HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-11-21T11:58:57.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
items: Tudor traders: keep calm and ignore the Armada
items: Keep calm and carry on trading: how English merchants reacted to the Spanish Armada
items: 1588: The Spanish Armada
items: The Spanish Armada: everything you wanted to know
items: Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know
items: The Spanish Armada: one of history’s biggest fibs?
items: Alternate history: what if the Spanish Armada had succeeded?
items: 9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one)
items: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Spanish Armada

Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
type: item
date: 2025-11-19T13:00:01.000Z
creator: Dr Rob Blackmore
subject: General History
subject: Magazine
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical events
description: From 1066 to 1918, our obsession with battles, elections and even voyages of discovery risks distorting a true understanding of the past
encoded: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the witty 1930 book 1066 and All That. “History is not what you thought,” its preface suggested. “It is what you can remember.” Accordingly, as per its subtitle, it offered a “Memorable History of England, Comprising All the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates.” Conspicuously, though, “two out of the four dates originally included were eliminated at the last moment” because “they are not memorable.” Though evidently both humorists, the book’s authors – Punch writers WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman – were making a serious point. History has long been thought to be concerned with preserving the past. The 12th-century historian and Byzantine princess Anna Komnene observed how “time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity”. Her solution was the study of history, which “forms a very strong bulwark against the stream of time”. This is a powerful idea – one that perhaps moved King Charles I, moments before his execution in January 1649, to utter a last single word to William Juxon, the former bishop of London, instructing him: “Remember.” <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/1066-and-all-that-later-edition-CMYKWeb-Ready-dfb5326.jpg" width="2295" height="1530" alt="The cover of a book, with the title 1066 And All That across the top, and two men standing side by side in green and pink clothing" title="The 1930 book 1066 and All That wittily parodied the conventional approach to teaching history in schools at that time (Image by Amazon)" /> But do our efforts to remember really require us to do something so trivial as memorising dates? More radically, do the historical events these dates mark even matter? The Oxford Eng…

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Tudor traders: keep calm and ignore the Armada
type: item
date: 2023-09-25T06:24:45.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Long reads (podcast series)
description: Robert Blackmore reveals how English merchants and mariners responded to the Spanish Armada
encoded: What did English merchants and mariners do when a Spanish invasion fleet menaced the South Coast in 1588? Well, as today’s long read written by Robert Blackmore reveals, they simply boarded their ships and carried on trading. HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the September 2023 issue (you can read it here) and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.

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Keep calm and carry on trading: how English merchants reacted to the Spanish Armada
type: item
date: 2023-08-30T15:28:44.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
description: When King Phillip II's invasion fleet menaced the south coast of England in 1588, what did the merchants and mariners who depended on the Narrow Seas to the continent do? As Robert Blackmore reveals, they filled the holds of their ships and kept on making their voyages anyway
encoded: On 21 July 1588, the English navy first engaged the Spanish Armada in battle off Devon. The very next day, as the Armada sailed east along the channel to rendezvous with the army of the Duke of Parma in the Spanish Netherlands and invade England, a tiny ship named the Wren left its home port of Sandwich, in Kent, carrying cloth bound for French Calais. On 23 July, the two fleets clashed again off Portland Bill in Dorset. The day after that, another small vessel, the Penny Pot, carried beer to Vlissingen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Queen Elizabeth I’s England is often presented as isolated from Europe by the Reformation and war. The story goes that the Tudor kingdom ‘went global’, projecting new maritime military and commercial power far beyond its shores and setting the stage for the British empire. Yet this simple formula ignores the lived experience of coastal communities where the so-called ‘Narrow Seas’, which divided Britain from Europe, drew narrowest. The shipmaster of the Wren, Anthony Hickson, may have lacked the swagger of the queen’s ‘sea dogs’, like John Hawkins, Francis Drake or Walter Ralegh. But he, and many others, showed startling resilience in maintaining strong ties with the continent, even while under threat from the Spanish ‘Grande y Felicísima Armada’ (‘Great and Most Fortunate Navy’). Shipping in late Tudor times I have been working on a project investigating Kent’s maritime links with its European neighbours from the mid-15th to the mid-17th centuries. Our new research uses Kent’s surviving port books, the records of shipping and cargoes that passed through its harbours. These reveal, in detail, the realities of life for late Tudor and early Stuart mariners and merchants where multiple key land and sea routes converged. England’s capital, London, was close by, growing rapidly thanks to the county’s sizable surplus cereal production. The adjacent Strait of Dover connected the North Sea and the Baltic with the North Atlantic and ultimatel…

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1588: The Spanish Armada
type: item
date: 2021-12-27T07:12:11.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Turning points in British history
description: Part 12 in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1550–1599. Pauline Croft says the decisive defeat of Spain's invasion force helped reconcile England and Scotland – and had great significance for western Europe too
encoded: You may think it hardly original to choose the defeat of the Spanish Armada as the key event of 1550–99. However, its significance is often misunderstood. It was not merely an English or even British drama, but a contest when much of the fate of western Europe hung in the balance. After the accession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, friction between England and Catholic Spain became endemic. In 1580, the English sea captain Sir Francis Drake returned from his successful circumnavigation of the globe, including sailing up the Pacific coastline of south America and ransacking Spanish settlements. At the same time, Philip II of Spain’s forces invaded Portugal, where the royal line had died out, leaving Philip as the nearest heir. The conquest of Portugal brought huge extra colonial territories to the Spanish crown: it also brought the deep-water Atlantic port of Lisbon, a great naval asset. The successful takeover of the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Terceira in 1582/3 confirmed Spain’s new status as an oceanic power. Meanwhile France was devastated by divisions between the Huguenot (Protestant) party and the extreme Catholic League. The death in 1584 of the Duke of Anjou, next in line to his childless brother Henri III, indicated that the throne would go to their distant cousin, the Huguenot Henri of Navarre. That was intolerable not only to the Catholic League but also to Philip II. They secretly concluded an agreement that Spain would support the League when civil war inevitably resumed. In the Netherlands, a dominion inherited by Philip from his father, a long standing rebellion appeared to be waning. Philip’s nephew, the Prince of Parma, was proving an effective general and in July 1584, the rebels’ charismatic leader, William the Silent, Prince of Orange, was assassinated. England now faced the possibility that Spain might soon control the entire coastline of western Europe, from the western Mediterranean around France to the borders of north H…

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The Spanish Armada: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2021-09-05T12:01:59.000Z
creator: Elinor Evans
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
subject: Historical events
description: Robert Hutchinson answers your questions on England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588
encoded: Why did the Spanish Armada set sail? What ships were used by the fleets? And did Queen Elizabeth I really give a famous speech at Tilbury? In our latest ‘Everything you wanted to know’ episode, Robert Hutchinson answers your questions on the Tudor era’s most famous maritime face-off.

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Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know
type: item
date: 2020-09-07T12:20:00.000Z
creator: Tracy Borman
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: British queens
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: The daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was England’s ‘Gloriana’ – a virgin queen who saw herself as wedded to her country and who brought almost half a century of stability after the turmoil of her siblings’ short reigns. Here, historian Tracy Borman reveals seven surprising facts about her life
encoded: Flame-haired, white-faced and always lavishly dressed, Elizabeth possessed the natural charisma of her father, Henry VIII, and was the darling of her people. Her finest hour came in 1588 when she defeated the Spanish Armada, catapulting her to legendary status. Leading Tudor historian Tracy Borman reveals some surprising facts about the famous Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I... Elizabeth was never meant to be queen Although Elizabeth is now hailed as one of our greatest monarchs, she should never have got anywhere near the throne. She was not only a girl at a time when the laws of succession favoured boys, but she had an elder sister, Mary. Elizabeth was also removed from the line of succession altogether when her parents’ marriage was declared invalid prior to Anne Boleyn’s execution, and was only reinstated thanks to the kindly intervention of her last stepmother, Katherine Parr. By the time of Henry VIII’s death, therefore, Elizabeth was third in line to the throne behind her younger brother Edward and elder sister Mary. It is one of the greatest ironies of history that Henry VIII had been so obsessed with having a son, yet his cherished boy only reigned for six years, dying of tuberculosis at the age of just 15. The second in line, Mary, did not fare much better. Her brief, catastrophic reign ended after just five years. It was up to Elizabeth to show them how it ought to be done. Read more | Alternate history: what if Henry VIII’s first son had lived? Elizabeth I: a biography Born: 7 September 1533 Died: 24 March 1603 Reigned: queen of England and Ireland for 44 years, from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last monarch of the Tudor period Coronation: 15 January 1559, Westminster Abbey Parents: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Spouse: None Children: None Siblings: Mary I (half-sister); Edward VI (half-brother) Religion: Protestant Cause of death: Hotly debated – possible causes include blood poisoning; pneumonia; streptococcus (infected tonsils); or can…

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The Spanish Armada: one of history’s biggest fibs?
type: item
date: 2020-07-01T15:46:36.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Naval battles
description: From Elizabeth I’s rousing speech at Tilbury to that famous game of bowls, much of what we think we know about the events of 1588 is the product of four centuries of spin, argues Lucy Worsley...
encoded: In a world where thousands of opinions are competing for our attention, we like to think of history books speaking with one clear voice to tell us the definitive truth about the past. But it’s not like that at all. One of the stopping-off points in the usual story of England’s journey towards becoming a global superpower with a world-class navy is the so-called defeat of the ‘invincible’ Spanish Armada in 1588. The quotation marks are used advisedly, for all is not as it seems. The schoolgirl version of the story is that Philip II of Spain, deadly foe of Elizabeth I of England, sent his huge Armada of ships to invade England and return it to the Catholic faith, only to be defeated by the plucky little English navy, whose courageous captains included Sir Francis Drake. Drake’s celebrated against-the-odds victory is often depicted as the moment that England took on Europe and won. For example, here’s Winston Churchill during the Battle of Britain: “We must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. It ranks with the days when the Spanish Armada was approaching the Channel, and Drake was finishing his game of bowls...” Was Sir Francis Drake really playing bowls when the Armada approached? Yet that game of bowls is problematic. You probably have the idea that it was while Drake was enjoying a game on the greens of Plymouth Hoe that the Spanish Armada was first sighted on the horizon. The usual story has Sir Francis turning to Lord Effingham, commander of the English fleet, and saying that there was no need to hurry, there would be plenty of time to finish the game, and to thrash the Spaniards too. It’s deep in our national psyche as a moment of coolness in the face of fire; of the stiff upper lip. Disappointingly, though, none of the early accounts of the Armada mention anyone playing bowls at all. It was a number of years after the event that one account finally describes sailors in Plymouth in July 1588 “dancing, bowling and making merry” on…

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Alternate history: what if the Spanish Armada had succeeded?
type: item
date: 2020-04-07T09:00:02.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Naval battles
description: Victory over the Spanish Armada is remembered as one of England’s greatest military triumphs and a key moment in the nation’s naval supremacy. What if the Spanish had broken through and landed in England? Jonny Wilkes talks to historian Robert Hutchinson about how things could have gone differently...
encoded: Each month BBC History Revealed asks a historical expert for their take on what might have happened if a key moment in the past had turned out differently. This time, Jonny Wilkes asks Robert Hutchinson what if… the Spanish Armada had landed in England? King Philip II of Spain ordered his ‘invincible’ fleet to sail up the English Channel and rendezvous with a 30,000-strong Spanish army waiting at Calais, before turning towards the coast of Kent. Once on English soil, the invasion force – under the command of the Duke of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands – headed straight for London, took Queen Elizabeth I and her ministers hostage, and called for Catholics to rise up in rebellion. England was Catholic once more... At least, that was what the Spanish hoped would happen. Instead, the events of 1588 are remembered for England’s historic victory over the Spanish Armada. A lot went wrong for the Spanish: delays to preparations, a destructive raid on their port of Cadiz, a disrupted voyage, inexperienced leadership, poor strategy, a faster English fleet, and – as if a sign of divine intervention – the weather. Yet had it gone differently and the landing been a success, says author and historian Robert Hutchinson, “we might be speaking Spanish today”. More alternate history What if... Boudica had defeated the Romans? What if... Alexander the Great had lived longer? How could the Spanish Armada have won? What if the Armada had been ready to sail earlier than 28 May 1588? The Spanish would likely have found the English less prepared, having not set up the beacon warning system on the coasts or built up their own fleet at Plymouth. Perhaps more importantly, the Armada would still be under the command of Spain’s greatest admiral, the Marquess de Santa Cruz, who allegedly never lost in battle. His death in February 1588 forced the selection of a new commander: the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an able administrator, but no seaman. As Hutchinson claims: “The more experienced …

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9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one)
type: item
date: 2019-07-11T09:57:20.000Z
creator: Dr Seán Lang
subject: 20th Century
subject: First World War
subject: Georgian
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Second World War
subject: Tudor
subject: Victorian
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Naval battles
subject: Second World War battles
description: From Bosworth and Bannockburn to the Battle of Britain, historian Sean Lang examines nine British battles accorded a decisive importance that, he argues, does not necessarily stand up to close scrutiny…
encoded: To be overrated, a battle must be famous and have been generally regarded as decisive or of great historical significance. Of course, some battles, like those of the Crimean War, never had much reputation to start with; others, such as El Alamein, are genuinely debatable: a sideshow in the grand scheme of things, it helped turn the tide in the Second World War’s north African campaign and was of genuine value in stiffening British morale. Judging a battle to be overrated does not mean it was insignificant; still less does it deny the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought in it. It simply means that it has been accorded a decisive importance that does not necessarily stand up to close scrutiny. For reasons of space, I have restricted this exploration to battles from British history; other peoples can doubtless compile similar lists of their own. Julius Caesar’s invasions of Britain, 55 and 54 BC The cheeky satirical volume 1066 and All That gave 55 BC as one of the two memorable dates in English history (the other, of course, being 1066), but a memorable date does not prove a battle’s significance. What was Julius Caesar actually doing in Britain? What was his landing supposed to achieve? Caesar himself says it was to punish the Britons for the aid they sent the Gallic tribes during his conquest of Gaul in 58–50 BC, which would make it a sort of punitive expedition, like the ones the British would later launch in their own empire. Either way, it cannot be called a conquest, or even, properly speaking, an invasion. One of the problems with Caesar’s raid, as with so much ancient history, is that we are so heavily dependent on tainted written sources – in this case Caesar’s own written account. Corroborative archaeological evidence for the scale of Caesar’s expedition is relatively sparse. We do know that Caesar’s account was a propaganda exercise to promote his own bid for power, and that it would have suited his purposes to ‘big up’ what was either a large raid or…

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10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Spanish Armada
type: item
date: 2018-11-02T17:20:17.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Period
subject: Family and parenting
subject: Naval battles
description: The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 – a fleet of Spanish ships led by Spanish commander Medina Sidonia with the purpose of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I – is considered one of England's greatest military achievements, and one that served to boost the monarch's popularity. Here, Robert Hutchinson, the author of The Spanish Armada, shares 10 lesser-known facts…
encoded: The Spanish Armada campaign of 1588 changed the course of European history. If Medina Sidonia, the Spanish commander, had managed to escort Philip II’s 26,000-strong invasion army from Flanders, the future of Elizabeth I and her Protestant England would have looked very black indeed. After landing near Margate in Kent, it is probable the battle-hardened Spanish troops would have been in the streets of London within a week. England would have reverted to the Catholic faith, and there may not have been a British empire to come. We might still be speaking Spanish today. But Medina Sidonia suffered one of the most signal catastrophes in naval history. Myth, driven by Elizabethan propaganda, has shaped our view of that dramatic running fight up the English Channel. The Spanish were not defeated by the queen’s plucky sea dogs fighting against overwhelming odds: it was destroyed by appalling weather, poor planning and flawed strategy and tactics. Here are some surprising facts about the campaign… Both Elizabeth’s ministers and King Philip of Spain expected that the 50 per cent of England’s population that remained Catholic would rise in support of the Spanish invaders after any landing Jewel-hilted swords, intended as Philip’s gifts for English Catholic nobles, were found in a box on board the fatally damaged Nuestra Señora del Rosario after the English vice-admiral Sir Francis Drake boarded the ship. The Spanish king’s spies had reported beforehand that the “greater part of Lancashire is Catholic… and the town of Liverpool”, and the counties of Westmorland and Northumberland remained “really faithful to your majesty”. In addition, another Spanish assessment in August 1586 estimated that 2,000 men could be recruited in Lincolnshire “which was well effected to the Catholic religion”, plus 3,000 more in Norfolk, while Hampshire was “full of Catholics”. The Spanish Armada: England's lucky escape This last report may have contained some truth. In early June 1586, Henry Radclif…

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