Have you ever heard of the Gravelines, and did you know it was the site of a decisive battle the Armada in 1558?
First of all, where is it?
Gravelines is at the mouth of the river Aa in Belgium, 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. It was built in the 12th century, at mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. It was a heavily fortified town in what in those days was called Flanders and was the western border of the Spanish Netherlands.
But it wasn’t a land battle it was one fought in the sea off Gravelines.
How did it happen?
It was the culmination and the decisive event in the Spanish Armada.
To explain, in 1558 the Spanish King sent the Armada under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, who was an aristocrat with no naval experience, even in those days it was jobs for the boys! Anyway, the plan was to bring the English Channel to Dunkirk. Then it was simple, when the fleet reached Dunkirk, it was to collect an army of 30,000 soldiers assembled by the Duke of Palma. This Armada was then to ferry these troops across the Channel to England, where, according to the plan they were to march on London.
Simple!
Well, it would have been if the Duke of Palma and his army had been there, but they weren’t!
Why was a Spanish Army there?
It was historical, at that time the Habsburg family controlled two empires in Europe. One branch of the family was based in Vienna, where they ruled the Holy Roman Empire. However, the other branch, as a result of some weird family relationships, was based in Spain and controlled Holland and Belgium, called the Spanish Netherlands.
Unfortunately, they were Catholics, while the population of the Spanish Netherlands was beginning to embrace the religious reformation that was currently sweeping across Europe. At this time the northern provinces of Holland had already broke away, demanding their independence. This meant that Spain had to site a large army permanently in the Netherlands, just to keep possession of what was left of their province. It was this army that the Spanish King Phillip intended to use to invade England.
What happened when the Armada arrived?
The Duke of Palma’s army wasn’t there!
Therefore, having been chased up the channel by the English, they had to wait! They were forced to anchor outside Calais, in open sea, while waiting for the Duke of Palma and his army.
What an opportunity for the English, they had tracked the Armada all the way up the channel and were waiting for such an opportunity. Then things got even better for the English, the weather turned bad, so to protect themselves from the storm, the Spanish ships closed up
The Spanish ships were transport ships large enough to take troops across the channel, while the English ships were smaller, lighter and more manoeuvrable. Then, the weather worsened, allowing the English to take advantage of this opportunity, and they pounced in the sea just off the town of Gravelines. Hence the name the Battle of Gravelines. Now, as the Spanish ships were so close together, they couldn’t move or even get out of the way quickly, leaving them sitting ducks. It was starting to look like a rout, as the smaller English ships were finding it easy to fire on them.
Then, as so often happens to us, the English, the weather intervened, unfortunately, not on our side! The wind suddenly changed direction, giving the Spanish a chance, and they took it and were able to limp away into the North Sea.
England was saved, but was it by Sir Francis Drake or the weather?
What happened to the Spanish?
Well, I don’t think the Spanish were actually saved. You see they were forced to go up the North Sea, over the top of Scotland and then down through the Irish Sea. There they came across another major storm that scattered the remainder of the fleet, leaving the survivors marooned on the Irish Coast. In the end it is thought that only 30% of the fleet finally made it back to Spain.
The Musical
This was an important event that our children should know about and therefore we have published our musical The Spanish Armada – The Invasion of England. Our aim is that children learn about the Spanish Armada, and have fun in the process while enjoying singing the songs along the way. Would you believe we even have a song where the Spanish sing about the fact that the Duke of Palma hasn’t arrived. It is called That No Good Duke of Palma and is sung by Duke of Medina and his crew while waiting for the Duke of Palma.
Go to https://history-portal.com/product/the-spanish-armada-super-performance-pack/ where you can hear two of the songs, read two pages of script, more importantly you can download it immediately.
Let’s make History Fun!
Some sites to learn more:
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/spanish-armada-history-causes-timeline
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Spanish-Armada/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-armada-defeated