The Armada Tapestries were a series of ten

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

that commemorated the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...

. They were commissioned in 1591 by the Lord High Admiral, Howard of Effingham, who had commanded the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

against the Armada.Phillis Rogers, 'The Armada tapestries in the House of Lords', ''RSA Journal'' Vol. 136, No. 5386 (September 1988), p. 731. In 1651 they were hung in the old

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

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 The Palace of Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament, was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part ...

of 1834.

The Commission

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. The Dutch painter

Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom (c.1562 – February 4, 1640 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter credited with being the founder of Dutch marine art or seascape painting.Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolita ...

workshops of François Spierincx. Spierincx later supplied three (or five) other tapestries to

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

in 1607. 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 The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet ( es, Flota de Indias, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the es, label=Spanish, plata meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to ...

, paid for by the admirals themselves. The narrative as presented by the tapestries make no mention of the Dutch participation at all.

Portraits in the borders

The Death of the Earl of Chatham by John Singleton Copley

The tapestries included portraits of commanders, captains, and other worthies in the borders. These included: Christopher Baker;

George Beeston Sir George Beeston or Beston (circa 1520 - 13 September 1601Charles Blount; Robert Carey; Captain Crosse; the

Earl of Cumberland The title of Earl of Cumberland was created in the Peerage of England in 1525 for the 11th Baron de Clifford.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', 2004. It became extinct in 1643. The dukedom of Cumberland was c ...

;

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...

; Charles Howard, Lord Effingham;

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canad ...

; Thomas Garrat;

Benjamin Gonson Benjamin Gonson (c. 1525–1577) was an English Naval Administrator, and the first Surveyor of the Royal Navy. He was a founding member of England's Navy Board during the Tudor period. Career Benjamin Gonson began his career as a private shipw ...

;

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

;

Edward Hoby Sir Edward Hoby (1560 – 1 March 1617) was an English diplomat, Member of Parliament, scholar, and soldier during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He was the son of Thomas Hoby and Elizabeth Cooke, the nephew of William Cecil, Lord Burgh ...

;

Lord Thomas Howard Lord Thomas Howard (1511 – 31 October 1537) was an English courtier at the court of King Henry VIII. He is chiefly known for his marriage (later invalidated by Henry) to Lady Margaret Douglas (1515–1578), the daughter of Henry VIII's si ...

; Master Knyvet; the

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

; Horatio Palavicini; George Pinner; Captain Penton; Lord Henry Seymour; Lord Sheffield; Robert Southwell;

Thomas Cecil Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG (5 May 1542 – 8 February 1623), known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier. Family Thomas Cecil was the elder son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, b ...

; Roger Townshend; Thomas Vavasour; Master Willoughby; and William Wynter.

Bought for the royal collection

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 James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

for £1,628-8-0.Rogers, p. 732. The tapestries had already been displayed in the Great Hall at

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. H ...

for the

wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate The wedding of Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), daughter of James VI and I, and Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596–1632) was celebrated in London in February 1613. There were fireworks, masques (small, choreography-based plays), tourna ...

on 14 February 1613. 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.

Commonwealth

The ten tapestries were subsequently put in storage at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. In 1644 six pieces were hung in the White Chamber of the old

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

where the lords of Parliament met. After the

execution of Charles I The execution of Charles I by beheading occurred on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall. The execution was the culmination of political and military conflicts between the royalists and the parliamentarians in E ...

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 Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

's use at Whitehall Palace. The tapestry was returned to the old

Court of Requests The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor a ...

at Westminster, where the

sat. A German visitor Zacharias Conrad van Uffenback saw them in 1710 and commented on their poor condition. 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. Eight of the tapestries were cleaned and repaired in 1760 by Peter Saunders.

John Pine

Richard Burchett - The English Fleet Pursuing the Spanish Fleet Against Fowey POW 2954

In 1739

John Pine John Pine (1690–1756) was an English designer, engraver, and cartographer notable for his artistic contribution to the Augustan style and Newtonian scientific paradigm that flourished during the British Enlightenment. Early life and apprenti ...

made engravings of the tapestries based on the drawings of Clement Lemprière. Lempriere in turn used the original maps by Adams. The tapestries can be seen in

John Singleton Copley John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish. Afte ...

's painting ''

The Death of the Earl of Chatham ''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 ...

''.Karen Hearn, '"Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada": A Painting and Its Afterlife', ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' Vol. 14 (2004), p. 134.

Engravings from John Pine's 1739 publication

File:Titelpagina voor The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords, 1739 The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords representing the several engagements between the English and Spanish Fleets in the ever memorable Year MDLXX, RP-P-1987-34-A.jpg, Titlepage File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148571.jpg, Overview map File:Kaarten van de Spaanse Armada (16 en 21 juli 1588), RP-P-1987-34-1.jpg, 2 maps which inspired tapestries 1 & 2 File:Reproductie van een wandtapijt over de Spaanse Armada (16-20 juli), RP-P-1987-34-7.jpg, Tapestry 1 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148570.jpg, Tapestry 2 File:Kaarten van de Spaanse Armada (21 en 22 juli 1588), RP-P-1987-34-2.jpg, 2 maps which inspired tapestries 3 & 4 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148572.jpg, Tapestry 3 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148573.jpg, Tapestry 4 File:Two maps of the Engagement of the English fleet and the Spanish Armada before the Isle of Portland RP-P-1987-34-3.jpg, 2 maps which inspired tapestries 5 & 6 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148574.jpg, Tapestry 5 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148575.jpg, Tapestry 6 File:Kaarten van de Spaanse Armada (25 en 27 juli 1588), RP-P-1987-34-4.jpg, 2 maps which inspired tapestries 7 & 8 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148576.jpg, Tapestry 7 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148577.jpg, Tapestry 8 File:English fleet and Spanish Armada in the Strait of Dover RP-P-1987-34-5.jpg, 2 maps which inspired tapestries 9 & 10 File:The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords Representing the Several Engagements Between the English and Spanish Fleets... MET DP148578.jpg, Tapestry 9 File:Spaanse Armada (29-31 juli), John Pine, Clement Lemprière, François Spiering, Hendrik Cornelisz. Vroom, RP-P-1987-34-16.jpg, Tapestry 10

Notes

External links

History
of the Armada tapestries on the UK Parliament's website
The Spanish Armada, 1588 : the tapestry hangings of the House of lords, representing the several engagements between the English and Spanish fleets
1739 book about the Armada tapestries, by John Pine {{Tapestry Lost works of art Spanish Armada Tapestries 1590s works