Spanish Armada

Literal Meaning

" was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in August 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. " http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Spanish Ships

11 million pounds (in weight) of ships biscuits 11,000 pairs of sandals 40,000 gallons of olive oil 5,000 pairs of shoes 14,000 barrels of wine 180 priests 600,000 pounds of salted pork 728 servants http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

English Chanel Attack

As the Armada sailed up the English Channel, it was attacked by an English force lead by Sir Francis Drake. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

English Chanel PT 2

As the Armada sailed up the English Channel, the attacks by Drake's Plymouth fleet proved to be very ineffective. With the exception of two galleons, the Armada remained relatively unscathed. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Mary's execution pt2

Beacause of her execution this was another reason to envade. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Part 2 of overthrow

However, during Elizabeth's reign, the English had been helping the Dutch Protestants in Holland. This greatly angered the king of Spain - Philip II - who wanted to stop this. He had for a short time been married to Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary, and when they were married, England was Catholic. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

SFD PT 2

If the tide was coming in, his ships had to stay tied up. If the tide was going out, then he had the freedom to move his ships into the Channel. Whatever the truth, what is true is that Drake and his men did very little damage to the Armada as it passed up the English Channel. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Sir Francis Drake

It is said that when Drake was informed of the Armada's approach, he replied that he had time to finish the game of bowls he was playing on Plymouth Hoe and time to defeat the Armada. It is possible that he knew that the tide of the River Tamar in Plymouth was against him, so that he could not get his ships out of Devonport - therefore, he knew that he could finish his game of bowls because his ships were dependent on the tide to move. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Problems of the Spanish Armada

Many problems occured for the Spanish Armada to not be kept secret : -The Armada first sailed in April 1588. It hit a terrible storm and many ships were damaged. They had to return to port to get repaired. -The plan was to get to the Spanish Netherlands, pick up Spanish soldiers who were stationed there and invade England's south coast. But there was no obvious port to pick up the soldiers in the Netherlands. In fact, they were keen to let the English know about the Armada as it was felt that the English would be terrified at the news of such a large fleet of naval ships attacking them. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

The Start

The Armada sailed on July 19th 1588. The fleet of 130 ships - including 22 fighting galleons - sailed in a crescent shape. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

The importance of the crescent

The larger but slower galleons were in the middle of the crescent and they were protected by faster but smaller boats surrounding them. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Mary's execution

This the Spanish could not accept. In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed in England on the orders of Elizabeth. Mary, Queen of Scots, was a Catholic and Philip II believed that he had a duty to ensure no more Catholics were arrested in England and that no more should be executed. Mary, Queen of Scots, had also made it clear that if she became queen of England, Philip should inherit the throne after her death. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

england effects

With England under his control, Philip could control the English Channel and his ships could have an easy passage from Spain to the Spanish Netherlands. Spanish troops stationed there could be easily supplied. also English 'sea-dogs' had been causing a great deal of damage to Spain's trade in silver. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Why did the spanish want to overthrow the Queen?

at the time of Elizabeth, Spain controlled what was called the Spanish Netherlands. This consisted of modern day Holland and Belgium. In particular, Holland wanted its independence. They did not like being made to be Catholic; in fact, Protestant ideas had taken root in Holland and many of those in Holland were secret Protestants. If they had publicly stated their Protestant beliefs, their lives would have been in danger. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Expectation/ Goal

that this would put a stop to English interference in the Spanish Netherlands and to the harm caused to Spanish interests by English and Dutch privateering. The Spanish Armada's task was to overthrow protestant England lead by Queen Elizabeth I. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk