1 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,720 Summer, 1588. 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,120 Philip II, the Catholic King of Spain, 3 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,960 was on the verge of changing the shape of Europe. 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,000 The most powerful naval force on Earth, 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,520 the mighty Spanish Armada, had sailed through the Channel. 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,280 Its aim? To crush heretic England... 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,920 ..and take the crown of Queen Elizabeth. 8 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,120 SHOUTING AND GUNFIRE 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:37,760 Our mission is a sacred one. 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,840 This was a war fought in the name of religion, 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,680 but it was also a war of power and politics. 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,640 And for the two great monarchs who started the whole thing off, 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:49,480 it was deeply personal, 14 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:53,320 the result of 30 years of increasing bitterness. 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:57,920 There you go. Look at that! 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,480 Now, to understand this defining moment in history, 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,360 I'm sailing the waters I love... 18 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,880 ..following the course of the English navy 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:10,920 as it battled the Spanish Armada. 20 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:13,440 There's now a howling gale, 21 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,160 similar conditions to the ones that Drake and the fleet faced. 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,640 While access to unique, eye-witness accounts... 23 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,320 This is one of the most remarkable letters I have ever seen. 24 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,280 ..will take us, for the very first time, 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,400 inside the minds of the commanders themselves... 26 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,800 For their heavy guns to have the greatest effect, 27 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,360 they've got to go in for the kill. 28 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,640 ..and offer unprecedented insight into the corridors of power. 29 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:42,160 In England... 30 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,680 Bring me good tidings. 31 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:46,120 ..and Spain... 32 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,440 GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING 33 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:53,920 ..allowing us to bring to life 12 days in the summer of 1588... 34 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,680 GUNFIRE 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:58,720 ..when England's very survival... 36 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,400 ..hung in the balance. 37 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,120 Army and navy together, their might would be... 38 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:07,200 Unstoppable. 39 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,560 For nine days, the English navy had pursued the Spanish Armada 40 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,760 from Plymouth to the Isle of Wight. 41 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,800 But despite three ferocious battles, 42 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,160 the huge invasion force remained almost entirely intact. 43 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,800 On 7th August, 1588, the Spanish Armada was anchored 44 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,840 just here off Calais, on the coast of France. 45 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,160 It now appeared that they were within 46 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:54,680 a whisker of achieving their goal, 47 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,040 which was to link up with a Spanish army, 48 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,040 about 21 miles in that direction, 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,080 and then together invade England across the Straits of Dover. 50 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,880 This was the endgame. 51 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,760 Somehow, the English had to deal a killer blow. 52 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:15,240 And fast, 53 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,520 or the nation and its queen would fall. 54 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,920 Just 100 miles away, Elizabeth was about to receive 55 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:37,360 the latest reports from her most trusted advisors. 56 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,240 The two most powerful men in England. 57 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,400 Lord Burghley, her Lord High Treasurer 58 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,240 and Sir Francis Walsingham, 59 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,840 her Secretary of State and spy master. 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,720 They were coordinating the troops, they were organising supplies. 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,160 They were dealing with the Catholic threat and, of course, 62 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,520 they also had to provide counsel to the Queen. 63 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,320 Her mood will be most vile. 64 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,280 Where's the trumpeting porter when you need him? 65 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,360 How a commoner's fart can leave the Queen in more stitches 66 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,040 than an army of jesters... 67 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:13,360 Are you volunteering? 68 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,480 Both men knew that despite the navy's valiant efforts, 69 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,440 the Spanish were closing in 70 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,600 and England stood on the brink of defeat. 71 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,040 Gentlemen, bring me good tidings. 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:30,960 Your Majesty. 73 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,800 The Spanish are at Calais. 74 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,360 The peril is closing. 75 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,640 I do know where Calais is. 76 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:38,880 Yes, Your Majesty. 77 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,760 JESSIE CHILDS: 'The longer the Armada was in the Channel, 78 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,080 'the greater the threat to Elizabeth, and her future was pretty bleak. 79 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,400 'If the Spanish could land,' 80 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,000 if they could overrun England, 81 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,760 then she would either be captured or she would be killed on the spot. 82 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:55,640 It was a pretty grim prospect. 83 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,960 Elizabeth's arch-enemy, King Philip II, 84 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:11,840 was the most powerful man on Earth... 85 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,960 ..ruler of the world's greatest empire. 86 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:19,840 But over 700 miles from the action, 87 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:23,080 he was out of touch with unfolding events. 88 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,760 There are rumours reverberating around Europe. 89 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,080 But, of course, unlike Elizabeth, who is only, 90 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,080 say half a day away from communication, 91 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,840 Philip is waiting more than two weeks at times 92 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:40,880 to hear conflicting reports about what is going on. 93 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,000 With no reliable news, 94 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,760 Philip was wise enough to ignore stories of the Armada's success. 95 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,760 The Spanish ambassador told Philip that half the English fleet 96 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,000 have been sunk. 97 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,880 First of all, Drake had had his legs blown off 98 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,440 by a cannon ball and then he'd been captured. 99 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,360 But in Madrid, Philip was wary of this optimistic talk. 100 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:11,920 Philip's master plan for 101 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,760 the invasion was for the Armada 102 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:15,440 to sail east up the Channel 103 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,040 to the Straits of Dover. 104 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,400 Then the 27,000-strong Spanish army, 105 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,200 based in Flanders, 106 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,880 commanded by the Duke of Parma, 107 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,520 would embark on 300 barges... 108 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:33,560 ..sail out to meet the Armada, 109 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,120 and conquer England. 110 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,000 With his two huge forces joined 111 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,800 and God on his side, 112 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,400 the King of Spain remained piously confident of victory. 113 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,640 Soon the news would surely come 114 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,320 that the Spanish had landed and London had fallen. 115 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,840 The English navy knew what lay in store. 116 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,520 Lord High Admiral Charles Howard realised that the two halves 117 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,120 of Spain's invasion force must now be in direct contact. 118 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,640 Howard of Effingham had very little naval experience. 119 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,480 He'd been appointed Lord High Admiral but he was an administrator. 120 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,320 Just two miles away from the anchored Spanish fleet, 121 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,480 Howard needed to decide what his next move should be. 122 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,160 Don't dither, boy. Don't dither. 123 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,440 He was advised by his maverick second-in-command, 124 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:45,840 an experienced seaman... 125 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:46,920 Don't leave anything. 126 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:48,360 ..who knew how to fight. 127 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:49,800 Sir Francis Drake, 128 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,560 a farmer's son from Devon who'd spent his entire life at sea. 129 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:59,920 He had made a very profitable career out of plundering Spanish ships. 130 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:03,200 Elizabeth had knighted him for his plunder. 131 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,480 Play the long game to become rich. 132 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:08,320 Nobody had shown more courage, 133 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,080 sometimes reckless courage, 134 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:11,640 in taking on the enemy. 135 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,280 Nobody was better equipped to deal with the Spanish Armada 136 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:15,400 when it arrived. 137 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,920 Over a week of fighting, Drake had taken some extreme risks 138 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:28,000 and learned some valuable lessons. 139 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,560 He'd known the English ships were faster. 140 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:35,280 SHOUTING 141 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,200 GUNFIRE 142 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,080 But when he'd plundered a stricken Spanish galleon, 143 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,920 he'd discovered that English cannon were superior too. 144 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:46,000 Keep going! 145 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,120 And during another attack, he'd worked out just how close 146 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,840 he needed to be to cause the enemy real damage. 147 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:55,360 MULTIPLE BLASTS 148 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,120 Now, though, it seemed the English position was dire. 149 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,120 They were desperately low on ammunition 150 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,920 because Elizabeth was too broke and too mean to properly equip her navy. 151 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,000 And the Armada was now more threatening than ever. 152 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:19,640 Howard and Drake were worried. 153 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,800 The Spanish Armada was anchored here in friendly Catholic waters. 154 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,760 They were being re-supplied with vital food and water. 155 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,440 But worst of all, they were only 21 miles away from a vast 156 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:35,200 Spanish army, 27,000 men commanded by the Duke of Parma. 157 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,480 Drake and Howard were very worried that if these two forces were on the 158 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:43,880 verge of joining hands, then that would create an invincible enemy. 159 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:52,160 For Elizabeth, sheltered in her country palace at Richmond, 160 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,240 this news was crushing. 161 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,960 Parma's army is waiting in Flanders. 162 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:58,360 Ready to embark? 163 00:09:58,360 --> 00:09:59,760 We should assume so. 164 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,040 Days? 165 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,080 Hours? 166 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,840 If the Queen falls, England falls effectively. 167 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,760 She has no successor, she has no children, no direct heirs. 168 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,240 The throne would naturally pass to the invader. 169 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:16,400 Very well. 170 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,440 Historians have never been sure of Elizabeth's precise 171 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,640 movements during the 12 days of the Armada threat. 172 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,240 But brand-new research now suggests that on the 7th August, 173 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,560 she made the dramatic decision to relocate her entire court 174 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:37,600 to the very centre of her capital. 175 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,480 Defence of the realm is fundamentally 176 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,680 hinged on protection of the person of the Queen. 177 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:50,680 Elizabeth moves from Richmond to St James's Palace, 178 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:52,560 closer to the heart of London. 179 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,320 Moving Elizabeth and her court is no mean feat. 180 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,360 She routinely travels with about 200 attendants. 181 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,560 But St James's Palace, it's much more defendable and she can be 182 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:12,240 instantly surrounded by her own troops and safeguarded in that way. 183 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,760 The vast royal household would be rowed downriver by barge... 184 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:21,360 ..the very next morning. 185 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,640 WIND WHISTLES 186 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,440 As they prepared for the worst, neither Elizabeth nor her navy 187 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,920 had any idea the Spanish fleet was facing 188 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,960 some serious problems of its own. 189 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,520 The king's orders are the king's orders. 190 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,320 (If only it were that simple.) 191 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,680 For a start, its commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, 192 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:53,960 was at loggerheads with his deputy, Admiral Juan Martinez de Recalde. 193 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:58,680 We're gaining the wind, closing for the kill. 194 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:01,480 We will sail forth and fulfil the king's plan. 195 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,560 Medina Sidonia was another administrator. 196 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:11,200 He had spent barely any time at all at sea 197 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,560 and would be seasick in a rowing boat. 198 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,680 This is war, sir. 199 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,120 Recalde is a sort of Spanish counterpart to Drake. 200 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,400 A man of action who believes, "This is my objective. 201 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,400 "Nothing is going to get in my way from achieving it." 202 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:33,280 Recalde had wanted to take an English harbour to secure 203 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,240 a safe base and wait for news from Parma and his army. 204 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,840 But he was overruled by the inexperienced Medina Sidonia, 205 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,840 who'd ordered the fleet to sail for the exposed coast of Calais 206 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,080 to be as close to the army as possible. 207 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,040 The problem was that despite repeated efforts, 208 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:59,120 Medina Sidonia hadn't received any word from the Duke of Parma 209 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,800 as to where or when their forces would meet. 210 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,840 Now, within touching distance, news finally came from Parma. 211 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:11,520 But it was devastating. 212 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,520 Parma wrote that he "had not yet embarked 213 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,760 "so much as a barrel of beer, let alone a single soldier" 214 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,120 and he couldn't possibly be ready to join forces 215 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,280 "until at least the following Friday," 216 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:25,960 which was a whole week away. 217 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:27,720 Medina Sidonia was horrified. 218 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,080 He'd raced all the way up the Channel trying to make this 219 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,480 rendezvous that turned out not to be a rendezvous at all. 220 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:40,920 To be fair, Saul, 221 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,600 the Duke of Parma has got every reason not to be ready. 222 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,760 He's got 300 barges ready 223 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:47,920 for his troops to embark. 224 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,560 But he can't get his troops on 225 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:51,600 until he knows where the Armada is. 226 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,280 Remember, they haven't been able to 227 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,720 talk to each other at all until now. 228 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:57,160 That's true but, of course, 229 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,600 he's been a little bit too clever for his own good, I think, 230 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:01,080 the Duke of Parma, because 231 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,400 to put English spies off the scent, 232 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,480 to try and confuse them about his intentions, 233 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,320 he's actually dispersed his forces 234 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,320 and it's going to take him time to regroup them. 235 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,000 So, pretty much you're stuck on the wrong side of the Channel. 236 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,520 This is no place to tarry. 237 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,480 The king's plan... We are trapped. 238 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:22,880 Trapped. 239 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:24,720 There is no sign of our valiant army. 240 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:26,480 Enough! 241 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:27,600 We wait for Parma. 242 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,120 Medina Sidonia was taking a huge risk. 243 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,360 Now he had to spend an entire week with his fleet on this 244 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,280 exposed stretch of coast with his English enemy 245 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,400 looming out there to the west. 246 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,560 The vast Armada was, for the first time, 247 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:52,680 unexpectedly vulnerable to attack. 248 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:03,960 Isolated in his palace, 249 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,320 the usually meticulous Spanish king had never realised 250 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,760 that his invasion plan depended on some very complex logistics. 251 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,600 There was a fatal flaw in Philip's master plan. 252 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,720 Bizarrely, he was astonishingly vague about exactly how and where 253 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:26,200 the Spanish Armada would meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma. 254 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,520 It's almost as though he thought the English Channel 255 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,280 was a small scrap of water on which it would be easy to meet. 256 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,040 In fact, of course, it's a long stretch of sea, 257 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,160 350 miles long, 20 miles wide at its narrowest point. 258 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,000 Philip assumed that his army and his Armada could simply send 259 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,400 notes to one another saying where and when they should meet. 260 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,120 But at sea, surrounded by the enemy, that had so far proved impossible. 261 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:02,320 Now, on 7th August, Philip at last became aware of the problem. 262 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:08,000 From a messenger. 263 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:10,680 From Parma? 264 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,240 Parma has written to Philip before 265 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,800 pointing out the failure, 266 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:20,640 the absence of any mechanism 267 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,440 for the fleet and the army to join together, 268 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,400 but perhaps he was too subtle. 269 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,880 Professor Geoffrey Parker is the world's foremost expert 270 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,360 on King Philip 271 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,200 and has spent a lifetime unearthing documents that take us 272 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,120 to the very heart of the Armada. 273 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,600 This letter had been sent from the Duke of Parma 274 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,840 a full two months earlier 275 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:45,840 and it made very uncomfortable reading. 276 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,400 This letter arrives at The Escorial on the 7th August, 277 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,840 the very day on which the Armada is stationed off Calais. 278 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,000 And in it, the Duke of Parma expresses just one more time 279 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,640 his worry that there's still no mechanism for joining 280 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,000 the Armada from Spain with the army. 281 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:11,000 This time the penny drops 282 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,640 because we see in the margin the king has written, 283 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,680 "Please, God, may there not be a screw-up." 284 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,880 "Embarazo" is the word he uses. 285 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,880 So for the first time, the king becomes aware that 286 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,480 there's a fatal flaw in the master plan. 287 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:35,600 The funny thing was that both sides, 288 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,880 English and Spanish, thought the other had the upper hand. 289 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,520 But the strategic balance had shifted. 290 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:46,120 Without Parma's army, the Spanish plan was falling apart. 291 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,480 The Spanish Armada, by itself, probably didn't have enough troops 292 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,800 to mount a successful invasion of England. 293 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,880 And Parma's army, without the Spanish Armada, 294 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,760 would struggle to get across the Channel. 295 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,720 And if it did, it wouldn't have the heavy artillery it needed 296 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,560 to capture English towns like London. 297 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,000 So, although they didn't know it at this stage, 298 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:06,800 the English had the upper hand. 299 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,200 But as far as Drake and Howard were concerned, 300 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,920 an invasion could be just hours away. 301 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,800 We have no choice but to strike now. 302 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,720 That is the only choice I want. 303 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,080 The English had to act fast. 304 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,280 But they knew it was dangerous to attack the Armada 305 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,720 anchored in its defensive formation. 306 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000 So they came up with a desperate, last-ditch plan. 307 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,600 The idea was to cause maximum panic on the Spanish ships, 308 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,280 paving the way for the English to strike them hard the following day. 309 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,240 The plan called for eight old ships, 310 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,200 plenty of cannonballs and explosives. 311 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:50,920 It was time for the fireships. 312 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,720 Fireships had been used since the ancient Greeks. 313 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,440 They were a classic method for disrupting a fleet, destroying 314 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,040 it by fire or at least breaking it up and forcing it to flee. 315 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,560 An Italian engineer called Giambelli had already given 316 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,880 the Spanish every reason to fear fireships. 317 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,680 He created these things called the Hellburners of Antwerp 318 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:12,960 that had killed 800 Spanish troops. 319 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:17,280 Drake and Howard remembered just how devastating his fireships 320 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,120 had been at Antwerp and they decided to copy his idea. 321 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,160 They didn't have enough explosives to make them 322 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,320 quite as apocalyptic as Giambelli's ships 323 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,960 but they did gamble on the fact that the Spanish would panic 324 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,840 at the mere sight of burning ships heading towards their fleet. 325 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,240 Tides and westerly breeze are in our favour. 326 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:38,640 Pray God they remain so. 327 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,560 Pray God, Elizabeth and St George and even bloody Neptune! 328 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,640 I don't care, we must seize this moment. 329 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:46,800 We must. 330 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,160 Howard asked his commanders to volunteer eight ships between them. 331 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,800 With little hesitation, Drake handed one over... 332 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:02,160 ..and the other commanders quickly followed. 333 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,640 Their alacrity at offering up boats to be sacrificed wasn't 334 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,440 quite as generous or as patriotic as it might at first appear. 335 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,960 They realised they'd be able to claim compensation 336 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,400 and of course that amount would be a lot more 337 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,360 than the old boat was worth. 338 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,680 Once a pirate, always a pirate. 339 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:28,960 Ball's here, wadding... 340 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,600 The principle is quite simple. You strip off anything of value. 341 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,200 You paint the masts and rigging with tar, you fill it with combustible 342 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:46,640 material and you double shot the guns so the heat sends them off. 343 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,160 Load Cherubim and Seraphim with two shots apiece. 344 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:50,880 Aye, sir, 'tis done. 345 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,240 A little present from El Draco. 346 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,200 Given the flood tide, you send them off, 347 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,840 sailed by skeleton volunteer crews who leap into their little boats 348 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,240 just before the fireships reach their target. 349 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,280 The obvious danger of a fireship is that if it rams your ship, 350 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,240 your ship will catch fire as well. 351 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:18,800 The greatest fear of any sailor in a wooden ship is fire at sea. 352 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,760 There's no escape, you either drown or you burn to death. 353 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,560 - Are we ready? - We can hurt them. 354 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,920 At midnight, the skeleton crews 355 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:42,760 on board the fireships 356 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,800 ignited their hulls and let them 357 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,120 drift toward the anchored Spanish. 358 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,520 BELLS RING 359 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,520 Medina Sidonia had suspected that the English might try 360 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,120 something like this so he'd put a screen of small boats 361 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:01,880 around the Armada to protect it. 362 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,680 They did manage to tow away two of the fireships. 363 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,880 But the rest of the burning vessels sailed on 364 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,400 right into the heart of the Spanish Armada. 365 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,520 As the six remaining fireships drifted ever nearer, 366 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,560 the Spaniards looked on in horror. 367 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,440 Raise the anchor. Move! And fast! 368 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,600 The problem with fireships is that, by very definition, 369 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,840 they are on fire, they've got no crew on, so actually 370 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,720 they are relatively easy to avoid. Medina Sidonia had given 371 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,920 orders to avoid the fireships. 372 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,560 And all of his captains managed to do that. 373 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,440 They do it but how do they do it? 374 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,320 They panic, of course, because he's effectively said to them 375 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,120 you can manoeuvre, bring up your anchors and get out of the way. 376 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:51,960 They don't do that, they cut their anchors. 377 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,000 And the problem with cutting an anchor 378 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,400 is you cannot then re-anchor. 379 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,240 It's a tactical disaster in terms 380 00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:58,680 of the overall plan here. 381 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,680 And the Armada is heading, in flight, 382 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,160 away from Calais. 383 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:07,240 I'll accept that there was extreme panic in Calais Roads. 384 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,720 But they all still managed to get out, 385 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,560 leaving just a handful of ships 386 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:14,800 fighting for their lives, I admit, 387 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:16,400 on the Flanders' banks. 388 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,360 Drake's audacious plan worked. 389 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,640 The enemy's ships were scattered and vulnerable. 390 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,600 Now, for the first time, the English could launch an all-out attack. 391 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,920 And just possibly save England and Elizabeth. 392 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,720 As her household made the last arrangements to leave Richmond, 393 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,360 Elizabeth awoke knowing nothing of the night's events. 394 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:03,200 As far as she knew, the Spanish army might already be crossing 395 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,880 the Channel, escorted by a victorious Armada. 396 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,000 The Queen didn't know 397 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,280 if she'd still be wearing England's crown by nightfall. 398 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,280 Do stop fussing. 399 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,320 You act as if what you do is more important than 400 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,720 the defence of England. 401 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,680 Ladies, please grant Her Majesty some peace. 402 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,920 We can only imagine Elizabeth's state of mind. 403 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,680 I mean, this is a conflict she sought to avoid, 404 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:36,320 this a confrontation that 405 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,880 has now moved beyond her control and she simply is in a position 406 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:45,080 of waiting for the inevitable news of England falling to the Spanish. 407 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,280 As Elizabeth prepared for the journey downriver to London... 408 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:51,680 SHE SIGHS 409 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,440 I am drained. 410 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,880 ..Walsingham and Burghley continued to organise the country's 411 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,720 last-ditch defence, 412 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,800 preparing the English for invasion 413 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,680 by spreading propaganda about the hated Spanish. 414 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:18,120 Hispanophobia, the fear of Spanish, is rife and Walsingham 415 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:22,880 and Burghley ramped up this fear for very good reasons, they wanted to 416 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,640 stiffen the resolve of the English people if there was an invasion. 417 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:33,040 Because, after all, every able-bodied man over the age of 16 418 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,200 would be expected to take up arms to defend the country. 419 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,840 I have here a proclamation, a draft proclamation, 420 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,520 which was sent enclosed in a letter from Burghley to Walsingham. 421 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,480 It shows the heightened rhetoric that they are playing on. 422 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:55,160 It refers to "A full tyrannical conquest of the country, 423 00:25:55,160 --> 00:26:01,400 "the depriving of Her Majesty and the slaughter of her subjects." 424 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,960 Walsingham went even further in his rhetoric 425 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,720 in trying to inculcate a sense of fear. 426 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,160 And he almost referred to 427 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:15,320 a sort of sense of genocide and ethnic cleansing, 428 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,560 that children over the age of seven would be slaughtered, 429 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,760 that babies would be branded in the face, 430 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,440 that women would be raped and whipped. 431 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,400 And what this did was to whip up a sense of fear in the people 432 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,000 of England, a fear of Spanish invasion. 433 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,960 In fact, on the morning of the 8th August, 434 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,360 the Spanish were in disarray and further from invasion than ever. 435 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,040 HE SINGS 436 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,320 As morning mass was celebrated, Medina Sidonia 437 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,160 and Recalde took stock of the previous night's disastrous events. 438 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,280 Most of the Armada had fled and was now scattered. 439 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,880 Only five Spanish ships remained anchored off Calais, 440 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,160 including Medina Sidonia's flagship. 441 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,240 Facing them, the entire English fleet, 442 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:22,800 preparing to attack. 443 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,000 All was now set for the largest confrontation 444 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,000 of the Armada campaign. 445 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,800 Monday, 8th August, 1588 has gone down as the date of one 446 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,280 of the greatest naval battles in history - 447 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,120 the Battle of Gravelines - 448 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,560 named after the town of Gravelines just here on the coast. 449 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:50,400 The stakes were high - the fate of England and its queen, 450 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,240 the primacy of Spain as a military and imperial power, 451 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,520 and the future of Christianity, all hung in the balance. 452 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:07,560 Howard's fleet was now joined by 35 ships from Kent, 453 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,880 filled with fresh stocks of ammunition. 454 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,520 For the first time, the English navy outnumbered the Armada. 455 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,400 Shot and wad, boys, shot and wad! 456 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,000 Make sure that coin is fast! 457 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,920 And with all he'd learned over the past ten days, 458 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:28,840 Drake was determined to destroy the Spanish once and for all. 459 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:30,600 Sailing as close as he dared, 460 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:35,400 so that the English cannon could do maximum damage to the enemy ships. 461 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,800 Until I say, you never stop! 462 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,560 At 6 o'clock in the morning, Drake's squadron attacks, 463 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,360 led by the Vice-Admiral. 464 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,080 Drake sweeps in, firing his bow guns, 465 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,480 heels over and gives 466 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,960 the Spanish ships a rippling broadside from his port battery. 467 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,320 EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTS 468 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,560 Clear the pigs! 469 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,800 And then the rest of the English fleet attack. 470 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,920 The English coming in close for the first time. 471 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,840 But the Spanish were not about to retreat from the fight. 472 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:33,240 Up till now, Sam, the English, 473 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:34,560 I think, have very sensibly 474 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,120 kept their distance, they've been fighting 475 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:38,680 maybe at 100 or 200 yards. 476 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,360 But this is different. This is the decisive battle developing now. 477 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:43,960 And Medina Sidonia knows 478 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:45,560 he needs to do something. 479 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,440 So he's here, Drake attacks him - 480 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,960 he goes straight for the Spanish flagship, 481 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,000 but the Spanish here fight a very, very important 482 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,400 rearguard action that allows the 483 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,720 rest of the ships time to reform. 484 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,400 And so, displaying immense seamanship, 485 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:01,840 the rest of the ships 486 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,080 turn around and face the English. 487 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:11,200 EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTS 488 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,880 MUFFLED SHOUTS 489 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,640 The battle was very fierce but also very confused. 490 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:33,800 The weather was terrible. 491 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,080 There was cloud, rainstorms and wind. 492 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,880 And that was made even worse by the huge banks of gun smoke, 493 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,320 caused by all the cannons firing so much. 494 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,960 Through it all, the English pressed home their attacks with new energy. 495 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,520 Keep pressing, men! 496 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:56,360 The English are closing in, causing structural damage. 497 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,280 Now, the Spanish ships are taking a terrible pounding. 498 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,120 It goes on for eight hours with 499 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:04,600 the English just coming again 500 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:05,800 and again and again at them. 501 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,160 You get real a sense that this proximity of fighting, 502 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,600 this new way of doing it is having a 503 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,840 massive effect on the Spanish ships. 504 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,440 Part of the problem is the disparity in the rate of fire 505 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,120 between the two sides. 506 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,760 The San Martin fires off 300 cannon balls 507 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:22,760 but it's got almost 50 cannon, 508 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:24,760 that's just over one an hour. 509 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:27,360 I mean, the English are firing five times as quickly. 510 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,920 The Spanish have no respite. 511 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,800 They simply haven't got the time to reload their cannon. 512 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,080 It helps you understand just how 513 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,080 one-sided this battle was. 514 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,760 The battle damage is becoming severe. 515 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,320 We have Spanish warships who are struggling to keep afloat. 516 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,000 The carnage is terrifying to see. 517 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,280 You like what we're giving to you? 518 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,520 Bastards! 519 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,480 On board the Spanish ships, 520 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,440 the salvos of cannon fire caused devastation. 521 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:22,560 Forward and then the two back. 522 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:23,600 Yes! 523 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,960 Using a pig carcass, it's possible to understand the mortal 524 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,800 peril the sailors faced that day. 525 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,400 A four-pound ball was one of the smallest 526 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,920 used during the battle of Gravelines. 527 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,000 Others were up to 15 times the size. 528 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,360 Four, three, two, one. 529 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,680 We've hit it fair and square on this massive oak target. 530 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,360 On the inside, you've got all these splinters. 531 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,720 You can see the jagged effect. Huge splinter come off. 532 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,720 This would not do you any good at all if it hit you. 533 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,520 There's a nasty hole there 534 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,680 and inside the flesh there's a chunk of oak. 535 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,880 A nasty jagged chunk of oak. 536 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,200 This is really a serious injury. 537 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,600 Onboard, the air was filled with splinters of oak 538 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:02,960 that mowed down hundreds of Spanish soldiers and sailors. 539 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:09,040 For gun crews below deck there was no escape. 540 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,240 If you were hit during the Armada battles, then you've got 541 00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:14,240 several problems to contend with. 542 00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:17,400 First of all, there's the immediate problem of the massive trauma 543 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,320 wound you may have suffered, either from some piece of flying 544 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,240 wood or if you were unlucky enough to get hit by a cannon ball. 545 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:27,760 Has it ruptured your internal organs, has it blown a limb apart? 546 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:31,400 If you survive that, you've then got to survive what the 547 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,480 barber surgeon is about to do to you. 548 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,400 Major amputation causes one of the biggest 549 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:45,120 problems for the barber surgeon and especially for the patient. 550 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,000 HE YELLS 551 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,920 First of all, there's the physical difficulty of hacking through 552 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:52,880 the bone and flesh of a patient. 553 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,360 They would need to use something like this, which is 554 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,920 a Tudor bone saw. Now, bearing in mind, if we're amputating the arm, 555 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,600 that's going through one of the biggest bones in the body 556 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,000 and some of the most hefty tendons. 557 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,760 It's physically very difficult to saw through the arm. 558 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,400 It requires the services not only of this, 559 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,120 but of several large, burly men to hold the patient down. 560 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,160 But then even if you survive that, 561 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,760 you've got a further stage, which is to stop the bleeding 562 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,520 but then to survive the infections that can creep in from infected, 563 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,080 dirty instruments or even the surgeon's hands. 564 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:40,600 As the battle raged on, 85 Spanish doctors on board the Armada 565 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,320 were overwhelmed by the wounded and the dying. 566 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:45,920 It was a bloodbath. 567 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,000 Official Spanish casualty figures put the number of Spanish dead 568 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:55,960 at 600, the wounded at 1,000. 569 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:59,080 But some historians think this is very conservative and they've 570 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:04,200 calculated that as many as 6,000 Spanish could have been wounded. 571 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,440 But whatever the numbers, the fact was that the English fleet 572 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,440 here at the Battle of Gravelines 573 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,880 had given the Spanish Armada a terrible battering. 574 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:20,080 Finally, the Spanish fleet was at England's mercy. 575 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,640 I mean, it looks at this point that it's going to be a famous 576 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,320 decisive victory and that the Spanish fleet are going to be 577 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,920 completely destroyed 578 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,440 by this superior English gunnery. 579 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:29,800 There's just one problem, 580 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,960 the English are running out of ammunition. 581 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:36,320 And so, finally, at about 5 o'clock, Howard calls off the attack. 582 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:42,240 Even with the fresh supplies of gunpowder and shot from Kent, 583 00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:45,720 Howard did not have enough ammunition to finish the job. 584 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:49,800 A spirited fight, they are smarting more than we are. 585 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,920 The English have not landed any kind of killer blow. Why? 586 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,400 Because they were handicapped all the time by a shortage 587 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,720 of ammunition, shortage of gunpowder. 588 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,240 So even though English sailors had outfought the greatest 589 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:11,240 military fleet the world had ever seen, 590 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,520 the Armada escaped total destruction. 591 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,240 Now safely ensconced in St James's Palace, 592 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,800 Elizabeth was about to receive news of the victory at Gravelines. 593 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,160 But Walsingham and Burghley were acutely aware that even badly 594 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,480 damaged, the Armada still remained a dangerous threat. 595 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:54,400 Gentlemen. 596 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,520 The Spanish are heading north. 597 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,440 So we have prevailed? 598 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,080 They could turn back. They could even land. 599 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,720 I pray not. This whole enterprise is bankrupting us. 600 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:09,880 There is more to war than book-keeping. 601 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:12,280 Elizabeth always wanted 602 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:13,440 to achieve her results 603 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:15,520 at the cheapest possible price. 604 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,720 She hated spending a penny on anything and she simply 605 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:22,320 refused any more supplies, either of food or of ammunition. 606 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:29,520 Walsingham, we all know that your ideal would be for England to 607 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:33,520 spend everything on building your war machine. 608 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:37,640 We only follow where you lead, Your Majesty. 609 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:39,160 Indeed. 610 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:43,040 It is the Almighty who has kept us safe. 611 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:44,320 Amen. 612 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,520 Elizabeth's concern for her cash-strapped economy 613 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,440 rather than the will to press home victory, 614 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,320 meant she was still gambling with her own - 615 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,040 and her country's - future. 616 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:06,240 And at 11 o'clock on the 9th August, that gamble paid off. 617 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:12,480 The wind direction suddenly changed and the Armada was blown north, 618 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,800 far from the Duke of Parma's army. 619 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,480 The wind had finally done what the English had been trying to do 620 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,240 all along, which was push the Spanish Armada 621 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:23,400 out of the English Channel and into the North Sea. 622 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:32,400 It's long been thought that this was the moment the Armada threat 623 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:34,760 was finally at an end. 624 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,920 Many ships were in a desperate state. 625 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:40,520 And sailing back into the Channel, against prevailing winds, 626 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:42,240 was almost impossible. 627 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:45,200 So it seemed like the planned invasion was over. 628 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:52,480 But a remarkable recent discovery has revealed one more twist... 629 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,160 ..an incredible eyewitness account of the Armada, 630 00:39:56,160 --> 00:40:00,280 written by Recalde, and discovered by Professor Geoffrey Parker. 631 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:07,560 He was the first person to read it in over 400 years. 632 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,360 And this account revealed something utterly unexpected. 633 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:16,520 That even after the Battle of Gravelines, 634 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,160 Recalde believed the Armada could still fight, 635 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,080 rendezvous with Parma 636 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:23,320 and invade. 637 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:29,760 Recalde kept a log and it's the log of a very, very irritated man. 638 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,840 Recalde clearly thought that honour required a second attempt. 639 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:38,160 And he must have made his views felt at the Council of War. 640 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,240 We must resolve how to proceed. 641 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:43,920 We owe it to our king to return to the Channel 642 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:45,480 and execute what he commanded. 643 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,400 We must come to blows with our enemies once more. 644 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,040 Medina Sidonia could still do his duty 645 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,000 and fulfil his monarch's wishes. 646 00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:58,400 But his courage failed him. 647 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,120 The Duke of Medina Sidonia also keeps a log 648 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:07,880 and his log for that day suggests that they discussed what to do next 649 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:12,600 and there was a unanimous decision to set sail for Spain going north, 650 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,480 about going round Scotland and Ireland 651 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,200 and heading back to Spain that way. 652 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:21,040 I propose that we sail westwards around the British Isles 653 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:22,400 and return home. 654 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,800 It is our duty to save as many of the king's ships as possible. 655 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:28,320 And face his wrath... 656 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:31,600 Are we in agreement? 657 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:35,920 Then it is decided. 658 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,520 Nothing is impossible! 659 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:43,200 We hold firm, we make rendezvous with Parma and proceed. 660 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,360 We are homeward bound. 661 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:48,600 HE HITS THE TABLE 662 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,120 The plague on whoever is responsible. 663 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:54,640 Medina Sidonia says there's a unanimous decision. 664 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,080 We go back to Spain. 665 00:41:56,080 --> 00:42:00,040 Recalde says, "I didn't like this. I protested but I was overruled." 666 00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:01,480 They can't both be right. 667 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,440 It just happens that we have another account from a senior commander 668 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,200 who backs Recalde's account to the hilt and says there was 669 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:15,240 a decision to go back to Spain and, "We protested and we were overruled." 670 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:16,760 I think I believe Recalde. 671 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:27,800 What is certain is that on the following day, 672 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,680 the 10th August, Medina Sidonia announced that the 673 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,960 remnants of the Spanish Armada would travel back to Spain. 674 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,560 And they'd go via the North Sea and the North Atlantic, 675 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:38,880 around England, Scotland and Ireland. 676 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:46,000 Humiliated and depressed, Medina Sidonia took to his cabin. 677 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,440 The Spanish Armada had been defeated. 678 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:24,240 Back in London, Elizabeth remained closeted away in St James's Palace. 679 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:28,120 But as the vanquished Armada sailed north and the danger clearly 680 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:33,200 passed, she decided it was time to present herself to her subjects. 681 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:34,760 It's very important for Elizabeth 682 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,400 to be publicly identified with 683 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:41,560 the victory, particularly as she is a female ruler. 684 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,320 Women do not know anything about matters of war. 685 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,800 And so, Elizabeth wants to be identified 686 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:50,720 as this great warrior queen. 687 00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:53,240 She wants to show herself in victory. 688 00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:58,920 Elizabeth's emergence from St James's Palace was quite deliberate, 689 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:00,400 quite calculated 690 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:01,880 and absolutely necessary. 691 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,640 I mean, London was full of rumour, of speculation, 692 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,360 and disorder was feared. 693 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:10,920 She needed to come out and put on a show. 694 00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:16,360 It was time for Elizabeth to write one of the greatest political 695 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:17,720 speeches in history. 696 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:24,040 Wherefore I am come among you at this time... 697 00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:29,960 ..not for my recreation or pleasure, 698 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:35,600 but being resolved in the heat and midst of battle... 699 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,360 ..to live and die amongst you all. 700 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,040 What comes next? 701 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:47,000 "Die amongst you all..." To lay down. 702 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,400 To lay down, yes, of course. 703 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,800 Tilbury Fort was where Elizabeth's troops were billeted, 704 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,000 and it gave her the perfect opportunity 705 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,560 to show herself to her people. 706 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:10,360 She could progress all the way from Westminster to Tilbury, 707 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:13,200 across the length of the Thames, and her people could see her. 708 00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:17,000 It's almost like she's saying, "Here I am. I'm fine." 709 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,160 This was great PR, it was like a river pageant. 710 00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,800 With church bells ringing in her ears, she mounted a white horse. 711 00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:30,680 Accompanied by an honour guard 712 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,360 of 1,000 cavalrymen and 2,000 infantrymen, 713 00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:37,360 she made her way here to where her army was encamped at Tilbury Fort. 714 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:41,400 Legend has it that she was wearing an armoured breastplate over her 715 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,880 dress as she reviewed all 17,000 men in her army. 716 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,760 Then came the piece de resistance. 717 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,920 ..to lay down, for my God 718 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:58,160 and for my kingdom and for my people... 719 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:05,840 ..my honour and my blood, even in the dust. 720 00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:14,000 I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman 721 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:18,240 but I have the heart and stomach of a king. 722 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:21,400 And a king of England too. 723 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:27,600 And take foul scorn that Parma or any prince of Europe 724 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,680 should dare invade the borders of my realm. 725 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:36,080 The speech was pure gold. It was magnificent. 726 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:39,320 It's up there with Shakespeare's Henry V. 727 00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:42,720 She was acknowledging that she's a woman, but she's saying 728 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:46,280 she has the heart and stomach of a king and a king of England! 729 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:48,840 You know, this is all part of the Gloriana myth. 730 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,120 As a piece of propaganda, 731 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:56,240 Elizabeth's speech here at Tilbury was unrivalled. 732 00:46:56,240 --> 00:46:59,400 Word of it quickly spread throughout the rest of the kingdom. 733 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,360 She knew full well that she wasn't just addressing 734 00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,920 the men in the army here - she was talking to the whole nation. 735 00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:14,000 This great heroine, a Protestant heroine who had defeated 736 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,160 the Spanish advance, who had defended England 737 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:20,960 against the Spanish, against this Catholic crusade. 738 00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:25,360 So it was absolutely central to the myth making of Elizabeth. 739 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:29,200 It was central to understandings of the success of Elizabeth's 740 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:33,120 reign and very much explains why she is celebrated 741 00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,120 today as one of England's greatest monarchs. 742 00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:39,480 Medals were cast. 743 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:42,640 It shows the Spanish Armada foundering on these rocks. 744 00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:44,960 It's got the date and it's got the words from a psalm 745 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:46,160 written around the edge. 746 00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:50,000 "You God art great and doest wondrous things." 747 00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:55,560 Even Elizabeth got in on the action, she wrote poems and hymns, 748 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:57,200 commemorating herself. 749 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,840 But behind Elizabeth's glorification, there was a cold 750 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:08,040 disregard for those who had saved her life and won her victory. 751 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:16,280 The English fleet limped home, short of stores 752 00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:19,800 with the crews exhausted from battle, 753 00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:23,640 only to be shunned by a queen who cared more for money than 754 00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:25,720 for the men who'd brought her glory. 755 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,560 One would have thought that Elizabeth's navy would have 756 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:33,760 been covered in glory after the defeat of the Armada, 757 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:37,040 but in fact, there's an astonishing audacity 758 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,160 to what Elizabeth does next, 759 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:43,120 because she actually criticises the commanders of her navy for not 760 00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:47,640 looting the Spanish ships enough and bringing her more riches. 761 00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:50,400 Victory, apparently, was not enough. 762 00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:56,280 And if her lack of gratitude to her commanders was surprising, 763 00:48:56,280 --> 00:49:00,560 the treatment of her sailors was far, far worse. 764 00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:08,000 When Howard and the ships returned, there was an epidemic of typhus, 765 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,720 which swept through the English fleet, 766 00:49:10,720 --> 00:49:15,720 killing many of the sailors who had fought so bravely for her. 767 00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:19,640 Elizabeth refused to spend any money looking after them. 768 00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:25,720 One statistic tells the horrific story. 769 00:49:25,720 --> 00:49:28,680 Though England did not lose a single ship during the course 770 00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:31,840 of the battle with the Armada, yet the losses of men to disease 771 00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:34,680 and starvation meant that their losses equalled 772 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:38,000 those of the Spanish, which lost half their fleet. 773 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,320 And had Elizabeth's commanders not used their own money to 774 00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:43,800 provide some food and sustenance for these men, 775 00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:47,760 the death toll would have been even more horrific than it was. 776 00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:51,120 It's a stain on her character that I believe can never be erased. 777 00:49:53,280 --> 00:49:56,560 What does this treatment of the sailors tell us about Elizabeth? 778 00:49:56,560 --> 00:50:01,640 Well, Elizabeth is a lonely woman in a man's world. 779 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:05,960 She has to be more hardnosed than anybody else. 780 00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:09,760 And so, those Tudor genes she inherited 781 00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:13,040 enabled her to look very callous, 782 00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:17,840 to look very cruel in her treatment, 783 00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:21,960 but in the 16th century this wasn't unusual. 784 00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:24,680 She was just better at it than others. 785 00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:38,720 - HE PRAYS IN SPANISH: - Padre nuestro que estas en los cielos 786 00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:42,120 Santificado sea tu nombre 787 00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:43,880 Venga tu reino... 788 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:46,960 Whilst England and Elizabeth celebrated victory, 789 00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:51,640 far away in Spain, Philip II continued to pray for success. 790 00:50:54,280 --> 00:50:57,240 More than three weeks after the decisive battle, 791 00:50:57,240 --> 00:51:00,680 he was still unaware of the Armada's terrible fate. 792 00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:08,160 He had heard nothing from the Armada as to their progress, 793 00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:10,400 even where they were, 794 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:14,160 but he was now becoming worried 795 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:18,800 that his plan had been fatally flawed. 796 00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:23,040 And he prayed three hours at a time, 797 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:24,480 on his knees. 798 00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:27,200 I mean, victory should be his. 799 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:32,680 "Isn't God on my side?" 800 00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:42,640 Then, at last, on the 31st August, as the remnants of his Armada 801 00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:46,920 struggled past the Hebrides, news finally arrived. 802 00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:51,400 It's a letter from Parma himself 803 00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:56,040 saying that the vital precondition for invasion has not been met, 804 00:51:56,040 --> 00:52:00,760 that is to say the fleet and the army have not 'joined hands'. 805 00:52:02,080 --> 00:52:06,520 That's bad but even worse is the news that comes three days later 806 00:52:06,520 --> 00:52:10,000 that the Armada has decided to set sail for home, 807 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:11,920 going around Scotland and Ireland. 808 00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:19,320 Philip has to shoulder a lot of responsibility for the failure 809 00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:20,520 of the Armada. 810 00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:28,880 And above all, Philip trusted too much in God, 811 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:32,440 he had this blind faith that it didn't matter how bad or how 812 00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:35,640 flawed his strategy was, because God would make it work. 813 00:52:38,240 --> 00:52:43,400 Too much could go wrong and lo, it did all go wrong. 814 00:52:45,160 --> 00:52:48,200 God not only deserted the Spanish monarch, 815 00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:51,240 but also the Armada as it struggled home. 816 00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:58,240 Because for the sailors who'd survived battle, 817 00:52:58,240 --> 00:52:59,880 there was even worse to come. 818 00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:04,520 Terrible storms drove many of the Spanish Armada ships 819 00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:08,080 onto the rocky coasts of Scotland and Ireland. 820 00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:10,800 Perhaps 40 ships were lost. 821 00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:15,080 Around 12,000 men drowned, died of exhaustion and hunger, 822 00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:18,560 or were killed by the Irish or English. 823 00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:22,960 Perhaps as little as 65 ships ended up returning home. 824 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:26,200 Around half the men were killed, including many of the commanders. 825 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,000 No wonder one monk in The Escorial called it 826 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:32,800 "The worst disaster to affect Spain for 600 years." 827 00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:43,320 The Duke of Medina Sidonia was one of the lucky few. 828 00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:46,920 His ship limped home in late September. 829 00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:49,520 But he was utterly humiliated. 830 00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:53,160 As he passes through the towns of Castile, people call him 831 00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:55,320 Chicken Duke - Duque de Gallina. 832 00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,080 And people ring his residence where he's sleeping 833 00:53:58,080 --> 00:54:00,800 and say, "Drake, Drake, Drake is coming. 834 00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:02,440 "Drake, Drake, Drake is coming." 835 00:54:05,040 --> 00:54:08,120 But hey, he survives, the rest of them don't. 836 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:15,160 For Juan Martinez de Recalde, exhausted and sick with typhus, 837 00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:17,640 this would be his last campaign. 838 00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,600 Recalde gets back. I mean, he's a superb sailor, 839 00:54:22,600 --> 00:54:25,720 but when he comes ashore he already knows that the Armada has 840 00:54:25,720 --> 00:54:29,520 failed, he already knows that many, many other ships are not coming home. 841 00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:31,280 And three days later, he dies. 842 00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:38,480 Before he dies, he puts together this incriminating dossier, 843 00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:40,520 and he sends it all to the king, 844 00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:43,200 hoping to take down the Duke of Medina Sidonia. 845 00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:50,480 Its pages reveal every beat of the Armada campaign from the inside. 846 00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:54,840 From the moment it approached Plymouth 847 00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:58,040 to the battle for the Isle of Wight, 848 00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:01,720 and the tragedy of Gravelines, 849 00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:05,320 this is an experienced warrior's indictment 850 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:07,120 of his pen-pushing commander. 851 00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:16,680 We know the king reads it because Philip writes, "I've read it all, 852 00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:20,040 "although I would rather not have done because it hurts so much." 853 00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:24,360 But because Recalde's dead, he files it away 854 00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:27,920 and it stays in these files until I find it 400 years later. 855 00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:35,400 - As for Philip himself, - HE COUGHS 856 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,800 he also never recovered from his Armada's destruction. 857 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:44,160 Philip's health started to deteriorate, he suffered from 858 00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:47,400 malarial fevers, his gout got worse, 859 00:55:47,400 --> 00:55:51,160 and he had this incapacitating arthritis, 860 00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:54,680 but he still believed that God was on his side. 861 00:55:54,680 --> 00:55:57,240 So he sent two more Armadas against Elizabeth 862 00:55:57,240 --> 00:55:59,600 and they were both foiled by the weather, 863 00:55:59,600 --> 00:56:02,600 but he remained at war with England until his death. 864 00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:13,800 Philip's great Protestant enemy, Elizabeth, was also ageing. 865 00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:15,440 Her physical powers waning. 866 00:56:17,240 --> 00:56:20,400 But her public image went from strength to strength. 867 00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:27,000 And we can see that in one glorious painting - the Armada Portrait. 868 00:56:30,240 --> 00:56:33,160 Behind Elizabeth, through two windows, 869 00:56:33,160 --> 00:56:34,800 are the defeated Armada 870 00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:37,200 and her victorious navy. 871 00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:42,080 But a youthful queen sits centre stage, 872 00:56:42,080 --> 00:56:46,000 bedecked in pearls and wearing the imperial crown. 873 00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:53,520 We don't see the frail, fading woman that Elizabeth's ladies saw. 874 00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:57,040 It says that her best years are ahead of her. 875 00:56:57,040 --> 00:57:00,280 And where the codpiece should have been, had she been a king, 876 00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:04,200 there is a pretty pink bow with a pearl pendant. 877 00:57:04,200 --> 00:57:07,000 This is the Virgin Queen, 878 00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:11,440 she is impregnable, and she is invincible, and so is England. 879 00:57:11,440 --> 00:57:16,920 She was now firmly established as the great Gloriana, 880 00:57:16,920 --> 00:57:18,920 the triumph of England. 881 00:57:18,920 --> 00:57:21,720 It was really the birth of national identity 882 00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:26,680 and that identity was inextricably bound with Elizabeth herself. 883 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:32,360 I think this is a pivotal point really in the development 884 00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:35,440 of England as a world power. 885 00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:39,240 This victory goes to England's head in a way that, perhaps, 886 00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:40,680 has never really died. 887 00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:48,120 If Spain had won, 888 00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:51,880 the chances are her empire would have gone from strength to strength. 889 00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:55,600 Instead, the defeat of the Armada is seen as the beginning 890 00:57:55,600 --> 00:58:00,240 of Spain's decline and the start of England's formidable rise. 891 00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:03,520 In the painting, Elizabeth is resting her hand on a globe, 892 00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:06,040 her fingers touching the Americas. 893 00:58:07,680 --> 00:58:09,920 In the decades that followed the Armada, 894 00:58:09,920 --> 00:58:13,640 England and its navy would set about constructing what would 895 00:58:13,640 --> 00:58:17,800 become the greatest empire in the history of the world. 896 00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:22,040 CHORAL SINGING 897 00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:32,360 # They swear they'll invade us These terrible foes 898 00:58:32,360 --> 00:58:36,600 # They frighten our women Our children and beaus 899 00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:41,160 # But should their flat bottoms in darkness get o'er 900 00:58:41,160 --> 00:58:45,560 # Still Britons they'll find to receive them on shore 901 00:58:45,560 --> 00:58:50,160 # Heart of oak are our ships Heart of oak are our men 902 00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:54,680 # We always are ready Steady, boys, steady! 903 00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:58,640 # We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again. #