Elizabeth I - Spanish Armada Flashcards
1566
War in the Netherlands
1567
Philip’s army engages with Dutch rebels
1575
Second rebellion begins in the Netherlands
1577
Drake sails around the world
1577-87
Drake loots and destroys Spanish ships and
ammunition
May 1588
The Armada sets sail
August 1588
The Battle of Gravelines
October 1588
The last 67 ships return to Spain, the Armada
is over
Dutch Protestants
The revolt against Philip II started in 1566, smashing Catholic icons. 18,000 rebels were captured
and 1,000 were burnt at the stake
Believed it was his duty to God to send the Armada to rid England of Elizabeth and restore Catholicism
King Phillip II of Spain
Angered Philip by supporting the Dutch
Protestants and encouraging privateers to rob Spanish ships
(they stole over £20 million in today’s money)
Elizabeth I
Duke of Medina Sidonia
Chosen by Philip as admiral to lead the Armada despite hating sailing and being easily
seasick
Sir Francis Drake
Led pirate ships attacks against Spain and was the first man to sail around the world. One of Elizabeth’s favourites
The Treaty of Nonsuch
Elizabeth signed an agreement with Dutch rebels agreeing to
become their protector and send troops and cavalry to help their rebellion
The Golden Hind
Sir Francis Drake’s famous ship, in which he sailed around the world
and attacked and robbed numerous Spanish treasure ships
Armada
Philip II’s naval attack on Elizabeth and England
Tilbury speech
Elizabeth delivered a rousing speech at Tilbury after the Battle of
Gravelines to motivate her troops ahead of the possible Spanish invasion
Events in the Channel
The Armada sailed across the English Channel in a crescent formation, making it difficult for the English to attack it. They placed the slow, unarmed
store ships in the middle of the formation, protected by the heavily armed galleons on the outer edges. The English fleet was led by Lord Howard,
Drake and John Hawkins and sailed out of Plymouth, pursuing the Armada for a week. The Armada only lost two ships in this time and anchored off Calais
Calais and the attack by fireships
Whilst the Armada was anchored off Calais, the Duke of Medina Sidonia received news that the Duke of Parma’s forces (17,000 troops which were
meant to join from the Netherlands) would not be arriving for another week. Lord Howard took advantage of this by sending 8 unmanned fireships,
loaded with gunpowder, towards the Spanish ships. The Spanish cut their anchors in panic and headed out to sea in all directions
The Battle of Gravelines
On 8 August, English warships attacked the scattered Armada near Dunkirk. Following 8 hours of fighting, the smaller, faster and more manoeuvrable
English ships had sunk at least three Spanish ships without losing any of theirs. Around 1,000 Spaniards were killed and 800 wounded, compared
to just 50 English sailors who had been killed. The Spanish cannons were ineffective and the shots they used were of low quality, meaning many
cannons exploded when fired. English ships were forced to pull back at 4pm as they had run out of ammunition. The Armada remained a threat at
this point. England had managed to raise an army of 20,000 men but it was considered weak as a great many were untrained, which meant Elizabeth
felt compelled to deliver her rousing speech at Tilbury
Pursuing the Armada north
The wind direction changed on 9 August and the Armada sailed into the North Sea. It would have to proceed round the coast of Scotland and Ireland
on its way back to Spain. The English fleet continued to pursue it until 12 August, when it sailed past the Scottish border. At this point, the English
ships turned back as they were short of ammunition and many sailors were sick by that point
Returning to Spain around Scotland and Ireland
As the Armada had not planned to follow this course, they lacked detailed maps to navigate the coasts of Scotland and Ireland safely. As a result of this and some severe storms, they lost more of their ships to shipwrecks than they did through actual fighting with English ships. Two Spanish ships
were wrecked off the coast of Scotland and 25 off the coast of Ireland. Thousands of Spanish sailors drowned and the ones who made it to dry land were beaten up and killed. Only around 67 Spanish ships made it back to Spain, arriving in September and October, full of wounded, starving and ill sailors
