English News in Translation: The <i>Comentario del Successo dell'Armata Spagnola</i> by Petruccio Ubaldini and its English Version

Abstract

The present study focuses on two translations of the most detailed account of the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada: the Proceeding of Events written under Admiral Charles Howard's supervision. The first one, and the most important as discussed below, was carried out by Petruccio Ubaldini (c. 1524-1600) and is written in Italian. The second is a 1590 translation of Ubaldini's text into English by an anonymous English author. These three texts - the English and manuscript account of the war, Ubaldini's translation into Italian and the printed and English version of Ubaldini's text - show that the circulation of an official report on the defeat of the Spanish armada was seen as paramount by the English court. Accordingly, it should not surprise that the original account was first translated into Italian. Why was the first English version not published instead? By studying these three interconnected accounts of the Spanish defeat, the present study will answer this question and reveal the role played by the Italian Petruccio Ubaldini and his translation in this editorial enterprise.