On July 21, the English navy began bombarding the seven-mile-long line of Spanish ships from a safe distance, taking full advantage of their long-range heavy guns.
The Spanish Armada continued to advance during the next few days, but its ranks were thinned by the English assault. On July 27, the Armada anchored in exposed position off Calais, France, and the Spanish army prepared to embark from Flanders.
Without control of the Channel, however, their passage to England would be impossible. Just after midnight on July 29, the English sent eight burning ships into the crowded harbor at Calais. The panicked Spanish ships were forced to cut their anchors and sail out to sea to avoid catching fire.
The disorganized fleet, completely out of formation, was attacked by the English off Gravelines at dawn. In a decisive battle, the superior English guns won the day, and the devastated Armada was forced to retreat north to Scotland. The English navy pursued the Spanish as far as Scotland and then turned back for want of supplies.
Battered by storms and suffering from a dire lack of supplies, the Armada sailed on a hard journey back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland. Some of the damaged ships foundered in the sea while others were driven onto the coast of Ireland and wrecked. By the time the last of the surviving fleet reached Spain in October, half of the original Armada was lost and some 15, men had perished.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Plan your visit. Top things to do. Shop for gifts inspired by an iconic Queen Understand the context, creation and significance of the Armada Portrait in our concise guide. Indulge in gifts inspired by its Elizabethan symbolism Shop. Icons: The Armada Portrait. Buy Now. Armillary Sphere. A wondrous decorative ornament inspired by the armillary sphere astronomical instrument.
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Find out more Accept Cookies. Close cookie banner. This would have an instant effect on European politics as Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands would stop receiving English support and so likely face defeat, all but ending hope for Dutch independence.
The Spanish believed Catholics around England would rise up in support of the invasion, heartened by reports from their spies of friendly populations in counties like Lancashire, Westmorland, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Hampshire; they even brought gifts of jewel-encrusted swords for Catholic nobles.
Some English Catholics would conceivably support the Spanish and there would be little chance of loyal Protestants holding out. Total conquest of England was by no means assured. The Spanish were on foreign soil and facing at least a guerrilla campaign from Protestant forces, which could have spilled over into civil war.
The sea would have to have been exceptionally calm, the weather kind and the tides benevolent. England, no longer a Protestant nation and bearing the humiliation of invasion, could have become part of the Spanish Empire.
Colonisation of the New World would have looked very different with Spain as the dominant power and England not featuring at all. Luckily for Elizabeth, Philip did not want to see France becoming so powerful and he was willing to protect her, even though she made England Protestant again.
When Philip had to deal with a rebellion in the Netherlands, it was even more important to him to be on good terms with England because his ships had to sail along the English Channel. However, England felt some sympathy with the people in the Netherlands because one of the reasons they were rebelling against Spain was that some of them wanted to be Protestant.
On top of this, there was a lot of anger among English sailors and traders because Philip would not let other countries share in the wealth that had been found in the areas Spain controlled in Central and South America.
Also, two groups in France were fighting for control, which meant there was far less danger to England. By the s, the two countries were clearly enemies and Spain was supporting attempts to make England Catholic again. Plans for an invasion began in but had to be delayed when Francis Drake burned some ships and destroyed lots of water barrels.
Students are introduced to a range of different original documents. The first is an extract from a letter giving details of the progress of the Spanish Armada from Lord Howard of Effingham, the Admiral of the English fleet and a letter from John Hawkins, a sea captain and one of the earliest English people to be involved in the Transatlantic Slave trade and was later funded by Elizabeth I.
He was knighted for his service in the fleet against the Spanish invasion. He had survived after being shipwrecked on the Irish coast and was then interrogated by the English. All documents are provided with transcripts and simplified transcripts will be added.
Students can work through the questions individually or in pairs and report back to the class. If you are using these documents with Key stage 2 for work on Significant Events it suggested that you limit the size of the extracts again and introduce some visual sources relating to Armada. Draw of list items which could be included in a painting of Elizabeth intended to commemorate the English victory and explain the symbolism of each item.
This video explains the portrait. What did she mean by this?
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