A clash of titans: Don Pedro de Valdés vs. Sir Francis Drake in the English literary production on the Spanish Armada of 1588

Abstract

In this article, I describe the contrast between the image of Sir Francis Drake after his participation in the defence of England against the Spanish Armada in 1588 and Don Pedro de Valdés, aristocratic commander of the Andalusian fleet, in the literary production and English propaganda in those days. Drake captured the galleass “Nuestra Señora del Rosario”, commanded by Valdes after having been damaged and left unusable, and Don Pedro suffered captivity in England for several years until a high ransom was paid by his family. In the English literature written after 1588, the capture of the Spanish galleon is described as an epic action carried out by Drake, already a hero in the process of being deified at the time as the perfect English admiral and architect of the naval victory of 1588. However, Valdes is presented as a cowardly, vain and inept counterpoint to Drake in order to ridicule the representative of the Spanish archenemy. Following the popularity granted in England to the seizure of the galleass, a number of subsequent Spanish literary characters in English literature on the Armada and on other Spanish themes appear as stereotyped recreations of antagonists of few virtues and rather often called Valdes/Valdez.