Three Venetian ships in the Armada

In 1588 three Venetian private cargo ships (Balancera, Labia, and Ragazzona) were obliged by the king of Spain to participate in the Armada expedition. The paper describes the copious correspondence and controversy between the Spanish crown and the Venetian doge which, despite the insistence of the government of the Serenissima, ended with the ships’ seizure. Since these ships had suffered considerable damage during the expedition, further correspondence continued with requests for compensation from the owners, only a small part of which seems to have been disbursed.