![]() It also did not help that the quality of the provisions and indeed their storage vessels were also sub-standard. You could say failure was baked in to the enterprise at an early stage as the Spanish constructed ships that were wholly inappropriate for the seas that they would be traversing and for the adversary that they would be facing. The more the two sides fought, the more they grew to hate one another. His success set back the Spanish endeavour but at the same time it only served to make them even more determined to carry out their attack on this annoying island nation of which of course Philip had once been king when he was married to Elizabeth’s half sister, Mary. Drake’s attack on Cadiz in 1587 was to both try and frustrate the preparations for an attack whilst also attempting to gather intelligence on how many ships and how soon the fleet might be ready. ![]() The Armada was one of the worst kept secrets of the 1580s. ![]() In fact, as Spain moved much of the wealth of their colonies in the Americas to Europe, they relied on the same large and lumbering ships that would be used in the Armada whilst the English pioneered the use of small but fast and nimble ships which were perfect for the hit and run attacks that they had practiced for years but would soon be used to deadly effect in the English Channel. One can understand Philip’s exasperation of the English mariners who waged open warfare on the Spanish ships and treated them as business opportunities for plunder as religion provided the perfect excuse for the English merchant adventurers who were little more than pirates in the eyes of their Spanish victims. The fact that the Pope refused to pay what he promised to pay must have been particularly gallingfor poor Philip if you cannot trust a Pope who can you trust? However misguided his mission was it is clear that he felt that he was doing God’s work and was encouraged in this thinking by other Catholic leaders most notably of course the Pope who was to reveal himself a fair weather friend indeed and one who seemed to admire the Protestant Elizabeth more than the Catholic Philip who was supposedly doing God’s work on his behalf. One quickly finds a little sympathy for the scale and ambition of King Philip II. The author skilfully weaves the accounts from the various participants even as they are on opposing ships as the battles and campaign unfold. Perhaps because of this, it is useful to have a well rounded account that tells the story from both sides. The Spanish Armada is one of the nation defining events in the history of England. The Spanish had to contend with fundamental organisational and supply problems combined with lacklustre leadership and of course the mercy of the cruel elements which time and again seemed to play on the side of the Protestants no matter how hard the Catholics prayed. However, as this book illustrates, it was not just English ships that kept England’s liberty in 1588. Never had the wooden walls of England been more important. As the author of this book makes it clear, had the Spanish ever got ashore, the likelihood of the parsimonious English forces keeping the invaders from sweeping all before them would have been remote. Spain continued to exhaust its gains from its own colonial successes in the Americas on fruitless wars whereas England began to realise its growing potential as it elevated itself from a small, insignificant European nation to an increasingly important maritime power. With hindsight, the failure of the Spanish Armada to bring Protestant England to heel was a decisive turning point in the fortunes of both nations.
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