ABSTRACT
By 1614, King James was following a less overtly confessional policy when the old dispute over the succession to the Cleves-Jülich duchies flared up anew, triggered when the two claimants, both Lutherans, converted, one to Calvinism, the other to Catholicism. The Dutch and the Catholic rulers in Brussels were quickly drawn in. James’s efforts at mediation proved inadequate when the Genoese general in Spanish service, Spinola, invaded the contested area and seized the key town of Wesel. Meanwhile, reports of Spanish naval activity disquieted the English, especially when the commander of the English garrison at Flushing relayed news of a large fleet entering the Channel. James, alarmed, ordered a new muster and Catholics were again disarmed. Though the approaching ships were soon thought likely to be Dutch commercial vessels, a fresh report of more ships nearing England caused deep concern and led to a few days of panic in parts of southern England that an armada was upon them. Rumors of a league of Catholic states raising a huge army to overwhelm the Protestant Low Countries and invade England heightened anxiety. The two Habsburg ambassadors in London were hard pressed to convince James that this was all a hoax.
