The Spanish Armada sailed from Spain in July 1588. The
Spanish Armada's task was to overthrow protestant England lead by Queen
Elizabeth I. The Spanish Armada proved to be an expensive disaster for the
Spanish but for the English it was a celebrated victory making Sir
Francis Drake even more of a hero than he already was and even having an
impact on Tudor Christmas celebrations!
Why did Spain want to overthrow Elizabeth? There were a
number of reasons.
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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. Spain used a religious secret police called
the Inquisition to hunt out Protestants. 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. 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. Men such as Sir Francis Drake attacked Spanish shipping off of the West Indies and Spain lost a vast sum of money when the ships carrying silver sunk or had their cargo captured by Drake. To the English, Drake was a hero but to the Spanish he was nothing more than a pirate who, in their view, was allowed to do what he did with the full knowledge of the queen. 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.
Hence his decision to attack and invade England.\
QUIZ
1.In the late 1500s, who was the ruler of Spain?
2.
When did the Spanish navy defeat the Ottoman Empire?
3.
Which English queen did Philip II marry?
4.
Who was Queen of England in 1588?
5.
What convinced Philip that he had to invade England?
6.
What is the name given to Philip's fleet of ships?
7.
Who was in charge of the Armada when it sailed?
8.
As the Armada sailed up the Channel, what formation did it take to make it difficult to attack?
9.
How did the English get the Spanish ships to break their defensive formation?
10.
What did the Spanish fleet do next?
i really like this
ReplyDeleteand especialy the quiz i understood alot
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