Episode 313: The Armada

so long as that person was a Catholic. In September, Philip ordered Parma to assemble a fleet of barges for the coming invasion. Aware of the preparations being made, Elizabeth rested her hopes on the outcome of peace talks. She knew that England was in no position to fight a war with Spain. England had no standing army at all,

and only a very small navy. Meanwhile, such serious differences had arisen between the English and their Dutch allies that it seemed the Netherlands might erupt in a civil war. And in the autumn, Dudley, whose own incompetence was largely to blame. Advised the Queen that he could be of no further use there, and so she recalled him in November. Before he left, he ordered a medal to be struck bearing the legend quote, I reluctantly leave not the flock,

but the ungrateful ones. Back at court, Dudley found his position diminished. Elizabeth was very dis appointed in his performance. Now twice in the Netherlands, Dudley retired for the moment to the country. He even relinquished the title of Master of Horse, which he had held for almost thirty years, asking the Queen to consider bestowing it upon his step son, the Earl of Essex. Elizabeth liked the young Earl, though

she did recognize he lacked political acumen. At this point, there was much to be admired in Essex, though he did have a darker side. He could be moody, imperious, petulant, and difficult when his temper was aroused. He tended to be impulsive to a fault. He had little sense of self discipline and quote could conceal nothing carries his love and his hatred on his forehead and quote. He was also rather long to forgive. He was a complex man.

He seemed to rush through life at times. He was also a dreamer who seemed to inhabit a world of his own. Sometimes he was unaware even of what food he was eating. He cared little whether his clothes matched at all. He walked with a long stride, his head famously aggressively thrust forward. It was extremely promiscuous, but after casual sex, he would hasten to church to meditate on God and beg forgiveness for several hours. He loved the dazzle of the court, but he also yearned to be

at home in the country. Since boyhood, he had been terribly procrastination prone. Sometimes he would lay in bed for days, hot, shaking and melancholy, unable to speak or even think rationally. Yet it was egotistical and driven by ambition. He was desired to be the leader of swordsmen. He wanted to be a warrior. He wanted to be renowned, like Henry the Fifth before him. He wanted to lead an extravagant lifestyle, and so he needed money, and that was the one

thing Essex never had in plenty. He lived beyond his means, existing in a permanent state of near bankruptcy. The Queen, as best as she could, did her best to bail him out. Essex's chief rival at court was Sir Walter Rawleigh, at least for the moment, though the latter was usually on the outside looking in. Perhaps that was why he spent so much of his life exploring and sailing the

high seas. On the twenty first of December, the Queen appointed Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, Lieutenant General, Lord High Admiral and Commander of the English Navy, and ordered the fleet to be put on standby. There was no doubt now that Philip would send his armada soon. She had known his plans since November. The armada of Spanish galleons was set to defeat the English fleet and paved the way for the Duke of Parma, who would immediately landing

and with his army from the Netherlands. When Elizabeth had been deposed and the country secured, Philip would arrive to claim the crown for his daughter and the Catholic faith. The English government was now firmly on a war footing, as we might say today. Defenses were rebuilt and strengthened, especially along the coast a chain of beacons was set

up along the coastline to signal the invasion. Soldiers and sailors alike were recruited to serve, but when it became clear that the Spanish invasion would not be ready until the following summer, Elizabeth demobilized her ships because she couldn't afford to keep them outfitted if they weren't going to be used. Now. To be clear, Elizabeth did not want a war. She would be prepared if war came. She had no interest in winning martial glory like her father

had been. Her goal had always been peace. The looming reality of war, however, forced Elizabeth to recall Dudley, who urged her to continue to strengthen her defenses. Diplomacy, he bluntly told her, was not going to be an option this time. Sir Francis Drake proposed a daring preemptive strike against Philip's fleet in Spain, but Elizabeth would not allow it. She needed every ship she could get and the plan was just too risky. She was still holding out hope

that it might never come to war. In April, the Queen dispatched doctor Valentine Dale, her former ambassador to Paris, to Parma to beg for peace. The commissioners for both sides meant to discuss the matter of the thirtieth of May, the very day on which the Spanish armada of one hundred and thirty ships, manned by some thirty thousand men, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, set sail from Lisbon, bound for England. By then the English

fleet was already at battle stations of Plymouth. On board the Spanish ships worth thousands of printed copies of the Papa Bull blessing the Enterprise, reaffirming Elizabeth's excommunication and calling upon her subjects to depose her. These were to be distributed in England by the invading force. However, when late in June elizabeth subjects learned of the existence of the Bull, they remained fiercely loyal to their queen. On July seventeenth,

Elizabeth ended the peace negotiations. One way or another, this would be decided at sea. The progress of the Spanish fleet had been held up by a series of storms, but on July nineteenth, what the Spaniards were calling the quote unquote invincible Armada was first cited by the English. According to legend, Sir Francis Drake was gambling at the time the news came in, declared he had time to finish the game before vanquishing his enemy. As the chain

of beacons flared to life. Elizabeth received word of the Armada's approach on the twenty second of July. Cecil often remarked over the next few days how calmly the Queen behaved. Her tranquill demeanor was the result of knowing that everything which could have been done had been done. England, for better or worse, was prepared as it was going to get Throughout the kingdom, people waited expectant and fearful. Moving along the south coast, the Armada was making for the Netherlands,

where it would escort Parma's army to England. Waiting at Plymouth was the English Fleet, one hundred and fifty strong and flying the white and green colors of the Tudors from its masts. It was under the command of the Admiral Lord Howard, assisted by the much more experienced Sir Francis Drake. The Admiral, realizing that his rank rather than his naval achievements, had qualified him for this command, announced immediately that he would quote yield. Ever, unto them of

greater experience and quote. Drake in turn behaved lovingly and kindly towards Howard. The admiral's flagship was the Ark Royal, formerly known as the Ark Raleigh, having been sold to the Queen by Raleigh himself the previous year. Howard had been authorized by the Queen to conduct all engagements according to his own judgment. By contrast, Philip had written detailed and often unrealistic instructions by which the Spanish admiral was to abide. Howard put out to see in pursuit of

the Armada after nightfall on the nineteenth of July. There was a brief and inconclusive skirmish off Eddystone, near Plymouth on Sunday the twenty first, followed by two days later of a more vicious engagement near Portland, Dorset, in which several Spanish galleons were severely damaged. Two more were wrecked off the Isle of Wight on the twenty fifth of July.

All the while, the English fleet continued to shadow the Armada as it sailed east, avoiding any further engagements by sailing out of range whenever the galleys turned to prepare for battle. Meanwhile, on land, the levees were mustered. Dudley was an overall command. He had an advanced guard of four thousand men stationed at the entrance to the Thames, and had built a blockade of boats across, so that come what may, the Spanish would not be able to

simply sail straight into the capitol. On the twenty seventh of July, the Armada anchored off Calais. There, Parma was waiting with sixteen thousand troops four to one to cross the channel. The Dutch fleet was patrolling the sea nearby, hoping to prevent the Spanish from sailing at all. The English followed the Armada to Calais, where at midnight on the twenty eighth, orders were given for five quote unquote hell burners fire ships packed with wood and pitch, to

be sent among the galleons. The resulting inferno, flamed by high winds, caused panic and chaos, scattering the Spanish galleons and wrecking the crescent formation of the Armada, which was unable to regroup because of the winds. This meant that the little English ships would now be able to fight on more equal terms. As a result of this action,

morale against the Spanish forces was fatally weakened. On the twenty ninth of July, off Grave Lines, the Spanish admiral made heroic, not entirely unsuccessful efforts to reform his ships before the two fleets engaged in what would be the final battle. But the English, with greater numbers, now had the advantage and they pressed at home. The Spaniards law lost eleven ships and two thousand men, and the English just fifty men. The action was only abandoned when both

sides ran out of ammunition. Elizabeth, however, did not yet know about the victory, so on July thirtieth she moved to the more defensible Saint James Palace, and it was then that the wind changed direction, driving the remaining Spanish galleons north and destroying many. The wind, what people were already calling the quote unquote Protestant wind, was responsible for most of the overall Spanish losses. On August the second,

Lord Howard called off the English pursuit. By this time, most of the Spanish ships remaining were wandering the Scottish waters. One English sailor wrote, quote many of them will never see Spain again. Although false reports of victory had prompted premature rejoicing in Spain, by the third of August, when the Spanish admirals ordered his remaining few ships to return home, it was clear that the Spanish had suffered the most

humiliating label defeat in their history. They lost two thirds of their men, many dying stranded on remote beaches of wounds and sickness, or slaughtered in Ireland by the Lord Deputy's men, and forty four ships and many more were so badly damaged that they would no longer be sea worthy. The English, on the other hand, had lost only one

hundred men and none of their ships. Elizabeth was cautious this quote tyrannical, proud and brainsick attempt end quote would be, she observed in a letter to James the sixth, the beginning, though not the end, of the ruin of that King Philip. Contrary to how the defeat of the Spanish Armada is typically portrayed, it wasn't all over. Parma was still just across the channel with sixteen thousand troops. We all had the necessary transports. All he needed was a favorable wind.

Elizabeth herself against the wishes of her counsel wrote out to encourage her troops. On the eighth of August, riding a white gelding and dressed quote like a bright angel. End the quote, she looked like a queen. Triumphant, hundreds fell to their knees, calling out, Lord, preserve our Queen. As she passed. The following morning, she addressed her troops again,

delivering the most famous speech of her reign. My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety to take heed of how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery. But I do assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people, let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguards in the loyal hearts and

goodwill of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you, as you see at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you all, to lay down for my God and my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even in the Dust.

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a King of England too, And think it foul scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare invade the borders of my realm, to which, rather than any dishonor shall grow by me, I will myself take up arms. I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of every one of your virtues.

In the meantime, my Lieutenant General Dudley shall be in my stead than whom never Prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject. Not doubting, but by your obedience to my General, by your concord in the camp and valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of God, of my kingdom, and of

my people. By noon, though word had reached the English that there would be no invasion Parma without the support of the Spanish navy would not advance, Philip, with a heavy heart, had ultimately agreed the enterprise of England had failed. On August tenth, Elizabeth returned to a triumphant London thanks to the thorough preparations made by the government, the intensive training and organization of troops and resources, the skill of

the English commanders, and of course the Protestant wind. The mighty Armana had been vanquished, and England had achieved one of the greatest victories in all of its history. Most of the men were dismissed on or about August the seventeenth. England lost few men in the actual fighting, but the ships had been so badly provisioned that many sailors now lay sick or even dying imports up and down the coast,

suffering from scurvy and typhoid. Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake paid out of their own pockets for supplies to alleviate their suffering. On August the twenty sixth, the official victory celebration went forward at Whitehall. Then on September the fourth tragedy struck. Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, sick for some time, died at four o'clock in the morning. Sadly, for a man so utterly committed to his queen, he continued to be slandered by his enemies long after his death.

The poet Spencer wrote dismissively of Dudley. He is now dead, and all his glory is gone, and all his greatness vapored to naught. His name is Warren, already ought of thought. Nay any poet seeks him to revive. Yet many poets honored him a lie. Elizabeth was grief stricken. Dudley had been closer to anyone to her, perhaps maybe Cecil. She had often called Dudley her brother and best friend. It was also to Elizabeth a sign that her own end

could not be long in the coming. Her and Dudley had grown up together, as she had become queen and grew into the role. Now he was gone, Dudley's death went virtually unnoticed and certainly unmourned. In the national elation that followed the defeat of the Armada. Elizabeth had to put on a brave face in order to lead the people in their celebrations, but it was noticed that autumn that she was quote much aged and spent and very

melancholy unquote. When she sat for George Gower for the famous Armada portrait that's in a lot of textbooks today. She wore Dudley's pearls as she would in many subsequent portraits. Of November was consumed by festivities and celebrations, culminating in a massive feast of Thanksgiving at Saint Paul's Cathedral on November twenty second. There, the English victory was declared to

have been the greatest since Agincore. Elizabeth's reputation was never greater than at this time, making her the most respected monarch in Christendom. Even her enemies acknowledged her qualities. The Pope declared, quote, she certainly is a great queen, and were she only a Catholic, she would be our dearly beloved daughter. Just look how well she governs. She is only a woman, only a mistress of half an island, and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France,

by the Empire, by all end quote. He jested, this is the Pope again that he wished he was free to marry her, writing quote, what a wife she would make, what children she would have? They would have ruled the whole world end quote. He also praised Sir Francis Drake, by the way, who was very much involved in the victory. It was a time for superlatives. Honestly in France and Italy,

as in Rome, Catholics honored the Queen. I'llrie the third lauded her valor, spirit and prudence, declaring that her victory quote would compare with the greatest feats of the most illustrious men of past times end quote. Even the Ottoman Sultan wrote singing her praises and actually agreed to a

peace treaty with Poland for her sake. After fifteen eighty eight and the Famous Armada, the fame of the Virgin Queens spread far and wide, while in England, where her people bassed in the reflective glow of her victory, her legend grew, giving rise to a new cult figure, Eliza Triumphant. She was more convinced now than ever that God had destined her to rule her people, and that the victory was a signal manifestation of the divine will. For the

rest of her reign. Writers and artists would portray her all the elements, bowing to her authority. Her Catholic subjects, in the end had proven themselves loyal, and the threat of insurrection had now receded. This worked out for her Catholic subjects too, by the way, because it paid the way for more tolerance in the future. The conviction of the Protestant majority that God and Providence had intervened in God's hour of need gave a new stability to the

Anglican Church. Above all, there was a surge of national confidence which led to the flowering of literature and decorative arts, which would become known in later years as the English Renaissance. That Wetsminster. A schoolboy named John Sly admirably expressed the mood of the English people in the text of his Julius Caesar's Works, which is actually preserved at Oxford. He can go see it. He repeatedly scribbled the Queen's name along with this couplet. The rose is read believes are green.

God save Elizabeth, our noble queen. Next week we leave England for a moment and roll back to France were despite everyone's best efforts, the line of val law, having ruled France since the thirteenth century, comes to an end.