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THE SPANISH ARMADA
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Europe in the 1580s
Philip II of the Habsburg Personal Union of Castile-León & Aragon (hereby referred to as "King Philip") inherited what is now called the Spanish Empire (including the territories of the Netherlands, Naples, Milan, et al.) from his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V upon the latter's abdication in 1556. Philip was also grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal through his mother Isabella. As a result of a dynastic crisis following the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, where the then-reigning King Sebastian of Portugal was killed, Philip claimed the throne of Portugal. A brief war followed, and upon Philip's victory at the Battle of Alcântara in 1580, he was crowned King Philip I of Portugal on March 25, 1581. The period from 1580 to 1640 is known as the Iberian Union (hereby referred to simply as "Spain").
Europe in 1580
Spoiler :
Philip's uncle Ferdinand I reigned as Holy Roman Emperor until 1564. In 1580, the ruler of the Imperial and Austrian dominions was Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the grandson of Ferdinand I (and therefore making him Philip's second cousin).
Although he presided over the Golden Age of Spain, Philip's territories encountered consistent financial difficulties; so much that during his rule, Spain had already declared bankruptcy three times before the Anglo-Spanish War, in 1557, 1560 and 1575. Despite this, Spain was indisputably the most powerful nation in Europe. The Tercio (an infantry formation used by the Spanish military) had a reputation of being nearly invincible. Portuguese spices combined with gold taken from the Spanish colonies in the Americas had resulted in unprecedented economic prosperity in Philip's dominions; in addition to this, the Ottoman Empire's navy was still recovering from their resounding defeat at Lepanto in 1571, which allowed for a period of relative peace in the Mediterranean that was largely dominated by Spanish merchants.
In 1554, Mary I, Queen of England, married Philip -- thereby also making him jure uxoris King of England. Admittedly only a political union, Philip had no desire to inherit the throne of England, though he did wish to reconcile the Church of England with the Catholic Church. Upon Mary's death in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth I became ruler of England due to Philip and Mary having had no children together.
Philip proposed to continue the political union of Spain and England by marrying Elizabeth, but was turned down in 1559, despite having been allies against Scotland and France. Elizabeth negotiated to mary Charles II, Archduke of Austria, but a fallout with the Habsburgs in 1568 ended this possibility. Following this, neither Spain nor the Empire would recognize Elizabeth as the legitimate monarch, especially following her persecution of Catholics in the realms under her authority.
There were two Popes in the 1580s. Gregory XIII's pontificate lasted until his death in 1585. An unrelenting opponent of England, he egged on Philip to go to war with Elizabeth. (She had previously been excommunicated by Pope St. Pius V in 1570 by the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis.) Pope Sixtus V, whose pontificate began in the April of 1585, would continue the Papal States' hostility against England.
Background
The Anglo-Spanish War was a result of several acts of antagonism between the two nations. Tension first arose in 1562, when Elizabeth authorized John Hawkins, a naval officer, to commit acts of piracy against Philip's dominions in the West Indies. Similar voyages would be repeated in 1564 and 1567. Hawkins later became Treasurer of the Royal Navy in 1578.
As marriage is indissolvable in the Catholic Church, Elizabeth I was considered an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII and his "wife" Anne Boleyn. (Philip's proposal to Elizabeth in 1559 was an attempt to reconcile the English nobility, who considered her the rightful heir, with the Church.) Therefore, Spain and the Papacy both considered Mary I of Scotland to be the de jure monarch of England. In 1567, Mary was expelled from Scotland, whereby James VI (and later, I of England) became king. She fled to England for asylum, and it followed that Elizabeth had her imprisoned as a political enemy.
In 1568, a Spanish treasure ship docked in Plymouth was seized by the English government. Its intent was to deliver salaries to soldiers stationed in Flanders. As a result of not receiving their pay, Philip's soldiers mutinied. Nobles in the Netherlands, who had long been alienated by taxation and religious differences, took advantage of the chaos and declared secession from Spain, beginning what is called the Dutch Revolt.* Philip's ambassador in England (Don Gerau Despes) was expelled and their formal trade agreement was ended. The sudden shock this combined with the inability to collect taxes from the Netherlands had a crippling effect on the Spanish economy, which would lead to a declaration of bankruptcy seven years later. (England had already been financially supporting Protestant secessionists since two years prior.)
In the same year, at San Juan de Ulúa off of the coast of Mexico, English pirates under the joint command of John Hawkins and Francis Drake lost four ships when several cannons on the coast were accidentally captured by Spain, and proceeded to fire upon the English. War was averted as a result of a series of several diplomatic sophisms on the behalf of Hawkins.
As the Holy League of Spain and the various Italian states organized by Pope St. Pius V began preparing for a naval war against the Ottoman Empire in 1570-1571, Vice Admiral Sir Francis Drake of England plundered several defenseless Spanish provinces and colonies, causing further financial strain on Philip's dominions.
By 1580, circumstances began to improve for Philip. The possibility of a French incursion into the Netherlands had calmed, due to various military successes by the Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion in 1579. Shortly after that, Philip had become the ruler of Portugal (though he would not be officially crowned for another year), whose empire would become financially a boon to the Habsburgs.
Nevertheless,the Anglo-Spanish War began in 1585 as a result of Francis Drake's expedition to the Americas to cause chaos among Philip's colonies. England openly declared support for the Dutch secessionists. The first battle of the war was an English victory at the Bay of Cádiz in southern Spain, where Francis Drake successfully burned several Spanish ships and captured a treasure ship. It was this victory that gave Philip the resolve to begin constructing the Spanish Armada.
La Armada Grande & the Royal Navy
In the August of 1585, the Dutch fortress of Antwerp was captured by the Duke of Parma, then Spain's governor of the Netherlands. Given this advantage, Philip began plans for a large naval invasion of England. He envisioned that an overwhelming Spanish fleet would arrive to load up an army from Calais, Flanders, land southeast of London and march to the capital. (At the time, England had only a token standing army, and little resistance was expected.) There they would restore a Catholic to the throne.
According to Spanish records, the Armada consisted of 34 galleon warships, 96 converted merchant ships, and 30,493 men; of which about two-thirds were soldiers. The army being mustered in the Netherlands would have consisted of something of 20,000 professional soldiers and 5,000 sailors. Despite this colossal size, not before seen in European history, envoys from Germany, Venice and France unanimously thought that the Armada wasn't enough to invade England; yet, Philip had no intention to engage the Royal Navy. The heart of the plan was the land invasion, in which it was assured that England stood no chance.
(Contrary to popular belief, Philip never called his fleet the "Armada Invencible." This was a term of English origin to triumph their victory, after the battle was already over. The term used in Spanish documents was "La Armada Grande," or simply "La Armada.")
The only experienced admiral in the Spanish military at the time was Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, famous for his victory at the Battle of Ponta Delgada in 1582. However, he died unexpectedly in the February of 1588. After a long delay, Philip decided to appoint Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia (hereby referred to as "Medina") to be the commander. Medina objected, noting that he had little naval experience, though Philip gave little thought to the idea that the Armada could be defeated either way; the only qualities he sought in an admiral were intelligence and obedience.
Pope Sixtus V heartily supported the Armada, and promised financial aid to the Spanish army once it had begun occupation of England. He renewed the Church's excommunication against Elizabeth from 1570.
While the English had very little of an army to defend their mainlands, they had a respectable naval force, whose numbers consisted of 22 galleon warships and 108 converted merchant vessels. The Royal Navy was commanded by Lord Admiral Sir Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, who was Elizabeth's cousin. His first officer was Francis Drake, one of the most respected and experienced commanders in the English navy. Sir John Hawkins was also an officer in the fleet.
Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker assert that the Spanish Armada, with its 2,500 cannons, in total had 50% more firepower. Concluding that the English would not likely win in a pitched battle, Howard's war council agreed to a strategy of harassing the Spanish Armada.
Departure
The Routes of the Armada
Spoiler :
On April 25, 1588, the Spanish Armada was blessed, and it departed from Lisbon on the 28th. The Armada sailed in a crescent formation, with galleons on the outer shell while the merchant ships (primarily used as transportation for the soldiers) to be protected on the inside. While individual Spanish ships were perhaps faster, as the English navy did not have to move as one bloc, they were more maneuverable.
On July 19, the Armada was spotted on the coast of England from Cornwall. A system of beacons set up had alerted the Royal Navy of the arrival of the Spanish, though the fleet was trapped in Plymouth harbor due to unfavorable weather. Had the engagement begun there, the English would almost certainly have been defeated; however, Medina was given explicit orders by Philip to avoid a pitched battle if possible. Therefore, he declined to attack. The Armada continued towards the Isle of Wright while allegedly Howard and Drake were bowling, waiting for the weather to change.
That evening, the tides changed, and the English navy escaped from Plymouth harbor, before the Armada had passed. Amazingly, they had sailed west behind the Spanish unnoticed; where afterward, they had decided to split into two groups. The main bloc lead by Howard would go into the sea, whereas Drake's detachment would stay along the coast.
First Three Engagements
On July 31st, the Royal Navy engaged in a surprise attack on the rear of the Armada at Eddystone. The wind was blowing east, giving the English the maneuverability advantage. To avoid grappling hooks on the Spanish galleons, and to minimize the effect of the converted merchant vessels, the English line-of-battle attempted to keep its distance from the Armada. Howard's bloc attacked the southern part of the crescent, while Drake's bloc attacked the northern part. No ships in either fleet had been sunk, though one heavily damaged Spanish ship was left behind. That night, Drake's bloc departed from formation to plunder it for the gunpowder.
A similar engagement followed on August 2nd, at Portland. Howard repeated the same tactics, and again, neither fleet had lost any ships in battle.
Declining to anchor at the Isle of Wight, Medina Sidonia opted to continue towards Flanders under the assumption that the army would have been prepared by this time. At this time, the Royal Navy opted for a third battle. This time, they split into four squadrons, with half of the English Navy attacking the center. Medina made a controversial decision to break the Armada's crescent formation in order to reinforce the southern tip; as a result, the Spanish navy no longer was able to anchor before reaching Calais, otherwise the Spanish ships out of formation would have ran ashore.
When the Spanish fleet arrived at Flanders on August 6th, Medina was horrified to learn that the Dutch army would not be ready for several days. As this was the narrowest part of the English channel, the Armada would be sitting in grave danger for as long as a week. However, this information was not available to the Royal Navy, who themselves were severely demoralized -- figuring that the final preparations for the invasion of England were being made, and they had done negligible damage to the Spanish navy.
On August 7th, Howard convened a war council, where they decided to use fireships in a desperate last measure.
Battle of Gravelines
On the midnight of August 8th, the Royal Navy launched eight fireships into the Spanish fleet docked in the port of Gravelines, Flanders. The Armada immediately fell into a severe panic to avoid the explosions, and the Spanish ships were dangerously out of formation. Only vessel had actually been damaged by the fireships, though in the confusion, several had collided or run ashore.
Howard's bloc had broken off to loot many of the stranded Spanish ships for gold and gunpowder, while Drake's bloc engaged the Spanish Armada. Five ships, including Medina's, had stayed near the port whereas the majority of the Spanish navy had begun to reform the crescent. In the decisive moment of the battle, Drake's line-of-battle decided to close in on the main bloc of the Armada at close range to do more damage with the English broadsides. While only five ships in the Spanish fleet had been sunk, most of them were critically damaged, many were astray or lost, and the plan to load troops from Flanders was now impossible. The Royal Navy had attacked until they were almost out of ammunition, when they decided to call off the battle.
The next morning, right before a second English attack, the wind miraculously began blowing north. Medina began the Armada's return to Spain by sailing around Scotland, with sailors dying hourly due to thirst, exhaustion or wounds.
Eleven days after Gravelines (on the 19th), still unclear as to the state of the planned invasion of England, Queen Elizabeth gave a famous speech to a small force of 4,000 soldiers stationed at Tilbury, Essex.
Elizabeth's speech at Tillbury (1588)
Spoiler :
"He blew with His winds"
While sailing around the British Isles to return to Spain, the Armada suffered from unusually vicious storms and navigational errors. Upon arrival in Santander, Spain on September 13th, only 67 ships and 10,000 men were left of the Spanish Armada. Greatly disappointed, Philip allegedly said "I sent the Armada against men, not God's winds and waves."
Hundreds of medals were produced to reward the veterans in the Royal Navy, most notably ones that contained the inscription "God blew with His winds, and they were scattered." Throughout Europe, the Armada's defeat was taken as divine providence. To many Protestant religious leaders, it was not an English victory over Spain; it was God's punishment to the Catholic Church. Elizabeth in particular was at the height of her popularity following the defeat of the Armada.
Nevertheless, England was facing financial difficulties and thus could not pay their sailors. Elizabeth ordered that most of the Royal Navy remain at sea, under the given justification that another Spanish invasion would be likely; consequently thousands of England sailors died of malnutrition, disease or exhaustion. Contrasting this, Philip generously pensioned the wounded soldiers and compensated the widows of the dead Spanish sailors.
Aftermath
Quick to act on their victory, Elizabeth assembled 146 ships lead by Francis Drake called the English Armada to eliminate the remnants of the Spanish navy in 1589. Despite their overwhelming naval success from the year prior, the English Armada was a decisive failure; England lost 30 ships and nearly 20,000 men.
The Anglo-Spanish War proved to be indecisive to either side. Although both sides had won incredible victories, both nations were financially depleted (Spain had declared bankruptcy again in 1596). In 1604, the Treaty of London ending the war was signed by Philip's successor and son, Philip III, and Elizabeth's successor, King James I of England & VI of Scotland. England pledged to end their support for Dutch secessionists and pirate expeditions against Philip's domains; whereas Spain pledged to cease attempting to restore Catholicism in England.
The Spanish Empire continued to be the dominant power in Europe until its symbolic decline in 1643. It is commonly believed that 1588 was the point when England had become masters of the seas, though this is obviously false, given their equally decisive defeat a year later. Nevertheless, John Pollen of the Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that "[e]ven the change of sea power was not immediate or obvious. In reality England had always been the superior at sea, as the history of Drake and his colleagues clearly shows. Her weakness lay in the smallness of her standing navy, and her want of adequate ammunition. Spain took so long to attempt a readjustment of sea-power, that England had ample time to organize and arm a superior fleet. But Spain, though she failed at sea, remained the chief power on land, and, having recognized her naval inferiority, strengthened her land defenses with such success that the depredation of England in her colonies after her defeat were incomparably less than those which had occurred before. Her decline ensued because the causes of the defeat were not remedied."
Two years following the peace, King James funded the first English expedition to colonize North America.
Addendum: Images
Spain & the Papal States
Philip II of Castile-León & Aragon and I of Portugal
The Iberian Union: Philip is monarch of both the Spanish Union and the Kingdom of Portugal**
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia
Pope Sixtus V
The Kingdom of England
Queen Elizabeth I of England
Lord Admiral Sir Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
Vice Admiral Sir Francis Drake
Admiral Sir John Hawkins
The Armada
The Armada engages the English
Charles Howard and Francis Drake bowl while waiting for a weather change
The Armada off the English coast
Fireships route the Armada
* Occasionally, the beginning of the Eighty Years' War/Dutch Revolt is pushed back to 1567, beginning with a Calvinist uprising that culminated in the Battle of Oosterweel. This point is noted, though irrelevant to the subject matter.
** Author's note: I cannot verify if this image is completely accurate; this is merely for a broad reference.
Bibliography
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