A war had been brewing between 1574 and 1585 because:

• Mary I of England had been a Catholic queen and she was married to King Philip of Spain, but she died in 1558 and her half sister Elizabeth became Queen.
• Elizabeth I was a Protestant and refused to marry her sister’s husband (Philip of Spain), partly because he was a Catholic and partly because she wanted to retain power herself. She was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570 and all Catholics were called to oppose her rule.
• English sailors such as Sir Francis Drake had intercepted the Spanish treasure ships from the New World and brought the treasure back to Queen Elizabeth.

• Mary Queen of Scots was executed in 1587, she was a Catholic and she had declared Philip of Spain her heir, but her son James IV became King. He later became King James I of England.
• Sir Francis Drake sank 30 Spanish ships in Cadiz harbour before they could even set out for England.

In 1573 the French killed many Protestants in, what became known as, the St. Bartholomew Day massacre. France had been an ally of England but this caused a rift between them and so England couldn’t rely on any assistance if Spain invaded. The English knew the Spanish invasion was imminent. They had been a threat to England for some 10 years.

In 1578 John Hawkins became the treasurer for the Navy. He increased the pay of sailors to 10 shillings a month. He ordered that new ships be designed and some of the old ships be altered. This was because the old medieval merchant ships were short and wide bellied which used to be ideal for carrying cargo, but they were not manoverable enough for fighting ships. The style of fighting at sea had changed too, from ramming and boarding the enemy, to using cannons to sink the enemy ships. The new ships were longer, narrower, with lower castles (built up turrets on the stern of the ship). They were faster, more manoverable and could sail closer to the wind making them more versatile. By 1588 England had 12 new ships and 8 of the 12 old galleys had been redesigned. The Spanish fleet were converted merchant ships gathered from all over Europe.

The English ships carried more men than the Spanish ones, some of who were specifically trained to work the cannons. The guns could therefore be loaded and fired faster. The English guns were on 4 wheeled carriages which were secured to the ships deck by a system of ropes and pulleys. This arrangement continued until the 19^th century. The Spanish guns were on 2 wheels and had long trails which were cumbersome and less efficient. The ships and guns were not designed for each other and some guns had to be loaded by leaning over the side of the ship, which is almost impossible in bad weather or during action. Their ships were however, well armed and two thirds of the crew were soldiers ready to board English ships if the devastating point blank volleys allowed them close enough.

Cannons were expensive to make and no two barrels were the same. The shot they fired had to be individually tailored to fit. The iron industry in Kent and the Weald of England were able to make cannon barrels that cost 15% less than the traditional bronze ones. The gun powder was coarse and unreliable so it was difficult to prepare the correct amounts. It too was expensive to make. The Spanish had better gun powder because it was finer, but their iron shot was inferior. To speed up the production of the cannon balls they cooled the iron in water, which weakened the structure of the ball. The small cracks in them led them to disintegrate before they reached the enemy ships.

Much of the food and water on the Spanish ships couldn’t be used because they had had to use unseasoned barrels for storage. This was because Francis Drake’s men had sunk or burnt much of the season wood when it was being delivered by sea.

A large army was raised in the north of England in case the Armada regrouped, and landed there, and the Scots invaded in support.

The cost of building a fleet of ships had left little money for land defences. There had traditionally been a militia in England since medieval times. The Law stated that every man had to practice the firing of a long bow at the butts (targets). The use of long bows was, however, in decline by 1588 because firearms were more effective and anyone could be trained quickly to use them.

In 1573 the militia system was re-organised to make it more effective, so if Spain tried to invade England an army could be made ready quickly. Each county had to hold a General Muster every 3 years for 3 days. There were probably smaller local training days held more often. The Lord Lieutenant of each county over saw this.

There were strong forts built by Henry VIII, at points along the south coast, and these would be the bases of the land defences.

All citizens were expected to contribute to the armour and weapons needed, but only a select few were called up for service. A man worth £1000 had to provide the following men and equipment:-

There are no records of any specific details of uniform being issued, but the militia were given coats and conduct money for their travel expenses. Blue was a popular colour for cloth, but the Tudor colours were green and white.

In the South the militia wasn’t raised until the last moment, to save money. Mobilisation was chaotic "the soldiers were rawly furnished some were lacking in a head piece, some a sword, some with one thing or another that is an evil unfit or unbeseaming about them" said Huntingdon, the Lord Lieutenant. One third of the Southern Militia, 21,000, were brought to London to guard the Queen. 10,000 bows were issued to these troops, but regular archery practice hadn’t been enforced for nearly 100 years. On 6^th of July a reserve force of 17,000 gathered at Tilbury in Essex. 4,000 of these were regular troops who had been recently brought back from the Dutch and Spanish war. 29,500 guarded the southern coast from Kent to Cornwall. As the Armada sailed east up the coast, the Militia were to move east too, but in reality many simply went back home.

The Spanish army was full of veterans from the war in Europe, and had they landed could have taken London in 2 weeks. There were also 19,000 soldiers on the Armada itself.

A fleet of 130 ships left Spain in July 1588, months after they had originally planned to set sail to invade England.

The Spanish ships experienced bad weather in the Bay of Biscay and was delayed again. They decided not to attack the first part of England that they came to, because it was known that towns like Falmouth and Plymouth were well defended. So they sailed up the Channel aiming to collect an army of soldier in Flanders (now Belgium) that had been recruited from all over Europe. Their General was the Duke of Parma. His troops were, however undisciplined because they had not been paid regularly and they had had to buy their own clothes, food and equipment. Communicating with the army from the sea was almost impossible and the two forces never managed to rendezvous. When the Spanish fleet arrived to pick them up near Calais in France the army was still a 2 weeks march away.

As soon as the Armada had been sighted off the English coast, beacons were set alight on high vantage points. Each beacon could be seen by the next one and so a warning was soon sent along the coast. By the following day the news had gone through London, York and on up to Durham.

Legend has it that Sir Francis Drake was playing a game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe when was told that Armada had been sighted. He is supposed to have finished his game before setting off in his ship the Revenge. This was probably because he knew he would have to wait for the tide to turn before he could sail out of Plymouth Harbour.

On 31^st July 1588 the Armada met the English fleet. The Spanish had been anticipated boarding the English ships and fighting hand to hand, but the English were bombarding them with cannon and they couldn’t get close to their enemy.

Lord Charles Howard of Effingham was the Lord High Admiral and he commanded the English Navy from the Ark Royal. Drake was on the Revenge and Hawkins was on the Victory. The English formed 2 forces, a main body and an inshore squadron. As they left Plymouth they passed either side of the Spanish so that they could gain the advantage of being up wind.

The Spanish formed a crescent shape "like a half moon, the wings there of spread out... sailing, with full sails... and the ocean groaning under their weight".

The first skirmish was off Plymouth. Howard led an attack on the rear and centre of the Spanish, while in inshore squadron attacked the left tip of the crescent. As dusk approached the sea became rougher and the English became scattered. The Rosario became damaged in a collision with another Spanish ship. Drake pursued and captured it. It carried the pay for the fleet so Drake was accused of seeking plunder rather than keeping his place in the fleet.

The Spanish regrouped off Start Point. Changes in the wind on 2^nd August brought the two fleets together again off Portland Bill. By 3^rd August the Armada was approaching the Isle of Wight possibly with a plan to land along the Solent, but the wind was against them.

The Spanish fleet took shelter off Calais in France. This was not a safe anchorage, but open and wind swept, but it was safer than the treacherous sand bank further up the coast. They were hoping for news of the land army under the Duke of Parma and pilots to see them through the shoals off Flanders so they could pick up the army and sail over to Kent.

The English were short of ammunition and supplies and they were afraid the French would give the Spanish fresh supplies. So the English sent 8 fire ships into the moored Spanish ships. The fire ships were soaked in oil, loaded with combustibles such as old sails and rope, and the cannons were loaded. A volunteer crew steered them towards the Spanish. Two ships caught fire too early and warned the Spanish, but the wind and tide were in the English favour. The Spanish cut their anchors and sailed seaward. They were no longer in their tight defensive formation. No Spanish ship were set alight but they scattered in panic as the gun powder in the English cannons exploded. There were no other suitable or safe moorings in the area so they had to try and regroup out at sea off Graveslines.

The last skirmish was off Graveslines on 8^th August. The wind changed and the Spanish found it difficult to regroup. The wind was pushing them north. The English attacked for 8 hours at close range trying to push the Spanish onto the Flanders sand banks. By 16.00 hours the English were short of powder and shot. The Spanish had suffered heavy casualties but their morale was still high. They planned to continue the fight the following day so they could wait for the land army.

On the 9^th August the wind dropped and the Armada was drifting towards the Flemish sandbanks. When the wind did pick it took them away from the English fleet out towards the North Sea. The Spanish had also received word that the land army they had hoped to collect and ferry to England could take 2 weeks to reach them. They were forced to sail away north around Scotland and Ireland.

The Armada was still a viable force, at this point, it could fight another day, but lack of supplies, fog, damaged ships, treacherous seas and gales put a stop to this. 45 of the Spanish ships were lost, 25 of them in storms in the Atlantic. Of the 30,000 men who left Spain only a third returned. 20,000 were lost through battle, starvation, disease or were ship wrecked. The English casualties were light and no ships were lost.

Queen Elizabeth addressed her troops under the command of Robert Dudley, at Tilbury on the 18^th of August. This was a famous rallying speech "I am come amongst you, as you see, resolved in the midst and heat of battle to lay down for my God and for my Kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and of a King of England too. And to think foul scorn that Parma, Spain or any Prince of Europe may invade the borders of my realm". This was printed as a broadsheet and distributed across the nation.

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