England Against Spain

In 1588 the Duke of Medina Sidonia sailed to England with his troop, the Spanish Armada, with the intention of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I. The events leading up to the invasion of the Spanish Armada can be traced back directly to Mary I of England's death. Philip II of Spain and Mary had been married and up until her death he had ruled as the co-monarch of England. When she died he lost his status and this was a troublesome moment in his political history. But it was not only politics which angered Spain enough to attack England, it was religion. Spain was a community of devout Roman Catholics and seeing that a Protestant ruler, Elizabeth I, was to take the throne in England angered them. Politics and religion became intertwined, with the religion of a political leader sparking a crusade, as it was to be called as Pope Sixtus V stood behind the actions of Spain. Even though these are a great many problems, seemingly enough to start a ruthless attack, there was even more discord between the two countries. Elizabeth stood and idly watched as English sailors plundered Spanish ships, which boiled Philip's blood. All of these disagreements and all of that anger came to a head and made Spain send a fleet to invade and attempt to conquer England. The blend of religion and politics was quite a momentous occasion, even if the end result was a brutal massacre.

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"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Spanish Armada." NEW ADVENT: Home. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01727c.htm>.


"File:Spanish Armada.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spanish_Armada.jpg>.