A popular rhyme in English classrooms declared that, “In fifteen hundred and eighty-eight, the Spanish Armada met its fate.” The defeat of the Spanish Armada boosted the morale of the English people, strengthened the popularity of Elizabeth I, and encouraged other Protestants fighting Catholic forces in the Netherlands and France. The failure of the Armada can be blamed on a number of factors, although some Englishmen gave credit to the “Protestant winds.”
Philip II of Spain and the Invasion of England
Philip II was well acquainted with England, having been married to Elizabeth’s predecessor Mary. At that time, the daughter of Henry VIII returned England to the Catholic faith, burning Protestant bishops at the stake and eliminating liturgical reforms instituted by Henry and in the brief reign of his son, Edward VI. A devout Catholic, Philip resented England’s return to Protestantism under Elizabeth I.
By the late 1570s, relations between Spain and England deteriorated. English privateers, most notably the “sea-dog” Francis Drake, were raiding Spanish New World outposts and harassing Spanish shipping. In the Netherlands, rebellious Dutch Calvinists received assistance from England, a condition exacerbated by the August 1585 Treaty of Nonsuch. Elizabeth’s open assistance of troops and money represented an act of war. Two years later, Sir Francis Drake dared to successfully raid the Spanish port of Cadiz; this was the proverbial final straw.
But there were many proposals brought to Philip, whose procrastination and vacillation doomed earlier efforts. The Marquis Santa Cruz, perhaps Spain’s greatest admiral, favored a predominantly naval approach while the Duke of Parma, commanding Spanish troops in the Netherlands, advanced the notion of an invasion from the continent across the English Channel on barges. In the end, both plans were reconciled into one operation.
Philip was at no loss for unsolicited recommendations. The French duke of Guise, a leader in the Catholic League, urged a landing in Scotland where supporters of Mary Queen of Scots would rise and invade England. Other proposals included an invasion of Ireland. Pope Sixtus V offered to underwrite part of the invasion costs.
The Sailing of the Armada in 1588
Santa Cruz died shortly before the departure of the Armada and was replaced with the Duke of Medina-Sidonia; the duke had no naval command experience. Confiscated, borrowed, or hastily constructed, the Armada represented a motley assortment of 125 vessels. These large, lumbering ships faced 105 English vessels, smaller and more maneuverable and possessing greater rapid-fire capacity.
Following initial skirmishes, the Armada anchored at Calais, yet the Duke of Parma was not ready to launch an invasion that would be escorted by the Armada. An English reserve fleet continued the harassment of Spanish ships, sending “fire vessels” into the groups of anchored war ships. Evacuating Calais, the Armada sailed north into bad weather, eventually rounding Scotland and passing Ireland on the voyage home.
Although no significant sea battle is associated with the events, the defeat of the Spanish Armada affected the morale of both peoples. Much of the failure rests with Philip II. De Lamar Jensen, a historian long associated with Brigham Young University, stated that Philip was, among other things, “impetuous and irrational” in the years 1587-88. Other historians speculated that illness may have affected Philip’s poor judgment.
Already a popular monarch, the defeat of the Armada added to Elizabeth’s stature as a “living legend.” Perhaps the only man to profit from the entire debacle was Sir Francis Drake, who captured the Rosario, which carried the payroll for the Spanish fleet.
Sources:
J. R. Hale, “1588 and All That,” The New York Review of Books, February 16, 1989, p.30ff.
De Lamar Jensen, “The Spanish Armada: The Worst-Kept Secret in Europe,” Sixteenth Century Journal, XIX, No. 4 (1988) p 620ff.
Garrett Mattingly, The Armada, (The Riverside Press Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1959).
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