Re: Was the RN always dominant w.r.t. the Spanish and French navies?

In article <uOrkg.117038$dW3.821@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
pigdos <NA@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks, that's the kind of information I can't get out of encyclopedias.

When Spain was busily raping the Americas (e.g. Cortez, Magellan) were they
the dominant naval power at that time?

One of the two main deep-sea Atlantic powers, t'other being Portugal
(Spain snarfed up Portugal in the 1570s, iIRC): this was why the world got
officially partitioned between Spain and Portugal, with most of the
Americas going to Spain (Brazil sticks out just far enough East for
Portugal to get it).

France was more of a coastal-waters power (Brittany - still independent -
was more sea-minded). The med. was very much the realm of the galley
navies, still.

I seem to remember the Catholic Church dividing the hemispheres between
Portugal and Spain so I figure Portugal must have had a naval presence at
some time?

Very much so - the original european blue-water power. Yer man
Magellan, for one.

--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)
.

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