The Armada Tapestries were a series of ten tapestries that commemorated the defeat of the Spanish Armada. They were commissioned in 1591 by the Lord High Admiral, Howard of Effingham, who had commanded the Royal Navy against the Armada. [1] In 1651 they were hung in the old House of Lords chambers, which at the time was used for the meetings of the committee of Parliament. They remained there until destroyed in the Burning of Parliament of 1834. [2]
The Queen's Surveyor of Buildings, Robert Adams, had been instructed by Effingham shortly after the battle in 1590 to make maps of the engagements between the English and Spanish navies. [1] The Dutch painter Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom used these as inspiration for his bird's eye view designs. The tapestries were probably woven in the Delft workshops of François Spierincx. [1] Spierincx later supplied three (or five) other tapestries to James VI and I in 1607. [3]
By 1590 the Dutch were well accustomed to minting jetons and medals to celebrate their local victories over the Spanish army and in 1591 were preparing for a second invasion of the Spanish by sea by celebrating their role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 as well. Probably Effingham realized the propaganda value of that story and wanted to deemphasize the role of God and emphasize his own role as fleet commander. His commission was also honoring the concept of a "Royal Navy" led by Elizabeth I by bestowing upon her the role of national, religious and military leader. He presented the English fleet as a unified naval force acting in unity though it had been a loose group of ships which until then had preyed in a pirate's role on the Spanish treasure fleet, paid for by the admirals themselves. The narrative as presented by the tapestries make no mention of the Dutch participation at all.
The tapestries included portraits of commanders, captains, and other worthies in the borders. These included: Christopher Baker; George Beeston; Charles Blount; Robert Carey; Captain Crosse; the Earl of Cumberland; Francis Drake; Charles Howard, Lord Effingham; Martin Frobisher; Thomas Garrat; Benjamin Gonson; John Hawkins; Edward Hoby; Lord Thomas Howard; Master Knyvet; the Earl of Northumberland; Horatio Palavicini; George Pinner; Captain Penton; Lord Henry Seymour; Lord Sheffield; Robert Southwell; Thomas Cecil; Roger Townshend; Thomas Vavasour; Master Willoughby; and William Wynter. [4]
In 1595 Effingham paid £1,582 for the completed tapestries and they were clearly a success, for in 1616 he sold them at a profit to James I for £1,628-8-0. [2] The tapestries had already been displayed in the Great Hall at Whitehall Palace for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate on 14 February 1613. [5]
The tapestries were inherited by Charles I who was apparently embarrassed to be reminded of his unsuccessful expedition to Spain in 1623, and he had them moved to Oatlands. [6]
The ten tapestries were subsequently put in storage at the Tower of London. [7] In 1644 six pieces were hung in the White Chamber of the old Palace of Westminster where the lords of Parliament met. [8] After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Parliament ordered inventories of the goods belonging to Charles to be drawn up in preparation for their sale. The tapestries, listed at the Royal Wardrobe in the Tower of London, were valued at £2,113-10-0.
The Council of State decided to retain the tapestries of "the story of the eighty eight" for Oliver Cromwell's use at Whitehall Palace. [2]
The tapestry was returned to the old Court of Requests at Westminster, where the House of Lords sat. A German visitor Zacharias Conrad van Uffenback saw them in 1710 and commented on their poor condition. [9] In the 1730s a new doorway was made into the chamber, and a piece was cut out which later came into the possession of the Corporation of Plymouth. [10] Eight of the tapestries were cleaned and repaired in 1760 by Peter Saunders. [11]
In 1739 John Pine made engravings of the tapestries based on the drawings of Clement Lemprière. [12] Lempriere in turn used the original maps by Adams.
The tapestries can be seen in John Singleton Copley's painting The Death of the Earl of Chatham . [13]
1588 (MDLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1588th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 588th year of the 2nd millennium, the 88th year of the 16th century, and the 9th year of the 1580s decade. As of the start of 1588, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Earl of Effingham, in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837 for Kenneth Howard, 11th Baron Howard of Effingham, named after the village of Effingham, Surrey, where heads of the family owned the manor.
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Margaret Audley, the daughter and eventual sole heiress of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, of Audley End.
The House of Howard is an English noble house founded by John Howard, who was created Duke of Norfolk by King Richard III of England in 1483. However, John was also the eldest grandson of the 1st Duke of the first creation. The Howards have been part of the peerage since the 15th century and remain both the Premier Dukes and Earls of the Realm in the Peerage of England, acting as Earl Marshal of England. After the English Reformation, many Howards remained steadfast in their Catholic faith as the most high-profile recusant family; two members, Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, and William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, are regarded as martyrs: a saint and a blessed respectively.
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham, KG, known as Lord Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I. He was commander of the English forces during the battles against the Spanish Armada and was chiefly responsible for the victory that saved England from invasion by the Spanish Empire.
The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the Habsburg Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of England. It was never formally declared. The war included much English privateering against Spanish ships, and several widely separated battles. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of the Earl of Leicester, in support of the Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule.
Admiral Sir William Wynter was an admiral and principal officer of the Council of the Marine under Queen Elizabeth I of England and served the crown during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).
Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom was a Dutch Golden Age painter credited with being the founder of Dutch marine art or seascape painting. Beginning with the "birds-eye" viewpoint of earlier Netherlandish marine art, his later works show a view from lower down, and more realistic depiction of the seas themselves. He is not to be confused with his son and pupil Cornelis Vroom.
The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval experience appointed by Philip II of Spain. His orders were to sail up the English Channel, link up with the Duke of Parma in Flanders, and escort an invasion force that would land in England and overthrow Elizabeth I. Its purpose was to reinstate Catholicism in England, end support for the Dutch Republic, and prevent attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas.
Events from the 1580s in England.
William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham was an English nobleman, the eldest son of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham and Catherine Carey, Lady of the chamber to Queen Elizabeth who died 25 Feb 1603 at Arundel House, Strand, Middlesex, ENG.
Sir Roger Townshend was an English nobleman, politician, soldier, and knight. He was the son of Sir Richard Townshend and Katherine Browne. He spent much of his career in the service of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and Norfolk's son and heir, Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel. He was knighted at sea on 26 July 1588 during the battle against the Spanish Armada.
The Capture of Cádiz in 1596 was an event during the Anglo-Spanish War, when English and Dutch troops under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and a large Anglo-Dutch fleet under Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, with support from the Dutch United Provinces, raided the Spanish city of Cádiz.
Sir Edward Stafford was an English Member of Parliament, courtier and diplomat to France during the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
Augustine Ryther was an English engraver and translator. He engraved some of Christopher Saxton's maps of English counties. He also made scientific instruments.
The Death of the Earl of Chatham is the title of a 1781 oil-on-canvas painting by Boston-born American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the collapse of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham on 7 April 1778, during a debate in the House of Lords on the American War of Independence. Chatham is surrounded by peers of the realm, and the painting contains fifty-five portraits.
The 3rd Spanish Armada, also known as the Spanish Armada of 1597, was a major naval event that took place between October and November 1597 as part of the Anglo–Spanish War. The armada, which was the third attempt by Spain to invade or raid the British Isles during the war, was ordered by King Philip II of Spain in revenge for the English attack on Cadiz following the failure of the 2nd Spanish Armada the previous year due to a storm. The Armada was executed by the Adelantado, Martín de Padilla, who was hoping to intercept and destroy the English fleet under Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex as it returned from the failed Azores expedition. When this was achieved, the Armada would go on to capture either the important port of Falmouth or Milford Haven and use those places as a base for invasion.
Sir Robert Southwell (1563–1598), of Woodrising, Norfolk, was an English politician.
Sir George Beeston or Beston was an English landowner, courtier, soldier and sailor. He was the captain of the Dreadnought in 1588, Member of Parliament for Cheshire in 1589 and Ranger of Delamere Forest.
The Channel Squadron also referred to as the Western Squadron (1512-1649) was a series of temporary naval formations first formed in under the English Tudor Navy Royal during the sixteenth century. Later during the Interregnum a channel squadron was formed as part of the Commonwealth Navy. During the 18th century as part of the Royal Navy.
