Elizabeth’s Wars RELATED TITLES FROM PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Pauline Croft, King James Susan Doran and Thomas S. Freeman (eds), The Myth of Elizabeth Carole Levin, The Reign of Elizabeth I A. L. Rowse, The England of Elizabeth A. L. Rowse, The Expansion of Elizabethan England Julia Walker, Elizabeth I as Icon Elizabeth’s Wars War, Government and Society in Tudor England, 1544–1604 Paul E. J. Hammer © Paul E. J. Hammer 2003 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2003 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries). ISBN 978-0-333-91943-9 ISBN 978-0-230-62976-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-62976-9 ISBN 978-0-333-91942-2 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hammer, Paul E. J. Elizabeth’s wars : war, government, and society in Tudor England, 1544–1604 / Paul E. J. Hammer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Great Britain—History—Elizabeth, 1588–1603. 2. Great Britain—Politics and government—1558–1603. 3. Great Britain—History, Military—1485–1603. 4. England—Social conditions—16th century. I. Title. DA355.H26 2003 942.05 5 092–dc21 2003049804 1098 7654321 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 Typeset by Cambrian Typesetters, Frimley, Surrey Contents List of Maps viii List of Tables ix Technical Terms and Conventions x Acknowledgements xiv Introduction 1 1 The Glory of War: operations and developments, 1544–1558 9 War with Scotland, 1542–44 14 The Invasion of France, 1544 16 War on Two Fronts, 1544–46 20 The Cost of Henry’s Wars 25 Somerset’s war, 1547–49 34 Military Exhaustion, 1550–57 43 Mary’s War, 1557–58 48 2 The Burden of War: operations and developments, 1558–c.1572 54 False Dawn: Scotland 1559–60 57 Fiasco in France, 1562–63 62 The Cost of War, 1559–69 67 Ireland, 1534–76 70 Public Investment and Private Enterprise 78 Spain and the Spectre of War, 1567–72 81 The Low Countries, 1572–74 87 v vi Contents 3 The Spectre of War: operations and developments, c.1572–1585 93 Militia Reform and the Demands of Training 97 England Besieged, 1577–84 104 The Low Countries, 1578–84 111 The Outbreak of War, 1584–85 115 4 The Perils of War: operations and developments, 1585–1588 121 The War Goes Sour, 1586–87 132 The ‘Enterprise of England’, 1585–88 137 5 The Depths of War: operations and developments, 1589–1595 154 Privateering and the War at Sea 161 The Netherlands after Leicester 169 France and the Descent into ‘Deep War’, 1589–94 175 The Continent or Ireland? The Costs and Choices of War 182 6 The Limits of War: operations and developments, 1596–1604 190 Calais, Cadiz and the Spanish ‘Armada’ of 1596 192 The Azores Expedition and the Spanish ‘Armada’ of 1597 199 The War Reshaped, 1598 204 Essex in Ireland, 1599 211 Ireland and the Low Countries, 1600–01 216 Ostend and Kinsale 223 Shuffling Towards Peace, 1602–04 229 7 The Reformation of War 236 The Elizabethan Military Achievement 253 An Elizabethan ‘Military Revolution’? 259 Contents vii Abbreviations 265 Notes 267 Select Bibliography of Modern Sources 290 Maps 301 Index 310 Maps 1 England and Wales 301 2 London and its environs 302 3 The Anglo-Scottish Borders 303 4 Northern France 304 5 The Pale of Calais 305 6 Ireland 306 7 The Low Countries 307 8 The North Atlantic and Caribbean 308 9 Spain, Portugal and Western France 309 viii Tables 7.1 English crown revenues and the impact of inflation, 1540–1603 239 7.2 Selected military expenditure of the English crown, 1544–1603 241 7.3 Royal recruitment of troops for service abroad, 1585–1602 246 ix Technical Terms and Conventions Glossary arquebus: the main form of firearm used by infantry during the first half of the sixteenth century; lighter and shorter-ranged than the musket; also called a hackbut in England. arquebusier (or harquebusier or hackbutter): infantryman armed with an arquebus. bill: a weapon adapted from pruning hooks; it was about six feet long and designed for slashing; originally common across Europe, its use became increasingly restricted to England. caliver: an improved version of the arquebus which became the standard infantry firearm in the mid-sixteenth century; it was gradu- ally supplemented, and ultimately replaced, by the musket. carrack: a very large Portuguese merchant vessel, specifically designed to make the long voyages to and from the East Indies. company: the basic infantry unit used in all armies; its strength could vary from 100–250 men; a company was commanded by a captain. cornet: the basic cavalry unit, equivalent to a company; command- ed by a captain, its strength could vary from 50–100 men. corslet: armour worn by a pikeman; technically a ‘corslet’ was the armour covering the torso, but the term was sometimes used as a synonym for a fully equipped pikeman. enclosure: the division of previously open land into private allot- ments with hedges or fences. flyboat: small Dutch cargo vessel, often used for carrying troops or supplies. x Technical Terms and Conventions xi frigate: fast Spanish sailing ship used for carrying messages and (from 1588) silver across the Atlantic. galleon: a large sail-powered warship which emerged in the mid- sixteenth century and featured a galley-style bow carrying heavy guns; a galleon’s keel length was at least three times as great as its width. galley: warship powered by oars which was rowed by slaves; it car- ried heavy guns in the bow and a large number of soldiers for board- ing or amphibious operations. hackbut: see arquebus. Huguenot: French Protestant. javelin: a light spear for throwing; often called a dart. landsknecht: (technically the plural is landsknechte) German merce- nary infantry; originally armed mainly with pikes, they increasingly used firearms in combination with pikes. light horse: in English usage, a cavalryman wearing armour only on the torso and armed with sword, pistol and a staff; while heavy cav- alry (lancers) were intended mainly for direct attacks against the enemy, light horse provided support and performed key roles in scouting and pursuit. longbow: a single-piece wooden bow, up to six feet in length; it required enormous strength (and practice and good health) to draw properly. musket: a heavy firearm which usually required a rest or stand for firing, developed from the arquebus; its greater penetration and weight (which encouraged its use by larger soldiers, who also received higher pay) created the connotation of muskets being the weapon of the élite; muskets ultimately displaced calivers as the basic infantry firearm. pike: a long thrusting spear, ten to 16 feet long. reiter: a German mercenary horseman, usually armed with pistols and sword. shot: generic term for soldiers equipped with firearms (as in the phrase ‘pike and shot’). xii Technical Terms and Conventions subsidy: the main form of direct taxation in England, approved by parliament as one-off grants which might be collected in several instalments over two or three years; traditionally, a subsidy was only sought by the crown during time of war. tercio: the standard large unit of the Spanish army, containing 10–20 companies and comprising 1,000–5,000 men. trace italienne: the generic term used for fortifications which were designed to counter the effects of cannon fire; characterised by low and extremely thick ramparts and star-like geometry, which min- imised the damage caused by besiegers’ cannonballs and maximised the field of fire for the defenders’ own guns. Dates All dates in this book are Old Style, which reflects the usage of Tudor men and women, except that the New Year is treated as 1 January rather than 25 March. New Style dating, which runs ten days ahead of Old Style, was adopted by Continental countries within a year or so of its promulgation by Pope Gregory XIII in February 1581, but was not adopted by England until 1752. As a result, the naval skirmishes of the Armada campaign in 1588 occurred in the last days of July according to English sources, but at the start of August according to Spanish sources. Weights and Measures This book uses the usual English measures of the period. Distances are given in miles (1 mile = 1.6km) and weights in pounds (1lb = 0.37kg). A quarter of grain was 8 bushels or 480lb, while a barrel of butter was 4 firkins or 224lb.