2.2 Relation with Spain Flashcards
what were Elizabeth’s main foreign policies
- developing and improving trade to benefit the English economy
- protecting English borders
- protecting the English throne
- avoiding war (could cost a lot of money and lead to loss of throne if English rebels support the enemy)
What was Spain provided with because it conquered Mexio and Peru in the early 1500s?
vast amounts of :
- crops
- silver
- gold
also gave Spain control over trade in sugar cane and tobacco
problems English merchants faced
- Spain controlled the Netherlands which were the main route into European markets. Antwerp was very important to English trade
- Spain controlled much of the New world where there were valuable trading opportunities
- Spain control of the New world denied English traders profit-making opportunities because all trade there had to be licensed by the Spanish government.
what did English merchants do to tackle the problem of trading
they traded illegally without licenses and some attacked Spanish ports and shipping.
what was the consequence of Spain controlling the Netherlands and the Scheldt and Rhine estuaries?
It closed off one of the principal trade routes used by English traders = this reduced income and profits for English merchants
What’s the deal with Privateering
- who were they financed by
- what did they do
- sea beggars
- English merchants, financed by private investors, including Elizabeth herself, raided Spanish colonies as well as ships voyaging to and from the New world
- Elizabeth also encouraged Dutch rebels known as the Sea Beggars, to attack Spanish ships sailing between Spain and the Netherlands
Francis Drake significance on privateering
- 1572: in one raid alone captured £40,000 in Spanish silver
- A second expedition between 1577 and 1580, involving Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe, resulted in the capture of further £400,000 of silver and gold
What was the effects of privateering on Spain?
By 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt and could not afford to pay its soldiers
Explain the reasons for deteriorating relations between England and Spain due to privateering?
- Elizabeth, by knighting Drake demonstrated her defiance of hostility towards Spain’s commercial interests in Europe and the New world
Elizabeth’s actions showed her support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering
- For Phillip II, Drake and other privateers were seen as a pirate who needed to be removed by war if necessary.
Getting rid of Elizabeth and Drake by war was the only remaining means of protecting Spain’s commercial interests
Under Mary Tudor, Spain and England were allies.
why did Spain and England’s relationship sour when Elizabeth made England protestant?
(RELIGIOUS RIVALRY)
- Phillip II saw Protestantism as a threat to the authority of the catholic church
- Catholics saw Protestantism as something dangerous that needed to be stamped out
- Many English Protestants saw Spain and catholicism as a threat
- Phillip became involved in plots
- Phillip opposed Elizabeth’s religious settlement
Why did nations of Europe become rivals over territory?
more territory meant more people, wealth and power.
this rivalry often resulted in foreign policy that led to war
Why was there a brutal Spanish campaign in the Netherlands under the Duke of Alba?`
because many dutch became protestant so the brutal campaign was to restore catholicism there
What and when was the council of blood?
1568
Spanish Catholics executed many dutch protestants
What was the effect of the Spanish campaign in the Netherlands in Elizabeth’s government?
Elizabeth’s leading courtiers were protestant and they put pressure on her to help Dutch rebels
they saw Spain as hostile - a direct threat to English Protestantism and to England itself
Why was Elizabeth reluctant to help the Dutch protestant rebels in the Netherlands?
she wanted to avoid anything that could start a war in Spain
