Stacking the deck in England's favour
By 1580 Philip believed that Elizabeth was challenging his naval and political
supremacy. What was his evidence?
Hawkins' involvement in the Spanish�American slave trade (see
Chapter 12).
Drake's attacks on Spanish�American colonies (see Chapter 12).
John Dee, the queen's astrologer (check him out in Chapter 17),
suggested a huge fleet extension paid for by a tax on fishing. It didn't
happen, but the Spaniards knew the intention existed.
Dee came up with the idea of a British Empire (one of half a dozen guys
given this phrase as their own) that would include North America and
threaten Philip's claim to the New World.
An increasing number of trading companies, like the East India
Company, were being set up in the last quarter of the century, from
Virginia to the Far East.
English nobility were keen to invest in trading voyages. We see this with
Hawkins (Chapter 12) and Martin Frobisher's expeditions in the 1570s
in search of a north-west passage to China (see Chapter 17 for more on
Frobisher).
Spain and Portugal had dominated European and world trade for a century.
It looked now as if England was ready to take over.
Plotting in the Shadows
Take a look at Chapter 14 and all those plots against Elizabeth � Ridolfi in
1572; Throckmorton in 1583; Babington in 1586. In all of the plots, Philip and/
or Spain appear somewhere. It's almost as if, turned down by the queen as
Philip was for marriage, he was determined to get her some other way; hell
hath no fury like a king of Spain scorned.
How much did Philip actually know? Well, he had no interest in Mary Queen
of Scots (see Chapters 13 and 14). And although Pope Gregory XIII sometimes
spoke on Philip's behalf because it sounded more threatening to Protestants,
this doesn't mean that Philip himself was in the know. How much Philip knew
about the English depended on how well informed he was kept by his ambas-
sadors in England. Until the 1580s Philip's involvement and/or awareness
didn't matter and Elizabeth did her own thing in foreign policy.
Philip knew all about the Throckmorton Plot. He encouraged his ambassador,
Bernardino de Mendoza, to complain to Elizabeth about Drake's piracy (which
annoyed her) and the man was sending secret, coded messages to Philip filling
him in on events. But when Elizabeth's spymaster Walsingham uncovered the
Throckmorton Plot, de Mendoza was kicked out, marking the end to Spanish
ambassadors in Elizabeth's England.
Helping the Low Countries
The cold war between England and Spain might have gone on for years with
acts of piracy, recriminations and the odd hanging. What happened in the
Low Countries in the 1580s, however, turned a cold war into a hot one.
Figure 15-1 shows the area known today as the Netherlands as it was at the
time before the rebellion against Spanish control. Note how close England is
across the North Sea.
In 1548 Charles V, the Roman emperor (see Chapters 3 and 5), gave the
Spanish Netherlands (the Burgundian Circle) to his son Philip, who was deter-
mined to introduce a strong Catholic government from Madrid.
Lording it over the Low Countries
When Philip became king of Spain in 1556 he set up his half-sister, Margaret
of Parma, as regent in the Netherlands and sent his right-hand man, Cardinal
Granvelle, to hold her hand.
The Burgundian Circle
In the 16th century people called what's Holland In the northern provinces like Holland and
or the Netherlands today the Burgundian Circle. Zeeland, farming was the usual occupation,
It was made up of 17 provinces, each with its poverty was harsh and most people spoke a
own economy, customs and local government kind of low German. Those nearest the coast
called estates. The south, which included were fishermen and there were large numbers
Flanders, Brabant and Hainault, were French- of Protestants who objected to any kind of cen-
speaking and rich; the great cloth-trading cen- tral government control. In theory, the Estates
tres of Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent were among General was in overall control of all the prov-
the wealthiest cities in the world. Many people inces, but its powers were vague and nobody
here were Catholics. took much notice. Chapter 15: Facing the Armada 255
Granvelle had two priorities: to stamp out heresy (all forms of Protestantism)
and to set up a strong, centralised Catholic government. Not unnaturally, the
locals complained: Protestants were outraged at these big brother tactics
and nobles realised they'd lost their power.
Margaret was caught between a rock and a hard place. She was forced to
sack Granvelle, but when she tried to give even more concessions to the
Dutch Philip recalled her and sent in the hard-line duke of Alba (plus troops)
instead.
Hull
FRIESLAND GRONINGEN
THE NORTH SEA
DRONTHE
A ms t e r d a m
Kings L y nn
OVERIJSSEL
Gr eat Y a r m o u th
Brill
HOLLAND
ENGLAND Zutphen
Ro t t e r d a m
UTRECHT
Ips wich CZEELAND
ZEELAND
A n t we r p
London Bruges
Dunkirk
FLANDERS BRABANT
Dov er Ghent
Calai s
Brussels
ARTOIS NAMUR
HAINAULT
LUXEMBOURG
KEY
= Spanish Netherlands
Figure 15-1:
The North Sea and the = United Provinces Netherlands.
= Lordship boundaries 256 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth
With this iron fist approach, many Dutchmen fled to England and set them-
selves up as pirates, attacking Spanish and Flemish ships in the Channel.
During a thaw in the Anglo�Spanish cold war, Elizabeth kicked them out in
1572 while she negotiated with Philip.
Not to be outdone, the sea beggars, as they're known, crossed the sea again
and set up operations from Brill, harassing Alba and threatening to link up
with France � a two-pronged front that Philip dreaded. The actions of these
lawless renegades kick started the Revolt of the Netherlands.
Revolting in the Netherlands
Clashes went on between Dutch rebels and Alba's troops for four years and
by 1580 the battle lines were drawn. Ten southern states (including what's
Belgium today) stood with Spain; seven northern states decided to carry on
the fight for independence. English volunteers had been fighting for some
time on the rebel side, either for pay or the hell of it, and Elizabeth had done
nothing to discourage this.
Elizabeth was given a chance in 1581 to become queen of the rebel provinces,
but (sensibly) turned it down. It would have meant a head-on clash with
Philip. Events hotted up three years later with the assassination of the rebel
commander of the United Provinces, William of Orange, known as the Silent
(for more on William and his death, see the nearby sidebar `Silencing the
Silent (eventually!).
Silencing the Silent (eventually!)
Philip and the pope had wanted William the Vlissingen tried to blow William up, but that
Silent dead for some time and a bounty of 25,000 didn't work.
crowns was on the table for the right man.
Finally, posing as a poor Calvinist refugee,
Jean Jaureguy had a go, shooting William in the Balthasar Gerard from Burgundy wormed
head in Antwerp in March 1582. Remarkably, his way in to see William and shot him three
William survived (although ironically his wife, times, finally getting the job done. The Spanish
nursing him, died of a fever). Another attempted authorities saw to it that Gerard's parents got
hit followed in March of the following year the reward when their son suffered a ghastly
and William moved to Delft for greater safety. and lingering death in front of a huge crowd.
Thirteen months later Hans Hanszoom from Rejoicing Catholics kept the killer's head as a
relic and tried to have him declared a saint. Chapter 15: Facing the Armada 257 The death of William of Orange forced Elizabeth to face reality. The new military commander on the block was Alexander Farnese, the duke of Parma, who was every bit as hard-line as Alba and probably the best soldier of his generation.
Tempers ran high in the Council as they argued in front of the queen over whether or not England should intervene, and the upshot was the Treaty of Nonsuch in August 1585, which
Gave the Dutch rebels an army of 7,000 men led by the earl of Leicester,
which would cost England �126,000 per year.
Gave Elizabeth two fortresses and the town of Vlissingen (Flushing) as
surety that she'd get her money back.
The treaty amounted to a declaration of war, but it was what Drake was up to on the far side of the world that probably tipped the balance.
Plundering with El Draco Before the Treaty of Nonsuch (see the previous section) Philip had grabbed all English ships in Spanish ports on some flimsy pretext about needing them for some unspecified service. It all sounded a bit dodgy and was � this was actually a pre-emptive strike against England designed to make a point. In 1585 the queen ordered Francis Drake to Vigo in Spain to demand the release of the English ships.
Drake had just refitted a fleet of 20 ships including the 600-ton Elizabeth Bonaventure and the Vigo governor wasn't expecting this sudden arrival of force. He handed over ships and crews and Drake probably should've gone home, but being Drake he had other ideas. We don't know what instructions Elizabeth gave him, but the raid that followed was a plain message to Spain: don't mess with the English navy.
Drake burned Spanish settlements in the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, and on New Year's Day 1586 he took the town of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola (today's Haiti), hoping to ransom it back to the Spaniards for large amounts of cash. When that didn't happen, Drake burned the place down and moved on to Cartagena and St Augustine in Florida.
In Florida he got an invitation from the newly set up colony at Roanoke and he arrived to find it in trouble. The colonists were running out of food and were surrounded by hostile Native Americans (Drake and his men would probably have called them heathens). The colony was abandoned and Drake took the colonists home, landing in Plymouth on 28 July 1586.
Leicester in the Low Countries
You'd expect that the leader of the English courtier and darling of the literary set, was
expeditionary force in the Netherlands would killed at Zutphen (the silly man wasn't wearing
be a nobleman, but the Tudor style of govern- leg armour � will they never learn?). After that,
ment meant that noblemen with actual battle progress went downhill. Leicester lost the vital
experience were thin on the ground. Leicester garrison at Sluys and in February 1586 made
was therefore a bit of a rare bird � a noble- himself governor general with Dutch backing.
man who did have military experience. At first, This was clever because it looked to the world
the English did quite well, earning the duke of as if Elizabeth backed the Dutch all the way; in
Parma's respect, but their efforts soon went fact she was furious with Leicester for taking
pear-shaped. In September 1586 Philip Sidney, the title on and recalled him.
Drake lost 700 of his 1,700 man expedition, mostly from disease, and his back-
ers only got 75 per cent of their expected return. He did, however, destroy a
number of Spanish colonies and humiliate the viceroy of the Indies at very
little cost to Elizabeth's government. As an open act of war, Drake's activities
would be difficult to better.
Francis Drake has gone down in English history as the Elizabethan top seadog,
a national hero. No doubt he had guts and was a brilliant sailor, but man-man-
agement wasn't his thing and he was no team player. Even in an unruly and
violent age, his men were allowed to behave appallingly in their raids on the
Spanish colonies.
Preparing for Invasion
What were Philip II's options for a campaign against England?
He could invade directly from Spain, hitting the south coast with 150
ships (the fleet he called the Armada) carrying 50,000 men.
He could take advantage of the ongoing squabbles in Ireland (see
Chapter 14) and use the country as a springboard for invasion, hitting
England on two fronts from the south and the west.
He could link up with Parma's army in the Low Countries and hit
England on two fronts from the south and the east.
By the beginning of 1587 Philip had decided on the last idea, but with modi-
fications. The Spanish fleet would now sail up the Channel, collect Parma's Chapter 15: Facing the Armada 259
troops and invade from the east. But because he no longer had an ambas-
sador in England, Philip had no good idea of the strength of Elizabeth's
defences.
Philip had problems:
Parma didn't like the plan. He had no deep water port in the Low
Countries that could accommodate 150 ships and he told Philip so.
Philip ignored him.
The marquis of Santa Cruz, Philip's administrator, was useless. He col-
lected troops, gave them no provisions and was astounded when men
deserted.
Various Spanish towns were supposed to provide ships and guns, but
they didn't always, and the guns and ammunition supplied were of such
a mixture of sizes and types that it became chaotic.
Talking tactics with Elizabeth
The queen and her Council knew that the Armada was being assembled but
they didn't know where and when it would strike. So they tried to cover all
bases:
John Hawkins was sent to patrol the Western Approaches (see Figure
15-2).
Elizabeth ordered new ships to be built, like the Vanguard, Rainbow,
Seven Stars and Popinjay.
Elizabeth licensed more privateers.
The queen unleashed Drake (see the following section).
Calculating the cost The marquis of Santa Cruz was ready to launch were 4 million ducats (about �1 million) but vari- Philip's fleet in 1587 but Philip dithered � he ous changes saw that rocket to 7 million and wasn't sure it was necessary and it was going the actual cost was 12 million � for a plan that to cost an arm and a leg. The original estimates would fail. 260 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth
N
London THE NORTH SEA
So u t h a mp t o n Dover
Po r t s mo u t h
Pl ymouth Ca l a i s
T
THE SOLEN Boulogne
Fal m outh
Isle of Wight
The Dieppe
THE CHANNEL
Lizard
A l der ne y Le Havre
Figure 15-2: THE WESTERN
APPROACHES G uernsey Sa r k
The Channel
and the
Jer s e y
south coast
ports.
Firing the fire ships
England sent Drake to raid the Spanish forces, partly paid for by Elizabeth
and partly by courtiers and merchants. As a fence-sitter, the queen continued
to have doubts about whether she should've sent Drake even after he set sail.
Most of the Armada was being fitted out at Lisbon, but the forts along the
Tagus river were too well fortified and Drake hit Cadiz, on Spain's south-
west coast, instead. There weren't many ships here, but it was an important
supply base for food, weapons, clothing and other necessities for a voyage
(see `A life on the ocean waves', later in this chapter, for life on board a ship).
Drake set fire to pinnaces (small boats) and sailed them into the harbour,
packed with explosives. He destroyed 30 Spanish ships and the galleys (oared
warships) sent out against him were no match for the seadog.
Sensibly, Drake didn't try attacking the well-fortified town, commanded by
the duke of Medina Sidonia, but sailed off to the Azores in the mid-Atlantic
where he captured the huge treasure ship San Felipe, which paid for the
whole expedition several times over. Chapter 15: Facing the Armada 261
The race-built galleon If there was one man responsible for saving ships more stability. Hawkins also hit upon England from the Armada it was John Hawkins. the idea of a double sheathing of oak planking As treasurer of the navy, he teamed up with below the waterline to lessen the effects of cor- a master shipwright, Richard Chapman, and rosion from barnacles and other sea creatures. designed the race-built galleon, pinched from
Although no one would know it until put to the Spanish blueprints, but modified. Hawkins'
test, the English ships could outrun and out- ships were lower in the water and more stream-
manoeuvre the heavier Spanish galleons and lined than anything in the Spanish navy. Their
galleasses and would prove invaluable in the continuous gun decks meant that they were
Channel fighting. more deadly while at the same time giving the
Drake's comment on Cadiz is the famous, `I have singed the king of Spain's
beard.' Spanish men were very proud of their beards, seeing them as a sign
of macho virility. If Drake realised this his comment was psychologically
devastating.
The attack on Cadiz put Philip's plans back by a year. The losses were calcu-
lated at 172,000 ducats (�60,000) but even worse was the fact that with prepa-
ration costs running at 300,000 ducats a month, any delay was disastrous.
Losing Santa Cruz, and gaining
Medina Sidonia
The death of Santa Cruz wasn't much of a loss, really. Philip's man was out
of his depth with an operation on the scale of the Armada. He died of typhus
fever, which had broken out in the Spanish fleet, and was replaced by the
duke of Medina Sidonia. Even so, the loss of Santa Cruz brought everything to
a standstill until the new appointment.
Because the Armada ultimately failed, people have tended to write off Medina
Sidonia as a failure too. In fact, he was a brilliant administrator and worked
tirelessly to turn the flagging enterprise around. If Hawkins made the English
victory possible with his revolutionary warship designs (see the sidebar `The
race-built galleon'), Medina Sidonia made the Armada launch possible in the
first place.