The Battle Of The Spanish Armada
The great naval battle between Spain and England in 1588- one of the
most important battles in the history of the world- is known as the Battle of
the Invincible Armada. But in a sense, this is a misnomer. An invincible armada
is one that cannot be defeated, yet the mighty fleet of warships that Spain sent
to invade England, was defeated so badly that Spain could never again rule the
oceans. How was it possible that this armada, which had awed all of Europe with
its size and strength, was unable to stand up against the forces of a much
smaller and less powerful enemy? The answer lies in the differences between
these two countries and their rulers, Elizabeth I of England and Philip II ...
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of Spain. Philip's father, Emperor Charles V, had established himself
as the guardian of Christendom. He also had the dream of uniting all of the
Christian European nations against the Turks and the Moors, who had been
terrorizing Catholicism from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. However,
his dreams were hindered with the coming of the Protestant Reformation, which
split Christendom into two parts.(Marx 22-25)
Philip II continued in his father's footsteps as the defender of
Catholicism. After the Turks were defeated in a decisive sea battle in 1571,
Philip turned his attention to another serious threat to Christendom: his
Protestant neighbors. Devoutly religious and good friends with Pope Sixtus V,
he was willing to use all of his resources, including his treasures from the New
World, his large army, and his huge fleet of warships, just to unite Europe
under a common Catholic faith. (Marx 28-33)
He probably would have accomplished his goal too, if it weren't for ...
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they were not loyal to her. For a long time, Philip was forced to
endure this because Spain and the other main Catholic country, France, were
fighting each other, and Philip needed to keep England neutral. But alliances
were never permanent in Europe; countries that were bitter enemies one day
became close allies the next. In 1572, the French decided to join Spain in a
Cath-olic alliance against the Protestants. (Howarth 17-22)
The second reason was more personal to Philip. He greatly wanted to
seek retribution on Elizabeth for all of the anguish she had caused him and his
kingdom. For over twenty years, her privateers had been sacking Spanish
settlements in America and ...
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