Battle of Ponta Delgada

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Ponta Delgada
partof=the Portuguese succession crisis


caption="The landing of the Spanish Tercios at Terceira."
date=26 July, 1582
place=Terceira, Azores Islands, Portugal
result=Decisive Spanish victory
combatant1=Portuguese renegades in exile
flagicon|France|royal French, English, Dutch, Italian adventurers
combatant2=
commander1=Filippo di Piero Strozzi †
commander2=Marquis de Santa Cruz
strength1=60 warships
strength2=28 warships
casualties1=1,500 dead
1.500 wounded, missing or captured
4 ships sunk
2 ships burned
4 ships captured
casualties2=224 dead
550 woundedThe naval Battle of Ponta Delgada, also called the Battle of Terceira, took place on July 26 1582, in the sea of the Azores, near Terceira Island, in the process of the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis that resulted in the defeat of fleet manned by Portuguese exiles and French, Dutch and English adventurers under António, Prior of Crato (Portuguese claimant to the Portuguese throne against Spanish Habsburg King Philip II) and Filippo di Piero Strozzi, a Florentine exile in the service of France, by a Portuguese and Spanish fleet under Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz.

The fleet of António was not only utterly defeated on this day, but also on the following day, at the Battle of Vila Franca, off São Miguel Island on July 27, 1582.

These battles, included in the War of the Portuguese Succession, marked the end of the Philip II's problems with António, Prior of Crato, and the full establishment of the Iberian Union, which would last for 60 years, until 1640.

Upon Philip's victory, he hung his opponents on yardarms, contributing to the Black Legend.

External links

* [http://club.telepolis.com/mgarciasa/docs/terceira.htm Batalla de Isla Terceira] in Spanish