page_title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
section_title: Spanish Armada
hierarchical_section_title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) / War / Spanish Armada
caption_attribution_description: English: English ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588. The painting may have been a design for a tapestry, or if not is laid out like one, and is dateable to the years immediately following the event. The composition appears less like a painting than as a formal design in a mannered style but no other contemporary image of the Armada conveys a comparable sense of the drama and colour of the confrontation between the two fleets. Although it is not exactly clear which part of the battle is shown (if indeed it is literal at all), it is most likely to be the action of Gravelines, the only point at which large numbers of ships from both sides were engaged in sustained conflict. However, the emblematic foreground arrangement of a Spanish galleass flanked by two English warships suggests that the picture was intended primarily as a symbol of the Armada campaign as a whole - although it is a symbol edged with satire. The galleass flies the Papal banner and the arms of Spain but her complement includes a number of figures - many portrayed as sinister zealots - led by a preaching monk, and a death's head or skeleton in a jester's costume. This renders her a 'ship of fools', an image originated and popularized by Sebastian Brandt's illustrated moral fable, 'Das Narrenschiff', of 1494. In this case the quietly humorous anti-Catholic invective is heightened by a representation of a distraught Spaniard - perhaps meant for Phillip II or the Armada's commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia - in a boat near the stern. Elsewhere monks disappear beneath the waves as the battle rages. The galleass may also be meant to represent the principal Spanish flagship, Medina Sidonia's 'San Martin', 48 guns, although by showing her as a galleass, when she was in fact a galleon, the artist has used poetic licence to emphasize her Spanish origin. To her right is a stern view of what is clearly intended as the 'Ark Royal', 55 guns, the flagship of the English Lord Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham, flying the Elizabethan Royal Standard. On the left, bow on, is another English ship, perhaps Drake's vice-admiral's flagship, 'Revenge', 43 guns, although this is speculative. Beyond them the panel is filled with fighting and sinking vessels. The ships, particularly those in the foreground, are painted with care and some accuracy of detail. Generally the proportions of the hulls, masts and yards are credible for warships of this period. Like many English observers the artist was evidently impressed by the few galleasses in the Spanish fleet. There were in fact four which reached the Channel, all from Naples, though only two survived to reach safe harbour. The varied Spanish and English ships seen in the background include, in the far distance, one single-masted barge-like vessel, possibly of Dutch origin or at least an allusion to the Dutch Protestant 'sea beggars role in harrying the Armada in and after the battle off Gravelines. oil on poplar panel Measurements	Frame: 1380 mm x 1700 mm x 110 mm; Painting: 1120 mm x 1435 mm
context_page_description: The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated battles, and began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in support of the resistance of the States General to Spanish Habsburg rule.
  The English enjoyed a victory at Cádiz in 1587, and repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588, but then suffered heavy setbacks in the English Armada in 1589 and the Drake–Hawkins and Essex–Raleigh expeditions in 1595 and 1597 respectively. Two further Spanish armadas were sent in 1596 and 1597 but these ended in failure for Spain mainly because of adverse weather and poor planning.
  The war became deadlocked around the turn of the 17th century during campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland. It was brought to an end with the Treaty of London, negotiated in 1604 between representatives of the new King of Spain, Philip III, and the new King of England, James I.
context_section_description: On 8 February 1587, the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots outraged Catholics in Europe, and her claim on the English throne passed (by her own deed of will) to Philip. In retaliation for the execution of Mary, Philip vowed to invade England to place a Catholic monarch on its throne. In April 1587 Philip's preparations suffered a setback when Francis Drake burned 37 Spanish ships in the harbour of Cádiz, and as a result the invasion of England had to be postponed for over a year.
  On 29 July, Philip obtained Papal authority to overthrow Elizabeth, who had been excommunicated by Pope Pius V, and place whomever he chose on the throne of England. He assembled a fleet of about 130 ships, containing 8,000 soldiers and 18,000 sailors. To finance this endeavour, Pope Sixtus V had permitted Philip to collect crusade taxes. Sixtus had promised a further subsidy to the Spanish should they reach English soil.
  On 28 May 1588, the Armada under the command of Duke of Medina Sidonia set sail for the Netherlands, where it was to pick up additional troops for the invasion of England. As the armada sailed through the English channel, the English navy led by Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham and Francis Drake fought a battle of attrition with the Spanish from Plymouth to Portland and then to the Solent, preventing them from securing any English harbours. The Spanish were forced to withdraw to Calais. While the Spanish were at anchor there in a crescent-shaped defensive formation, the English used fireships to break the formation and scatter the Spanish ships. In the subsequent Battle of Gravelines the English navy inflicted a defeat on the Armada and forced it to sail northward in more dangerous stormy waters on the long way home. As they sailed around Scotland, the Armada suffered severe damage and loss of life from stormy weather. As they approached the West coast of Ireland more damaging stormy conditions forced ships ashore while others were wrecked. Disease took a heavy toll as the fleet finally limped back to port.
  Philip's invasion plans had miscarried partly because of unfortunate weather and his own mismanagement, and partly because the opportunistic defensive naval efforts of the English and their Dutch allies prevailed. The defeat of the Armada provided valuable seafaring experience for English oceanic mariners. While the English were able to persist in their privateering against the Spanish and continue sending troops to assist Philip II's enemies in the Netherlands and France, these efforts brought few tangible rewards. One of the most important effects of the event was that the Armada's failure was seen as a sign that God supported the Protestant Reformation in England. One of the medals struck to celebrate the English victory bore the Latin/Hebrew inscription Flavit יהוה et Dissipati Sunt (literally: "Yahweh blew and they were scattered"; traditionally translated more freely as: "He blew with His winds, and they were scattered".)
caption: The Invincible Armada, National Maritime Museum, London
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