Grundlicher bericht, wellicher gestalt, in jungst verschienen Monat: Julio und Augusto, des jetz lauffenden 83. Jars, durch Kunigklicher May, in Hispania, General Obristen Don Alvaro de Bacan, Marches de sancta Cruce, die Insul Terzera, sambt etlichen and

Bazan, Alvaro de

N.d. [1583]. 4to (188 x 128 mm). 11 ff. Recent calf-backed cloth. Title cropped at lower margin affecting last line of text, uniform browning.

First edition. An important and rare account of the naval victory fought off Angra for the control of Terceira (Azores), on 23 June 1583 between the Spanish fleet and a combined force of Portuguese and French fleets. The Azores were of great strategic and geographical importance as the stopping point for fleets en route to or from the Indies, thus the scene for the following naval engagements during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Spanish were lead by one of their foremost Commanders, Alvaro de Bazan y Guzman (1526 – 1588), Marquess of Santa Cruz and Captain General of the Ocean Sea; Bazan had previously gained fame for his participation at the Battle of Lepanto (1570), where the Holy League defeated the Ottomans, also later on the preparations for the Armada Invencible (1588). In the same year, a Spanish edition under the title “Relacion de la jornada, expugnacion, y conquista de la Isla Tercera” was published. The victory was crushing and definitive, after the landing forces occupied the islands, a trial commenced with Bazan as Judge. Since formally Spain and France were not at war, the charge to the officers was piracy; to this they responded refuting the charges and showing dispatches from the King of France, however Bazan –probably under orders of the King of Spain, in order to prevent having to declare war against France- regarded the documents as false, declared them guilty and condemned to death. Lords and high ranking officers were decapitated and soldiers over 18 years old hanged. Palau, 25923.

[1583]

$2,000.00