The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships. The Armada's mission was to sail to Gravelines in Flanders and transport an army commanded by the Duke of Parma across the Channel to England. The mission eventually failed. The Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain and was supported by the Catholic Church. Spain was the world 'superpower' at the time and the Catholic religion was the most powerful and rich church. When Elizabeth I became queen, she was a Protestant and that worried the Spanish, who were Catholics. During the first part of Elizabeth's reign, Catholics were not persecuted,... Show more The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships. The Armada's mission was to sail to Gravelines in Flanders and transport an army commanded by the Duke of Parma across the Channel to England. The mission eventually failed. The Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain and was supported by the Catholic Church. Spain was the world 'superpower' at the time and the Catholic religion was the most powerful and rich church. When Elizabeth I became queen, she was a Protestant and that worried the Spanish, who were Catholics. During the first part of Elizabeth's reign, Catholics were not persecuted, however, after a number of Catholic rebellions, that changed. Important Catholics were afraid for their lives. Finally, King Philip decided that the time had come to invade England and place Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. There were many other reasons for the Armada - for example, English pirates like Francis Drake had been attacking Spanish ships and stealing the treasure the Spanish had already stolen from the South American civilisations. Drake had also attacked the Armada in Cadiz harbour in April 1587. This attack slowed down their preparations, but King Philip II of Spain's great Armada was finally ready to sail in the summer of 1588. The English navy at the time had only about half as many ships as the Armada. They had tried to stop the Spanish fleet closer to Spain a couple of times but failed because of bad weather. The English ships were in Plymouth when the Armada appeared in English waters. It was here that Francis Drake is said to have kept cool and finished playing a game of bowls. Historians think that if this actually happened, it was probably because Drake knew he needed to wait for the tide to turn before his ships could leave harbour. The big break for the English navy came when the Armada's Admiral, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, unexpectedly anchored off Calais. The English sent fireships in amongst the Armada. The Spanish quickly set sail and were unable to get organised into their usual defensive formation during the next day's battle. Strong winds blew the Armada off course and into the North Sea. The English navy chased them as far as the Firth of Forth in Scotland, so they had to return to Spain by sailing round the north and west of the British Isles. During that voyage, almost half of the ships and men were lost, without the English navy needing to attack them. Show less
The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships. The Armada's mission was to sail to Gravelines in Flanders and transport an army commanded by the Duke of Parma across the Channel to England. The mission eventually failed. The Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain and was supported by the Catholic Church. Spain was the world 'superpower' at the time and the Catholic religion was the most powerful and rich church. When Elizabeth I became queen, she was a Protestant and that worried the Spanish, who were Catholics.
During the first part of Elizabeth's reign, Catholics were not persecuted, however, after a number of Catholic rebellions, that changed. Important Catholics were afraid for their lives.
Finally, King Philip decided that the time had come to invade England and place Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. There were many other reasons for the Armada - for example, English pirates like Francis Drake had been attacking Spanish ships and stealing the treasure the Spanish had already stolen from the South American civilisations. Drake had also attacked the Armada in Cadiz harbour in April 1587. This attack slowed down their preparations, but King Philip II of Spain's great Armada was finally ready to sail in the summer of 1588.
The English navy at the time had only about half as many ships as the Armada. They had tried to stop the Spanish fleet closer to Spain a couple of times but failed because of bad weather. The English ships were in Plymouth when the Armada appeared in English waters. It was here that Francis Drake is said to have kept cool and finished playing a game of bowls. Historians think that if this actually happened, it was probably because Drake knew he needed to wait for the tide to turn before his ships could leave harbour.
The big break for the English navy came when the Armada's Admiral, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, unexpectedly anchored off Calais. The English sent fireships in amongst the Armada. The Spanish quickly set sail and were unable to get organised into their usual defensive formation during the next day's battle.
Strong winds blew the Armada off course and into the North Sea. The English navy chased them as far as the Firth of Forth in Scotland, so they had to return to Spain by sailing round the north and west of the British Isles. During that voyage, almost half of the ships and men were lost, without the English navy needing to attack them.
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