THE BATTLE OF THE SPANISH ARMADA (1588)
Uploaded by Brainy81 on Dec 21, 2021
THE BATTLE OF THE SPANISH ARMADA (1588)
So the year is 1588, almost 100 years after Columbus came to the New World. Remember, Columbus sailed for Spain and claimed all of the land for the King and Queen of Spain (even though he was Italian). A lot had happened in the following 100 years.
Spain grew very wealthy, stealing all of the gold and silver from the Native Americans. This got the rest of Europe jealous, especially tiny little England. The English had a plan to get their hands on the treasures looted by the Spanish. They were going to steal it from the Spanish when it was being sailed from the New World back to Spain. Yes PIRATES!!!!! (or privateers). This plan did work for the British. There was one very successful privateer named Sir Francis Drake who brought his treasures back to Queen Elizabeth. Rumor has it that Queen Elizabeth liked Sir Francis a lot (wink, wink)! Okay, one reason the Spanish hated the English was this privateering.
Another reason King Philip of Spain hated the English and her Queen Elizabeth was because of religion. This does get a bit complicated! King Philip of Spain was a deeply religious Catholic. Queen Elizabeth was not. She was a Protestant (remember that before we left?). Her father King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church because the Pope refused to allow him to divorce his first wife. (Henry had five more marriages, some ending in divorce, some wives he beheaded.) So King Henry, Queen Elizabeth's dad, set up his own protestant church, The Church of England. King Philip of Spain was determined to make England a Catholic country again. He felt it was his religious duty. So another reason Spain wanted to invade England was to make it a Catholic country again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EGzHsye71c
This link is about Queen Elizabeth I’s father Henry the VIII. Please note Henry’s first wife was the daugther of Ferdinand and Isabela, the King and Queen of Spain (the same couple who financed Columbus’ voyages!
So, as you saw in the video, The Spanish attack the English with their ships (an armada is simply a lot of ships). King Philip wants to make England Catholic again, capture Queen Elizabeth, and stop the privateers. To make a long story...