2.2 - Relations with Spain

Question 1

Describe the religious rivalry between England and Spain.

Answer 1

• Phillip II, backed by the Pope, saw Protestantism as a threat to the authority of the Catholic Church.
• Many English Protestants saw Spain and Catholicism as a threat.
• Phillip II became involved in Catholic plots against Elizabeth.

Question 2

Describe the Spanish policy in the Netherlands.

Answer 2

• Netherlands had been Spanish since the 1400s however many Dutch became Protestant.
• A brutal Spanish campaign under the Duke of Alba aimed to restore Catholicism there.
• Spanish Catholics executed many Dutch Protestants following the Council of Troubles in 1568.
• Spain’s campaign in the Netherlands angered many in Elizabeth’s government, considering Spain as a hostile threat.

Question 3

What was the English response to the brutal Spanish policy in the Netherlands?

Answer 3

Elizabeth’s government decided to secretly help Dutch Protestants resist the Spanish.

• Allowed Dutch rebel ships safe passage in English ports.
• Provided financial support to others fighting the Spanish.
• English privateers, such as Sir Francis Drake, were encouraged to attack Spanish shipping and colonies of Latin America.

Elizabeth even proposed marriage to the French heir, the Duke of Alençon, so he might be persuaded to fight Spain in the Netherlands.

Question 4

What was the Spanish Fury?

Answer 4

• By 1576, the Spanish government in the Netherlands found the war there unaffordable.
• A lack of funds meant Spanish troops went unpaid which resulted in the Spanish Fury; this was when Spanish troops looted Antwerp.

Question 5

What happened after the Spanish Fury?

Answer 5

• After the looting, all Dutch provinces joined in an alliance against the Spanish, drawn up in a document called the Pacification of Ghent.
• This document called for all Spanish troops to be expelled from the Netherlands.

Question 6

How was Spanish influence restored overall?

Answer 6

• Spanish control of the Netherlands restored under the Duke of Parma, by late 1584.
• England’s allies, the Duke of Alençon and William of Orange were dead.
• The Treaty of Joinville (1584) united Catholic France and Spain against the Netherlands and England.
• Dutch Catholics were ready to make peace with Spain, strengthening Phillip II’s position there.

Question 7

Why was England and Spain close to war by 1587?

Answer 7

• Phillip II blamed English support of the Dutch rebels for making the situation worse.
• Phillip II blamed English privateers for attacks on Spanish shipping.
• Elizabeth’s government blamed Spain for a series of plots against Elizabeth.

Question 8

What were privateers?

Answer 8

• Sailors on privately owned warships who attacked Spanish shipping.
• Because the ships were privately owned, Elizabeth could deny responsibility for their actions.

Question 9

Describe the commercial rivalry between England and Spain.

Answer 9

• By 1570s England and Spain emerged as commercial trade rivals as they both competed against each other for access to the markets and resources of the New World (and other markets).
• Spain had conquered Mexico and Peru in the early 1500s. This provided the Spanish government with vast amounts of gold and silver. It also gave Spain control over the trade in sugar cane and tobacco.
• Sailors, including Sir Francis Drake, were journeying great distances on trading voyages to different parts of the world.

Question 10

Why was the English hostile towards Spain?

Answer 10

Spain was a major barrier to English trade because:

• Spanish control of the Netherlands and the Scheldt and the Rhine estuaries closed off one of the principle trade routes used by English traders - this reduced the incomes and profits of English merchants.
• Spain’s control of the New World also denied English traders profit-making opportunities, because all trade there had to be licensed by the Spanish government.

Therefore, English traders’ efforts to find ways of making money brought them into conflict with the Spanish.

Question 11

Describe the effect of privateering.

Answer 11

• English merchants, financed by private investors, raided Spanish colonies as well as ships voyaging to and from the New World.
• An expedition between 1577 and 1580, involving Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe, resulted in the capture of £400,000 of silver and gold.
• Elizabeth encouraged Dutch rebels to attack Spanish ships sailing between Spain and the Netherlands.
• By 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt and could not afford to pay its soldiers.

Question 12

Describe the deteriorating relations between England and Spain.

Answer 12

• Elizabeth, by knighting Drake, demonstrated her hostility towards Spain’s commercial interests and support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering.
• Phillip II believed that getting rid of Elizabeth and Drake by war was the only remaining means of protecting Spain’s commercial interests.