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A30295
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The copie of a letter sent ovt of England to an ambassadour in France for the King of Spaine declaring the state of England contrary to the opinion of Don Bernardin and of all his partizans Spaniards and others : wherunto are adioyned certain advertisements concerning the losses and distresses happened to the Spanish navy as well in fight with the English navie in the narrow seas of England : as also by tempests and contrary winds upon the west and north coasts of Ireland in their returne from the northerne isles beyond Scotland.; Copie of a letter sent out of England to Don Bernardin Mendoza
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Leigh, Richard, 1561?-1588.
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1641
(1641)
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Wing B5729; ESTC R210031
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35,377
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63
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had besieged Barwicke and had won it by assault and possessed it quietly whereof no part was true nor any cause to imagine the same though I wish it had so been but not for any good will that I now beare to that King but for the trouble to this Queen For in truth there is no good for us to be hoped for from the King of Scots howsoever the Scottish Bishops in France have sought to make you beleeve otherwise who is so rooted in the Calvinists Religion as there is never hope that he can be recovered to the Church of Rome and so I thinke you are of late duely informed and by his violent actions against divers Catholikes and against all that favour the Spaniards may certainly appeare And likewise another great untruth was lately printed as your enemies say by your direction also in Paris that now in Iuly last when the Spanish Fleet and English had met and fought betwixt France and England the Spaniards had then a great victory wherein they had sunke the Lord Admirall of England with sixteen of the Queens great ships into the bottome of the Seas and that all the rest were driven to fly with the Vice-Admirall Francis Drake Upon these two so notable untruths which the adversaries spightfully called Don Bernardin Mendozas mendacia many who honour you were right sorry that you should give so hasty credit to publish the same as your enemies say you did though I have to my power for clearing of your honour given it out that these and such like have proceeded of the lightnesse of the French who commonly print more lies then truths in such doubtfull times and not of you whose honour and wisedome I thought would not be justly touched with so great untruths and lies considering alwayes a small time will discover things that are in facts reported untruly and bringeth the Authors to discredit and infamy There hath been a speech also reported here to have proceeded from you in France that hath caused a great misliking of you in Scotland which is that you should in open assembly and in a bravery say that the young King of Scots whom you called in your language a boy had deceived the K. your master but if the Kings Navy might prosper against England the K. of Scots should lose his Crowne and of this the King of Scots hath been advertised out of France and useth very evill language of you which I will not report But now to leave this digression and to returne to let you know the truth of the state of the Queens Navy this Summer The same was in the beginning of the yeare when the brute was brought of the readines of the Kings Armado in Lisbone and of the army by land upon the Sea-coasts in Flanders with their shipping divided into three companies the greatest under the charge of Charles L. Haward high Admirall of England whose father grandfather uncles great unckles and other of his house being of the noble house of the Dukes of Norfolk had also been high Admirals afore him whereof both France and Scotland have had proof Another company were appointed to remaine with the L. Henry Seymour second son to the Duke of Somerset that was Protector in King Edwards time and brother to the Earle of Hartford and these companies for a time continued in the narrow seas betwixt England and Flanders under the charge of the said high Admirall to attend on the Duke of Parmas actions A third company were armed in the West part of England towards Spain under the conduct of Sir Francis Drake a man by name and fame known too too well to all Spam and to the Kings Indias and of great reputation in England and this was compounded partly of some of the Queens owne ships and partly of the ships of the West parts But after that it was certainly understood that the great Navy of Spaine was ready to come out from Lisbone and that the fame thereof was blowne abroad in Christendome to be invincible and so published by books in print The Queen and all her Councell I am sure whatsoever good countenance they made were not a little perplexed as looking certainly for a dangerous fight upon the Seas and after that for a landing and invasion Whereupon the Lord Admirall was commanded to saile with the greatest ships to the West of England towards Spaine to joyne with Drake whom he made Vice-Admirall and to continue in the Seas betwixt France and England to stop the landing of the Navy of Spaine And with the Lord Admirall went in certaine of the Queens ships the Lord Thomas Haward second son to the last Duke of Norfolke and the Lord Sheffeld sonne to the Admirals sister who is wife to the Queenes Embassadour in France with a great number of Knights of great livelihood And at that time the Lord Henry Seymour was left with a good number of ships in the narrow Seas upon the coast of Flanders to attend on the Duke of Parma Whilst these two Navies were thus divided I confesse to you that I and others of our part secrerly made a full account that none of all these English ships durst abide the sight of the Armado of Spaine or if they would abide any sight yet they should all be sunke at the first encounter For such constant opinion we had conceived by the reports of the world that the greatnesse and the number of the ships and the army of Spaine being the chosen vessell of all the Kings Dominions was so excessive monstrous beyond all the Navies that ever had been seen in Christendome not excepting the Armado at Lepanto that no power could abide in their way But how far deceived we were therein a very short time even the first day did manifestly to the great dishonour of Spaine discover For when the Catholique army came to the coast of England which indeed the English confesse did seeme far greater then they looked for and that they were astonied with the sight of them yet the Lord Admirall and Drake having but onely fifty of the English ships out of the haven of Plimmouth where the rest remained for a new revictualling without tarrying for the rest of the Navy that was in Plimmouth they did offer present sight and furiously pursued the whole Navy of Spaine being above 160 ships so as the same with the furious and continuall shot of the English one whole day fled without any returning And after the English Navy being increased to an hundred great and small renued their fight with terrible great shot all the whole day gaining alwayes the wind of the Spanish Navy And as I am sorry to remember the particularities which the English have largely written to their owne praise so to speake all in one word for nine dayes together they still forced them to flye and destroyed sunke and tooke in three dayes fight divers of the greatest ships out of which
indeed was of the more credit first by reason of a new Bull lately published at Rome by the Popes Holinesse which I have seen with more severity then others of his predecessors whereby the Queen here was accursed and pronounced to be deprived of her Crowne and the invasion and conquest of the Realme committed by the Pope to the king Catholique to execute the same with his armies both by sea and land and to take the Crowne to himselfe or to limit it to such a Potentate as the Pope and he should name And secondly there followed a large explanation of this Bull by sending hither a number of English books printed in Antwerp even when the Navy of Spaine was daily looked for the originall whereof was written by the reverend father Cardinall Allen in Aprill last called in his owne writing the Cardinall of England which booke was so violently sharply and bitterly written yea say the adversaries so arrogantly falsly and scandalously against the person of the Queene against her father King Henry the eight against all her Nobility and Councell as in very truth I was heartily sorry to perceive so many good men of our own Religion offended therewith in that there should be found in one accounted a Father of the Church who was also a born subject of this Crowne though by the adversaries reported to be very basely borne such soule vile irreverent and violent speeches such irefull and bloudy threatenings of a Queen of a Nobility yea of the whole people of his owne nation Sorry and most sorry I am to report the generall evill conceit of these unordinate unadvised proceedings of this Cardinall of whose rash choice to such a place the world speaketh strangely as though he came to it through corruption of the Popes Sister without liking of the Colledge of Cardinals where otherwise the blessed intention of our holy Father and the desire also of the said Cardinall might without such fatall bloudy premonitions and threatenings of future invasions and conquests by the Catholique Kings noble forces have taken better place There was also to adde the more credit to these terrible prognestications such kind of other books printed in Spaine and translated into French as it is said by your Lordship containing particular long descriptions and catalogues of Armados of Castile of Andalouzia of Biscaye of Guipusque of Portingall of Naples of Sicil of Ragusa and other countries of the Levant with a masse of all kind of provisions beyond measure for the said Armados sufficient in estimation to be able to make conquest of many kingdomes or countries And one great Argument is published by the adversaries to stir up the minds of the Nobilitie of England against the Spaniards which is very maliciously invented to shew the intention of the conquest not only of England but of the whole Isle of Britaine moving all men specially to marke by the description of the Armado that there are specially named such a number of Noblemen as Princes Marquises Condes and Dons that are called Adventurers without any office or pay and such another number also of men with great titles of honour and many of them named Captains and Alferez without office but yet in sold and therfore called Entertenidos as all those being for no service in the Armada may be well presumed say they to have come to have possessed the roomes of all the Noblemen in England and Scotland and this fiction hath taken more place then it is worth And though these armies were indeed exceeding great and mighty yet they were so amplified beyond all measure in these books as in no preparation of Christendome in former times against the Sarracins or Turks could be greater By this meanes this Queene and her Realme being thus forewarned and terrified took occasion with the ayde of her people being not only firmly as she was perswaded devoted to her but throughly irritated to stir up their whole forces for their defence against such prognosticated conquests as in a very short time all her whole Realme and every corner were speedily furnished with armed people on horsebacke and on foot and those continually trained exercised and put into bands in warlike manner as in no age ever was before in this Realme Here was no soaring of money to provide horse armour weapon pouder all necessaries no not want of provision of Pyoners carriages and victuals in every County of the Realme without exception to attend upon the Armies And to this generall furniture every man voluntarily offered very many their service personally without wages others money for armour and weapons and to wage souldiers a matter strange and never the like heard of in this Realme or else where And this generall reason moved all men to large contributions that to withstand a conquest where all should be lost there was no time to spare a portion The numbers made ready in the Realme I cannot affirme of mine owne knowledge but I have heard it reported when I was grieved to thinke the same to be so true that there was through England no quarter East West North and South but all concurred in one mind to be in readinesse to serve for the Realme And that some one countrey was able to make a sufficient army of twenty thousand men fit to fight and fifteene thousand of them well armed and weaponed and in some countries the number of forty thousand able men The maritine countries from Cornowall all along the Southside of England to Kent and from Kent Eastward by Essex Suffolke and Norfolke to Lincolne-shire which countries with their havens were well described unto you in perfect Plots when Francis Throgmorton first did treat with your L. about the same were so furnished of men of war both of themselves and with resort of ayde from their next Shires as there was no place to be doubted for landing of any forraine forces but there were within eight and forty houres to come to the place above twenty thousand fighting men on horsebacke and on foot with field ordinance victuals pioners and carriages and all those governed by the principall Noblemen of the countries and reduced under Captaines of knowledge And one thing I heard of that was very politiquely ordered and executed at this time as of many late yeares was not used that as the leaders and officers of the particular Bands were men of experience in the warres so to make the Bands strong and constant choise was made of the principall Knights of all countries to bring their tenants to the field being men of strength and landed and of wealth whereby all the forces so compounded were of a resolute disposition to sticke to their Lords and Chieftaines and the Chieftaines to trust to their owne tenants And to remember one strange speech that I heard spoken may be marvelled at but it was avowed to me for a truth that one gentleman in Kent had a band of 150