The Spanish ArmadasFor most people today, the sixteenth-century conflict between England and Spain consisted solely in the destruction of the Great Armada in 1588 by Drake, Howard, and the English weather. These pages place that Armada in its true position, as only the most spectacular of many attempts by the Spanish to conquer England and make it Catholic, first by friendship, then by the marriage of Philip to Mary Tudor, and later by battle. The book vividly summarizes the disruptive forces in Europe that, through thirty years, broke down the tradition of amity between England and Spain. It shows how, from the meeting in 1554 between Philip and Elizabeth, the two maintained their respect for each other and a façade of peace long after the wish for peace had gone. Although the clash of the two great fleets provides the central theme of this work, it makes clear that the defeat of the First Armada did not mean the end of the Spanish navy but rather its beginning on new lines. After 1588 England had only one other real success against Spain, at Cadiz in 1596. Spain launched three more armadas. Little-known aspects of this extraordinary combat, upon which so much of the later history of western Europe depended, are strikingly brought to life in this book by a writer whose gifts as a storyteller and a scholar are very evident in this superb story of human hostility and passion.--Adapted from dust jacket. |
Contents
The Peaceful Invasion | 11 |
Philip and Elizabeth | 27 |
The Widening Chasm | 38 |
Copyright | |
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aboard Adelantado Admiral anchor Armada armed merchantmen army attack attempt Azores battle Bertendona Cadiz Calais Captain captured Castle Catholic Channel coast command Coruña court crew Cuellar defeat Diego Flores Drake Duke Dunkirk Dutch Earl Elizabeth Elizabeth of Valois enemy England English fleet English ships Essex expedition favour fight fire fire-ships flagship force four France French Frobisher galleasses galleons galleys Grenville guns harbour Hawkins Henry Howard Ireland Irish King Kinsale land Leyva Lisbon London Lord Lord Thomas Howard Mary Medina Sidonia miles Mountjoy naval Netherlands Norris Parma Pedro de Valdes Philip Philip II pinnaces Plymouth port Portugal Portuguese Prince Protestant Queen Ralegh reached Recalde Revenge sail sailors San Juan San Martin Santa Cruz Scotland sent shot Sir Francis soldiers Spain Spaniards Spanish Armada Spanish fleet Spanish ships Spinola squadron thousand throne took town troops Tyrone victory vuhich warships wind wrote Zubiaur