The Spanish Crown and the Defense of the Caribbean, 1535-1585: Precedent, Patrimonialism, and Royal Parsimony - Paperbackby Paul E. Hoffman (Author) Because of the legendary exploits of Sir Francis Drake, most people have heard of the sixteenth century conflicts between the English and the Spanish in the New World. Paul Hoffman looks behind the legend to discover the reality of what the Spanish crown was doing to defend its empire against raiders such as Drake. Using quantitative as well as literary data on the costs, types, and locations of defenses and on the