Carlos de Amésquita

Carlos de Amésquita (also Carlos de Amézola) was a Spanish naval officer from 16th century.

On August 2, 1595, and during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585), four Spanish galleys part of the Brittany Coast Guard ("Capitana", "Patrona", "Peregrina", and "Bazana"), and commanded by de Amésquita, landed in Mount's Bay, Cornwall (England). De Amésquita and several hundred Spanish harquebusiers burned a village called Mousehole, went back on board, sailed two more miles, and then captured and burned a fort at Penzance. Here they held mass and left back to Brittany, managing to avoid the counterattack by the English fleet, commanded by Francis Drake and John Hawkins.

De Amésquita's expedition was one of the few times when Spanish soldiers have disembarked in England. A second one was that of Fernando Sánchez de Tovar.

ee also

* Spanish Armada

External links

* [http://www.magweb.com/sample/srennote/srnraid.htm "The Spanish Raid on Mount's Bay", by John Barratt]