The Spanish Armada, 1588: The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords

What it is

This is a scanned 1878 edition, published in Boston by Houghton, Osgood and Company, of a book originally made by the engraver John Pine (1690-1756). It reproduces, in heliotype, an original copy from the collection of Charles Hervey Townshend. The book reproduces the tapestry hangings of the House of Lords, which show the several engagements between the English and Spanish fleets. An appendix gives biographical sketches of the principal English commanders knighted by the admiral at sea on 26 July 1588. The digital copy is a PDF held by the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

The book is a later reproduction, not the tapestries themselves, and it is a secondary source about the event. Elizabeth I reigned during the Armada crisis, when the English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham and others met the Spanish fleet. The tapestries and this book show how the defeat of the Armada was remembered and presented in the centuries after it happened.

Look closer

• Who chose which battles to show, and what would they want viewers to remember?
• Which English commanders are given biographical sketches, and why might they be named?
• What does a reproduction from the 1800s leave out compared with the original tapestries?