Spanish Armada

## The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was a pinpoint in history, the war during the Tudor times (1588) between Spain, England and France; the most important monarchs in this war were Queen Elizabeth I and Philip II.

This all started when Elizabeth's half-sister (Mary) was allegedly plotting to kill her, Mary was also married to Philip II and an ex-wife of the son of the King of France. After Elizabeth heard these accusations, she was hesitant to take action, as it was her half-sister after all. But after rigorous thought, the decision was made to execute her. Elizabeth knew it was the best for the country. Not only did this anger Philip but also the French, as they had known Mary before.

**So began the Spanish Armada**. Spies were an extremely important key to winning the war, and Elizabeth didn't mess around when it came to spies. She had the most reliable, intelligent and stealthy spies in the business; every plot made by the Spanish to attack England was fully known by Elizabeth. This gave a great edge in this historical war, as 25,000 Catholics were waiting for the Spanish to arrive, spears ready.

### Francis To The Rescue

The Spaniards plan was to land in Kent, and be helped by the supposed 25,000 Catholics waiting, in a few weeks the country would be captured. 30,000 Spaniards advanced to Belgium ready to fight. But obviously the plan was known; so the English hero Francis Drake sailed over to Cadiz, he burned many supply ships and caused infinite problems for the Spanish. But the ships were no problem for Philip, as building ships back then was nowhere near as complicated as it is today. So they were back in a few months.

### The Spanish Downfall

While this was all happening Francis found small boats with specialised food carrying barrels, he proceeded to steal these, forcing the Spanish to use normal, unseasoned crates. This turned food on board bad, **very quickly.** After this things just fell apart for the Spaniards, 15,000/30,000 troops in Belgium died of disease, as-well as the person in control of it all also died. After this happened Philip needed to take action, so the Duke of Medina, Sidonia, was called upon. He knew nothing about the sea nor fighting, and hated every moment he was outside the dock. Nevertheless, in May 1588, 130 ships set sail, big or small. Led by a man that felt sea sick and hated every moment of the journey.

When the two fleets met, little damage was done, as the Spanish kept a tight defensive formation, and the English stayed far back so the Spanish could not board. It was a very anti-climactic battle, showing both sides to be very stubborn in their ways. But as wind rose in force, Drake had an idea. He filled old ships with tar and other flammable material and let it drift into the sleeping Spanish fleet. Only 1 or 2 ships were effected, and none were burnt; but what was important is he had broken the unbeatable half moon formation.

The gale became extremely strong, and the Spanish had no shelter. They were forced to form a plan to wrap around the coast of North Scotland and go around Ireland to sail home. The Spanish did not know these waters, and the waters of the Scots were among the dangerous of them all. The coasts were littered with wrecks and the Spanish could only pray this did not happen to them. They safely arrived home avoiding casualty. And the war was over.