Notes on a newly minted, updated edition of the 1988 book on the Spanish Armada ...
This is a very heavy book, in every sense. I have rarely enjoyed reading a book more. Half of its heft are footnotes, bibliographies, charts, appendices and illustrations. It is a marvel. I read the 1988 classic and the authors of that book, both noted historians, have created an updated masterpiece that I suspect few will read. So ... I thought I would pass on some of my notes.
Rough timeline leading up to the Armada:
1492 – Spain’s rush of empire … across two continents and the silver and the gold to pay for it.
1543 - first year of two annual treasure ship convoys (not including Manila treasure ship convoy and the trade with China) … no silver & gold, no empire.
1548 - Netherlands (northern Low Country provinces) declares independence … start of 60 year war between the emerging Dutch Republic and her fickle Protestant allies and the Spanish Empire … Spain’s Vietnam.
1554 - Queen Mary marries Philip II affirming her Catholic ardor (thus Bloody Mary) and edging Spain closer to long anticipated control of England (and the seas). Utterly loveless marriage but underscores both Spain’s ambitions and England’s fears.
1555 - Charles V (King of Spain, Low Countries, the Spanish New World, Hapsburg Empire, Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples) abdicates … the empire to be run by his less formidable son, Philip II.
1558 – Queen (Bloody) Mary dies leaving no direct heir. Door open for the future Elizabeth I – the right person at the right time.
1573 - the Battle of Lepanto … massive Ottoman fleet defeated by Christian coalition in Adriatic … Spain temporarily free of Ottoman encroachment both via the Balkans and, most importantly, in most of the Mediterranean.
1575 - first Spanish bankruptcy … creditors were Italian city states and the Papacy … war in Netherlands a primary reason among many others. Spain another example of a resource rich country (silver & gold from the New World) unable to manage its affairs – like many oil states today.
1580 - Spain conquers Portugal … now in control of Iberian Peninsula, the spectacular harbor of Lisbon, the huge fleet and ship building industry of her rival empire
1582 - Spain seizes Portuguese Azores against remnant resistance from Portugal lightly supported by the Dutch & England … his empire at its peak, Philip now begins to shape “Enterprise England”.
1585 - Drake attacks Galicia … most blatant example of long running naval war between the Spanish fleet, in particular the biannual treasury fleets from the Spanish Main in the New World and the state sanctioned and legendary pirates of England (e.g. Drake and Hawkins) … the building of the Armada begins in earnest.
1587 - Elizabeth executes Mary Queen of Scots sealing England’s Protestant commitment and further fueling monarchical insecurity everywhere.
The following are rough notes written as I read:
English warships were superior in design as were her guns … the English abandoned boarding as a tactic and opted for shooting with better guns and faster ships from a distance … the Spanish ships were heavily armed but slow ships that carried soldiers prepared for boarding … the English royal fleet was outnumbered by English armed merchants (part of the emerging public/private nature of the British Empire) … the privateering was a huge practice that was protected and helped finance Elizabeth’s England … Mary Queen of Scots, cousin of Elizabeth, married the future French king (who died) and led a pathetic revolt against QE1 … MQS was all about France first and foremost … Mary and the constant but very real Spanish intrigue left Elizabeth’s position a vulnerable one … Spain and England were, previous to Bloody Mary and the “pirates”, great allies against France but religion, intrigue, Ireland, pirating and particularly the Dutch revolt separated them … Spain’s conquest of Portugal was a game changer: the huge Atlantic worthy Portuguese fleet, the overseas territories, Lisbon harbor and bloody occupation of the Azores culminated in the first empire where the Sun never set and, of course, the hubris that came with it … always - particularly in Philip’s mind - there was the sincere and fanatical belief that they were being led by their Catholic God —- HUGE part of the actions of the empire particularly from its leaders … Philip co-opted Alexander the Great’s legend “The World Is Not Enough” as the logo for his empire … Elizabeth had already unleashed Drake’s Famous Voyage in 1580 to Pacific treasure port in Panama that returned plunder equivalent to 5X the government’s annual revenue … the privateering clearly foreshadowing British East India Company & other such government supported private adventures (the Virginia Company) that would drive the imperial machine until the late 19th century - many of the royal navy warships were privately owned by Drake, Howard, Hawkins and even the Queen.
Elizabeth picked the fight with Drake attacking Galicia and terrorizing the Spanish on all fronts, encouraging full-out piracy and sending thousands of soldiers to fight Spain in the Netherlands … England had become an imperial threat because of her naval reach … the planning for the Armada took three years and was the 16th century equivalent of Normandy … Philip II chose the worst of three options - the Grand (his) Design … quite possible the Armada may have succeeded based on either Admiral Santa Cruz’s (he would die before the Armada – aserious blow) or the Duke of Palma’s plan … the centralization of power around the king remains in many respects the fatal flaw of Philip’s empire … shades of Napoleon & Hitler.
Wider context … France distracted by religious turmoil with Elizabeth supporting the Protestant Huguenots led by Henry of Navarre (future Henry IV after Henry III assassinated in 1589)… an engaged France might have nixed the Armada … plots and assassinations everywhere in Europe … Elizabeth in constant and real danger … Ottomans in prolonged fight with Persians after failure at Lepanto leaving Spain free to act … renewed funding coming from Vatican & Florence greased the skids …the execution of Mary in 1587 … a regicide - a big deal everywhere … Mary caught in her third plot … made sense in terms of security and safety but even QE terrified of ramifications.
Philip’s micromanaging versus Elizabeth’s trust in her captains (Howard & Drake in particular) the key difference … also: 1). English guns and gunnery superior 2). English did not need to board to win 3) English ships faster and more agile 4). English sailors all sailors and spoke one language versus inexperienced UN collection on Spanish ships 5). English fleet not really outnumbered 6). Fought on home t(s)urf.
The legendary and fatal storms were most likely a product of an extreme El Niño … the Armada’s northern escape might have been successful otherwise … they should have turned around and attacked an English fleet that had run out of ammunition but little could they know in their desperate state … the English troops in Ireland abetted by pillaging axe wielding Irish slaughtered the ship wreck survivors partly in fear of the Armada restaging in Ireland but mostly for pillage … thousands were slaughtered … 33 Spanish ships lost … 20,000 dead Spanish … half of all the English who fought died within a year - mostly from disease … Admiral John Howard was the true hero of England while soon forgotten was a Queen who ignored the dying sailors and soldiers … the heartless, cheap England that always lay under her imperial glory …
There were English counterattacks over several years … Phillip’s belief in his sacred place still influenced him … Bankruptcy was declared a second time … Phillip II and later Elizabeth die … his son settles affairs with the new English king, James I … James stops supporting the Dutch … full reset … easily forgotten that despite Philip’s ambitions and hubris, Elizabeth picked this fight with her open embrace of piracy, support of the Dutch and the building of a fleet …
1588 used like Lincoln’s bloody shirt as a rallying cry for the Protestant elite when threatened throughout the endless, historically under the radar, religious civil war in England … the scapegoats of Spain (the Empire never fully recovered): #1 the Admiral - Medina Sidonia … #2 the General in Spanish Netherlands preparing to invade England – the Duke of Parma … #3 Philip II … the fatal flaws of the Grand Design were Philip’s first and foremost … in the end, it was two of the great forces of history – HUBRIS and FORTUNE – that carried the day in the shape of a fatal underestimating of the English, religious grandiosity, Mother Nature and an endless series of bad tactical decisions.
The Armada
The Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance in 1588
Colin Martin & Geoffrey Parker
2023 762 pages