by Des Ekin
To save space, regularly cited sources such as a4m, CSPI, CSPS, Pac., etc are abbreviated. These are listed alphabetically in the Bibliography with full references. The main characters are referred to by their initials: JdA, CB, Ho’N and so on. For brevity, many of the Spanish documents are referenced simply by writer, recipient and date rather than the formal AGS Legajo citations, although I have all of those. Spanish documents are dated in New Style.
Quotes in the text that are clearly attributed to Bustamante, Farmer, Gainsford, Philip O’Sullivan Beare, and ‘the Irish annalist’ [Annals of the Four Masters] are all taken from their respective works listed in the Bibliography and will not be further referenced below.
TITLE ‘The Last Armada’
I am using the word Armada (literally, any ‘navy’ or ‘fleet’) in the popular English-language sense of the great Spanish war flotillas that set out to invade England during the Elizabethan era. I am aware of later naval expeditions. (Years after I had chosen this title for my upcoming book, I discovered that the same title had coincidentally been used by historian John Thuillier in an article for World of Hibernia magazine (Sept 22, 2001). I am happy to acknowledge this.)
Subtitle ‘100 days’: JdA defended Kinsale in hostile territory from Sep 22 until hostilities ceased on Dec 31. You could argue that the full-scale military investment began a bit later and ended a bit later.
JdA’s ‘devil’ quote: CSPI p292; another version appears in Bacon, Francis (1629) Miscellancy
Preface
All these topics are thoroughly described and referenced in later chapters. ‘Brilliant example of combined pluck’ is from Standish O’Grady (1893) The Bog of Stars London: Fisher Unwin p107
Chapter 1: Tinker, Tailor … Soldier
Richard Boyle’s account of his epic trip appears in The Earl of Cork’s True Remembrances (1632, Ms) and is quoted in Bagwell pp 414-415
His route, timings, and credibility: Townshend, Dorothea (1904) The Life and Letters of the Great Earl of Cork London: Duckworth, p27; Lee, Sidney and Onions, C. T. (eds) (1916) Shakespeare’s England vol 1 Oxford: Clarendon p202; Bagwell pp 414-415; Jones, Frederick (1958) Mountjoy 1563-1606 Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds p218
Posting, speeds, used by Shakespeare: Mor Itin v3 p479 (10 mph); St Clare Byrne, M (1925) Elizabethan Life London: Methuen p111 (70 miles a day); Lee & Onions, op. cit., p202
Carew, Cecil clique and rivals: Bruce pp xv-xvii; Maclean p85 and footnote; rec, Bucholz, Robert and Newton, Key (2009) Early Modern England 1485-1714 Chichester: Wiley pp 154-156
Important who brought news first: My analysis; Townshend, op. cit. pp 27-28; rec, Jones Mountjoy, op. cit. p218; rec, Morgan, BoK, pp 379-381; see Mor Itin v3 p108
Stench, 3rd largest, population, 450 acres: rec, Bryson, Bill (2007) Shakespeare London: Harper Press pp 44-50
Boyle’s intrigues: Townshend, op. cit. pp15-16
Globe, Hamlet: The Register of the Stationers’ Company said in 1602 that Hamlet was ‘lately acted’ by the LC Men. A 1601 date is most likely.
Mansion on Strand: Boyle, Remembrances; Ravenscroft, Dennis (1914) The House of Cecil London: Constable p40
Cecil stature, appearance, ‘pigmy’, ‘Toad’, lampoons: Ravenscroft, Dennis (1914) The Cecil Family Harvard: Houghton Mifflin Chapter 8; Bruce, page xiii; rec, Brimacombe, Peter (2000) All the Queen’s Men Stroud: Sutton pp 67-69
Cecil’s Machiavellian control: rec, Brimacombe, op. cit., pp 67-68; ‘not even the Queen’, see Chapter 37
Over supper… defeat: Summary of story told in greater depth later.
Cecil worried: As evidenced by his letters to Carew. See Chapter 34
2 am: Boyle, Remembrances.
Essex plot: A Declaration Touching the Treasons [etc] in Camden Annales; Camden, History… v4 pp604-612; Spedding v4 pp244+
Hundreds of nobles, moles: In Camden, History p606, Essex estimates ‘about 120 earls, barons, knights and gentlemen’ secretly supported him. Spedding, p209 says ‘300 gentlemen’ were involved; also see letter CB-James VI 1599 in Spedding pp 168-170; CB entry in Ox. Dict. Nat. Biog; Strachey pp 228-230
‘A leprosy…’, ‘The dregs…’: A Declaration, op. cit.; Spedding p247
Suppressed: Bruce page xviii; Maclean pp 90-91 footnote
Danvers declaration: Hatfield Mss vol lxxxiii no 108, reproduced in Birch p100+; also in Spedding p333+. Extracts and analysis, Spedding pp 168-171; Strachey pp167-171.
This military figure… the plot: Explained in depth later.
Could cut deal with Ho’N: Mooted in Confession of Thomas Lee, Feb 14, see Spedding p214
Deal with Spanish: See chapter 32. English fears over Sp. deal, see CalCarew p216
Cecil’s worries about CB: See his letter in Maclean pp 90-91 and footnote
Cecil-Carew codes; CalCarew pp124-125; decoded in Maclean pp 90-91
‘How far…’ and ‘domestic fortune’: CalCarew pp 124-125
‘He is either…’: CSPI p85
‘Domestic fortune’ is Penelope: Maclean p91 footnote
At 38 years… under interrogation: All explained in depth with sources in Chapter 19 and Chapter 34. Sidney quotes, Astrophil and Stella. Essex quotes from Letter to CB from Nottingham 31/5/1601 cited in Spedding pp 236-237
Macbeth: Written around 1603-1606, just after PR’s fall from grace
PR as dark lady: See footnote 193.21 to Oxford University Press 1998 edition of Joyce’s Ulysses. Dedalus quote, p142 and p193 (comparison with Hathaway)
Now it was… for Blount’s sake: All explained in depth with sources in Chapter 19 and Chapter 34
Campion quote from Umbra (1619), line 316
‘I made a speedy…’ and ‘By seven…’: Boyle, op.cit.
Similar journeys: Townshend, op. cit. p27 and Lee, Sidney op. cit. pp 201-202
Description palace: Hurault, André, Sieur de Maisse (c1599), A Journal…; rec, Hibbert, Christopher (2010) The Virgin Queen London: Tauris Parke pp 249-251
Bedchamber, Essex: Boyle, op. cit.; Camden, History… p574
The reality… tiny black eyes: Hurault, op. cit. p55; and Hentzner, Paul (1598) cited in Rye, William B. (1865) England as Seen by Foreigners… London: Smith, p 103+
Hand kiss, Queen’s quote, request for details: Boyle, op. cit.
Chapter 2: ‘Haste, Haste for Your Life’
Saxey’s role, 100 men, 60 volunteers: CSPI p91. The overall commander at Kinsale was Sir Richard Percy (Camden, Annales, 71)
Reports of 55 ships: Meade to Blount, CSPI p81
Early guesses of troop numbers: CSPI p83, p89, p90
Kinsale vulnerable to attack, size of walls, two mills, ovens: JdA Discourse quoted in pac (1810 ed) p341; O’Sullivan, Florence (1905) Kinsale in Cork Historical & Archaelogical Society Journal Vol XI No 65; Information from Jordan Roche (Nov 7 1601) in AGS GA 3143, reproduced in Morgan BoK pp 356-357 and in García Hernán pp 170-171
‘The town is…:’ Visitor, 1790, cited in (rec) Hickey, Nora (1985) Kinsale, Glimpses of a Town Kinsale: Hickey p17
Standard arrangement: As explained by Antonia Fraser (2011) in her Cromwell (Hachette e-book)
Smerwick: More details in chapter 12
Arrived Matthew’s Day: CSPI p83
Mnemonic: cited in Spicer, Dorothy Gladys (1954) Yearbook of English Festivals New York: H. W. Wilson.
‘The air is laden…’: Cited in (rec) O’Sullivan, Florence (1916) The History of Kinsale Dublin: Duffy p3
‘There are perpetual…’ and ‘One of the finest…’: cited in Hickey, Kinsale…
Famousest: Boate, Gerard (1657) Ireland’s Natural History, ch 2
‘Headland of the sea’ or ‘smooth basin’: both Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary (1837)
Tidal flow: To author by local mariner
‘Picturesquely nestled…’: A Mrs Woods (1863) cited in Hickey, Kinsale
Links with Spain, exports, imports: rec, O’Sullivan, F., op. cit. p12; Falls, Eliz… p20; for more on Irish trade, rec,’Imports and Expor
ts’ in Keenan, Desmond (2010) Ireland 1170-1509 USA: Xlibris
Such connections… olive groves: My observations
‘With black hair… swollen’: Cited in Hickey, Kinsale p22. The SW Irish professed kinship with Spanish: see The Book of Invasions and pac O’G v2 p48. DNA research has supported this: see RTE 2009 documentary Blood of the Irish
200 houses, population: O’Sullivan, F, op. cit. p40; rec, Morgan, BoK p355
‘Fairly good fish’: Cited in Hickey Kinsale, p17
‘All our men…’: O’Sullivan, F, op. cit. p20
1594 blaze: Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary (1837)
In imagining… 400 years old: I compared modern maps with the pac map, TCD picture map and others, and checked dates of buildings.
Friary: rec, S. M. Hession (2010) A Short History of the Carmelite Friary, Kinsale p2-3
Preparing to flee, mayor welcome: See notes to Chapter 6
Meade letter: CSPI p81
Steene testimony and ‘old man’: CSPI p89
Chapter 3: The Man Born without Fear
JdA in prison cell and reasons: CSPI p238, confirmed by diary of Córdoba p70. Also see Duro p218. Many reasons have been advanced, some highly imaginative, as critically demonstrated by Mangan in‘Trial’
Offered command of expedition: Davila GG p246
Invasion plan as outlined to JdA: This is a fair paraphrase of the Spanish authorities’ complacent and insanely optimistic attitude to the invasion, as outlined in the Simancas letters and reports. They really did regard Ireland as a pushover. The expedition would be ‘easy and safe’ (CSPS 840 f687); it had ‘ease and cheapness’ (ibid, f703); and once in Ireland, the King could ‘do as you liked in England’ (ibid, f686)
6,000 fighters: CSPS 840 f699, f675 and f685
Irish ‘welcome’: CSPS 840 f675 April 24, 1601; and 840 f685 July 1, 1601; and 840 f703, undated 1601. Also see CSPS 839 f634, May 1596: Spanish will have ‘the whole country in their power’
1600 horses, needed saddles: CSPI p105; pac (1810 ed) p352; Mor Hist v2 p316, who says this figure is more accurate than other estimates of 400. It’s open to debate, but there were certainly hundreds.
No destination yet: CSPS 840 f699. More in Chapter 5
Oviedo and Smerwick: Explained in depth in Chapter 12
Ho’N and Ho’D control of Ireland, up to 20,000 force: CSPS 839 f641 May 1596, claiming total unity; CSPS 839 f634, May 1596, claiming 28,000 insurgents; CSPS 840 f685, July 1, 1600, claiming 16,000
Replaced by Catholic monarch: See notes on ‘Isabella’ below
Prelude to invading England: CSPS 840 f686; Mor Hist v2 p316, citing Spanish sources; CSPI p277, Carew quoting JdA; CSPI p438; Pac O’G v2 p95; rec Silke p94; for a general overview of Sp plans to invade England via Ireland, rec, Morgan, Spanish armadas…
Irish approaches to JdA in Brittany, letters: rec, Lyons, Mary Ann (2004) French Reaction… in Morgan, BoK, pp 241-245; rec, Mangan, Henry Vindication… p349; rec, García Hernán, p17; rec, Silke p27
JdA scepticism about mission: Based on his letters to King, see refs at end of this chapter’s notes; and his stated views about Ireland post-siege, eg CSPI p642; also rec, García Hernán p29
Irish ‘kinship’: Book of Invasions; eg Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare letter, pac O’G v2 p48; rec, Morgan, Spanish armadas, op. cit.
Attacked Armada survivors: eg, Captain Cuellar’s Adventures in www.ucc.ie/celt and, rec, O’Faolain p104, Morales pp 93-95
No unity, warring clans: According to an official survey (in Wills p308) there were traditionally 90 statelets, some very small, ruled by ‘kings’ or chieftains, each ‘making war and peace for himself’. Also see Cuellar, op. cit.; Hull, Battle of Kinsale chapter; CSPI Preface page lxxviii; rec O’Faolain pp 172-173; rec, Lennon p58 and pp 51-55
Pledges before Smerwick: See Chapter 12
Ho’N, Ho’D did not control towns, large areas: CSPS 839 f634, May 1596; also rec, Lennon p325
Most Catholic clergy against Ho’N: Thomas Leland (1773), History of Ireland vol 2, p306, footnote; OSB, p117; Hull, in ‘Battle of Kinsale’ chapter; rec, Connolly p246-9; rec Lennon p325; rec, Silke, pp118-9: rec, par 4 in O’Connor, Thomas, Diplomatic Preparations for Kinsale. Madrid: Universidad de Alcalá; also rec O’Faolain p176
Zuniga rejection: CSPI p238
Held out at Lorient: See Chapter 22
Should have attacked more cities: eg, Davila, A. C.; Monson v1 pp 306-307; Moreau pp197-198; Mitchel pp 201-202
Near suicide-mission to hold fort until Queen’s death, similar role to Blavet: Venetian analysis by Cavalli, CSPV f1025, Nov 12 1601 and Soranzo, CSPV f1009, Aug 22; Preface to CSPV Jan 1592-1603; CSPS 840, f686, July 11 1600; CSPS 840 f697, f698; rec, Silke p97, who says mission needed a ‘miracle’ to succeed
Isabella candidate: CSPS 840, f686, f684, f697 and f698; also see f733
James mistrusted, ‘shifty’: CSPS 840 f733; but also see f696 and CSPV f1001 July 28 1601
‘Those who say…”: Córdoba p108
Long, venerable career: Davila, GG, pp 246-247; Duro ch 5 and 6, note p69; Rayon & Zabalbura pp 46-133; pp139-307, multiple references; Corbett, Julian (1916) The Successors of Drake London: Longmans p323
Brittany campaign, motive, true motive, Lorient, Brest: See Ch 22
Cornwall: See Ch 32
Born El Barraco: Duro pp 69-70; Davila GG p75 and p246
Bequest: He put this in his will – see Ch 35
Landscape, area: Avila tourism, www.turismoavila.com
Early portrait: See JdA portrait and picture credits in this book
Men went to war, women convents: Davila, GG, p247; Carramolino, Juan (1872) Historia de Avila v1, Madrid: Libreria Espanola
Nuno, Dona Elvira, and St Teresa: rec, Bilinkoff, Jodi (1989) The Avila of Saint Teresa Ithaca: Cornell University pp41-42; rec, Alvarez, Tomas and Kavanaugh, Kieran (2011) St Teresa of Avila Washington: ICS pp 97-98; Gilí, Gustavo (ed) (1908) Vida de Santa Teresa Barcelona; Historia de Avila v1, op. cit. pp540-541
JdA early career: Duro pp 69-76 and Davila GG ch 6; Famien Strada, R. P., (1739) Histoire de la Guerre des Pays-Bas Vol 4, Brussels: Fricx, pp 84, 90, 139, 158, 159, 162, 181, 182, 276, 280, 295, 338, 333; Rayon & Zabalbura vol 73 pp 46-133; pp139-307, multiple references rec, Silke pp 96-97
Guarding galleons: Cecil Papers v4 April 10-20 1591
‘Signalise themselves’: Bentivoglio, Guido (1654) Complete History of the Wars in Flanders Antwerp: rec, González de Leon p57 footnote
Mutinies: See Ch 22
Spanish Fury: Hume, Spain, Its… p164
One story… while fighting: CSPI p164
‘Without fear’ quote: Fernando de Toledo, cited in Davila, GG, p246
Lined up for 1588 Armada: Lainez p217
Role in 1597 Armada: rec, Silke p32
Ibarra quote: CSPI p294
‘High opinion’: CSPS 840 f714, King to JdA, Jan 30 1602
Luminary: Dávila, GG, p246
Venetian references to JdA: CSPV f999 July 15 1601; f1025, Nov 12 1601
‘Wise man…’: ie, Florence MacCarthy, letter to Cecil, August 1602
Blount, Carew tributes: Mor Hist v2 p320; CSPI p139
‘To answer some…’: CSPI p238
Unjust advantage: Córdoba p70
Yet the arrests… reputation: My analysis. Also rec Mangan, The ‘Trial’…
Wife, ‘house of sheriff’: Córdoba p70
Eminent historian: rec, Corbett, Julian op. cit. p323
‘Conceived great hopes’: Carleton, George (1624) A Thankful Remembrance
Lisbon famine, plague, ‘wilderness’: Hume, Spain Under… chapter XVI
Archer personal priest, ‘very fervent…’: Hogan p339
He was actually high… fighters: See Ch 12
‘Of the priests…:’ CSPI p160
When Águila… expedition: Letter JdA to King, Aug 1601; summarised in (rec) Morales (2004) p93; also rec, García Hernán pp 128-130; also JdA letter Sep 1601, summarised
in (rec) Silke p106; rec, García Hernán pp 137-139. Also see CSPI p467, ‘12,000’ men needed. For JdA general unease, rec Silke p106, Morales p93, García Hernán p24 and p29.
King’s motives: See Ch 4
Chapter 4: ‘For God, All Difficulties Must Be Overcome’
Queen’s drinking ritual: Ranke p53
King’s and Queen’s ages: Felipe born 14/4/78, Margaret 25/12/84
Scale of empire: rec, BBC A History of the World, episode 80
Inca was largest, swallowed: rec, BBC A History of the World, episode 73
Economic disaster, farming, corruption: Hume, Spain Under…; Watson, Robert and Thomson, William (1742) The History of the Reign of Philip III Vol 1 Basel: Tourneisen pp 6-10; Beaumont, A (1809) The History of Spain London: Oddy p317
10pc ‘noble’, clerics 20pc of land: Philip III and Spain’s Economy on www.historyteacher.net
Bankrupt third time, El Escorial: rec, Woodward, Geoffrey (2013) Philip II Oxford: Routledge p38 and p32
Bullion fleets, 35m ducats: Hume, Spain Its… p200
Ten trillion dollars: Estimate given in BBC (2012) Andrew Marr’s History of the World
Spent on cathedrals and wars: My interpretation. Rec, Woodward, op. cit. p34
Degrade coins, beg door to door: Hume, Spain Its… p201; Watson op. cit. pp 7-8
Poor because rich: Cited in BBC A History of the World, episode 80
Bankers, too big to fail: My interpretation. Rec, Woodward, op. cit. p38
King’s appearance: My description based on contemporary portraits
Father’s dominance, wife choice story: Watson, op.cit. Book 1 p3; Beaumont, op. cit. p316
‘Ah, I fear…’: Hume, Spain Its… p197; rec, Silke p33
Lerma, passed papers: Hume, Spain Its… pp197-198
Real monarch, two decades, ‘He has helped’ and ‘I order…’: rec, Watson, op. cit. p4; Ranke p55; rec, Feros, Antonio (2003) Twin Souls in Kagan, Richard L and Parker, Geoffrey (eds) (2003) Spain, Europe and the Atlantic Cambridge: University Press p38
