brigantine Small two-masted oared GALLEY.
butt A large cask. Capacity varied but may be estimated at 108 gallons (477 litres).
cable length Measurement of distance stretching 100 FATHOMS (188 m), equal to 10 per cent of NAUTICAL MILE (0.188 km).
caliver Short-barrelled shoulder-fired firearm, superseding the HARQUEBUS.
cannon Muzzle-loaded ordnance with 7.25 in (18.42 cm) calibre bore, firing roundshot of between 30–50 lbs (13.61–22.68 kg) at ranges of between 300 and 2,000 yards (274.32–1,828.8 m). See also: CULVERIN, DEMI-CANNON, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
caravel Lightly-armed three-masted ship rigged with LATEEN sails, of between 80 and 130 tons (81.28–132.09 tonnes) displacement.
carrack Three- or four-masted ship type developed in late fifteenth century for service in the Atlantic with tall superstructures at the bow and stern. GALLEONS were developed from this design of merchant ship.
corslet Breast and tasset plates protecting the upper half of the body and the thighs, replacing the flexible ALMAIN RIVETS.
cromster Dutch shallow-draught ship displacing 200 tons (203.21 tonnes) armed with CULVERINS and DEMI-CULVERINS.
culverin Muzzle-loading ordnance with 5.25 in (13.34 cm) calibre, firing shot of about 18 lbs (8.16 kg) at ranges of between 400 and 2,400 yards (365.76–2,194.56 m). See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
currier Larger calibre shoulder-fired firearm that fired short arrows or quarrels.
dagg An early form of single-shot pistol.
demi-cannon Ordnance with a calibre of 6.25 ins (15.88 cm), firing a 32 lb (14.52 kg) shot between 320 and 1,700 yards (292.61–1,554.48 m). See also CANNON, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
demi-culverin Ordnance with 4.25 in (10.8 cm) calibre, firing shot weighing about 9 lbs (4.08 kg) over ranges of between 400 and 2,500 yards (365.76–2,286 m). See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
dice-shot Sharp pieces of iron scrap fired by ships’ guns as an antipersonnel munition, particularly to defeat enemy boarders.
drake Short gun similar to CULVERIN. See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
falcon Small cannon of 2.5 ins (6.35 cm) calibre, firing shot of 3lbs (1.36 kg) weight.
fanega Spanish measurement of dry volume equal to two bushels (70.48 litres).
fathom Measurement of depth, equal to six feet (1.88 m), originally derived from the distance between the fingertips of a man standing with his arms outstretched.
felucca Small Spanish LATEEN-rigged sailing vessels, used for reconnaissance and carrying dispatches.
flyboat Fast two-masted gunboat, displacing 140 tons (142.25 tonnes) or less, capable of operations in shallow waters.
fore-and-aft-rig Sails set along the line of ship’s keel.
fowler Light breech-loading gun used close-range against enemy crews.
galleass Three-masted ship developed from a large merchant galley, propelled by sails and up to thirty-two oars, each worked by five rowers, sitting side by side on wooden benches.
galleon Ocean-going ship with three or four masts evolved from carrack in second half of sixteenth century, displacing between 450 and 1,500 tons (457.22–1,524.07 tonnes). Lower superstructures and lengthened hulls provided additional stability in heavy seas. Sometimes termed GREAT SHIPS in English documents.
galley Shallow-draft ship with LATEEN sails running on one or two masts, with banks of oars on each side. Highly manoeuvrable and, with ordnance mounted in bows and stern, effective gun platforms, but poor performers in northern waters. Galleys made their final appearance in naval warfare in the Russo-Turkish war at the Battle of Chesma on 5 July 1770, between Anatolia and the island of Chios in the eastern Mediterranean, although galleys were used by the Knights of Malta during Napoleon’s siege of Valetta in 1798.
great ships See GALLEON.
horse Contemporary collective noun for cavalry, whether LANCES or LIGHT HORSE.
hoy Coastal vessel of around sixty tons (60.96 tonnes). The name is derived from the Middle Dutch hoey.
hulk Large three-masted, wide-beamed cargo ship.
jack Protective leather jacket for infantry, often with metal plates sewn on.
knot Measurement of a vessel’s speed equal to one NAUTICAL MILE (1.852 km) an hour.
lances Heavy cavalry, wearing three-quarter armour and armed with lance, sword, pistol and dagger.
last Measure of gunpowder equivalent to 24 barrels, each holding 100 lbs (45.36 kg).
lateen sail Large triangular sail on a long yard, mounted FORE-AND-AFT. Still used on Arab dhows.
league Measurement of distance, equal to three NAUTICAL MILES (5.556 km).
lee The side of a ship or an area of water sheltered, or away from the wind.
leeward The direction away from the wind, or down-wind.
levanter Large sailing ship built for service in the Mediterranean.
light horse Cavalry with only light personal protection, armed only with a spear and pistol.
luff Windward side of a vessel. To ‘luff’ is to steer its bows round to the wind.
lunula Spanish Armada’s crescent-shaped battle formation, adopted to protect its supply ships during passage up English Channel.
militia Citizen force of partially trained soldiers, funded by English counties.
minion Small gun of 3.25 in (8.26 cm) calibre, firing a 4 lb (1.81 kg) shot between 300 and 1,600 yards (274.32–1,463.04 m). See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MUSKET, SAKER, SERPENTINE and SLING.
morion Visorless helmet with curved brim.
musket Light breech-loaded gun in swivel mounting, sometimes firing large arrows as anti-personnel weapon. Alternatively, a heavy matchlock firearm, 4.5 feet (1.37 m) long, fired from the shoulder but employing a forked rest because of its weight. Superseded the CALIVER.
nautical mile Measurement of distance 6,076 ft in length (1,852 m) equal to one minute of arc along the long meridian.
patache Larger Spanish version of PINNACE, displacing up to 180 tons (182.89 tonnes). Sometimes also called ZABRAS.
petronel Cavalry pistol.
pike Long-spear like weapon, 16–18 ft (4.88–5.49 m) long used by infantry to defend against cavalry attack. Those carried on ships were much shorter.
pipe A large wooden cask holding 105 gallons (477 litres) of water or wine.
pinnace Two-masted vessel, displacing up to 70 tons, sometimes with oars, used for reconnaissance and carrying dispatches. The Spanish version is PATACHE or ZABRA.
prize An enemy ship captured at sea. Proceeds from the sale of the vessel and its contents were shared amongst the officers and crew of the ship that captured it, proportionally to their rank.
quintal A measurement of weight, equal to 102 lb (46.28 kg).
Queen’s ships English Royal Navy ships, funded by the exchequer.
run before the wind To sail in the same direction as the wind.
saker Small gun of 3.25 in (8.26 cm) calibre, firing a 5 lb (2.27 kg) shot, between 330 and 1,700 yards (301.75–1,554.48 m). See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SERPENTINE and SLING.
serpentine Light breech-loaded gun. See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, DRAKE, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER and SLING.
sling Type of small gun, used against enemy crews at close quarters. See also CANNON, DEMI-CANNON, DRAKE, CULVERIN, DEMI-CULVERIN, FALCON, FOWLER, MINION, MUSKET, SAKER and SERPENTINE.
socorro A designated battle group of Spanish ships, deployed to reinforce areas of danger to the Armada formation.
tack To sail obliquely against the wind.
tercios Spanish army unit, or larg
e regiment, with 3,000 men.
urca Round-hulled tub-like freight ship.
warp To move a becalmed ship by hauling on the anchor cable. The anchor is then moved forward by the ship’s boat, dropped ahead and the process repeated.
weather gauge A position to WINDWARD to other ships, advantageous in battle. When a vessel has to beat to windward, it heels under the pressure of the wind, restricting its gunnery. However, if a ship has the weather gauge, when it turns downwind to attack, it may alter course at will and is able to bring its port and starboard batteries to bear on its enemy.
windward Or ‘weather’: upwind from a point of reference.
zabra See PINNACE.
NOTES
Prologue
1 TNA, SP 12/1/7. Printed in Loades, Elizabeth I, pp.36–7 and Starkey, Elizabeth, pp.241–2, where it is cogently argued that her speech was made on 17 November rather than the traditionally accepted date of three days later. Elizabeth had arranged for her agent, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, to inform her of Mary’s death but his journey to Hatfield was delayed. When he arrived, his news was ‘stale’. See: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, vol. 3, p.102.
2 Feria Dispatch, p.336.
3 Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia, p.7; Strickland, op. cit., vol. 3, p.102.
4 For more information about this disease, called the sudor Anglicus, see: Mark Taviner, Guy Thwaites and Vanya Grant, ‘The English Sweating Sickness 1485–51: A Viral Pulmonary Disease’, Medical History, vol. 42 (1998), pp.96–8 and by the same authors, ‘The English Sweating Sickness’, New England Jnl of Medicine, vol. 336 (1997), pp.580–2.
5 CSP Spain, vol. 4, pt 2, pp.881–2. Mary’s voice was said to be ‘rough and loud like a man’s’ and could be heard some distance away.
6 CSP Domestic Henry VIII, vol. 10, p.51.
7 Succession to the Crown: Marriage Act 1536; 28 Henry VIII cap. 7.
8 Succession to the Crown Act: 35 Henry VIII cap. 1.
9 Somerset, Elizabeth I, p.13.
10 Mumby, Girlhood of Queen Elizabeth, p.29.
11 CSP Spain, vol. 10, p.206.
12 In early August 1553, one of her officials wrote a memorandum for Mary, inquiring how she ‘is answered of lead and bell metal of abbeys, colleges and suchlike: what remains and where . . . How the jewels, plate, ornaments, goods and chattels of dissolved monasteries, colleges and chantries and of all persons attainted since 4 February 1536 are answered’ (TNA, SP 11/1/22). In April 1554, she had £10,000 in proceeds from the sale of church bells available to pay royal debts (TNA, SP 11/4/6).
13 The religious houses re-founded by Mary were: the Observant Franciscan friars adjacent to Greenwich palace (April 1555); Westminster Abbey (November 1556); the Charterhouse at Sheen, Surrey (January, 1557); the Bridgettines at Syon, Middlesex (April 1557); the Dominican Nuns at King’s Langley, Hertfordshire (June 1557); the Savoy Hospital (November 1556), between the City of London and Westminster and the Fraternity of Jesus within St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The houses at Greenwich and the Savoy had been founded by Mary’s grandfather, Henry VII in 1499 and 1505. See: Rex, The Tudors, p.160.
14 CSP Venice, vol. 6, p.1074.
15 CSP Spain, vol. 11, p.220–1.
16 CSP Venice, vol. 6, p.1058.
17 Ibid., p.1058.
18 The execution took place on 6 July 1554. See: Machyn, Diary, p.66. See also Neale, Queen Elizabeth, p.48.
19 TNA, SP 11/4/2. Damaged but in Elizabeth’s hand. Missing portions have been supplied from an eighteenth-century copy in BL Harleian MS, 7,190, article 2, ff.125r–126r.
20 CSP Spain, vol. 13, pp.166–7 and CSP Domestic Mary, fn. p.53. High tide on 17 March 1554 came at one o’clock in the afternoon, so she must have written the letter at around noon at Westminster.
21 Somerset, op. cit., p.53.
22 Marcus et al., Elizabeth I: Collected Works, p.48.
23 Machyn, Diary, p.60.
24 News of Elizabeth’s release was included in an account of events at court sent by Robert Swift the younger to the Earl of Shrewsbury on May: LPL, MS 3,206, f.263.
25 Marcus et al., op. cit., p.46.
26 The title ‘King of Ireland’ was created by Henry VIII in 1542 after he was excommunicated and was therefore not recognised by the Catholic states. Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip and Mary as King and Queen of Ireland on 7 June 1555.
27 Rex, op. cit., p.155.
28 Neale, op. cit., p.56; Somerset, op. cit., pp. 64–5. A thousand copies of the seditious pamphlet had been seized by Sir William Gerard, Lord Mayor of London.
29 Worsley & Souden, Hampton Court Palace, p.44.
30 CSP Venice, vol. 6, p.1548.
31 CSP Spain, vol. 13, pp.372–3.
32 Loades, Mary Tudor, pp.380–3.
33 Porter, Mary Tudor: The First Queen, pp.404–5.
34 Feria’s Dispatch, pp.331, 335.
35 Philip II to the Princess Dowager of Portugal; Brussels, 4 December 1558. CSP Spain, vol. 13, p.440.
36 CSP Spain, vol. 13, p.441. The first list included the ‘French robe of cloth of gold, adorned with crimson velvet and thistles of curled gold’ which Philip wore on his wedding day on 25 July 1554 at Winchester Cathedral. There was also the velvet cap, decorated with precious stones and pearls, which he noted was ‘sent to me by the queen in the house where I spent the night before entering London [on 18 August 1554] and I wore it on my head on that occasion’. Another item was ‘a dagger which the Queen gave his majesty in England, complete with its stones and chain and the sheath with its stones and pearls, nothing being missing, enclosed in a case’. Philip added this comment: ‘This was sent to me by the Queen with Lord Pembroke one Garter day [23 April].’
37 TNA, SP 12/1/7; printed in Marcus et al., op. cit., pp.51–2.
38 CSP Spain (Simancas), vol. 1, p.7.
39 Rex, op. cit., p.185.
40 Mary I was also short-sighted, so much so that she could not ‘read or do anything else without placing her eyes quite close to the object’, Hayward, Annals of the first four years of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, fn. p.7.
41 Hayward, op. cit., p.7.
42 Philip II to Count de Feria: Brussels, 10 January 1559. CSP Spain
(Simancas), vol. 1, pp.22–3; Somerset, op. cit., p.136.
43 Memorandum from Count de Feria to Philip II; London, late February 1559; CSP Spain (Simancas), vol. 1, p.35.
44 de Feria to Philip II; London, 19 March 1559. CSP Spain (Simancas), vol. 1, p.37.
45 Neale, op. cit., p.79.
46 Elizabeth of Valois was the third of Philip’s four wives. His first was Maria Manuela, daughter of John III of Portugal, who died in 1545. Their only offspring was Carlos, Prince of Asturias, who died unmarried in 1568. His second was Mary I of England. After Elizabeth died following a miscarriage in 1568, he married his niece Anne of Austria in 1570. This marriage produced four sons and a daughter. Three sons died young and the fourth, Philip, succeeded his father in 1598.
47 Somerset, op. cit., p.135. For Elizabeth’s address on 10 February 1559 to Parliament on her determination to remain single, see: TNA, SP 12/2/22.
48 Rex, op. cit., p.185.
49 1 Elizabeth cap. 1.
50 1 Elizabeth cap. 2.
CHAPTER 1: The Enemy Within
1 Archer and Douglas, English Historical Documents 1558–1603, p.806.
2 Mary was the widow firstly of François II of France, then of the syphilitic Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and finally of dashing James Hepburn, Fourth Earl of Bothwell whom she last saw after the defeat of her army at the Battle of Carberry Hill, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, on 15 June 1567. Bothwell fled to Scandinavia but was imprisoned at Dragsholm Castle, Denmark, for ten years. He died there insane, on 14 April 1578, aged forty-four. His alleged mummified body reportedly could be seen in nearby Fårevejle church until around twenty years ago.
3 Mary’s army lost more than four hundred killed. Its main body never entered the fray because her general
, Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyle, with unfortunate timing, fell sick just as the battle began. She watched the fighting from Court Knowe, near Cathcart Castle, one mile (1.6 km) to the south. The site of the battlefield is marked by a monument erected in 1887 at National Grid reference: NS 57869 61716.
4 James Stewart, Earl of Moray, was the bastard son of Mary’s father James V by Lady Mary Erskine, wife of Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven. A leader of the Scottish Reformation, in June 1559 Moray had cleansed churches in Perth of ‘idolatrous’ imagery and in September 1561 he disrupted Masses conducted by Mary’s priests at Holyrood. He was assassinated on 23 January 1570 in Linlithgow, West Lothian, by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Mary’s. In one of the earliest cases of assassination using a firearm, Hamilton fired from an upper window, fatally wounding the regent as he passed in procession. The location for the attack was significant; Mary was born in Linlithgow Palace, now a roofless ruin alongside a small inland loch. Moray was buried in St Giles’ Kirk, Edinburgh, and is commemorated by a monumental brass, showing the seated figures of Religion and Justice, engraved by the royal goldsmith, James Gray.
5 Margaret, who died on 18 October 1541, was grandmother to Mary Queen of Scots, having married James IV of Scotland in 1503.
6 Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire, p.49.
7 The rood screen separated nave and chancel in Pre-Reformation churches. On top of the screen stood the crucified Christ, flanked by figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John. These were favourite targets for Protestant reformers during the reign of Edward VI, were reinstated under Mary I but were ordered to be dismantled by Elizabeth in 1561. One must feel some sympathy at the plight of local churchwardens, faced with frequent weathercock changes in government policies on religion which they had to implement at the expense of the parish.
8 McCann, ‘The Clergy and the Elizabethan Settlement at Chichester’, pp.100–1; Birt, Elizabethan Religious Settlement, pp.427–30; Duffy, Stripping of the Altars, pp.494 and 577.
9 Cox, ‘Ecclesiastical History’, pp.74–5.
10 See my House of Treason for an account of the vicissitudes of the ambitious Howard family under the Tudors.
The Spanish Armada Page 36
