Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- 58 Maintenance for his Nobility
- 59 No Enemy can Envy this Match
- 60 Another Grissel for her Patience
- 61 Rid of my Lord Oxford
- 62 City House, Country House
- 63 I Have not Had my Health
- 64 Weary of an Unsettled Life
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
61 - Rid of my Lord Oxford
from Part IX - Reiteration 1586–1591
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- 58 Maintenance for his Nobility
- 59 No Enemy can Envy this Match
- 60 Another Grissel for her Patience
- 61 Rid of my Lord Oxford
- 62 City House, Country House
- 63 I Have not Had my Health
- 64 Weary of an Unsettled Life
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
Summary
Even as Anne was laid to rest, a great Armada threatened England from across the Bay of Biscay. On 19 July 1588, about four weeks after Anne's interment, Spanish ships appeared off the coast of Cornwall and Devon.
The saga of the Spanish Armada is immense, surviving documentation vast. For our purposes it is enough to appreciate that the huge Spanish fleet was constantly harried by the English as it made its way along the south coast, prevented from landing at Portsmouth; it was then driven towards the sandbanks off Gravelines (near Calais) as it made a fruitless attempt to rendezvous with Parma, commander of Spanish land troops. A plan to tow barges full of Parma's men into the mouth of the Thames near Tilbury was thwarted not only by Parma's reluctance, but by the inherent difficulty of the enterprise, and by English fireships launched into the anchored Spanish fleet. By 29 July the Armada broke to the north, facing open seas, enormous distances, starvation, capture, and shipwreck, limping around Scotland and through the Irish Sea before finding safety in Spanish ports.
Evidence for Oxford's role in the battle of the Armada takes two separate forms: literary-historical reports and contemporary letters from Leicester. A modern recapitulation of the literary-historical thesis is given by Duff Hart-Davis, writing in 1988, the ‘Armada Year’:
… a huge wave of patriotism had sent volunteers pouring into the ports along the south coast, many of them physically alerted by the thunder of the day's engagement, which had been audible for miles inland. Just as the Spanish noblemen now drifting helplessly up the Channel had been drawn to join the Armada by dreams of loot and glory, so now young English bloods came flocking (in Hakluyt's description) ‘as unto a set field, where immortal fame and glory was to be attained, and faithful service performed unto their prince and country’.
Chief among them were the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland and Cumberland, Sir Thomas and Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir William Hatton, besides many other knights and gentlemen.
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- Information
- Monstrous AdversaryThe Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, pp. 311 - 318Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2003