Conflict with Spain

Question 1

Who had been Bloody Mary’s husband?

Answer 1

King Philip II of Spain.

Question 2

When had Philip proposed marriage to Elizabeth?

Answer 2

1559

Question 3

What had Elizabeth done which angered the King of Spain?

Answer 3

She rejected his marriage proposal.

Question 4

Give 5 causes of the conflict with Spain:

Answer 4

-Religious differences
-Rebellion in the Netherlands
-Privateers
-Plots
-Persecution

Question 5

What were the religious differences which caused conflict with Spain?

Answer 5

Philip hated Elizabeth’s Protestant religious settlement. As a devout Catholic, Philip saw Elizabeth as a heretic who should not be on the throne. Philip wanted to conquer England in order to restore Catholicism.

Question 6

Who ruled the Netherland at the time?

Answer 6

Spain.

Question 7

What caused religious tension regarding the Netherlands?

Answer 7

Most people in the Netherlands were Protestant and they disliked the firm hand of Catholic rule.

Question 8

When did civil war break out in the Netherlands?

Answer 8

1566

Question 9

How did Philip respond to the outbreak of civil war in the Netherlands in 1566?

Answer 9

He sent the Duke of Alba, along with 10,000 troops, to deal with the rebels in a brutal manner.

Question 10

What did the brutality in the civil war in the Netherlands cause?

Answer 10

Increased hatred of Spain in England.

Question 11

Why did Elizabeth have a strong interest in the events in the Netherlands?

Answer 11

Because the rebellion affected England. The English economy relied on the cloth trade based in Antwerp. Various trade restrictions were brought in which disrupted English business.

Question 12

Why could Elizabeth not be too open in her support for the Dutch Protestants?

Answer 12

As she would provoke a war with Philip which England could not afford.

Question 13

What organisation on the Privy Council gave indirect help to the rebels?

Answer 13

‘Peace Party’.

Question 14

Which 3 ways did England help the Dutch Protestants?

Answer 14

-They allowed rebel ships to stay in English ports
-They allowed English pirates to attack and disrupt Spanish supply lines to the Netherlands
-From 1581, Elizabeth sent the rebels funds to help their fight against Spanish rule

Question 15

What kind of privateer attacks increased Anglo-Spanish tensions?

Answer 15

Attacks on Spanish Treasure Ships by English privateers such as Francis Drake angered the Spanish.

Question 16

Who else did Elizabeth support which angered the Spanish?

Answer 16

Huguenots - French Protestants who suffered severe persecution and many emigrated.

Question 17

What had made the English suspicious of the Spanish?

Answer 17

Spanish Ambassadors in England had been involved in plots surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots.

Question 18

What was Elizabeth’s reaction to the plots against Mary which resulted in Philip wanting what?

Answer 18

She reacted by persecuting the English Catholics. This made Philip more determined that something must be done about England.

Question 19

Name 2 English courtiers who called for military action:

Answer 19

Walsingham and Dudley.

Question 19

What treaty did Spain sign and how did this increase tension?

Answer 19

Spain signed the treaty of Joinville with the French in 1584, boosting Spanish confidence and raising English fears of a possible Catholic invasion.

Question 20

What had pushed the English into making formal the unofficial help they had already provided?

Answer 20

The Spanish governor, the Duke of Parma, was successfully crushing the rebellion and the rebel leader William ‘the Silent’ was assassinated.

Question 21

When had Philip already begun to seriously contemplate an invasion of England?

Answer 21

When in 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was executed. Catholic Europe was outraged at what it saw as an unjustified murder.