Summary Of The Spanish Armada

The author of the article “The Spanish Armada: The Worst-Kept Secret in Europe”
De Lamar Jensen completed his Ph.D. from Columbia University and by profession; Jensen was a historian of early modern Europe as well as a faculty member of the history department at
Brigham Young University. He also wrote several books on Europe during the renaissance and reformation. In this article, Jensen talks about how Spain was unable to keep the Spanish
Armada a secret, which eventually led to the downfall of Spain. Jensen asserts the reason behind the Spanish Armada was the rising tensions between the King and the Queen. The main reasons for the escalation of the tensions between them were
“Elizabethan harassment of Spanish shipping” (Jensen, 1988) and “when
Dom Antonio was defeated …. Antonio was given financial and military support” (Jensen, 1988). Constant invasion of the Spanish ships by Elizabeth and supporting Dom Antonio was the reason behind
Philip’s plan to invade England. Jensen states that the Spanish Armada was a failure because
Philip was unable to keep this as a secret. He exclaims, “If secrecy was to be the key to the success of the English enterprise, it was doomed …, by 1583 news of the Spanish Armada was already buzzing all over Europe” (Jensen, 1988). However until 1583 Philip was able to keep the
Spanish Armada an unknown plan. Many were expecting that Philip would attack either Scotland or Ireland. “The plan to attack Scotland rather England was intended, just as the strategy of landing in Ireland” (Jensen, 1988). Jensen mentions that another mistake Philip did was sending the Spanish Armada excessively early and with only a few resources. Jenson states that the reason behind sending the
Armada early was the financial problem Spain was suffering. “It had cost over 10 million ducats for the Armada preparations” (Jensen, 1988). Another reason for the Spanish Armada to sail early was the pressure from Parma. Parma promised Philip that he would provide thirty thousand men for the expedition, but by the beginning of 1588, Parma’s situation was deteriorating and by that time, he was only able to provide eighteen thousand men to Philip. Jensen says, “For better or for the worse, the Armada could not be called off, nor postponed” (Jensen, 1988). Sending the
Armada earlier and with fewer resources was a primary factor, which led to the defeat of the
Spanish Armada. The overall purpose of writing the article is that Jensen wanted to provide knowledge to the readers that why the Spanish Armada failed and the long-term effects of it. By defeating, the Spanish Armada England became the dominant power in Europe and began establishing
colonies.
The Spanish defeat preserved the Protestant Reformation and caused the downfall of
Spain.
The authors’ central argument is the failure of the Spanish Armada because of the secret, which King Philip was unable to keep, which cautioned England of the upcoming danger. Jensen believes that “the secret of the Spanish Armada was the worst kept secret" (Jensen, 1988). Jensen uses both primary and secondary sources to support his thesis. He lists sources for each point he makes in his argument. The author’s methodology in writing the article is primarily through the sources he uses. He wrote an opinion article and defended his opinions through the resources he used. The strengths of the article is that the author provides each and every detail which led to the cause of the war, how King Philip arranged the resources for the war and what led to the downfall of Spain. The article is thorough as Jensen uses each detail of what happened. There are no such problems with the article, except that Jensen does not include what happened eventually like how the Spanish Armada got defeated because of the storm and other
factors. In conclusion, the Spanish Armada was a failure because of the secret, which Spain was unable to keep to them, which played an important role in the defeat of the Spain. The importance for England by defeating the Spanish Armada was that it gave them confidence to explore and settle colonies overseas. The defeat of the Spanish Armada meant that Spain was no longer the dominant power. If England had not defeated the Spanish Armada, the history would be completely different. The type of reader likely to enjoy the work would be the one who likes to go in depth of details and want facts or evidence to believe what is happening.