Spanish Armada Fiasco

The Spanish Armada encounter of 1588 was  an important and amazing battle. However, even today it is currently surrounded by common myths and confusions that date back to Victorian Era days. The battle itself was followed by 16 years of land and naval war between England and Spain in which the Spanish were mostly successful and renewed their control over the high seas, a basic fact that many texts and popular accounts often fail entirely to mention. Spain retooled its navy and shipped three times as much silver in the 1590s as before. The Spanish invasion force, moreover, was never referred to as the “Invincible Armada”; medical resources on the Spanish coast were mobilized with surprising rapidity and effectiveness to tend to sick and wounded returning sailors in 1588, suggesting that the Spaniards very much were prepared for the potential failure of the Spanish Armada and run-ins with rough weather. These are just a few of the common myths and short stories.

MYTH: The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was a decisive victory for the English that marked England’s triumph in its war with Spain. Spain never again tried to land forces in England after that, failed in its bid to end English buccaneering against Spanish treasure ships, and challenged England only on land, not at sea.

MYTH: The defeat of the Spanish Armada was the beginning of England’s control of the high seas. Spain never recovered from the Spanish Armada fiasco and relinquished control of the ocean lanes to the English. England’s status as mistress of the seas would be unchallenged for centuries as the British Empire grew in size, and the vaunted English navy could trace its dominance of the sea lanes to the Spanish Armada’s defeat in 1588.

In the late 1500's the musician Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) started with his musical talent. He was the foremost Italian composer of the seventeenth century. During his long career he mastered many forms of music, but he is best known for his operas. Monteverdi was one of the most experimental composers working between 1590 and 1625. During these years he introduced more expressiveness and drama into music, notably through what he called the stile concitato. As early as 1600, Giovanni Maria Artusi (c. 1545–1613), a well-known music theorist, criticized Monteverdi for engaging in harsh "modernisms."   to listen to Claudio Monteverdi's song Altri canti d'Amor  .