The Spanish Armada

In the late 16th century, Spain was the most

poweful empire. Spanish king, Philip II, ruled much

of the New World and much of Western Europe.

PHILIP II was the great-grandson of the Catholic Monarchs

Elisabeth I was the Protestant queen of England and Philip´s enemy

Philip was a devout Catholic. He felt it was his duty to invade and conquer England to convert the country back to the Church of Rome.

In 1588 he sent about 122 ships from Lisbon to fight Protestant England.

The route ofThe SpanishArmadaJuly-October 1588

Between the first ship and the last one there was a distance of 7 miles (11km)

The Spanish ships slowly made their way into the English Channel.

They looked like “great floating-castles.”

But they were also clumsy and difficult to manage

English ships were smaller and more manageable.

The Spanish galleons were so high and the English vessels so low that it was difficult for the Spaniards to fire them.

Spanish galleon English vessel

Also the English vessels slipped under the bows of the Galleons, firing a shot or two and then going for the next one.

The first encounter lasted for more than a week. The Spanish suffered severely. Masts shattered, Holes in the hulls, sailors slained…

The Armada was also sttacked by fire-boats. The Spaniards were horrified. In their escape some ships collided, others burned or ran aground.

Others sailed northwards. The boisterous northern seas did the work of many cannons.

Queen Elizabeth said about the battle: I have the body of a weak, feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king, and no prince of Europe should dare to invade my kingdom.

Just 87 ships returned to Spain. The following

year, England organized a similar campaign

against Spain, which was also unsuccessful.

The end