"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too."

My speech to my soldiers before the sea battle with the Spanish Armada.


Only in Hollywood do 16th century cannon balls explode. In reality, the solid iron cannon ball simply tore something up or knocked something down, and heavy wood hit by iron balls created lots of lethal wood shrapnel.

So there must be a line drawn under the whole Myth of the Armada, it was a great propaganda coup.






Now here's the full folder, all in glorious Tudor colour.
Click here to download this file

Now what about Francis Drake? Was he the naval hero, the dandy captain? Or was he just a Pirate?