Great Sea Fights 5: A Tudor Battle, 1512 Part II: The Contemporary Accounts

The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

In this, Part II of our special episodes on the battle of St Mathieu in 1512 and its aftermath, we hear three contemporary accounts. The first is from the Venetian Ambassador Nicolo di Favri, fascinating as it includes a great deal of information on life and manners in Tudor England as well as war news. The writer was newly appointed to the court of Henry and was a member of the Venetian elite who served in the Councils of the Republic, and finds the English somewhat eccentric. The second is a letter from Thomas Wolsey to the Bishop of Worcester August 1512. At the time of writing Wolsey had been appointed almoner of Henry VIII – so responsible for distributing alms - and was therefore a member of the Privy Council. The final account is from Edward Etchyngham to Thomas Wolsey written in May 1513 and explores the events of the summer after the battle of St Mathieu when Edward Howard launched a bold attack on a squadron of French galleys at Blancs Sablons near Brest, losing his life. Etchyngham was the commander of the fleet of victuallers which reached Howard’s fleet off Brest shortly before the events in the Bay of Blancs Sablons. He was therefore well placed to give an account of the battle and the loss of Howard.

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