\The Spanish Armada

TheReligious Wars were a time of great strife and war in Europe. The wars werebetween Catholics and all other Christians (Anglicans, Protestants, Calvinists,Lutherans, and the like) plus a few stray Muslims. One of the most powerfulCatholic nations was Spain. Spain owned a huge empire in the Americas and manylands in Europe (Austria, Hungary, Bohemia [currently part of the CzechRepublic], and the 'Spanish Netherlands' [current Belgium and Luxembourg]). Thefact that English privateers were raiding Spanish ships sailing back from theAmericas carrying needed wealth to Spain—and the fact that England was Protestant/Anglican—madeEngland seem like a perfect place to Phillip II to demonstrate Spain's power.This he tried in 1588 by launching an invasion.

PhillipII was the King of Spain in the 1580's. He was quite a dangerous enemy for hisenemies. One time, in 1568, 20 years before the Armada sailed, he had his madand treacherous son put to death. He rang up huge debts in his reign, even withheavy taxes and all the money from the Americas. He started out with Spain's beforementioned empire and added Portugal, and its empire, too, in 1580. He lost thepresent-day Netherlands, but gained much, much more. In 1586, he was the mostpowerful European ruler.

First, for an invasion, you need aninvading force. Phillip chose the Spanish 'Army of Flanders', which occupiedthe Spanish Netherlands, to fulfill this role because it was big, powerful,and, most importantly, very close to England. The 'Army of Flanders' had beencommanded by Duke Fernando Alvarez Alba, a Spanish military genius (such athing is unbelievable) who had conquered Portugal in 1580 in a few weeks.Currently it was commanded by Duke of Parma. His troops had been attempting toquash a Dutch revolt. The Spanish committed atrocities against the Dutch, butthey didn't manage to defeat the Dutch rebels. Alba had created the Council ofTroubles, known to many as the 'Council of Blood'. This council had ordered thepublic execution of thousands of 'heretics' and their leaders in the years ithad power. The 'Army of Flanders' numbered 60,000 by some accounts, by others16,000, and by yet others 10,000.

TheDutch rebels and anti-Spanish pirates known as the 'Sea Beggars' were openlysupported by William of Orange, a Dutch leader. However, as much as QueenElizabeth I hated the Spanish, she had to deny the 'Beggars' use of Englishports because of their piracy. If she had, the English navy would be increasedto more than 200 ships from 197 ships for the defense against the Armada. Thiscould have left the Spanish Armada in ruins after losing at least 100 ships.

QueenElizabeth I of England was one of the most influential rulers in the 16^thCentury. She was definitely a better ruler than her predecessor, Mary I, orBloody Mary. Mary I was known as Bloody Mary because she had many Protestants executedduring her five-year reign. Mary I tried to force Catholicism on ProtestantEngland with little success. Protestant Elizabeth I was far more fair becauseshe executed less Catholics in 45 years even with better evidence than Mary didin five with worse.

Spain's naval reputation wasstrongly enhanced by the Spanish-led victory at Lepanto over the Ottoman Turks.The Turkish navy, which had been controlling the Eastern Mediterranean was decisivelybeaten by the Catholic Spanish-led fleet. The Spanish depended on boardingenemy ships with excellent soldiers supported by very heavy cannon fire at closerange. This strategy was good, provided you could catch the enemy fleet. TheEnglish knew all of this and planned their own strategy to counter it.

Workon the Armada, a flotilla of 130 Spanish ships with 30,000 men aboard lead byDuke Messina-Sidonia, was started in 1586. A year later, in 1587, Sir Francis Drakelaunched an attack on the Spanish city of Cadiz. He bombarded the city and destroyedships ready to join the Armada. After that, he raided coastal Portugal, part ofSpain, and caused more trouble. Nevertheless, the Armada sailed from Lisbon,Portugal one year later, on May 8, 1588. It was first sighted in a remote partof England, but an effective communication system let London know only two dayslater. The battle was on!

TheEnglish had 197 ships in their navy, which was divided into four squadrons. The'commander' of the fleet was Duke Howard, but he recognized that Sir FrancisDrake and Sir John Hawkins, his subordinates, were better strategy makers andleaders than he was, so he effectively let them command the fleet. Under Drake andHawkins' skillful leadership the English got upwind of the Spanish and stayedthere. The English used massed long-range light cannon while the Spanish usedmassed short-range heavy cannon. Because the English knew this, the Englishstayed just out of Spanish gunrange and fired rapidly at the Spanish.

TheSpanish and English fleets first met at the Isle of Wright. The Spanish hopedto wait there until the Army of Flanders heard about their approach and gotready to move. The English had no intention of letting the Spanish anchor rightoff the English coast in order prepare to transport an army to invade England. Twosquadrons of the English stayed just out of Spanish gun range and pounded theSpanish with their long-range cannon called culverins. The English guns weren'tvery effective at this long range, but they did some damage and frightened theSpanish. Just as the English ran out of ammunition, Messina-Sidonia decided toget away from the English. The Spanish fled across the Channel and anchored offCalais, which was much closer to the Spanish Netherlands.

Theother English squadrons caught up to the rest of the fleet, replenishedammunition and pursued the Spanish. Off Calais, Messina-Sidonia was annoyed. Hehad just established contact with the Army of Flanders, but the Army needed sixdays to get on boats and to him. The English gave battle to the Spanish in anengagement called the Battle of Gravelines. The English sent eight fireships,which were obsolete wrecks filled with tar and gunpowder, aimed at the enemy,and lit on fire, against the Spanish Armada during this battle. The Spanishwere so frightened that most of them broke formation and fled into the openocean. Once out of formation, the Spanish were easy targets for the reinforcedEnglish. Only Messina-Sidonia's flagship and six other ships remained at anchorfor a while longer before heading out in pursuit of the runaway ships.

TheBattle of Gravelines ended when the remaining Spanish fled north through theNorth Sea and the English had run out of ammunition again. The Spanish had lost2,000 men in the battle, while the English lost less than 500. The Spanish shipswere battle-scarred and out of all sorts of supplies. The Spanish tried to goback home around Ireland, but storms in the area dashed many of them againstthe rocky islands in the vicinity, destroying the ship and crew in one stroke.Only 67 with a total of 10,000 men of the 130 ships and 30,000 men dispatched returnedhome, and most of these were badly damaged. The defeat of the Armada invigoratedProtestants throughout Europe. Some of these were the Dutch, although theSpanish Netherlands passed instead to Austria in the War of Spanish Succession.

This topic is very important tomodern history. If the Spanish Armada had won, the United States probably wouldn'texist, or if it did, we would all speak Spanish and be fighting wars every 5years to stay independent from Mighty Spain. Only Catholics would exist becausethe Protestant cause would have taken enough of a blow to be completelydestroyed by Catholics within 50 years. Or, of course, if the Armada had neverbeen launched, the world would be like it is now, but Catholics would be more disdainfulof England because its navy wouldn't have proved its self against a decentlypowerful opposing navy.