Catholic Philip’s Bold Strategy

Philip, at that time Europe’s most powerful ruler, had tried to keep England Catholic by asking Elizabeth to marry him when she became queen, but she had turned down his offer. For years English privateers had been looting Spanish ships and ports and challenging its colonial supremacy. To add insult to injury, Elizabeth supported the Dutch in their struggle for independence from Spanish rule. Mary’s execution was the last straw for Philip. Urged on by the pope, he planned to use the Spanish Armada, a huge fleet of more than 130 ships, which would sail to the Netherlands, pick up a large land army, and then cross the English Channel to invade England. Before the fleet was fully mobilized, English spies uncovered the plot. Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake with 30 ships to the Spanish harbor of Cádiz, where they destroyed a number of the prize vessels, delaying the Armada for a year.

When the Armada finally left port in 1588, the English navy was ready for it. Although under fire, the Spanish fleet came through the English Channel without too much damage and anchored off the French port of Calais. The following night the English sent in eight fireships.b In panic, the Spanish fleet scattered, and after some fierce fighting, a southwest wind blew them away from England and northward toward Scotland. Storms around Scotland and the west coast of Ireland wrecked half the Spanish ships, while the rest limped back to Spain.

A. English fireships sent into the Spanish Armada