Bishop Bancroft said this... http://www.anglican.net/works/richard-bancroft-sermon-preached-at-pauls-cross-1588/ "Vnto these I might adde the holie maide of Lisbone, who did prophesie this last yeere (if the report be true) that the invincible navie of the Spaniardes should no sooner approch the coast of England, but that presentlie all English mens harts shoulde faile them, and the Spaniards obtain the victory. I praie God that al prophesies and attempts against England have never better successe then these of late have had." Why haven’t we heard of this woman? she isn’t mentioned in any secondary literature on the Spanish Armada
What an interesting thread. It seems strange he would refer to a false prophet as a “Holy Maid,” of his own volition, so presumably she must have been a Portuguese woman known to the English by that epithet?
I imagine that he was merely reporting what the Spaniards had been calling her, as he undermines her pretended holiness by what he says next..
Could it be perhaps a reference to the Virgin Mary? I might be wrong but I remember reading somewhere that the armada was dedicated to Mary and I doubt Bancroft, as a Protestant would reference her as "our lady of Lisbon"
Surely not, unless it was a false apparition after the fashion of Fatima or Medjugorje. The Church of England always rejected Nestorianism and properly considered St. Mary to be the Mother of God.
If my idea is right then he would not have regarded this as a real apparition/message of Mary. I didn't mean to insinuate Anglicans were Nestorian BTW but did they during this time refer to Mary as "our lady of [insert local area name]? I've no doubt Anglicans would refer to her as theotokos, mother of God, blessed virgin etc.
Agreed, this was almost certainly not a reference to an apparition of Mary, but rather some sort of woman who claimed to be a prophetess, who “foresaw” the grand victory of the Armada against the wicked ‘heretics’... But when her prophecy proved empty, their grand Armada being crushed by the miniscule English fleet, and heroic captains such as Francis Drake defending the Church against Papal oppression, this “holy maid” was quietly erased from the annals of Romish history, only to be preserved in the Anglican records......!
Anglican74, you're right. Found a reference to Mary of the visitation, a prioress who was a mystic and supposedly had the stigmata and made predictions of the armadas success. Source is "in the confident hope of a miracle" by Robert Scully in the Catholic historical review.
Yes, for some reason couldn't post it on my phone. Here's the link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25026461?read-now=1&seq=7#page_scan_tab_contents Look at last paragraph of p649
For anyone further interested in this subject, I've come across an important work on this from the contemporary period. It is written by the spanish reformer Cipriano de Valera, who had fled to England and after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 wrote a treatise on the Maid of Lisbon, using his native knowledge of the subject matter: Cipriano de Valera, Two treatises the first, of the liues of the popes, and their doctrine. The second, of the masse: the one and the other collected of that, which the doctors, and ancient councels, and the sacred Scripture do teach. Also, a swarme of false miracles, wherewith Marie de la Visitacion, prioresse de la Annuntiada of Lisbon, deceiued very many: and how she was discouered, and condemned (1588)
Interesting find! A quick search turned up a pdf version downloadable from here: https://en.literaturabautista.com/t...o-de-valera-reviser-of-the-1602-spanish-bible I think I'll get it and have a look-see. (edit) Oops, the "Swarm of False Miracles" appendix is not included in that pdf.