The Spanish Armada

Summary

Summary of "The Spanish Armada" Episode from Not Just the Tudors

Not Just the Tudors, hosted by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb, delves into the intricate history of the Spanish Armada in the episode titled "The Spanish Armada," released on October 21, 2024. Joining Professor Lipscomb is Professor Geoffrey Parker, an esteemed historian and co-author of the authoritative book Armada, the Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance in 1588. This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of the Spanish Armada's rise and fall, examining the key factors that led to its failure and the profound consequences that followed.

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1. Introduction and Guest Background

[01:23]
Professor Lipscomb welcomes Professor Geoffrey Parker, highlighting his extensive academic background and his seminal work on the Spanish Armada. She praises his latest book, emphasizing its clarity and engaging narrative, making it accessible despite its substantial length.

Notable Quote:
Professor Lipscomb: "No one should be put off by the size of this book or indeed the weight of it, because it is an absolute joy to read." [04:11]

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2. Philip II’s Ambitious Plans and Leadership Style

Professor Parker discusses King Philip II of Spain’s determination to conquer England and restore Catholicism. He outlines Philip's initial plans, which included coordinating a naval fleet with a substantial army to seize London and dethrone Queen Elizabeth I.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "Philip perhaps thinks, you know, I did it once. He's an armchair strategist." [12:34]

He contrasts Philip’s centralized and rigid decision-making style with Elizabeth I's more collaborative approach, highlighting Philip’s overconfidence and lack of adaptability as critical flaws.

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3. Elizabeth I’s Strategic Defense and Naval Preparations

Professor Parker explains how Elizabeth I responded to the imminent threat by convening her naval commanders to formulate a cohesive defense strategy. Unlike Philip, Elizabeth empowered her commanders with the autonomy to make on-the-spot decisions, enhancing the effectiveness of her naval responses.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "Elizabeth has realized that she cannot control everything, as Philip once had done." [12:53]

He also details the advancements in English ship design, spearheaded by John Hawkins, which resulted in faster, more maneuverable ships capable of long voyages and effective in battle.

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4. Preparations of the Spanish Armada: Ships and Military Organization

The discussion moves to the logistical preparations undertaken by Spain, including the assembly of a fleet of approximately 130 ships and the coordination with the Duke of Parma, who commanded the 30,000-strong army in the Netherlands. Professor Parker emphasizes the challenges of organizing such a vast armada and the inherent risks in Philip’s overambitious plans.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "Philip is there making the plans himself, sending them out to the commanders and saying, I don't want any arguments. Just do it." [12:34]

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5. Delays and Leadership Changes: Medina Sidonia Takes Command

Professor Parker narrates the critical delays in the Armada’s departure, primarily caused by internal sabotage and logistical issues. The death of Santa Cruz from typhoid and the subsequent appointment of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an inexperienced commander, further destabilized the Armada's leadership structure.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "Medina Sidonia has managed to get it to sea. It's what he's good at. He even commandeers a printing press." [24:21]

Medina Sidonia's reluctance and the breakdown in communication with Philip II exacerbated the Armada's vulnerabilities.

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6. The Armada at Sea: Communication Failures and Strategic Missteps

Upon setting sail, the Armada faced significant communication challenges. Professor Parker explains how Medina Sidonia's inability to effectively coordinate with the Duke of Parma led to disjointed efforts and a lack of unified strategy. The rigid adherence to Philip’s flawed plans prevented timely adjustments in response to changing maritime conditions.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "The Fleet doesn't have 36 hours. The experienced English commanders realize that the one way to break the order of the armada up is to send fireships." [37:09]

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7. The Battle with English Fireships and Tactical Efficacy

The episode highlights the pivotal moment when English fireships disrupted the Armada’s formation off Calais. Professor Parker details how the Spanish fleet's semi-circular formation made them vulnerable to fireships, leading to chaos and fragmentation of their cohesive battle line.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "The Armada commanders see these fireships coming to us, and they all know what they mean... they leave them a Calais and they lose their order." [38:59]

This tactical maneuver by the English under Admiral Howard of Effingham effectively neutralized the Armada’s firepower and set the stage for their eventual defeat.

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8. Aftermath and Consequences of the Armada’s Defeat

Professor Parker describes the harrowing aftermath of the battle, including the Armada’s retreat through treacherous Atlantic waters. Severe weather conditions compounded by inadequate provisions led to catastrophic losses, with numerous ships wrecked along the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. The episode touches on the human toll, citing personal accounts of suffering and massacre among the stranded sailors.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "Several thousand men on board the Armada are killed in Ireland and several hundred, if not thousand more die because they don't have food, or, more important, they don't have water." [43:30]

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9. Conclusion: Analyzing the Failure of the Spanish Armada

In concluding the episode, Professor Parker identifies the primary reasons for the Armada’s failure: strategic missteps due to poor leadership and communication, the effective English naval tactics, and the devastating impact of unfavorable weather. He underscores that while the English tactics played a significant role, it was ultimately a combination of human error and natural forces that sealed the Armada’s fate.

Notable Quote:
Professor Parker: "The weather which hits them as they get into the Atlantic that turns it into a catastrophe. Far more ships are destroyed and damaged by the storm than by the English." [44:25]

Professor Lipscomb echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of the Armada’s downfall and inviting listeners to explore the detailed accounts in Parker and Martin’s comprehensive work.

Notable Quote:
Professor Lipscomb: "For those who would like to understand every moment at which things went wrong and how it could possibly have been otherwise, there's a whole chapter on what would have happened if the Armada succeeded." [45:11]

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Not Just the Tudors provides an in-depth analysis of the Spanish Armada, shedding light on the intricate interplay of leadership, strategy, and environmental factors that led to one of history's most famous naval defeats. Through Professor Parker's expert insights and detailed recounting, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of why the Armada failed and the enduring legacy of this pivotal moment in Tudor history.

Transcript

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Thanks for listening to Not Just the Tudors to get all History Hit podcasts ad free early access and bonus episodes, head over to historyhit.com subscribe and you can sign up on Apple Podcasts with just one click.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

But these aren't your average orcas.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Did you get those social media posts.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Aye aye Captain.

[Don Wildman]

We even have an automated notification for.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

All pod managers when they go live. They use Monday.com to keep their teamwork sharp, their communication clear and their goals in sight.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Go to Monday.com to dive deeper.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to Not Just the Tudors From History Hit, the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs, from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to samurais, relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft. Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors. Philip ii, King of Spain, was determined to conquer England and restore the Catholic faith. In July 1588 he sent a fleet of around 130 ships from Corunna to conquer England. The intention was that it should hold off the English Navy, meet up with the 30, 000 strong Spanish army under the command of Philip's nephew, the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands, and transport the troops to England to secure the capital and topple England's heretic Queen Elizabeth I. It has become known as the Spanish word for fleet, the Armada. But the plan failed spectacularly. Often a focus is put on analyzing this failure on the heroic actions of Sir Francis Drake, the English decision to use fireships and the unusual climactic conditions. The Spanish efforts are belittled. It is reported that Philip said, I sent my ships to fight against men and not against the winds and waves. God, but is this what really happened? Why did the Spanish fail? My guest today is Professor Jeffrey Parker, who with his co author Colin Martin, wrote The definitive and authoritative history of the Spanish Armada. In 1988, it was a British bestseller, but now its second edition is back. It's been expanded to 728 pages long with many extra chapters. It came out in 2023, and it is called Armada, the Spanish Enterprise and England's deliverance. In 1588, Professor Parker taught at Cambridge and St. Andrews University in the uk, the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Universities of Yale and Illinois in the U.S. before becoming the Andreas Dorpelin professor of European History at Ohio State University in 1997. He has published over 100 articles and 40 books, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. And he's even graced this podcast before to discuss the career of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. So I am delighted to welcome him back. I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, and this is not just the Tudors. Professor Parker. Geoffrey, it is an absolute joy to speak to you again.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Yeah, likewise, Susanna. I remember our last meeting. Great pleasure.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

So, this wonderful new book, no one should be put off by the size of this book or indeed the weight of it, because it is an absolute joy to read. It is so clear, it's compelling, it grabs you and you run along with it. You know, I read it in a couple of days, so I would recommend it to people highly. But let's talk about what is new about this new book.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Well, spoiler alert. The Spaniards still lose. It's how they lose and how we document the loss that is really new. In 1988, we published the first version. It did quite well. But I got a letter almost immediately from an assistant keeper in the Public Record Office, as it was then. Nicholas. Roger. And he said, well, very interesting, but you don't seem to have consulted this source in the National Archive, which is the account of all the British ships going out. You might be interested. So I was on the next flight to London to look at this, and Nicholas very kindly walked me through them. That's in the new book we found, all by ourselves, some new documents in Spanish archives. Above all, a journal kept by the deputy commander, a man called Juan Martinez de Recalde, who, it turned out, had intended to destroy his superior, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, because his journal was full of where Medina Sidonia had made bad decisions. And he attached letters to it illustrating how bad the decisions were. The letters were fascinating because he would write in the right hand margin to the Duke, and the Duke would scribble his comments and then send it back to Recalde. So Recalde had both sides of the story and he was all set to send it to King Philip II saying, you know, here's why we didn't achieve your goals. But he died first. She Medina Sidonia is never undermined. He retires to his castle. The King doesn't blame him, but if he'd seen the stuff by Recaldo that we saw, it would have been a different story. So there are the documents also underwater archeologists have discovered more about the erect Armada ships that sank off the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. It's more detail of what we knew before, but it's really exciting stuff and we hope that makes for a fresh account.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Well, it certainly does. And let us crack on then with the story of the Armada, because we have much to say. Let's start with the preparations for it. Can you give some sense of in Spain who the soldiers were, who the mariners, what sort of ships that they had available? What were the preparations for planning this great venture?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Well, although we call it the Spanish Armada, really, there's only one armada in English history, and that's the one in 1588. Armada just means fleet, navy, and the Spaniards called it the Felicissima, the most happy or lucky or fortunate Armada, Perhaps that was a bad choice, but the idea of invading England comes to Philip II in October 1585. We know that because it's when he gets news that Elizabeth has sent one fleet against Galicia and it's under Francis Drake. They've landed, they've sacked churches, they've taken hostages, they have really invaded his sovereignty. And at the same time, Elizabeth has sent her favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to the Netherlands to head up the Dutch fighting against his troops in the Netherlands. The news arrives simultaneously and within a few days he writes to the Pope in Rome. The Popes always have wanted England to be a recatholicide, and Philip has always said no. But in October 1585 he said, okay, change my mind, I'm going for it. And by the way, I expect you to contribute one third of the cost. So getting together the Armada is something that starts in 1585. Curious, isn't it, that it doesn't set off until May, June 1588. And part of the reason is that although Spain has some permanent warships, it has galleasses and galleys in the Mediterranean, it has what we would call cruisers, escorting the fleets that sail from America to Spain, Spain to America. And he is inherited, when he conquered Portugal, a fleet of pretty significant galleons, eight of them, which will form the forefront of the Armada in 1588. So 1585, he writes not only to the Pope, he writes to his leading admiral, a man called the Marquis of Santa Cruz, and say, all right, if you were invaded England, if you were to invade England, how would you do it? At the same time, he writes to his nephew, the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands, at the head of a very large force fighting the Dutch, and says, right, supposing you to invade England, how would you do it? And in 1586, the two commanders send their plans back to him. They both, of course, want the starring role. So Santa Cruz, naturally, sees a fleet from Spain which he will lead, doing a surprise attack on London. The Duke of Parma sees an army which he will lead landing on the coast of Kent one dark night with the wind behind them. 30,000 men will sail across from Dunkirk, Graveline, to England, land in Kent, march into London, and take down the queen. So here are two pretty good plans, and the king studies them, and he decides to combine them. He'll do both. He'll have a fleet from Spain which will go to Dunkirk and Graveline, pick up Parma and the army, and together they will land on the coast of Spain. It is, of course, unfeasible. A thousand miles of ocean separate the two. You would need everything to go right in order to pull that one off. Philip perhaps thinks that in conquering Portugal in 1580, it's also a fleet also commanded by Santa Cruz, and an army from Spain, and they take over the country in a matter of days. So perhaps he thinks, you know, I did it once. He's an armchair strategist. He never sits around a table with his commanders and says, okay, how are we going to do that? He does recall Santa Cruz for a session at the Escorial, but mostly he sits alone in his study and tries to figure it out, to combine the plans. And then he sends orders in 1587 for the two commanders, Parliament and the Netherlands. Santa Cruz in Lisbon, to be ready to sail. Now, I know this program is called not just the Tudors, but I have to say that there's such a contrast here between the way Philip does it and the way Elizabeth does it. Now, remember, this is the biggest threat she has ever faced or will ever face. And she does two things. When she's sure that the fleet gathering in Lisbon is heading for England, and she notices that Palmer is slyly moving troops from the Dutch frontier to the coast, she summons all her commanders to meet. And so she sits down maybe once, maybe twice, with all her fleet commanders and says, okay, guys, tell me how we handle this. And having done that, she does make a plan. But she says, if this doesn't work, I give you freedom to make your own decision. To you who are on the spot can take the initiative. If this scenario doesn't work, and the big scenario is, well, let's think that the fleet from Spain is coming first. So my navy will go to Plymouth, we'll leave the coast to Flanders, and the bulk of the fleet will go to Plymouth. Now, that's a big decision, because on that hinges the whole safety of the Protestant regime and the Tudors, because if the Spaniards had got ashore, I'm pretty sure England would not have lasted long. So Philip is there making the plans himself, sending them out to the commanders and saying, I don't want any arguments. Just do it. Whereas Elizabeth gets round the table and says, okay, guys, what are we going to do?

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

So it feels as if you're saying that the first important thing that goes wrong is a decision to take both plans, not to consult on it. And this speaks precisely to Philip's character, to his style of rule and the way he makes decisions more generally.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Yeah. In the first part of the reign, he does, in fact, make similar concessions to his commander. He doesn't do that. Twenty years later, in 1560s, he realizes that sometimes you can't control everything. In the 1580s, he's got the impression that he does control everything. It's not, I think, messianic imperialism, because both Elizabeth and Philip are convinced and their commanders are convinced that God is on their side. There's even exchanges where an English and a Spanish commander are face to face, and one of them says to the other, well, God is on my side. And the other one says, we'll see about that. So they're both in that same mindset. But Elizabeth has realized that she cannot control everything, as Philip once had done. But in 1588, he wants to control everything now. Remember, Lisbon is four days away from where Philip is. He stays in the escort, which is just north of Madrid, or in his palace in Madrid. When he writes a letter, it's four days before it gets to Santa Cruz in Lisbon, and four days before Santa Cruz can say, sire, this isn't going to work. Palmer's even more it's at least two weeks to get from Madrid to Brussels or to Dunkirk, and two weeks more for Palmer to say, son, this is lunacy. You can't do this. And Philip at one point says, believe me, because I have information on everything going on, and you don't I get the big picture and you don't. So, believe me, very foolish.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Why did Philip want to do this? I mean, why did he want to invade England and take it back to Catholicism in this way? Why had he become Elizabeth's enemy?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

There's really two reasons. He was married to Mary Tudor and he's King of England. Between 1554 and her death in November 1558, Elizabeth takes over. Philip very reluctantly invites Elizabeth to marry him, and she said, not really keen. For some time, Elizabeth and Philip get on reasonably well. But then here he does get a messianic belief that God wants him to conquer England. And a charlatan called Ridolf, or Ridolfi, comes to and says, I know just how to do this, your Majesty. And he plays to all Philip's weaknesses about God wanting it this way. And so he tries a very similar plot. There will be a fleet leaving from Spain and an army coming from the Netherlands. And it doesn't really work out. That's 1571. And for the next 14 years, he's prepared to put up with Elizabeth, occasionally sending pirates to attack his ships, sending troops to fight in the Netherlands, but it's really Francis Drake landing in Galicia, sacking churches, taking hostages and then sailing off, saying, wow, I'm off to the Azores, or Azores to intercept the treasure fleet. And Philip thinks, oh, my God. And then he gets news from the Netherlands saying, There's 7,000 English troops just arrived at Flushing. So in my view, he changes his mind very rapidly and that changes. October 1585. Up to that point, he receives a number of Irish exiles, English exiles. The Pope saying, go on, go on, you can do it, you can take England. And he says no. He even says, you know, first I need to recover the Netherlands, then talk to me about England. But when England, in effect, attacks him, he decides, right, were going to go for England first.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

We've talked about Elizabeth's style of decision making, but can we talk a bit more about the defenses, what you call England's 34 movable forts. And what was going on in terms of ship design in the 1570s. What did England have to offer, really? How could they stop the Spanish?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Well, unlike Spain, Elizabeth has always had, in fact, Mary. And before Henry viii, her father had had this standing fleet. Sorry, I'm going to be technical, but there's something in the English fiscal system called a warrant dormant, which means it renews automatically, and Mary introduces it expressly to build more ships. Remember, she's married to Philip ii, she's allied with Philip II she's fighting Scotland and France. And so the King Philip supports her in creating this warrant, dormant, so that every year there will be several thousand pounds spent on building new battleships. And Elizabeth first her advisers wonder if she's going to renew it because all royal acts or proclamations lapse when the sovereign dies. And Mary died in November 1558. And, and treasury gently says to me, congratulations on its succession, so pleased to see you. Are you perhaps going to renew the Warren torment for the fleet? And she says, yes, of course. So from 1558 to 1588, pretty big ships are being laid down mainly to protect the Channel. Most English strategists in the Tudor period think that the attack is going to come across the Channel. It's not going to be a landing Ireland, it's not going to be fleets going to Scotland and invading from the north, it's going to come across the English Channel. So they build ships which are good at that. And then in 1578, one of the Queen's naval advisors, a man called John Hawkins, who is the treasurer of the navy, says, look, your majesty, if you will guarantee me a certain amount of money, I think I can design ships which will sail a bit farther and above all sail a bit faster than these big galleons you've got defending the Channel. And so from 1578 to 1588, every year two new battleships are laid down on this new design. It's called Race Belt and it's got far more sails and it's got far more guns than any other ships in the world. There's not quite 34 of them. Queen does have 34 ships, but by 1588 only 24 of them are these new built or reformed galleons. Sometimes Hawkins takes in an older ship and strips it down and rebuilds it on the sleeker lines. But the key advantages are they can sail further, they can sail to Spain and back and they can sail much faster in a battle.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Let's imagine ourselves at the end of 1587 and Philip wants this armada to set out, but there is a delay in doing so. Can we talk about why that happens, what the consequences are and how we get Medina Sidonia at the helm?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

It's our man Drake again. Elizabeth authorizes Drake to go and damage the fleet that she now knows is accumulating in Spanish and Portuguese ports. Drake works out. But Cadiz, Cadiz is the easier touch. Lisbon is well set down. It's a very good harbor. It's got a large estuary where a large fleet can shelter. And Drake reigns He's never going to be able to go in there and do damage. But Cadiz is something different. And so in April, May 1587, he takes a fleet in. He flies a false flag so the Spaniards don't recognize these are English coming in. They're in fact, all in the main square of Cadiz, watching an acrobat, so they're not even looking out to sea. And in comes Drake and opens fire on the fleet. He burns quite a lot of stores. He destroys about 24 of the ships that have been accumulated for the Armada. And he makes various boasts. He says, I am going to stay here and prevent anything from the Mediterranean going to Lisbon. What he then says is, well, oh, did I say that? Slip of the tongue. No. I'm going to the Azores to intercept the next treasure fleet. And that really, really upsets Philip because he knows there's 13 million ducats on that fleet. And if Drake gets them, number one, he won't, and number two, Elizabeth will have the resources to mount a really, really dangerous defense. So he orders Santa Cruz to go to the Azores in 1587, and that's why the fleet can't sail until 1588. The tendency is to say that Drake does everything. It's not true. But on those two occasions, going to Galicia in 1585, and then, not content with that, he goes to the Canaries and sacks a couple of places there. And then he goes to the Caribbean and sacks Santo Domingo in what, in our Dominican Republic? And he goes to Florida. He burns down St. Augustine and then he goes back. But it's enough to make Philip think, you know, this. We can't allow this to go on. It's humiliating. It's dangerous. And then in 1587, he leads another fleet into Kiddiz Harbour and threatens to go and intercept the treasure fleet coming from America.

[Don Wildman]

In case you haven't heard, in the US it's a presidential election year. We're going to hear a lot of this is America.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

No, no, you're all wrong. This is America.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

But these aren't your average Orcas.

[Don Wildman]

These guys are organized marketing team.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Did you get those social media posts.

[Don Wildman]

Scheduled for the seal migration?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Aye aye captain.

[Don Wildman]

We even have an automated notification for.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

All pod managers when they go live. They use Monday.com to keep their teamwork sharp, their communication clear and their goals in sight.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Even orcas go to Monday.com to dive deeper.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

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[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming.

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[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

What is fascinating to me in reading your book is what this means immediately is the men who are waiting to do this have their morale absolutely sort of damaged by the delay, the supplies. I mean, you've got some wonderful details in the book about, you know, what the daily rations are. A lot of it's fresh food. It does not maintain itself after a period of time. I mean, the consequences of trying to feed this many thousands of people and to keep their spirits up whilst you're delaying and not actually going to the war are really profound.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

They are indeed. And they kill quite a lot of the people who've been assembled for the English invasion. And that includes Santa Cruz. He dies almost certainly of typhoid in February 1588. And Philip has to decide what to do next. Well, he actually has already decided because he's got so fed up of Santa Cruz saying why his plan won't work. He says, right, this guy's got to go. And he decides that what he needs next is someone who's got practice in getting fleets to sea. There's 100, 130 ships in Lisbon Harbor. How do you get them to sea. And the answer is you find the guy who's been sending the fleets to America year after year, supervising the efficient operation of the transatlantic trade. And that man is the Duke of Medina Sidonia. And so, within days of hearing that Santa Cruz is dead, Philip sends off a letter to San Lucado Baromeda and says, duke, cousin Duque Primo. He calls anyone primo cousin, who happens to be a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. I want you to go to Lisbon and take command of the Armada. Don't even think of objecting. But Medina Sidonia is no fool. He realizes that the Armada is in a terrible state and the last thing he needs to do is go up and be blamed for the disaster, which looks as if it happens. So he does write back to the King and says, look, your Majesty, this really won't work. What he doesn't realize is the letters that the King gets. I mean, the King is getting hundreds of letters a day. That's why he thinks he knows everything. But there's a screening process, and his two chief advisors open all the letters and decides what the King is going to see. And they open this letter from Medina Sidonir and they write back saying, well, we didn't show it to his Majesty because you would be seen as a coward. Everybody knows you've been asked to take command of the fleet. If you don't do it, you're going to be wrecked as a coward, you'll lose your reputation. So don't protest anymore. Just go to Lisbon. That breaks the Duke, he says. I mean, dukes are very keen on maintaining their reputation and prestige. And so he reluctantly goes to Lisbon, and within two months the fleet goes to sea. One hundred and thirty ships sail down the Tagus, gather off the Portuguese coast and head north. It's just an extraordinary achievement from a dilapidated, demoralized group. Medina Sidonia has managed to get it to sea. It's what he's good at. He even commandeers a printing press. And since there's 130 ships in the fleet, they're all going to need similar orders. So he has the similar order printed with blank spaces to put in the name of the ship what it's meant to do. And we found a lot of these in Simancas. Each hired ship had a dossier because it's hired and needs government issue. So there has to be a record of what it received so we can see exactly the rate at which the Duke is able to get the fleet to sea. There's Also some descriptions we found, which we thought were charming, of Medina Siddi, when you're actually getting into a rowing boat and going from ship to ship and saying, why are you still here? For what part of leave do you not understand? And there's several accounts of him shouting from his little rowing boat up to these enormous ships, saying, you know, just get to sea. It works. They're awful. It's been harder. And Medina Sardinia leads them north. Unfortunately for him, the wind decides it's not going to cooperate and it blows him back to Kibiz. And so he is eating. You were just mentioning, Susanna, that over the winter of 1587-8, they eat a lot of their probations as they're being driven south for Kibiz and then have to claw their way back. And in the end, the Duke of Medium Macedonia says, you know, we're consuming too much. We're going to have to go ashore and restock. And so they put into Corona. It's a very controversial decision because some of the fighting admirals, like Recalve, who I mentioned before, they are all in favor of just going on, you know, it's only a week to get to England, and once we land in England, we'll find plenty of provisions. But Medina Sidonia said, no, can't risk it. So they spend a month in Corona getting on provision, getting some new men. Everyone is taken ashore. Well, not ashore. It's taken to an isolated island so they won't escape. Everybody is taken ashore and made to confess and is given a little medal to show that they confessed before setting sail for England. And we know that because at least a dozen of them have been found on the arm directs, and they're all pretty well identical. They're cheap and not particularly effective, it would seem. But after a month, Medina said, well, you know, that's all we can do here at this point. We can sail for England. So he sails for England with 130 ships, and much to everyone's surprise, he does get there in 10 days, and another six days he's off Calais. So the Armada does very well, Medina Sidonia. Nobody disputes his right to command. He is, after all, Spain's senior duke, and he does the job into a job. It all comes apart when he has to anchor off Calais.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Let's pick up the story there then, because we've got the English ready and waiting at Plymouth. The fleet has made its way across the Bay of Biscay and up to the coast, up to the Channel. But there is a sort of major problem here. And in fact, actually, in some of the early interactions, it seems as if, although the English often have the weather gauge, the Spanish are the superior force. But we run into some serious errors of communication. Can you explain what happens next?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

After the Armada finds itself off the coast of Scotland? A lot of the commanders say, you know, where did it go wrong? Where did we screw up? And there's really two theories. Number one is we should have gone into Plymouth when the English is still there. We should have sailed straight to Plymouth and attacked them and destroyed the fleet at anchor. We could use fireships. We had fireships with us. But the Duke of Medina Sidonia has got very strict orders from the King not to do that. When he parks the fleet in Corona, he's back within range of Philip ii. The King says, hey, don't even think of stopping at Plymouth. Plan is the plan. You've got to go to Dunkirk. So the Duke does not authorize that. But afterwards, a number of the fighting commanders say that was the first big mistake. And what they don't consider is that the English could have used fireships against them as they were to do off Calais. So I think that's a moot point. They don't do it. I'm not sure it was such a smart idea. They sail in a semicircle position, just like galleys, because the big guns on most of the Spanish ships fire forward. They don't put much faith in broadsides. And this works. The English make several attempts to break up the Spanish fleet's formation on the way from Plymouth to Calais, and every one of them fails. Indeed, they begin to run out of ammunition. However, because they're off the coast of England, they can get on more powder and more shot. And they do. And they wait for the Armada to get to Callaan, go into anchor. Now, why Callaea? Not done. This is why. The Duke of Medina Sidonia shows that he hasn't quite grasped all the elements of command, because he does send a messenger to Parma when he gets into the Bay of Biscay and says, guess what? I'm in the Bay of Biscay. I'll be with you in seven days. How long does it take for the ship to get from the Bay of Biscay to Dunkirk? About seven days, State. He then sends off various other messengers. One from Plymouth, one when he's off the Sol and off Portsmouth, and another one when he's at Calais. And they all arrive at more or less the same time because, you see the Armada is moving very slowly. The messengers are slightly Faster. But by the time they get to Parma, who is now close to the coast, it takes time to mobilize 30,000 men and their horses. And he just doesn't have time. And we know that he doesn't have time because he sends the letters of Medina Sidonia to the king. The letter is always signed. They always stop by saying 31st of May or whatever it is, but on the back you say when you received it, and all of them come in at more or less the same time, and it's too late. So Medina Sidonia waits, and many of the fighting admirals say, we should have gone straight to Dunkirk, not Calais. The army is at Dunkirk. Palmer will find a way of getting everybody ready. And in fact, Palmer does. In the end, he embarked almost all his army in 36 hours. The problem for Philip II's grand plan is the fleet doesn't have 36 hours. The experienced English commanders realize that the one way to break the order of the armada up is to send fire ships. And they figure out that the tides and the winds on the night, by the Spanish calculation of 7th to 8th August, it's perfect. It will carry the fire ships just with their sails into the middle of the Armada in a matter of 15 minutes. And so the Armada commanders see these fire ships coming to us, and they all know what they mean. They've all seen fireships before. And Medina suddenly says, cut your cables and then return to them later. Well, the second part of the message apparently doesn't reach them because they cut their cables, all right, and they leave them a Calais and they lose their order. And as day dawns on 8 August in the Spanish calendar, Howard of Effingham forms his fleet into four columns, and they go right into the Armada, because now they can. Order has lost that formidable unit cohesion. They're no longer in a semi circle. They can be isolated. And the English just sail round and round certain ships. They pick out the ships they want to take out. Several of them were Portuguese galleons, and they just go around firing their big guns into them until they're driven onto the coast of Flanders.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Thanks for listening to Not Just the Tudors. To get all history hit podcasts ad free early access and bonus episodes, head over to historyhit.com subscribe and you can sign up on Apple podcasts with just one click.

[Don Wildman]

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[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

So this is so interesting because so often this story is told as if Palmer is being dilatory. He's not prepared. He hasn't got a sardine, let alone a soldier, on the ship, and therefore he's not making the right efforts. And it's his failure that leads to the failure of the Armada. But what you're saying is it is not at all his failure. What he does in the end is extraordinary, but it's the nature of early modern communications and possibly the nature of Medina Sidonia not to have understood that the problem of communication.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

As far as I recall, Medina Sidonia never left Spain until he embarked on the Armada. So he doesn't know what conditions are like not to realize that by the time you send a letter to the Netherlands and the time that letter gets there, he should have realized that. I mean, here is a guy who's sending messengers and messages across the Atlantic several times a year, and he knows they take about three weeks to get there. Why does he not realize that Palmer will do the same? Yeah, you're right. There's a blame game going on here. And a lot of the people on the Armada ask why wasn't Palmer ready? So that becomes one of the narratives. The fleet failed because the Duke of Parma wasn't ready. And his defense, and he does mount a defense. He sends a lot of letters to the King. He makes sense explanations because he realizes he is likely to lose his command and perhaps his head if the King thinks that it was his fault. So he points out the time difference. I didn't get the order to mobilize and move my guys to the coast until it was too late. But he then says, I didn't need to load on food. We're just traveling 22 miles, and the Armada is supposed to be there to protect us. But the Armada never came. So, yes, I had my guys embarked. They had their arms, they had their horses. No, they didn't have sardines or much food because they didn't need them. As soon as we get to England, I mean, we're talking July, August, the harvest is almost ready to be brought in. As soon as we get to England, we'll have plenty of food. What is the problem here? And in the end The King really punishes nobody. He doesn't punish Palmer and he doesn't punish Medina Sidonia. Perhaps, just perhaps, he realizes that it's his fault.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

So what are the consequences then of the fire ships attacking these sitting ducks no longer in that crescent formation and the firefight that's subsequent to that?

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Well, there's an interesting discussion. There's probably 20, maybe 25 firsthand accounts of what happened on the Spanish side. There's virtually no English accounts of just one Howard of Effingham. There may be others. Perhaps we'll find them one day. But there are plenty on the Spanish site, some published, some still in manuscript, and several of them say that on the day after the battle in which some Portuguese galleons, some other ships are either sunk, run ashore or damaged, Medina Sidonia orders all the commanders to come to his flagship and they decide what to do next. And some of those there suggest we're done for, we have to surrender. You know, England has won. And in any case, one says we could use it as a rouge de guerre, pretend to surrender, and then when we're close to the English, we'll take them over. Medina says, no, I am not surrendering to protest. We can't go back through the Channel. We know what's going to happen, just attack us again. Not true, because the English should now run out of Carter and shot. But he does. Medina Sidonia doesn't know that. He says there's only one as a possibility, and that's we sail north round Scotland, around Ireland, get back to Spain and we try again. He says we'll wait and see if the wind changes. If the wind changes, we'll go back and pick up Palmer, because I'm sure he's ready now. But he doesn't wait very long for the wind to change because the next day he has his little flag and that's the signal. We all go back to Scotland. Now, what effect does the English fireship attack and the bombardment fought, what effect does it have? Well, it knocks out quite a few of the fighting ships on the Spanish side, but it damages far more. A number of them, even Medina Sidonia's flagship, have got serious damage done to them by English round shot. And they get as far as the north of Scotland, there's very few losses between Calais and, say, the Orkney Islands. They sail between Orkney and the mainland, but when they get into the great Atlantic, they're hit by absolutely catastrophic weather. It blows against them, it blows them back towards Scotland, and a number of them either have run out of water, because they never came prepared for two months at sea. Remember, they take on their last provisions at Corunna and they therefore have to try and get into the Irish coast. Scotland is neutral, but it's not particularly easy to sail into Scottish ports on the west coast. Glasgow hasn't developed yet, but the Irish coast, they reckon they're Catholics, they might be nice to us. But of course, remember those anchors that were left off Calais? And one of the problems with ships is that the Creator didn't give them breaks. So without an anchor, you can't actually stop the ship. You can use your sails to a certain extent because. But if you have the wind behind you and you're heading for the shore, you're probably going to hit it. And that happens to around 20, maybe 25, maybe 30 ships. I say about, because some ships may have escaped and just gone back home. Remember that the Spanish Armada, the ships hijacked from Baltic, hijacked from the Mediterranean. The Baltic ships may just have come back to Damsig or wherever they came from and told no one about it, but they don't come home, they don't come back to Spain. From the various sources, we know that at least 20 and maybe more than 20 Armada ships are cast up on the coast of Ireland, where they meet an absolutely terrible fight as they stagger ashore after two months at sea. I just hunted down by the small English village garrison and the rather large Irish population, which sees a wonderful opportunity for plunder. And they're then surrendered to the English. And the English hang most of them because they are, after all, enemy personnel who are trying to invade. So there's a particularly moving document that I found from an Obermur man called Cordoba, and he's in the middle of writing his will and it ends. The hangman will not allow me any more time too. And that's it, obviously, the hangman puts the rope round his neck and off he goes to swing. And the only reason we know about that is that someone comes across the will and takes it back to Spain later on. But several thousand men on board the Armada are killed in Ireland and several hundred, if not thousand more die because they don't have food, or, more important, they don't have water.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

I mean, it's a terrible story of suffering and massacre. And I was struck, reading your book, absolutely, by that final unfinished testament, but also by the accounts of those who did manage to drag themselves to safety. The few Armada survivors give us, obviously not an insight into what's happened to most people, but just These few who make it out tell us so much about what had transpired. So we must bring this to a close. Let us think then about Medina Sidonia. Who makes it back, amazingly, though, a broken man. The remnant of the armada. And of course, then questions are asked about why it has failed, and we've been asking them ever since. So let's try and summarize, if we can, in the end, what it is that goes so wrong.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

I think there's two things. I don't think the delay in sailing mattered as much because in the end, they get from Corona to the lizard in 10 days. I mean, you can't do it faster than that. Not with 130 ships, some of which are pretty slow. They get to Calais. So the first catastrophe is the English break up the order of the fleet. They break up and they prevent the junction between Parma and Medina Sidonia. And without that, the entire strategy fails. So that's point number one, where they go wrong. But it's still a defeat. It's not a disaster. It's the weather which hits them as they get into the Atlantic that turns it into a catastrophe. Far more ships are destroyed and damaged by the storm than by the English.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Well, thank goodness that was neatly done. Thank you.

[Professor Geoffrey Parker]

Well, you said I only had a few minutes.

[Professor Susanna Lipscomb]

Well, it's perfect because now I can say, for those who would like to understand every moment at which things went wrong and how it could possibly have been otherwise, there's a whole chapter on what would have happened if the Armada succeeded. You're going to have to pick up a copy of Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker's wonderful book Armada, the Spanish Enterprise and England's deliverance in 1588. Geoffrey, this has been, as I anticipated, a great joy. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for listening to this episode of Not Just the Tudors from History hit and also thanks to my researcher Alice Smith and my producer, Rob Weinberg. If you enjoyed this episode and want to find out more about Sir Francis Drake, do go back and have a listen to our episode on Francis Drake's discovery of west coast of America. There are also more not just the Tudors maritime episodes like water Raleigh's quest for El Dorado, diving, Tudor shipwrecks, or Elizabethan England's seafaring musicians. And don't miss three special episodes where I explore the story of the recovery of the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. Well worth rediscovering those. The links are in the show notes for this episode. We're always eager to hear from you including receiving receiving your brilliant ideas for subjects we can cover. So do drop us a line at notjustthetudorshistoryhip.com or on X. Formerly Twitter otjusttutors. Remember, you can also listen to all of these podcasts on YouTube and watch hundreds of documentaries when you [e-mail] subscribe it is well worth it. And as a special gift, you can also get 50% off your first three months when you use the code Tudors at checkout. That's historyhit.com subscribe with the code Tudors and if you'd be so good as to follow not just the Tudors Wherever you get your podcasts, you'll get each new episode as soon as it's released.

[Don Wildman]

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