![]() ![]() On the basis of these sources, apparently so comprehensive, it is tempting to ascribe the outcome almost entirely to the genius of Queen Elizabeth, her gallant captains, and her brave men. Thanks to the publication of nearly all the major Elizabethan documents, we know a great deal about why England avoided invasion. The Armada campaign remains one of the greatest naval disasters in Spanish history. In the six weeks that followed (thanks in part to the onset of a tropical typhoon), one-third of its ships were wrecked off the coast of Ireland and (thanks to hunger, thirst and the massacre of almost all prisoners by the English) one-half of its men died. The only viable option now was for the great fleet, although it still numbered over 100 vessels, to sail back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland. This gave the English a tactical advantage, and they drove the Armada into the North Sea, chasing it as far as the Firth of Forth. Eventually, in late July, the Armada set off again and entered the English Channel, only to be attacked off Calais by eight fireships, which caused the Armada to scatter. The fleet had only got level with Cape Finisterre, in north-west Spain, when storms and tempests in late June compelled it to seek shelter in Corunna. ![]() And yet, despite the title of ‘Felicíssima’ (most fortunate) bestowed by its creator, the Armada’s story was one of almost constant misfortune. The Armada was probably (as an English admiral nervously described it) ‘the greatest and strongest combination that was ever gathered in all Christendom’, for it consisted of 130 ships, 2,431 guns, and 30,000 men. It also shows troops assembled on the southern coast of England, and Elizabeth I’s famous visit to Tilbury. This miniature painting, believed to be by a Flemish artist, shows the combined narratives of several key episodes associated with the Armada campaign, including the fight between the English and the Spanish fleet, the launch of the English fireships, the battle off Gravelines, and the involvement of Dutch ships in harrying the Armada. ![]()
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