The Spanish Armada (53 page)

84
See:
A new Ballade declarynge the dangerous shootyng of the Gunne at the Courte .
. . by ‘W.E.’ – William
Elderton.

85
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, p.126.

86
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, p.127. The Spanish ambassador claimed that Edward Arden, his wife Mary and the priest
Hugh Hall were to be executed; however, the woman’s body would not be quartered as this was illegal under English law. Her sentence was deferred because she was pregnant.
CSP Foreign
Elizabeth
, vol. 18, pp.651–2. See also: Read,
Mr Secretary Walsingham
, vol. 2, fn. p.381.

87
BL Cotton MS Caligula B v, f.159. A brief on the issues contained in the Bond for Parliamentary debate, drawn up by Walsingham’s
clerk, is in ff.222–3
v.

88
Hatfield House CP 13/177 and BL Add. MS 48,027, f. 251
v.

89
27 Elizabeth
cap.
1.

90
TNA, SP 12/176/22. See: Graves,
Profiles in Power
, p.94. Burghley had drawn up similar plans in October 1562 when Elizabeth was
suffering from a dangerous smallpox infection which deprived her of speech for some time.

91
BL Add. MS 48, 027, ff.242–47
v
.

92
BL Lansdowne MS 43, article no. 3; 3ff.

93
Hutchinson,
Elizabeth’s Spymaster
, p.146.

94
A broadsheet written by Thomas Deloney and printed in London by Richard Jones in 1586, celebrated the event. Entitled
A joyful song
made on behalf of all her majesties faithful subjects of the great joy which was made in London at the taking of the late traitorous conspirators
, it included crude woodcuts of the
conspirators and carried this snappy verse:

95
For more on Elizabeth’s cynical plan to avoid responsibility for Mary’s death, see: Read, ‘The Proposal to Assassinate
Mary Queen of Scots’.

96
For a full account of Mary Queen of Scots’ trial and execution, see my book
Elizabeth‘s Spymaster
,
pp.169–202. An eye-witness account of the section by Richard Fletcher, dean of Peterborough, is in BL, Add. MS 48,027 ff.653–8
v
with a sketch of the scene at f.650. Other
accounts are in Cotton MS Caligula B, v, ff.175
v
–6 and Hatfield House CP 16/17 and 164/170.

1
Murdin,
Collection State Papers
, vol. 1, p.592.

2
Veracruz, in the Gulf of Mexico, was founded by Hernán Cortés after landing there on Good Friday 1519, naming it Villa Rica
de la Vera Cruz.
Villa Rica
(‘rich village’) came from the abundance of gold found by the Spanish – and
Vera Cruz
(‘True Cross’) a reference to the
religious festival held on the day he came ashore.

3
This was Hawkins’ third slaving voyage. The first Englishman known to have traded in slaves was the London
merchant John Lock who brought five slaves from Guinea back to England in 1555.

4
Mattingly,
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
, p.85. There were insufficient supplies in
Minion
to feed the survivors of the
attack, so one hundred crewmen volunteered to be put ashore elsewhere on the Mexican coast – where they were later taken prisoner.

5
Somerset,
Elizabeth 1
, p.416.

6
Ibid., p.537.

7
On uninhabited Grand Cayman, in the Caribbean, the English killed twenty alligators: ‘There were crocodiles, which did encounter and
fight with us. They live both in the sea and land. We took divers and made very good meat of them. Some of the same were ten feet (3.05 m) in length.’ Corbett,
Spanish War
,
pp.22–3. For an account of Drake’s planned campaign, see BL Lansdowne MS 100, f.98.

8
Martin & Parker,
The Spanish Armada
, p.91.

9
Mattingly, op. cit., p.82.

10
Ibid., p.82.

11
Martin & Parker, op. cit. pp.95–6. Escalante published one of the first geographies of China in Seville in 1577, entitled:
Discourse of the Navigation made by the Portuguese to the Kingdom and Provinces of the Orient and the existing Knowledge of the Greatness of the Kingdom of China
. In contrast to the
ponderous title, the book was only two hundred pages long, a reflection of how little was known about China at the time. Six years later, Escalante published his
Discourses on the Military
Art
.

12
Martin & Parker, op. cit., p.96.

13
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, p.11.

14
Corbett,
Spanish War
, pp.61–3.

15
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, pp.305, 323, 324. In 1583, English merchants had reported that Santa Cruz had been
ordered by Philip to command two hundred and fifty galleys for an invasion, to be launched from Cherbourg in France ‘and there receiving aid from the French king to cut over to
Portsmouth’. Hatfield House CP 162/148.

16
There were also riots on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent that February. In Sussex, markets were reported well supplied with grain but
‘the prices are high, wheat being at 3s 4d (17p, or £441 in 2013 spending power) a bushel (a dry measure of volume, equivalent to 9.9 litres).
CSP Domestic Elizabeth
,
1581–90
, pp.305 and 323. The famine continued: on 2 January 1587 a proclamation was published, ‘foreseeing
the general dearth of corn and other victuals,
partly through the unseasonableness of the year past’, ordering markets to be supplied with foodstuffs ‘at reasonable prices’. It also criticised the ‘uncharitable
greediness of such as be great corn-masters’. BL Lansdowne MS 48, f.120 and STC 8161.

17
Read,
Mr Secretary Walsingham
, vol. 3, p.219.

18
BL Harleian MS 6,993, f.125; Hutchinson,
Elizabeth’s Spymaster
, p.205.

19
Read, op. cit., vol. 3, p.220.

20
Poyntz was the brother-in-law of Sir Thomas Heneage, treasurer of Elizabeth’s Privy Chamber, and a student of the Inner Temple in
London. He was an acknowledged double agent and was used by Walsingham to feed disinformation to the Spanish government. He worked for Mendoza, now Spanish ambassador in Paris.

21
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, p.340.

22
Martin & Parker, op. cit., pp.96–8.

23
Philip II to Count de Olivares; Madrid, 11 February 1587.
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.16. The Infanta was the ten-year-old
Isabella Clara Eugenia, Philip’s daughter by his third wife, Elizabeth of Valois. She eventually married Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, but died in 1633 without issue. Mary’s will,
written by her secretary Claude Nau, with corrections in her own hand, was drawn up in February 1577 and is in BL Cotton MS Vespasian C xvi, f.145. An extract, with notes by Robert Beale, clerk to
Elizabeth’s Privy Council, is in BL Add. MS 48,027, f.530.

24
Mattingly, op. cit., p.83.

25
Martin & Parker, op. cit., p.104.

26
See, for example, estimates of Spain’s annual revenues drawn up in
c
.1584–9 in BL Add. MS 63,742,
ff.99–105.

27
Welwood,
Most Material Transactions
. . ., pp.8–9; Read, op. cit., vol. 3, fn. pp.285–6 and the ‘Life of
Sutton’ in
Biographia Britannica
,
or the Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain
, six vols (London, 1747–66), vol. 6, pp.3, 852. There
is no mention of Sutton’s involvement in this conspiracy in the twenty-seven folios of his
Life
, written in the seventeenth century and now in BL Lansdowne MS 1,198.

28
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.127. Sixtus was the first pope to declare that abortion was homicide.

29
Meyer,
England and the Catholic Church
. . ., p.329.

30
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.51.

31
Ibid., p.114.

32
Ibid., pp.116–18. The king noted on the memorandum: ‘The papers that came did not say that [Mary’s] letter was written
in her hand, although considering the quality of the matter and the way that it is dealt with, it may be inferred that it was so. If Don Bernardino [Mendoza] has the original, it would not be bad
to see how it can safely be brought hither, as I do not believe it is here now. But we have a copy . . .’

33
Sir Francis Englefield to Philip II; Madrid, 17 June, 18 June, 22 June, 1587.
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.112.

34
The English spy codenamed ‘B.C.’ reported that initially Philip awarded Dudley a pension of six crowns a day. ‘If I
had my alphabet [his cipher for use in a letter-substitution code] I would say more touching his lewd speech.’ (BL Harleian MS 295. f.190.) Did the youth grow into the ‘Mr Dudley’
whom the exiled priest Robert Persons mentions in 1590 as being one of the seminary priests being sent to England that year? (HMC Salisbury, vol. 4, p.69.) Conversely, in BL Lansdowne MS 53,
article 79, is an account of Anne Burnell who claimed in London that she was the daughter of Mary I and Philip. Bizarrely, she had the arms of England tattooed on her back. However, she was shown
to be insane, caused ‘by her great misery and penury’ and having been ejected by her husband.

35
Sixtus V to Philip II; Rome, 7 August 1587.
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, pp.132–3.

36
Olivares to Philip II; Rome, 16 March 1587. Ibid., pp.38–9.

37
Martin & Parker, op. cit., p.105.

38
Olivares to Philip II; Rome, 2 March 1587.
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.28.

39
The full text of the treaty is in Meyer, op. cit., p.454. See also: McGrath, ‘Papists and Puritans. . .’, p.199.

40
Welwood, op. cit., pp.8–9; Read, op. cit., vol. 3, p.285.

41
The information came from Oda Colonna, nephew of one of the cardinals, who had been captured and questioned by the Dutch. Initially, no
one put any credence to his claims. Martin & Parker op. cit., p.106.

42
Strype,
Annals
, vol. 3, book 2, pp.551–2.

43
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, p.386; Corbett, op. cit., pp.192–3.

44
A quintal was a measurement of weight, equal to 102 lb (46.28 kg). The capacity of a butt, a large cask, varied, but generally was
around 108 gallons (477 litres).

45
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, pp.383 and 388.

46
Rowse,
Tudor Cornwall
, p.395.

47
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–90
, pp.387, 391, 394 and 399.

48
Laughton,
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
, vol. 1, pp.58–62.

49
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.24. Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in Paris, described Raleigh as being ‘very cold about
these naval preparations and is secretly trying to dissuade the queen from them’. In January 1587, he reported ‘several conversations’ with Raleigh ‘and signified to him how
wise it would be to offer his services’ to Philip as ‘the queen’s favour to him could not last long’. Raleigh allegedly agreed to prevent the expeditions to Spain or
Portugal sailing from England (ibid, p.1).

50
Rainbow
had been launched a few months earlier and was built on the lines of a galleass. She was commanded by Henry
Bellingham.

51
Among the London ships were:
Merchant Royal
(400 tons)
, Susan
(350 tons),
Edward Bonaventure
(300 tons),
Margaret and John
(210 tons),
Solomon
(200 tons),
George Bonaventure
(150 tons),
Thomas Bonaventure
(150 tons),
Minion
(200 tons). See: Corbett,
Drake and the Tudor Navy
, vol. 2, fn. p.68. A subsequent Spanish description of Drake’s fleet was: ‘Two
capitanas
of at least five hundred tons; two
almirante
of the same burden; another ship of the same build; two galleasses of extreme beauty each two hundred tons; seven ships of one hundred and fifty tons and thirteen large frigates of from fifty to
sixty tons.’ (
CSP Venice
, vol. 8, p.275.)

52
BL Lansdowne MS 56, f.175. The agreement was signed by Drake and examined and verified by Richard May, public notary.

53
CSP Spain (Simancas)
, vol. 4, p.97.

54
Ibid., p.63.

55
Thomas Fenner to Walsingham; Plymouth, 11 April 1587.
CSP Domestic Elizabeth, 1581–
90, p.401.

56
Hopper,
Sir Francis Drake’s Memorable Service
, p.5.

57
Corbett,
Spanish War
, pp.103–4.

58
The messenger was said to be ‘a base son’ (a bastard), of John Hawkins.

59
Hopper, op. cit., pp.28–9.

60
Neale,
Essays
, p.174 and Martin & Parker, op. cit., p.106. Mendoza was said to have three informants within the English
embassy – but these may all have been the same person.

61
Hopper, op. cit., p.29.

62
Cadiz was still recovering from a huge fire that devastated its older districts in 1569.

63
Mattingly, op. cit., p.96.

64
Ibid., p.97.

65
According to a French account of Drake’s attack. Corbett,
Spanish War
, p.117.

66
One had to be beached to prevent it sinking.

67
BL. Lansdowne MS 53, f.23.

68
Drake to Mr John Foxe ‘preacher’; from
Elizabeth Bonaventure
, 7 May 1587; BL Harleian MS 167, f.104. Drake added a
postscript in his own hand: ‘Our enemies are many but our Protector commands the whole world. Let us all pray continually and our Lord Jesus will help us, in good time mercifully.’
Foxe, the Protestant polemicist, never received the letter as he had died before Drake had written it.

69
Oria
et al
.,
La armada Invencible
, document 14 bis.

70
Mattingly, op. cit., p.107.

71
BL Harley MS 167, f.104
r
. Probably written by Robert Leng.

72
De Acuña’s reputation was damaged badly by his part in the fighting at Cadiz. He later served in the Armada merely as an
officer without an individual command.

73
Oria
et al., La armada Invencible
, p.230.

74
Martin & Parker, op. cit., p.109.

75
Hopper, op. cit., p.7.

76
Baldwin, ‘William Borough’,
ODNB
, vol. 6, p.671.

77
BL Lansdowne MS 52, article 39.

78
Hopper, op. cit., p.42.

79
Ibid., p.19.

80
Corbett,
Spanish War
, pp.107–8.

81
CSP Venice
, vol. 8, p.283.

82
Laughton, op. cit., vol. 2, p.101. Borough’s defence against Drake’s charges is in BL Lansdowne MS 52, article 31. An
account of the general court martial on board the
Elizabeth Bonaventure
on 30 May 1587 is in BL Add. MS 12,505.

83
‘Pompeo Pellegrini’ (alias Anthony Standen) to Jacomo Manucci, 3 July 1587. BL Harleian MS 296, f.44. Manucci was a
Florentine who worked for Walsingham in France in 1573–4 before being imprisoned. Returning to London, he lived in the parish of St Andrew Undershaft, as a controller of a section of the
English spy network in Europe.

84
BL Harleian MS 6,994, f.76. Walsingham’s plan was supported by Lord Admiral Howard and the Lords Cobham and Hunsdon of the Privy
Council.

85
Murdin, op. cit., vol. 2, p.592.