ABSTRACT
IT was in the sixteenth century that the seeds were sown whichwere to grow into English seapower and the British empire.The discovery of America turned the Atlantic from the edge of the world into a busy traffic centre; command of the sea routes superseded control of overland roads in deciding the fate of nations; the distant island off the north-western comer of the Eurasian landmass automatically acquired immense possibilities. Medieval England had had her seamen: an island must have shipping. But such part as the kings of England had played in wider affairs had depended on their continental possessions and ambitions, and on the military prowess of their land-based armies. Under the Tudors the ancient military traditions-the memories of Crecy and Agincourt-were being replaced by a new national folklore of sea-heroes. The military past was a long time a-dying: its memories dominated the wars of Henry VIII and frustrated under Elizabeth the revolutionary notions of the new naval school of strategists. Nowadays, when the Elizabethan age seems to be obviously dominated by its Drakes and Hawkinses, when the defeat of the Armada overshadows all other warlike events of the time, when attention so readily concentrates on the distant exploits of explorers, colonists, traders, privateers, and pirates-nowadays it is necessary to remind oneself at every step that these men stood only at the opening of an era. Their mistakes, their irresolutions, their frequent folly and vicious selfishness cannot otherwise be understood, nor can due praise be given to their remarkable achievements. The traditions of maritime England, of England's navy and England's empire, go back no further than the Tudor century. They began hesitantly in the reign of Henry VII and received but partial advancement under Henry VIII; it was not until the second half of the period that a real start was made.
