A Declaration of the Causes, which mooved the chiefe Commanders of the Nauie of her most excellent Maiestie the Queene of England, in their voyage and expedition for Portingal, to take and arrest in the mouth of the Riuer of Lisbone, certaine Shippes of corne and other prouisions of warre bound for the said Citie: Prepared for the seruices of the King of Spaine, in the Ports and Prouinces within and about the Sownde, the 30. day of Iune, in the yeere of our Lord 1589. and of her Maiesties raigne the one and thirtie

In Short

Published in 1589 by the English sovereign, this official declaration defends the royal navy's arrest of Hanse town merchant ships carrying corn and war provisions to Lisbon. It argues that aiding Philip II of Spain constitutes an act of hostility against England. The text catalogs decades of Spanish conspiracies, assassination plots, and the Armada's failed invasion to prove the necessity of self-defense. It has lasted as a primary historical artifact illustrating sixteenth-century maritime law, sovereign survival, and the fierce geopolitical rhetoric of the Elizabethan era.

The Story

The text opens by addressing anticipated complaints from merchants of the Hanse towns in Denmark regarding the interception of their ships at the mouth of the Lisbon river. These vessels, carrying corn and war provisions for the King of Spain, were detained by the English fleet. The crown immediately lays out its central justification: such interceptions align entirely with equity and justice, given that Philip II of Spain is driven by a mortal and unyielding hatred toward Queen Elizabeth, famously manifested in the attempted invasion of England the previous year.

Tracing the roots of this hostility, the narrative details how Philip rejects peaceful overtures, acting under the influence of the Bishop of Rome. Rather than seeking concord, the Spanish king has consistently fostered domestic conspiracies. He deployed agents like Gyrald Despes and Bernardine Mendoza to ignite rebellion, leading directly to major uprisings such as those involving the Earls of Northumberland and Westmerland, the Duke of Norfolk, and various confederates whose plots aimed at overthrowing the English state. Historical documentation, including the writings of papal secretary Guilielmus Cataneus, confirms Philip's deep-seated frustration when these conspiracies and his military forces sent to Ireland failed to topple the crown.

The argument next addresses the hypocrisy of the Hanse merchants invoking neutrality while supplying an active aggressor. Despite repeated warnings sent to Hamburg, Lübeck, and Danzig—and clear prohibitions against carrying grain, gunpowder, and mast timbers to Spain—these merchants attempted deceitful measures, even plotting strange and dangerous navigation routes around the coasts of Scotland and Ireland to evade English patrols. The crown demonstrates through numerous historical precedents that neutrality has never protected merchants who aid a belligerent enemy. Similar restrictions were enforced by Emperor Charles V, the kings of Denmark and Sweden, the Prince of Orange, and the Hanse towns themselves during their own conflicts, while Edward I’s ancient charters explicitly exclude aiding manifest enemies from trade privileges.

Beyond open naval warfare, the declaration exposes a more insidious danger: the secret infiltration of Jesuit and seminary priests. These agents slip across the country, distributing papal bulls and urging ignorant subjects to cast off their allegiance under threat of eternal damnation. When questioned, unrepentant conspirators openly avow that they would assist a foreign invasion led by the Pope or the Spanish king. The crown argues that no sovereign can tolerate such internal subversion without courting national destruction. Ultimately, the declaration concludes that the seizure of goods and the execution of traitors are measured acts of self-preservation, executed strictly according to ancient laws to safeguard the realm against both open force and hidden treachery.

How It Unfolds

• The intercepted fleet: The text begins by addressing anticipated protests from Hanse town merchants regarding the arrest of their ships at the mouth of the Lisbon river. These vessels were carrying corn and military provisions for the King of Spain, prompting the English commanders to detain them as lawful prizes in the name of self-defense.
• A history of malice: The narrative details Philip of Spain’s enduring and unappeasable hostility, highlighting the failed Armada invasion and decades of thwarted domestic conspiracies. It cites papal records, intercepted letters, and foreign agents like Gyrald Despes and Bernardine Mendoza to prove that Spanish aggression long preceded any English support for the Netherlands.
• The failure of diplomacy: The crown outlines its sincere efforts to negotiate a lasting peace through noble ambassadors sent to the Duke of Parma. These diplomatic overtures were cynically exploited by Spain as a deceptive smokescreen while invasion forces gathered on the coast, leaving England exposed.
• The warning to merchants: Successive official warnings, letters, and council instructions sent to Hanse cities such as Hamburg, Lübeck, and Danzig are thoroughly documented. Despite explicit prohibitions against carrying grain, gunpowder, and masts to an active enemy, merchants deliberately attempted to bypass English patrols using perilous northern routes around Scotland and Ireland.
• Precedents of maritime law: The argument invokes historical examples from Emperor Charles V, the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden, and the Prince of Orange to demonstrate that neutrality never permits supplying an opponent's military forces. Ancient English charters, including rules established by Edward I, confirm that aiding manifest enemies completely voids traditional commercial privileges.
• The internal Jesuit threat: Shifting from open naval conflict, the text exposes the covert subversion orchestrated by Jesuit and seminary priests entering England under false pretenses. It notes that unrepentant conspirators proudly confess they would assist a foreign Catholic invasion, demonstrating that the crown's strict legal executions are entirely justified acts of self-preservation.
• The defense of justice: The declaration concludes by inviting all Christian princes and magistrates to recognize the truth behind these actions. It maintains that England desires universal peace and fair trade, provided foreign entities cease conspiring with enemies to dismantle the realm.

The People

Queen Elizabeth of England wants to live in quietness and secure peace without ambitious desires for foreign rule, but she faces the unyielding malice and invasion threats of Philip II of Spain. Ultimately, she is forced to abandon her initial leniency, seizing contraband ships and executing traitors to ensure national survival. Philip II of Spain wants nothing less than the total conquest of England and the slaughter of its people, driven by religious hatred and aided by the Pope. Standing in his way is the resilient English navy and nation, leaving his grand armadas wrecked and his conspiracies exposed to the world.

Agents like Gyrald Despes and Bernardine Mendoza want to subvert the English state by organizing domestic conspiracies, but their plots are continually uncovered, leaving their co-conspirators executed or exiled and dependent on Spanish pensions. Sebastian Berghen and Maurice Tymberman act as representatives for the Hanse towns, seeking unrestricted trade privileges under the banner of neutrality. Standing in their way are stern English council edicts and maritime laws prohibiting the shipment of war materials to enemies; consequently, their vessels are intercepted, and their commercial exemptions are legally forfeited. Historical figures like Guilielmus Cataneus document papal and Spanish frustrations, while monarchs and leaders like Edward I and Charles V provide enduring legal precedents that validate the crown's defensive measures against unauthorized wartime commerce.

In Its Own Voice

The text characterizes the Spanish monarch's deep-seated animosity toward the English realm.

For it is a thing notorious & sufficiently knowen, not onely to the fewe Hanse townes, but also to all Christendome, that the king of Spaine is transported with a mortall hatred against the Queenes Maiestie of England

The crown outlines the danger of supplying military provisions to an active aggressor.

if it grow to a warre, we wish you aduisedly to consider, that it standeth not with the safetie of our kingdome, to suffer our enemies to bee ayded with corne, and prouisions for warre, thereby to be armed against vs.

The document explains how a neutral party becomes a participant through harmful actions.

so that hee which helpeth one, & thereby damnifieth another, falleth from his priuiledge and contract: not because he helpeth one of his confederates, but because he doeth preiudice another, and by that fact of his, makes himselfe an enemie

What It's Really About

At its core, this book explores the fragile boundaries between sovereign self-defense and international commerce during wartime. It interrogates the true limits of neutrality, asking whether commercial profit can ever outweigh collective security when a nation faces an existential threat. The text grapples with the tension between written legal privileges and the supreme, unwritten law of public survival. Furthermore, it examines the insidious nature of ideological subversion, investigating how external religious conflicts manifest as internal treason. Ultimately, the work is a philosophical and legal defense of state sovereignty, arguing that a government failing to check both open aggression and hidden subversion is complicit in its own destruction.

Why Read It Today

Readers fascinated by Tudor history, early modern political rhetoric, and the evolution of international law will find this document utterly compelling. Reading it feels like standing directly inside the high-stakes chancellery of Elizabethan England, listening to a beleaguered government fiercely articulate its survival strategy with legal rigor and rhetorical force. What stays with you is the sharp, unyielding clarity with which sixteenth-century statesmen debated the ethics of trade during wartime and the terrifying reality of foreign-backed subversion. Modern readers must navigate the distinct challenges of period prose, including Elizabethan spelling variations like priesthod and resiant, alongside complex typographical contractions. Additionally, the text's intense religious framing and heavy-handed royal justifications reflect the uncompromising, factional worldview of sixteenth-century Europe. Yet beneath these historical barriers lies a timeless, gripping examination of how states navigate existential danger, balance security with legal precedent, and confront enemies operating both at sea and within their own borders.