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Did Italians serve in the Spanish Armada?

I am not very familiar with this topic, but I am very interested in genealogy and curious. Most of my family is big on heritage. My great-great-great grandmother had an Italian maiden name. She always said that during the Spanish Armada some Italian ancestors had a part in this, and they eventually made their way to England. Thank you! :) Thanks for that. The name was "Plexico". I never thought it sounded very Italian, but I could be wrong. Is it? Plexica and other spelling/pronunciation variations as well.

Public Comments

1. oh they did.
2. Maps can be very helpful in history. Here's a view of the Spanish empire controlled by Philip II in 1588. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wggerman/map/images/phillipiiempire.jpg Note that Southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia were all controlled by Spain. It is very likely that Italian ships - especially from the kingdom of Naples - sailed with Italian men on board as part of the Spanish armada. Dutch ships and sailors were in the Armada since the Netherlands were also controlled by the Spanish king. Added note - Peter Kemp in his 1988 "The Campaign of the Spanish Armada" notes that four galleasses from Naples were part of the armada, and that these were the largest ships in either side. They would certainly have been manned by Italian sailors.
3. Quite possible. At the time of the Armada Spain was a superpower in the Mediteranean and controlled Sardinia and southern Italy- so your ancestor may have been "Spanish" (just like the Dutch were at that time). He might also have been hired for the expedition- many experienced men were needed and many men were hired- either to fight as mercenaries or as expert sailors to serve and command the ships
4. A really difficult question to answer. Without a doubt a vast vast vast majority of sailors with the Spanish Armada were Spanish. I have never heard or read about Italians with the Spanish Armada, however throughout that period mercenaries were a basic part of armies. The Italians had a mercenary group called the Condottieri and they were used all the time. I won't say your grandmother is wrong, her story is reasonable, however it is just as likely that a Spaniard changed his name to a more Italian one after moving to England. It is possible that its a name that is common in both Spanish and Italian culture. Bottom line is I doubt their is any real way to prove your lineage one way or another, so just tell the story you like better. Historians have been doing it for millenia, read Herodotus if you don't believe me.