Today in 1588 a special service of thanksgiving for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was held at St. Paul’s. The Spanish fleet had been pretty much destroyed, while only about 100 Englishmen had lost their lives in the fighting. The defeat was largely down to the weather, what was called the Protestant Winds. Philip II supposedly said, “I sent you out to war with men, not wind and waves,” when he heard about the way the Armada was defeated. The English believed that this was down to God being on their side, and Elizabeth had a special medal struck to mark the event, which said, “Flavit Jehovah et Dissipati Sunt,” – God Blew and they were Scattered.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there are several episodes on the Spanish Armada.
Suggested links:
The Spanish Armada Part I: A 30 Year Road to Battle
Armada II: The Battle
From the shop:
Celebrations of Elizabeth I Collection
Featuring: Elizabeth I Tudor Thug Life Shirt
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.