What is best definition of what the Spanish Armada actually was?
King Phillip II of Spain’s Armada proved to be an expensive disaster but it made Queen Elizabeth I a formidable ruler and Sir Francis Drake a hero. History. The Tudors. Revise. Test.
What did the Spanish call the Spanish Armada?
Grande y Felicísima Armada
The Spanish Armada (Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, lit. ‘Great and Most Fortunate Navy’) was a Habsburg Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588 under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England.
What was the enterprise of England?
Pope Sixtus V gave his blessing to what was called “The Enterprise of England,” which he hoped would bring the Protestant isle back into the fold of Rome. Delayed by storms that temporarily forced it back to Spain, the Armada did not reach the southern coast of England until July 19.
Why did Spain lose the Spanish Armada?
In 1588, King Philip II of Spain sent an armada (a fleet of ships) to collect his army from the Netherlands, where they were fighting, and take them to invade England. However, an important reason why the English were able to defeat the Armada was that the wind blew the Spanish ships northwards.
Did Francis Drake have a child?
They had no children. Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman who sailed around the world – he left England in 1577 and arrived home again three years later. Drake brought back a lot of treasure from his world trip.
What would have happened if the Spanish Armada won?
A Spanish Armada victory would almost certainly have destroyed any naval or imperial ambitions that England and its future trading companies might then have had. No British Empire, no East India Company, no imperial exploration and colonisation. The makeup of our world today would be drastically different.
Did Queen Elizabeth fight in the Spanish Armada?
In December 1587 Queen Elizabeth I put Lord Howard of Effingham in charge of England’s defence against the Spanish Armada. Although not a celebrated sailor like Sir Francis Drake, Effingham was an able commander and had the support of the nobility.
What is the meaning of the Spanish Armada?
(ɑrˈmɑ də, -ˈmeɪ-) n., pl. -das. 1. Also called Spanish Armada. the fleet sent against England by Philip II of Spain in 1588, defeated by the English navy. 2. (l.c.) any fleet of warships. 3. (l.c.) a large group or force of vehicles, airplanes, etc.: an armada of transport trucks.
How did the English gain the initiative in the Armada?
The larger part of the English fleet was then at Plymouth, dead to leeward, but by a neat maneuver was able to get to the windward, or upwind, side of the enemy (i.e., west of the Armada, given the prevailing west winds) and hence gain the tactical initiative.
How did England defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588?
First actions (1588) On 20 July, the English fleet was off Eddystone Rocks with the Armada upwind to the west. To execute its attack, the English tacked upwind of the Armada, thus gaining the weather gage, a significant advantage.
How many ships did the Royal Navy have in the Armada?
Led by Drake and Lord Charles Howard, the Royal Navy assembled a fleet of some 40 warships and several dozen armed merchant vessels. Unlike the Spanish Armada, which planned to rely primarily on boarding and close-quarters fighting to win battles at sea, the English flotilla was heavily armed with long-range naval guns.