Question: what did the defeat of the spanish armada lead to

title: Spanish Armada
text: Mary 's death in 1558 led to her half - sister , Elizabeth I , taking the throne . Unlike Mary , Elizabeth was firmly in the reformist camp , and quickly reimplemented many of Edward 's reforms . Philip , no longer co-monarch , deemed Elizabeth a heretic and illegitimate ruler of England . Under Roman law , Henry had never officially divorced Catherine , making Elizabeth illegitimate . It is alleged that Phillip supported plots to have Elizabeth overthrown in favour of her Catholic cousin and heir presumptive , Mary , Queen of Scots ; however , these were thwarted when Elizabeth had the Queen of Scots imprisoned and finally executed in 1587 . Elizabeth retaliated against Philip by supporting the Dutch revolt against Spain , as well as funding privateers to raid Spanish ships across the Atlantic .