The Invincible Armada

During almost the whole reign of Philip II. the army of Spain was kept

busily engaged, now with the Turks and the Barbary states, now with the

revolted Moriscos, or descendants of the Moors of Granada, now in the

conquest of Portugal, now with the heretics of the Netherlands. All this

was not enough for the ambition of the Spanish king. Elizabeth of England

had aided the Netherland rebels and had insulted him in America by sending< r />
fleets to plunder his colonies; England, besides, was a nest of enemies of

the church of which Philip was one of the most zealous supporters; he

determined to attempt the conquest of that heretical and hostile island

and the conversion of its people.



For months all the shipwrights of Spain were kept busy in building vessels

of an extraordinary size. Throughout the kingdom stores were actively

collected for their equipment. Levies of soldiers were made in Italy,

Germany, and the Netherlands, to augment the armies of Spain. What was in

view was the secret of the king, but through most of 1587 all Europe

resounded with the noise of his preparations.



Philip broached his project to his council of state, but did not gain much

support for his enterprise. "England," said one of them, "is surrounded

with a tempestuous ocean and has few harbors. Its navy is equal to that of

any other nation, and if a landing is made we shall find its coasts

defended by a powerful army. It would be better first to subdue the

Netherlands; that done we shall be better able to chastise the English

queen." The Duke of Parma, Philip's general in chief, was of the same

opinion. Before any success could be hoped for, he said, Spain should get

possession of some large seaport in Zealand, for the accommodation of its

fleet.



These prudent counsels were thrown away on the self-willed king. His

armies had lately conquered Portugal; England could not stand before their

valor; one battle at sea and another on shore would decide the contest;

the fleet he was building would overwhelm all the ships that England

possessed; the land forces of Elizabeth, undisciplined and unused to war,

could not resist his veteran troops, the heroes of a hundred battles, and

led by the greatest general of the age. All this he insisted on. Europe

should see what he could do. England should be punished for its heresy and

Elizabeth pay dearly for her discourtesy.



Philip was confirmed in his purpose by the approbation of the Pope.

Elizabeth of England was the greatest enemy of the Catholic faith. She had

abolished it throughout her dominions and executed as a traitor the

Catholic Queen Mary of Scotland. For nearly thirty years she had been the

chief support of the Protestants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Pope Pius V. had already issued a bull deposing Elizabeth, on the ground

of acts of perfidy. Sixtus VI., who succeeded, renewed this bull and

encouraged Philip who, ambitious to be considered the guardian of the

Church, hastened his preparations for the conquest of the island kingdom.



Elizabeth was not deceived by the stories set afloat by Spain. She did not

believe that this great fleet was intended partly for the reduction of

Holland, partly for use in America, as Philip declared. Scenting danger

afar, she sent Sir Francis Drake with a fleet to the coast of Spain to

interrupt these stupendous preparations.



Drake was the man for the work. Dispersing the Spanish fleet sent to

oppose him, he entered the harbor of Cadiz, where he destroyed two large

galleons and a handsome vessel filled with provisions and naval stores.

Then he sailed for the Azores, captured a rich carrack on the way home

from the East Indies, and returned to England laden with spoils. He had

effectually put an end to Philip's enterprise for that year.



Philip now took steps towards a treaty of peace with England, for the

purpose of quieting the suspicions of the queen. She appeared to fall into

the snare, pretended to believe that his fleet was intended for Holland

and America, and entered into a conference with Spain for the settlement

of all disturbing questions. But at the same time she raised an army of

eighty thousand men, fortified all exposed ports, and went vigorously to

work to equip her fleet. She had then less than thirty ships in her navy,

and these much smaller than those of Spain, but the English sailors were

the best and boldest in the world, new ships were rapidly built, and pains

was taken to increase the abhorrence which the people felt for the tyranny

of Spain. Accounts were spread abroad of the barbarities practised in

America and in the Netherlands, vivid pictures were drawn of the cruelties

of the Inquisition, and the Catholic as well as the Protestant people of

England became active in preparing for defence. The whole island was of

one mind; loyalty seemed universal; the citizens of London provided thirty

ships, and the nobility and gentry of England forty or fifty more. But

these were of small size as compared with those of their antagonist, and

throughout the island apprehension prevailed.



In the beginning of May, 1588, Philip's strenuous labors were concluded

and the great fleet was ready. It was immense as compared with that with

which William the Conqueror had invaded and conquered England five

centuries before. The Invincible Armada, as the Spaniards called it,

consisted of one hundred and fifty ships, many of them of enormous size.

They were armed with more than two thousand six hundred great guns, were

provisioned for half a year, and contained military stores in a profusion

which only the wealth of America and the Indies could have supplied. On

them were nearly twenty thousand of the famous troops of Spain, with two

thousand volunteers of the most distinguished families, and eight thousand

sailors. In addition there was assembled in the coast districts of the

Netherlands an army of thirty-four thousand men, for whose transportation

to England a great number of flat-bottomed vessels had been procured.

These were to venture upon the sea as soon as the Armada was in position

for their support.



And now, indeed, "perfidious Albion" had reason to tremble. Never had that

nation of islanders been so seriously threatened, not even when the ships

of William of Normandy were setting sail for its shores. The great fleet,

which lay at Lisbon, then a city of Spain, was to set sail in the early

days of May, and no small degree of fear affected the hearts of all

Protestant Europe, for the conquest of England by Philip the fanatic would

have been a frightful blow to the cause of religious and political

liberty.



All had so far gone well with Spain; now all began to go ill. At the very

time fixed for sailing the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the admiral of the

fleet, was taken violently ill and died, and with him died the Duke of

Paliano, the vice-admiral. Santa Cruz's place was not easy to fill. Philip

chose to succeed him the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a nobleman totally

ignorant of sea affairs, giving him for vice-admiral Martinez de Recaldo,

a seaman of much experience. All this caused so much delay that the fleet

did not sail till May 29.



Storm succeeded sickness to interfere with Philip's plans. A tempest fell

on the fleet on its way to Corunna, where it was to take on some troops

and stores. All but four of the ships reached Corunna, but they had been

so battered and dishevelled by the winds that several weeks passed before

they could again be got ready for sea,--much to the discomfiture of the

king, who was eager to become the lord and master of England. He had dwelt

there in former years as the husband of Queen Mary; now he was ambitious

to set foot there as absolute king.



England, meanwhile, was in an ebullition of joy. Word had reached there

that the Spanish fleet was rendered unseaworthy by the storm, and the

queen's secretary, in undue haste, ordered Lord Howard, the admiral, to

lay up four of his largest ships and discharge their crews, as they would

not be needed. But Howard was not so ready to believe a vague report, and

begged the queen to let him keep the ships, even if at his own expense,

till the truth could be learned. To satisfy himself, he set sail for

Corunna, intending to try and destroy the Armada if as much injured as

reported. Learning the truth, and finding that a favorable wind for Spain

had begun to blow, he returned to Plymouth in all haste, in some dread

lest the Armada might precede him to the English coast.



He had not long been back when stirring tidings came. The Armada had been

seen upon the seas. Lord Howard at once left harbor with his fleet. The

terrible moment of conflict, so long and nervously awaited, was at hand.

On the next day--July 30--he came in view of the great Spanish fleet, drawn

up in the form of a crescent, with a space of seven miles between its

wings. Before this giant fleet his own seemed but a dwarf. Paying no

attention to Lord Howard's ships, the Armada moved on with dignity up the

Channel, its purpose being to disperse the Dutch and English ships off the

Netherland coast and escort to England the Duke of Parma's army, then

ready to sail.



Lord Howard deemed it wisest to pursue a guerilla mode of warfare,

harassing the Spaniards and taking any advantage that offered. He first

attacked the flag-ship of the vice-admiral Recaldo, and with such vigor

and dexterity as to excite great alarm in the Spanish fleet. From that

time it kept closer order, yet on the same day Howard attacked one of its

largest ships. Others hurried to the aid; but in their haste two of them

ran afoul, one, a large galleon, having her mast broken. She fell behind

and was captured by Sir Francis Drake, who discovered, to his delight,

that she had on board a chief part of the Spanish treasure.



Other combats took place, in all of which the English were victorious. The

Spaniards proved ignorant of marine evolutions, and the English sailed

around them with a velocity which none of their ships could equal, and

proved so much better marksmen that nearly every shot told, while the

Spanish gunners fired high and wasted their balls in the air. The fight

with the Armada seemed a prototype of the much later sea-battles at Manila

and Santiago de Cuba.



Finally, after a halt before Calais, the Armada came within sight of

Dunkirk, where Parma's army, with its flat-bottomed transports, was

waiting to embark. Here a calm fell upon the fleets, and they remained

motionless for a whole day. But about midnight a breeze sprang up and Lord

Howard put into effect a scheme he had devised the previous day. He had

made a number of fire-ships by filling eight vessels with pitch, sulphur,

and other combustibles, and these were now set on fire and sent down the

wind against the Spanish fleet.



It was with terror that the Spaniards beheld the coming of these flaming

ships. They remembered vividly the havoc occasioned by fire-ships at the

siege of Antwerp. The darkness of the night added to their fears, and

panic spread from end to end of the fleet. All discipline vanished;

self-preservation was the sole thought of each crew. Some took time to

weigh their anchors, but others, in wild haste, cut their cables, and soon

the ships were driving blindly before the wind, some running afoul of each

other and being completely disabled by the shock.



When day dawned Lord Howard saw with the highest satisfaction the results

of his stratagem. The Spanish fleet was in the utmost disorder, its ships

widely dispersed. His own fleet had just been strengthened, and he at once

made an impetuous attack upon the scattered Armada. The battle began at

four in the morning and lasted till six in the evening, the Spaniards

fighting with great bravery but doing little execution. Many of their

ships were greatly damaged, and ten of the largest were sunk, run aground,

or captured. The principal galeas, or large galley, manned with three

hundred galley slaves and having on board four hundred soldiers, was

driven ashore near Calais, and nearly all the Spaniards were killed or

drowned in attempting to reach land. The rowers were set at liberty.



The Spanish admiral was greatly dejected by this series of misfortunes. As

yet the English had lost but one small ship and about one hundred men,

while his losses had been so severe that he began to dread the destruction

of the entire fleet. He could not without great danger remain where he

was. His ships were too large to approach nearer to the coast of Flanders.

Philip had declined to secure a suitable harbor in Zealand, as advised.

The Armada was a great and clumsy giant, from which Lord Howard's much

smaller fleet had not fled in terror, as had been expected, and which now

was in such a condition that there was nothing left for it but to try and

return to Spain.



But the getting there was not easy. A return through the Channel was

hindered by the wind, which blew strongly from the south. Nor was it a

wise movement in the face of the English fleet. The admiral, therefore,

determined to sail northward and make the circuit of the British islands.



Unfortunately for Lord Howard, he was in no condition to pursue. By the

neglect of the authorities he had been ill-supplied with gunpowder, and

was forced to return to England for a fresh supply. But for this

deficiency he possibly might, in the distressed condition of the Spanish

fleet, have forced a surrender of the entire Armada. As it was, his return

proved fortunate, for the fleets had not far separated when a frightful

tempest began, which did considerable harm to the English ships, but fell

with all its rage on the exposed Armada.



The ships, drawn up in close ranks, were hurled fiercely together, many

being sunk. Driven helplessly before the wind, some were dashed to pieces

on the rocks of Norway, others on the Scottish coast or the shores of the

western islands. Some went down in the open sea. A subsequent storm, which

came from the west, drove more than thirty of them on the Irish coast. Of

these, some got off in a shattered state, others were utterly wrecked and

their crews murdered on reaching the shore. The admiral's ship, which had

kept in the open sea, reached the Spanish coast about the close of

September.



Even after reaching harbor in Spain troubles pursued them, two of the

galleons taking fire and burning to ashes. Of the delicately reared noble

volunteers, great numbers had died from the hardships of the voyage, and

many more died from diseases contracted at sea. The total loss is not

known; some say that thirty-two, some that more than eighty, ships were

lost, while the loss of life is estimated at from ten thousand to fifteen

thousand. Spain felt the calamity severely. There was hardly a family of

rank that had not some one of its members to mourn, and so universal was

the grief that Philip, to whose ambition the disaster was due, felt

obliged to issue an edict to abridge the time of public mourning.



In England and Holland, on the contrary, the event was hailed with

universal joy. Days of solemn thanksgiving were appointed, and Elizabeth,

seated in a triumphal chariot and surrounded by her ministers and nobles,

went for this purpose to St. Paul's Cathedral, the concourse bearing a

great number of flags that had been taken from the enemy.



The joy at the destruction of the Armada was not confined to England and

Holland. All Northern Europe joined in it. Philip's ambition, in the event

of victory over England, might have led him to attempt the subjection of

every Protestant state in Europe, while Catholic France, which he

afterwards attempted to conquer, had the greatest reason to dread his

success.



Thus ended the most threatening enterprise in the religious wars of the

sixteenth century, and to Lord Howard and his gallant captains England and

Europe owe the deepest debt of gratitude, for the success of the Armada

and the conquest of England by Spain might have proved a calamity whose

effects would have been felt to the present day.