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ited reading of math texts. His success in
predicting certain natural phenomena made
him a national celebrity and ended by win-
ning him election to the chair of mathemat-
ics at the University of Salamanca over
many authentic mathematicians. Whatever
the validity of his claims to be a universal
genius, he was, at least, a remarkably inter-
esting character and one whose picaro's eye
view of 18th-century Spanish life is a useful
source for an understanding of that era.
ish ships. With the British Admiralty now
alerted and Nelson hastening back from the
West Indies, the cross-Channel invasion
seemed impossible, and Napoléon furiously
dismissed Villeneuve. The admiral ignored
his dismissal, however, and set out to pro-
voke a battle with Nelson, hoping to regain
imperial favor by a dazzling triumph. The
two forces met close to the Spanish coast
near Cape Trafalgar. Nelson, in his flagship,
Victory, launched a bold attack on the Franco-
Spanish line, confronting the Santísima Trin-
idad, a 120-gun three-decker, then the
largest warship in the world. Beaten back,
he repeated the attack and the breaking of
the combined fleet's line brought on a gen-
eral action between individual ships.
The day ended with Nelson dead, Ville-
neuve captured, and Gravina mortally
wounded. Of the 15 major warships in the
Spanish contingent, three were sunk, three
captured, four run aground, and only five
badly damaged vessels limping back to port.
In addition to Gravina, Spain also lost two
distinguished captains, Antonio Alcalá
Galiano and Cosme Churruca, both scien-
tific sailors who had done important work
in cartography and hydrography. The Span-
ish ships and their crews were generously
praised by their adversaries for their brav-
ery and heroism. The tragedy of Spain's role
in this battle is famously celebrated by
B ENITO P ÉREZ G ALDÓS in Trafalgar, one of his
Episodios nacionales.
Trafalgar, Battle of (1805)
Only a few years before Napoléon's invasion
of Spain precipitated the P ENINSULAR W AR ,
Spain and France, still allies, undertook to
clear the English Channel of its naval
defenders so that the French emperor's
invading forces could overrun the British
Isles. Early in 1805 a “combined fleet” under
French admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, with
the support of Admiral F EDERICO G RAVINA 's
“division of observation,” undertook to
draw off the main British force by feigning
a transatlantic expedition. British admiral
Horatio Nelson's fleet hastened to the Antil-
les only to discover that they had been
tricked. Meanwhile, the Franco-Spanish
armada had reassembled off the European
coastline, where a small British force discov-
ered them. Villeneuve allowed the British to
escape. Worse yet the enemy took advan-
tage of the onset of fog to capture two Span-
 
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