James Baquet We’ve spoken before about England’s decisive defeat of the Spanish Armada in August 1588. Philip II of Spain was attempting to wrest control of England from Henry VIII’s daughter Elizabeth. Philip and other Catholics considered Elizabeth illegitimate because Henry had never obtained a divorce from his first wife, the Spanish Catherine of Aragon. Philip’s marriage to Henry and Catherine’s only daughter Mary was the grounds for Philip’s claim to the throne. So when Philip’s fleet anchored across the English Channel at Calais in order to ferry troops from the Netherlands to England, Elizabeth’s navy sent fireships to break up the Armada. The ploy was successful. Not so often mentioned — in English history books, at least — is what happened in May 1589. Hoping to capitalize on her success, Elizabeth sent the English Armada to the Iberian Peninsula with three objectives: to destroy the remainder of the Spanish fleet; to raise a revolt among the Portuguese to release them from Spanish control, especially vis-a-vis trade routes; and to establish a permanent naval base in the Azores Islands, allowing the English fleet to harass Spanish trans-Atlantic shipping. The English Armada achieved none of these. They first besieged the Spanish town of Coruna, perhaps based on false reports of a treasure there. The English were repulsed — mostly by women and other civilians defending their home — having lost 1,300 men and several ships. The city lost about 1,000 people. Next, the fleet landed at Peniche in Portugal, and the troops marched towards Lisbon. They were able to destroy some supplies, but their attack again yielded no results. Dispirited and weakened, the English Armada abandoned plans to take the Azores. While part of the fleet sailed home with the sick and wounded, the English commander lay in wait for a Spanish treasure fleet. A heavy storm hit his ships, and he turned for home, stopping to plunder one more town — where his flagship sprung a leak and he barely made it back to England. All in all, nearly 60 ships were lost and none of the objectives achieved. The so-called “Counter-Armada” was an unmitigated disaster. Vocabulary: Which words above mean: 1. take advantage (of) 2. non-military personnel 3. returned, gave out 4. discouraged 5. regarding 6. carry back and forth 7. strategy, plan 8. location of Spain and Portugal 9. without reservation 10. take away by force |