Spanish Armada Quotes
Centuries later leaders have studied this speech and the actions taken by Elizabeth as the epitome of model leadership and morale building at a time of crisis. What made the event more dramatic were two monarchial norms of the time understood by all the citizens. Monarchs did not open themselves to the risk of very close proximity to their armies with only a handful of retainers. A dissident military commander could kill or capture the monarch as most soldiers had little loyalty to anyone but the commander who paid them. Second, monarchs usually abandoned battlefields where the outcome was uncertain and if not present certainly stayed away. Elizabeth in breaking both these norms was taking obvious risks with her own life (as a women for whom it was even more unexpected) and welfare to share the immediate fate of her subjects. It explains why an absolute monarch was extremely popular with her subjects—great leadership.
Roosevelt was then the Assistant Navy Secretary. However, the Secretary was on vacation and Roosevelt as Acting Secretary anticipated the Spanish American War. TR had also ordered large amounts of supplies and ammunition and when the President and Congress were faced with the possibility of war with Spain, the Navy was fully ready for war enabling the Declaration.
He was a captive of the Spaniards at the time. They later murdered him
On October 7, 1571 the Spanish fleet delivered a crushing defeat to the Ottomans at the bay of Lepanto in Greece. Cervantes was a proud veteran of Lepanto.
He had broken formation in the 1588 Great Armada defeat by England and was ordered onboard another ship of officers to be disciplined (scapegoats for the defeat). His ship was severely damaged, blown off course, and wrecked on the Irish coast. Note that he refers to the Irish as “savages” which was in comportment with the English perception of the Irish at the time—see {639438}. When shipwrecked the Irish robbed and stripped the Spaniards of every shred of their clothing, but they did not kill the few Spaniards who were left alive. They lived off roots and plants until they ran into other Irish who saw them as allied Catholics against the hated English. These Irish assisted them from being captured by the English and helped the escape back to Spain in a small boat.
