BattlefieldsSpanish Blanks Discovery — Aberdeen 1592
Tudor

Spanish Blanks Discovery — Aberdeen 1592

1592
Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Spanish Blanks conspiracy
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Government intelligence
Outcome
Conspiracy revealed; James VI forced to take action against Catholic earls; military campaign in northeast followed
The Battle

History & Significance

The discovery of the Spanish Blanks — letters signed by Huntly, Erroll, and other Catholic earls promising Philip II of Spain ports and landing sites for a Spanish invasion force — triggered a political-military crisis in 1592. James VI was forced by Kirk pressure to move against the earls. The documents had been seized from a carrier named George Kerr intercepted en route to Spain. The discovery revealed that the Catholic earls had been in active correspondence with Spain and that the northeast of Scotland had been offered as a landing zone for a Spanish army potentially larger than the Armada fleet.

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