Battle of the Bibles - Present Truth

Finisterre in North Western Spain to Sicily were converted into a vast ship-building yard
("Hume", Vol. II, Chapter 42).
No doubt, the huge shipyards of Goa and lesser Portuguese ports in India and
Ceylon also resounded to the sounds of axe and hammer on the magnificent teak timber
used in the construction of the world's finest ships.
Plans for the invasion called for no less than one hundred and thirty vessels,
great and small. Close tells us that the huge galleons were "of great capacity and
amazing strength. Their strong ribs were lined with planks four feet in thickness, through
which it was thought impossible that cannon ball could pierce ".
There were sixty-four of these huge, cumbersome galleons which towered like
castles above the waves. Most were heavily armed with large brass cannon. Besides the
normal complement of sailors, there was provision for quartering soldiers and even
supplying comfortable quarters for the pope's spiritual army of monks and friars.
Then there were the fearsome galleasses, the highly manoeuvrable destroyers
capable of being speedily propelled by the oars of three hundred galley slaves, many of
whom were serving sentences meted out by the pope's Inquisitors.
Built into the prow of these boats was a malevolent-looking espalone, tipped with
a large iron spike for ramming and piercing the hulls of enemy ships. Armed with
formidable cannon, they were the spearhead of the squadron which would grapple with
the enemy, enabling their soldiers to swarm aboard, wreaking havoc with their swords
and fearsome halberds (a combination of spear and battle axe).
Besides the eight thousand soldiers needed for this fearsome armada, there
would be needed 2,088 galley slaves and 20,000 soldiers. But the spacious galleons
could still provide ample room to adequately accommodate the numerous "noblemen
and gentlemen" who were keen to obtain the pope's "blessing" by volunteering their
services for the humbling of England.
But this was not all! To this, the greatest sea-borne invasion force ever
assembled, was to be added yet another fleet! It was to be built and launched in the
ports of the Netherlands by Philip's new governor of the Lowlands, the Duke of Parma,
who was widely regarded as the "ablest general of the age".
This second armada would consist of some four hundred vessels, large and
small, which would meet up with the main armada as it lay off the coast at Calais. Not
only would it reinforce the main fleet but it would be used for ferrying soldiers and
supplies across the English Channel.
As the time for the invasion approached, Parma had assembled an impressive
polyglot army in the Channel ports. Close gives some details revealing the divided
loyalties of the times:
"There were thirty regiments of Italians, ten of Walloons, eight of Roman Catholic
Scots and eight of Burgundians. Near Dixmuyde were mustered eighty regiments of
Dutch, sixty of Spaniards, six of Germans, and seven of English fugitives under the
command of Sir William Stanley ... quite a flock of Italian and Neapolitan princes and
counts repaired to his [Parma's] banners. Believing that the last hour of England had
come, they had assembled to witness her fall " ("The Defeat of the Spanish Armada", p
43).
Lest any of our readers be unconvinced of the papal component of this "holy"
enterprise to finish "heretical" England, it is pertinent to note that the eventual
complement of men included the Vicar-General of the Holy Office of the Inquisition,
accompanied by two hundred Dominican Friars. As it was this Dominican Order that the
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