Nautical Archaeologists have recently discovered a shipwreck off the coast of Ireland that they believe to have belonged to the ill-fated 1588 expedition to England.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada at 130 strong set sail to England with the intent of deposing Queen Elizabeth I. At the time, the Catholic country of Spain was embroiled is an undeclared ‘war,’ termed the Anglo-Spanish War, with Protestant England.
The ill-fated Armada, considered at the time a legitimate threat to the powerful nation of England, was all but destroyed in a storm off the coast of Ireland. Of the original fleet, fewer than 50 made it back him to Spain with the invasion never having taken place.
The unfriendly waters off the coast of Ireland make discovery and excavation difficult, but this new piece is anticipated to be a source of national pride for the people of England. Read more about the discovery in this article of the Belfast Telegraph.
The ill-fated Spanish Armada is of course well known to all students of naval and English history. The wrecks make splendid little caches of archeological information, do they not? I believe that many history books mistakenly skip over the more mundane artifacts of ancient life and thereby deprive the student of understanding what it was actually like for people in those days.
I am currently reading David McCullough’s “The Greater Journey” about young Americans who went to Paris in the 19th century. It is chock full of such details and I heartily recommend it to all. It is history at its finest, in my opinion.
Thanks for the update, Jennifer.
Jim
That is a great book! I saw David McCullough speak about it: http://indianajen.com/2011/06/08/my-evening-with-david-mccullough/ and he was amazing.
You’re right that we tend to skip over the ‘mundane’ in preference of the fantastic. I suppose its much like today in that we’re interested in the Royals or Hollywood instead of every day people.