War with Spain Flashcards
How did Catholicism and the Catholic plots contribute to Elizabeth’s poor relations with Spain?
- Religious rivalry between the two countries began
when Elizabeth established her Protestant Church in
1559 - Elizabeth increased penalties against Catholics in 1580s
following various Catholic plots - The Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, and
Felipe II had been involved in the Ridolfi, Throckmorton
and Babington plots - Cardinal WILLIAM ALLEN was the Pope’s English
cardinal, and he urged the Pope to intervene in
England to restore Catholicism - Pope Sixtus V treated the invasion as a crusade, with
the promise of a subsidy if they succeeded
How did Elizabeth aiding Dutch rebels worsen relations with Spain?
- phillip II of Spain ruled the Netherlands, and in 1579, Elizabeth began sending aid to Protestant rebels led by the Duke of Anjou
- She sent the Duke £60,000 to support his aim of becoming King of the Netherlands
- On the 10th August 1585, she singed the Treaty of Nonsuch, Elizabeth I agreed to supply 6,400 foot
soldiers and 1,000 cavalry, led by Robert Dudley, the first Earl of Leicester
Why did Elizabeth sign the Treaty of Nonsuch in August 1585?
- The Treaty was provoked by the Treaty of Joinville between the Catholic league of France and Felipe
- Elizabeth wanted to protect Protestantism in Europe
- Elizabeth provided an army in return for access to Dutch trading ports (Brill and Flushing)
- If the rebels were defeated, Felipe could use the Netherlands as a base to invade England
Describe how Robert Dudley’s failures could have provoked Spain
- In December 1585, Dudley led English forces in the Netherlands after William of Orange’s death, in an
attempt to complete the Duke of Anjou’s work - Dudley then accepted the title of “Governor General”, implying that the Netherlands was under English
control, which provoked Felipe and Elizabeth also as she didn’t want war, it was too expensive and she wanted to negotiate instead - Dudley then had a poor campaign and then lost the war in 1587
- His work was still able to slow down the advance of the Spanish army under the Duke of Parma
Describe the 1568 Plunder
- In 1568, 5 Spanish ships containing 400,000 florins (£85,000) worth of treasure were
sheltered in the English channel - English pirates performed a plunder from the ports of Plymouth and Southampton
- The English government led by Cecil gave permission
- Spain responded by seizing English property in the Netherlands, and the English then
responded by seizing Spanish property in England - The Spanish then closed the Antwerp port to English ships
Describe the Commercial rivalry between England and Spain during this time
- England had a lucrative woolen cloth trade with Antwerp before 1550, but after Spain took the
Netherlands under tighter control (and after shutting down the port to English ships), English trade broke
down, and they had to find trade elsewhere in India and Russia - Spain controlled the New World, including Mexico, Peru, Chile and the Caribbean. England had no settlements in the new world, so the Spanish held a monopoly on accessing the new wealth these lands brought.
Spain insisted on traders in the new world being licensed by them, and ofc refused licences to english traders meaning that English explorers illegally traded with colonists who were short on many goods, or attacked Spanish fleets for treasure
- Liz financed merchants such as Francis Drake from stealing from Spanish ships, also encouraged Dutch rebels to attack Spanish ships, leading to Spanish losing money, meaning they couldn’t pay their soldiers, leading to the attack on Antwerp in 1576
- Brought them closer to war, and Liz knighted Francis drake, infuriating Phillip and showing him that Elizabeth approved of the actions of the privateers and dramatically increased hostility
Describe the 1579 Cacafuego
During his circumnavigation of the world, Drake attacked Spanish settlements on the West coast of South America. In February 1579 he reached Callao and attacked 12 Spanish ships, capturing large quantities of coin. Drake then pursued the ‘Cacafuego’, (A Spanish treasure ship) and captured its cargo, worth £140,000
Describe the 1572 ‘Nombre de Dios’
Francis Drake knew that Spanish ships full of gold and silver were anchored at Nombre de Dios. He attacked the town with 2 ships and 100 men, and seized silver worth about £20,000
(30 Million in today’s poond)
Describe the 1568 San Juan de Ulua
On his third voyage carrying slaves to the New World, John Hawkins was attacked by the Spanish at San Juan de Ulua in Mexico. Hawkins lost 4 ships and over 300 men. England retaliated by seizing a Spanish bullion ship that was sailing from the Netherlands to pay the Spanish army
Describe the 1562 and 1564 slaving voyages
John Hawkins made two voyages, financially backed by many of Elizabeth’s courtiers. He sailed to West Africa and bough slaves. He then took them across the Atlantic and sold to colonists in the New World. This was an illegal attempt to break into Spain’s trading empire
Name two types of Spanish fleets and give their features
Flotilla - fleets carrying silver from Mexico to Spain
Galleons - fleets carrying silver from Peru to Spain
Why was Felipe II slightly hesitant to invade England?
He feared that an alliance between Mary and Elizabeth would form. Their political rivalry with France meant that he preferred to have Elizabeth as Queen rather than Mary
Describe the Spanish preparations for war with England
- Had troops waiting in Scotland to invade in England
Describe Drake’s raid on Cadiz
News of Felipe assembling a great Armada reaches England, and Drake persuades Elizabeth to allow him to attack the port of Cadiz, which wasn’t well defended, as fewer naval ships were anchored there, but the port was the centre for a large number of naval supplies. In April 1587 Drake sailed into Cadiz harbour and began to attack the ships anchored there, He destroyed around 30 ships and seized many tonnes of supplies. Drake also captured the San Felipe, a Spanish ship returning from the Americas laden with gold, spices and silk
Describe the impact of Drake’s raid on Cadiz in 1587
- It delayed the Spanish Armada by over a year,
destroying about 30 ships - Obtaining fresh supplies and weapons was very
expensive and seriously strained Spain’s finances - Drake captured more than 1000 tons of planks made
from seasoned wood, which were needed to
make the barrels used to carry food and water. As a
result ,the Spanish had to make their barrels from
unseasoned wood, which couldn’t preserve food and
water well (rotted and water supplies lost) - The valuable cargo Drake acquired covered the cost of
Drake’s expedition, and enabled Elizabeth to
improve England’s defences - Affected the morale of the Spanish troops and sailors (Undermined Felipe’s authority)
- Gave England crucial time to prepare
Describe the sailing of the Spanish Armada up to just before the Battle of Gravelines
The Armada set out in May 1588, but was delayed by several weeks due to bad weather in the Bay of Biscay and by an attempt of an English fleet to intercept it. In July the Spanish fleet was sighted off Cornwall and beacons were lit along the south coast to notify Elizabeth in London. English ships set sail from Plymouth to meet the Armada. The English navy carried out a few minor raids, but was unable to inflict much damage. Only 2 Spanish ships were lost, and they were destroyed accidentally.
On 27 July, the Armada anchored off Calais in a tightly packed defensive crescent formation, not far from Dunkirk, where Parma’s army, reduced by disease to 16,000, was expected to be waiting, ready to join the fleet in barges sent from ports along the Flemish coast. Communication was more difficult than anticipated, and word came too late that the Parma army had yet to be equipped with sufficient transport or to be assembled in the port, a process that would take at least six days. As Medina Sidonia waited at anchor, Dunkirk was blockaded by a Dutch fleet of 30 flyboats under Lieutenant-Admiral Justinus van Nassau. Parma wanted the Armada to send its light pataches to drive away the Dutch, but Medina Sidonia would not send them because he feared he would need these ships for his own protection. There was no deep-water port where the fleet might shelter.
On the 28th July, the English sent our 8 fireships (hellburners) filled with flammable objects such as gunpowder and tar. Medina Sidonia’s flagship and the principal warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the crescent formation had been broken, and the fleet found itself too far leeward of Calais in the rising southwesterly wind to recover its position. The English closed in for battle.
