Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-194) and index.
Contents:
Overview -- Documentation of the voyage and Pedro de Rada's Relación -- Rada's manuscript -- Brazil as a venue for European rivalries -- The Spanish response to Drake's passage through the Strait of Magellan -- Personal conflict in the Armada of the Strait : Sarmiento versus Flores -- Planning and early preparations for the Armada -- Recruiting sailors and soldiers -- Final preparations -- The disastrous first departure from Spain -- Definitive departure of the Armada of the Strait -- From Cádiz to the Cape Verde Islands -- Arrival and layover in Brazil, 25 March-26 October 1582 -- The best laid plans go awry: the first attempt to enter the Strait -- Encounters with the expedition of Edward Fenton -- The second attempt to reach the Strait, January-February, 1583 -- The relief mission joins the Armada -- The third attempt to reach the Strait, and Sarmiento's complaints -- Flores focuses on the Armada's military mission -- The Battle of Paraíba and the return to Iberia -- Aftermath.
Summary:
"This book contains the annotated translation of an account of Spain's Armada of the Strait, which traveled to Brazil and the Strait of Magellan under Don Diego Flores de Valdés in 1581-84. Pedro de Rada, the official scribe of the armada, kept a detailed, neutral chronicle of the venture which remained in private hands until 1999 but is now held in the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California. It is published here for the first time. The voyage came at a crucial juncture in global politics, when Philip II of Spain had claimed the throne of Portugal and its empire, and Francis Drake's daring peacetime raids had challenged the dominance of Spain and Portugal in the Americas."--Provided by publisher.
Series:
Works issued by the Hakluyt Society ; third series, no. 31
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.