Spain and the Early Stuarts, 1585-1655

These studies focus on Spain's relations with England from the last stages of the Elizabethan war to the opening years of the Cromwellian regime. Particular attention is given to the issue of religion and to the character and conduct of peacetime diplomacy - and intelligence gathering. In the first studies, Professor Loomie deals with the policies of Philip II and preparations for the 1597 Armada. The following articles examine Spanish attitudes towards the Stuart court and an unknown cultivation of the 'Independents' during and after the Civil War.

Contents: Religion and Elizabethan commerce with Spain; Sir William Semple and Bristol's Andalucian trade, 1597-1598; An armada pilot's survey of the English coastline, October 1597; Philip II's armada proclamation of 1597; The armadas and the Catholics of England; Thomas James: the English Consul of Andalucia (1556-ca. 1613); Philip III and the Stuart succession in England, 1600-1603; Sir Robert Cecil and the Spanish embassy; Richard Berry: Gondomar's English Catholic adviser; Bacon and Gondomar: an unknown link in 1618; Gondomar's selection of English officers in 1622; King James I's Catholic consort; A Jacobean crypto-Catholic: Lord Wotton; Olivares, the English Catholics and the peace of 1630; The Spanish faction at the court of Charles I, 1630-1638; Alonso de Cárdenas and the long parliament, 1640-1648; New light on the Spanish ambassador's purchases from Charles I's collection, 1649-1653; London's Spanish chapel before and after the Civil War; Index.