catholic faith - by force of
necessary. He managed to get
papal approval for his invasion,
and a promise of money to be
delivered after the Spanish had
landed in England.
He also got papal permission to
name the next ruler of England
(by surreptitiously slipping a
clause to that effect into the
middle of the document of
agreement with the pope). Philip
planned to name his daughter
Isabella as Queen of England,
under his control.
The Spanish Fleet.
Philip began preparing his
invasion force as early as 1584.
His first choice as commander
was the Marquis of Santa Cruz,
but when Santa Cruz died Philip
ordered the Duke of Medina
Sedonia to take command of the
fleet. The Duke was an
experienced warrior - on land.
He had no naval background, and
no interest in leading the
Armada, as the invasion fleet
came to be called. He begged to
be dismissed, but Philip ignored
the request.
Cadiz.
Despite Spanish precautions, the
English were well aware of the
Spanish preparations. In a bold
move that was apparently against
Elizabeth's wishes, Sir Francis
Drake sailed a small English
fleet to Cadiz, where they
surprised a large number of
Spanish warships in the harbour.
Drake burned and sunk a number
of ships and slipped away before
the Spanish could rally.
Although the blow at Cadiz was
more an annoyance than a major
setback, the English took heart
from this "singeing of the King
of Spain's beard".
The Armada sets sail.
By May of 1588, however, the
Armada was finally ready to sail.
The fleet numbered over 130
ships, making it by far the
greatest naval fleet of its age.
According to Spanish records,
30,493 men sailed with the
Armada, the vast majority of
them soldiers. A closer look,
however, reveals that this "Invincible
Armada" was not quite so well
armed as it might seem.
Many of the Spanish vessels were
converted merchant ships, better
suited to carrying cargo than
engaging in warfare at sea. They
were broad and heavy, and could
not maneuver quickly under sail.
This might not at first glance
have seemed a problem to the
Spanish. They did not intend to
engage the English in a sea
battle. The ships of the Armada
were primarily troop transport.
Their major task was simply to
carry armed men to a designated
landing point and unload them.
Naval tactics were evolving; it
was still common for ships to
come alongside each other and
allow fighting men to engage in
hand to hand combat. Advances in
artillery were only beginning to
allow for more complex
strategies and confrontations at
sea. At this stage the English
were far more adept at artillery
and naval tactics than the
Spanish, who were regarded as
the best soldiers in Europe.
The Spanish plans called for the
fleet to sail up the English
Channel and rendezvous off Dover
with the Duke of Parma, who
headed the Spanish forces in the
Netherlands. This in itself
presented huge problems.
Communications were slow, and
the logistical problems of a
rendezvous at sea were immense.
Also, the Duke of Parma was a
very proud man, and resented the
fact that Medina Sedonia had
been given command of the
operation. Throughout the whole
Armada affair Parma, while not
openly obstructionist, did a
poor job of cooperating with his
titular commander, Medina
Sedonia. He did not believe the
enterprise could succeed, and he
did the absolute minimum
possible to help.
Perhaps worst of all the
problems faced by the Armada was
Philip himself. The king
insisted on controlling the
details of the Armada's mission.
He issued a steady stream of
commands from his palace of the
Escorial, yet he seldom met with
his commanders, and never
allowed his experienced military
leaders to evolve their own
tactics. He did not listen to
advice, which was a shame, for
Philip had little military
training and a poor grasp of
naval matters. He firmly
believed that God guided him,
and that therefore his mission
would succeed.
The English were not idle while
the Spanish Armada prepared to
sail. A series of signal beacons
atop hills along the English and
Welsh coasts were manned. When
the Spanish ships were at last
sighted of The Lizard on July
19, 1588, the beacons were lit,
speeding the news throughout the
realm. The English ships slipped
out of their harbour at Plymouth
and, under cover of darkness,
managed to get behind the
Spanish fleet.
The Battle.
The Spanish sailed up the
Channel in a crescent formation,
with the troop transports in the
centre. When the Spanish finally
reached Calais, they were met by
a collection of English vessels
under the command of Howard.
Each fleet numbered about 60
warships, but the advantage of
artillery and maneuverability
was with the English.
Under cover of darkness the
English set fireships adrift,
using the tide to carry the
blazing vessels into the massed
Spanish fleet. Although the
Spanish were prepared for this
tactic and quickly slipped
anchor, there were some losses
and inevitable confusion.
On Monday, July 29, the two
fleets met in battle off
Gravelines. The English emerged
victorious, although the Spanish
losses were not great; only
three ships were reported sunk,
one captured, and four more ran
aground. Nevertheless, the Duke
of Medina Sedonia determined
that the Armada must return to
Spain. The English blocked the
Channel, so the only route open
was north around the tip of
Scotland, and down the coast of
Ireland.
It was then that the
unpredictable English weather
took a hand in the proceedings.
A succession of storms scattered
the Spanish ships, resulting in
heavy losses. By the time the
tattered Armada regained Spain,
it had lost half its ships and
three-quarters of its men.
In England the victory was
greeted as a sign of divine
approval for the Protestant
cause. The storms that scattered
the Armada were seen as
intervention by God. Services of
thanks were held throughout the
country, and a commemorative
medal struck, with the words,
"God blew and they were
scattered" inscribed on it.
Note: The term "Invincible Armada" was not a Spanish one. It was a sarcastic
phrase employed by later English
commentators.
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